Leesburg, VA (USA)

I found out a few days ago that I was going to be honored (by my company) with a leadership award. The catch was that it would be presented at the Lansdowne Convention Center (near Leesburg, Virginia). So, I squeezed in as much work downtown as I could and then departed for my car at 1430. Nicky met me outside the Metro Station (1500) and we drove up to Leesburg (via I-495, I-66, VA-28 and VA-7). As we were passing the Dulles Airport, it began to pour! We'd heard about nasty weather coming our way, but it looked like we might not make it to our destination. It was quite fortunate that we left early from Alexandria - traffic was getting bad and that would be made worse by the weather... In the end, we arrived about 45 minutes early. We met the awards ceremony coodinator (Amy) and relaxed for a bit before the award winner cocktail hour (1700). That event was, in itself, a treat - we met all of the principles from the company (VPs, Directors, etc.). Later (1800), we walked down to the main ballroom and had a delicious dinner (steak and scallops) at a table with the other winners. The awards presentation was also great - they tried to make it seem like a major ceremony (with lights, music). Our company isn't very big, so there was a lot of back and forth with the crowd and presenters. This was also the first time the company had such an event, so there were a few unscripted moments. Altogether, the whole thing was well done and I was very honored to receive recognition. Afterwards, several people came by to congratulate me. We departed the Convention Center around 2100 and retraced our steps to the house. It was a little slow going (weather), but we got home around 2200.

Rockville, MD (USA)

[worked all day in Rockville today - meetings]

Beltsville, MD (USA)

[drove over to Beltsville today to visit Brother Jim (1200L) - ate lunch with him and some of the other guys who live at the La Salle House - spent most of the afternoon searching for files that were displaced during a recent upgrade of this system (successful) - also scanned photos and played with Acrobat Professional (form fields) - later in the day, we worked on some genealogy - before I left, got to attend Mass with him - drove home around 1715L - lots of evidence of the upcoming inauguration (warnings to use Metro)]

Absecon, NJ (USA)

[woke up without the alarm this morning (0630L) and looked out the window: snow was sticking to the cars! - quickly exited my room and shoveled down breakfast - when I got to my car, I found the snow was very wet and could be easily cleared - still, I cancelled my plan meet-up with Erica (for some work we planned) and quickly checked out of the Fairfield Inn (0735) - departing Absecon (via Egg Harbor Township), I found slow driving for the first hour, with the flurries and slow traffic on US-40 - however, I still made it across the Delaware River by around 0915L and then drove down over to DE-1 (and US-40) - back on US-301, sun was out in force and the only evidence of snow was an occasional car with some melting residue - got slowed down again as I hit US-50 (traffic, for some reason) - crossed the Chesapeake and realized I couldn't make it home without getting gas - so, against my better judgment, I stopped on the western outskirts of Annapolis and filled up - had some odd encounters inside the station, both involving people asking me for money (it never occurred to me to joke about how someone else should pay for something I want - but at least two strangers thought they should do it at different locations) - after that, I made good time getting home (arrived close to noon) - spent several more hours wrapping up tasks from the company on my work email - when finally finished, I was glad to close the book on this busy week!]

Northfield, NJ (USA)

[up around 0700L this morning - glad the week is almost over, since we have been working like crazy for about nine hours each day - very successful morning (cafeteria lunch) and afternoon to bring a successful conclusion to our workshop - wrapped up around 1630L - I then met up with Bill, Sabrina and Sharon to have dinner at Ventura's (see SEP 2012) - we probably spent about three hours there, eating and having a nice time (reveling in the week being completed) - all week, we had been hearing about snow hitting the DC Metro (and the Jersey Shore) - for that reason, I thought it was prudent to stay in my hotel room at the Fairfield Inn again (packing) - went to bed around 2300L]

Atlantic City, NJ (USA)

[another early morning, although I didn't get up at 0600L... - quick breakfast and then over to the conference room - another long day (with cafeteria lunch) - finished around 1645L - Kevin and Brian had been talking about a sandwich shop in Atlantic City called "Tony Baloney's" and said they would take us to eat there for dinner - Kevin picked us up at our hotel and we drove into town (the place was on Oriental Avenue) - we met Brian there and then selected our sandwiches - they have a "half" (10 inches) and a "whole" (20 inches) - I started small (half) and ordered the Cheesesteak Ole (2010 Winner of the Guy Fieri Cheesesteak Battle) - Sabrina, Kevin and Brian all ordered a variety of fries (1: buffalo seasoned; 2: pizza toppings; 3: baked potato toppings) - we also enjoyed some good (cane sugar) root beer - we had fun and finished around 2100L - when we got back to the Fairfield Inn, Sabrina (still high on her winnings last month) said we should go back to the casinos - however, since we had just left there (and I was already tired), I passed - I've been having trouble with internet at the hotel during the whole trip, so there wasn't much to do - it made it easy to go to sleep early, though...]

