Fantastic Onion

When I accepted the new job at 3Sharp, in the lovely city of Redmond, I knew that I would be required to spend quite a bit of time traveling. In fact, this was one of the things that I was really looking forward to. Not only was I going to be working for and with great people, I was going to be working on things that would challenge me and that I love. To top it all off, I was going to get the chance to travel around the country (and in some cases, maybe the world), and get to show off what we as a company know! On my first job related travel trip, I'm going to go attend some training in Orlando, FL on some new software that Microsoft has just recently released. I've been working with it for a little bit of time, but I am not a SME (Subject Matter Expert, for those of you not in the KNOW). That is the level that I am working at attaining, so getting to go to this training is a HUGE opportunity for me. So now that you know the purpose of my travel and where I'm headed, I'm going to pass on to you some of the thoughts and experiences that I've gained in my time on the trip. Here we go!

 

To start off,  I'd like to introduce you to my second travel partner, Mr. Fuzzy.

Mr. Fuzzy is a close relative of Mr. Pinchy, who I introduced earlier when he moved into his new Bellevue apartment. Well, I think that they are only related in the fact that they are fleecy, stuffed with fiberfill, squishy and both have claw shapes. This is more than enough for a relationship in my book. Mr. Fuzzy had the decidedly difficult job of helping me sleep on the flight. I'm sure that he's going to do a really good job, considering my flight leaves out of SeaTac at 12:55AM.

 

Since I am still waiting on my first flight, the only impressions that I can offer right now focus on the Seattle Airport (A.K.A. the SeaTac refrenced before). I arrived late in the evening (well, late for me, anyway), after parking at a Thrifty Car Rental airport parking lot. I had not even taken my bags out of the trunk before there was a shuttle bus and driver, there to help me out. It was a quick drive to the airport and I was quite glad not to have to deal with all the construction that's been going on. I'm sure the next couple of times that I fly out of SeaTac, I'll be a little bit more comfortable with it. Upon arrival, I was informed by an automated kiosk that I needed to talk to an actual ticket agent. This wasn't a big deal, since I had a bag to check, but I just wanted to have my boarding pass all set and ready to go. The ticket agent was quite kind and I was astonished by the fact that I was the only person in line. That's it. The only person. When I went through security, it was the same case. The only one in line. That really threw me for a loop, since I usually have plenty of time to get all my things ready for the x-ray long before I actually get to the machine. It felt both decadent and harrowing to be taking out my laptop, removing my shoes and all the other assorted things right up at the table, with the plastic bins in front of me. All in all, I could really get used to getting to the airport almost three hours early. Now, I'm sitting near my gate, using my wonderiforuious Verizon Wireless service. I know I'm not going to enjoy paying the bill for my new data card in my laptop, but I have to say that Verizon has been a really good company to me (that is fodder for a whole different post).

 

While I'm still trying to spend some time talking and thinking about my trip, I want to make sure that I cover the airport as well as I can. First off, I have to say that I've been really impressed with this place. While it's not the newest airport I've been in (that would be in Alexandria, LA (AEX)), it has been clean and comfortable every time I've stepped in the door. The bathrooms have been clean, with no dicernable smell. The facilities have all been working. This is a nice change from several other airports, but I'm not going to name names (*COUGH*Smith Terminal at DTW*COUGH*). Another feature of the airport has been it's multicultural cornucopia. There are people of every nationality, race, religion, and plushness all over the place. The thing that makes this worth mentioning at this moment is that when I've been here during the daily rush hour, the trains to the S Terminal where NWA flys out have had all their announcements in several languages. Tonight at 11:00PM, they were broadcasting (and texting) only in English.  I wonder how they decide when to stop those multilingual loops? Do they only run when there are Asia bound and returning flights? Do the Japanese suddenly start speaking English at 10:00PM? Okay, now I'm just being silly, so I'll leave you, dear reader, with this thought...

 

Why do they sell nail clippers in the store INSIDE the security area? I though those were VERBOTEN?