Training Week

My company announced that we could receive free training during the month of January. It had to be related to the Microsoft Azure cloud platform. The training was being held at sites from a training company I used to frequent. Sign me up!


One problem was that most of the training was being offered on the other side of town. The commute would be murderous. So I asked my boss if the company could pay for a hotel. The training itself was free after all. After some haggling, I got approved to get a hotel.


This morning I took the back roads to the first training site. It was strange when I arrived. Looked like there was only 1 class being offered. And there were only 2 other students present, both from my company. Turns out the other 30+ students were dialing in and learning remotely. At least they still had an option to order lunch and have it delivered.


The instructor ran a bit late in the afternoon, trying to coach the class on how to pass the optional exam. I was not interested in any exam. But his coaching was still instructional. Afterwards, I got into traffic and traveled to the second training location. Over an hour later, I pulled up to the hotel.


The hotel did not look like a hotel at all. I confirmed the address. Was surprised that the hold on my card was more than the amount I expected. Seems they also hold some for incidentals. I checked out their complimentary light dinner. Ate a lot of pizza. So much that they ran out. Tried to drink what I thought was apple juice. One taste and I knew it was wine. Yikes.

MegaBus to the NYC

Kit Kat and her boyfriend were scheduled to go to New York City this weekend. The only hitch was that they needed a ride to the bus depot. I was the only guy available to take them. I punched the destination into my Apple Car Play, and we were off.

We travelled the way Kit Kat used to go to her 4 year college. Then we passed it to get to the mall where she meets her friends from the North. I found the park and ride easily. However locating where Kit Kat was going to take the bus was not so easy. It did not help that half the parking lot was fenced in for construction.

We found the spot where the bus boards. Kit Kat and her boyfriend stayed in the car with me until closer to their departure time. We thought we saw they bus come. But it only let people off and left. The theory is that it went to gas up prior to boarding the next set of passengers.

The bus eventually came back. But it was 30 minutes after the scheduled departure time. I stuck around just in case Kit Kat needed a ride to some other transportation. She texted me when they got in and were seated. Then I was off for home. I took the toll road for speed, and ended up going through a long tunnel.

Coming Home

Little Kat and I wrapped up our trip to see Grandpa. I had all my bags packed before 10am. We were not leaving for the airport until 11am. So I decided to go out and get one last breakfast. I was worried that my favorite taco store would not be open. I looked them up online. They opened at 9:30am.

I got some small burritos and my favorite chips and queso. Brought a coke with me from home. I had to slow down on the road by Momoko's high school. School was in session and the speed limit was drastically reduced.

Both Little Kat and I had good boarding passes. As we stood in line to board the plan, and old man was screaming about "Islamic pigs". Where is airport security when you need them. Our plan was to go to the back of the plane to sit as normal. Little Kat instead opted to sit near the wing. Darn the luck. The old man who was screaming in the terminal sat directly in front of me.

I heard a cat meowing as other passengers boarded. We were lucky. The plane was small and there were many travelers. But nobody sat in between Little Kat and I. When large people board the plane, I sent out a "no no no" vibe to them.

There were some small kids directly behind us that made a lot of noise. Every time they put toys in their mouth, their mom took them away. Chaos ensued. I saw a dog in the terminal, presumably waiting to board my plane. Never heard or saw him after that. The landing was very smooth at our home airport.

Going out to Eat

I was laid off from my project at work last week. So for a while, my goal was to find a new gig, preferably at my company. I treated this like a mini-vacation. Therefore I was eating out for lunch. The goal was to eat at restaurants I normally don't go to.


First up was Sonic. I tried their new Biggie cheeseburger. It is like a Big Mac, but without the special sauce. It was okay. I think I prefer their double burger instead.


Then I tried Taco Bueno. The closest location closed down last year. But the next closest one was not far away. I used to get multiple orders of chips & queso. However the price had gone up. So instead I settled for a large queso and chips. It did not have enough chips. No problem. I ordered a couple party tacos to dip into the cheese.


Finally I tried Church's Chicken. I remember them from when I was young. I liked the flavor of their chicken, and some of their sides. They did not have the boneless wings from their menu available. They also did not have the chicken sandwich. WTF? Chicken place without all the chicken? They tried to upsell me to a large drink. Good thing I passed since most of their soda fountains were dead. Their spicy rice was delicious.


Last place I tried to far was Bram's ice cream. I got breakfast there. The hash rounds were nice and crispy. The egg sandwich was average. The best part was that I got a strawberry milkshake as my drink. Little Kat chose coffee. Might have to go to breakfast there more often.