Atlantic City, NJ (USA)

[up around 0600 to resolve an issue with work email - took care of that and then went down for a leisurely breakfast in the lobby - lots of Red Cross and FEMA folks staying in the hotel (overheard some interesting day-planning discussions) - Sabrina didn't arrive until our departure time, which concerned me (thought we would be late), but then I made it worse by taking a bad shortcut... - still, we got to the conference room on time (0830L) and got set up for a long day of discussions - busy all day with only a short lunch break (at the cafeteria) - then wrapped up around 1700L - everyone headed over to the East Bay Crab for their Tuesday special (Shrimp Fest!) and Happy Hour - chatted with the entire group until around 2030L - afterwards, Bill said he wanted to go out to the casinos - Sabrina and I went with him (still in our work clothes) - this time, we checked out Harrah's - I didn't gamble, but I looked around the place (very impressive stores, pool, restaurant, etc.) while Bill and Sabrina won lots of money at the craps table - when Bev and Julio showed up later, the whole group experimented with Blackjack and the Dollar Wheel (losing, mostly) - we left around 2300L and drove back to the hotel - some of these "jug handle" turns are pretty annoying... - went to bed as soon as I was back in my room at the Fairfield Inn]

Egg Harbor Township, NJ (USA)

[had another trip to New Jersey for work - took care of some work (including teleconference) before I left home (1030) - used I-495, US-50 and the Bay Bridge (crossed WPL Memorial Bridge at 1125) to get over to the Eastern Shore (foggy again, but not as bad as previous trips) - switched to US-301 and made good time up to the Delaware border, where I stopped for gas - continued north and joined US-40 - got on DE-1 and then I-95/I-295 to the Delaware Memorial Bridge - then back on US-40 - stopped in Mays Landing to conduct another teleconference - drove the rest of the way to Egg Harbor and met up with Sharon and the rest of the team - spent a few hours prepping for the meetings this week - afterwards, Sabrina and I had dinner with Sharon at East Bay Crab (always good, especially for happy hour!) - finished at around 2000 and drove to the hotel, which was located in a different area of "Atlantic City" for us (later, we learned that it was in a place that the locals said was "scary") - fortunately, I personally found the Fairfield Inn (on White Horse Pike near the marsh) to be just fine (good price, too) - checked into my room close to 2030 - watched some TV and then went to bed early]

Fairfax, VA (USA)

[Nicky and I had an appointment over in Fairfax this morning - this was the first time we had seen the County Seat (wow!) - after about an hour taking care of our business, we drove over to the (nearby) Vienna Metro Station (off I-66 on Orange Line) and I went in to work - time and crowds confirmed (again) that I wouldn't want to live that far out to get to work every day... - put in a few (more than I wanted to) hours at the office and then hurried home - despite train and traffic issues, made it in time to go with Mollie to a "Dinner with Dad" event at her school (Mardi Gras theme) - we had a fun time for a few hours]

Rockville, MD (USA)

[long work day in Rockville - afterwards, though, had a chance to have dinner with Pat, Michael, Aileen and Alanna]

Alexandria, VA (USA)

[today, after working my regular ours in the City, I took the bus home (leaving my car at the station) because I didn't know what our plans for watching the ND-Alabama (BCS Championship Game) were - when I got there, it turned out that Nicky and the girls had plans - so I knew it would just be me and Bob - he picked me up around 1900 and we drove over to Old Town - I showed him a shortcut I'd found before and we actually located a parking spot right in front of Theisman's (a hang out I've used a lot since I got here, for several years - ND connection, convenient for Tim's bus, Yellow/Blue Line switch and their $3 happy hour) - Bob actually hadn't been there before and was impressed by the number of TVs they had - the place was packed - probably about 60-40 Alabama (or ND haters) to ND (or Alabama haters) fans - we were wearing our jerseys and sporting ND gear - after the first half of the game, however, we were not happy any more (ND got crushed) and the place emptied out - we left early in the third quarter (2300), a little depressed - but, as all sports fans must remember: there is always next year (maybe...)]

Alexandria, VA (USA)

[Mollie and I spent much of the day shopping at the nearby Base (new clothes for me, electronic items for everyone) - after a visit to Target to spend a gift card, we drove over to the Telegraph Road & South Kings Highway entrance to the (very expansive) Hartley Meadows city park - there was a nice paved trail through the woods there (mostly between Telegraph and US-1) - we saw lots of other hikers and bike riders, despite the chilly weather - Mollie told me she had seen an entrance on the other side, but this was the first time I ventured into the park - we enjoyed the nice weather and looked for birds (we weren't as lucky as our recent trip to Mason Neck...) - we wanted to get all the way to the middle of the property, where there was (supposedly) an observation tower, but the sun was almost down - we hurried back to our car and barely made it before the darkness hit - we will definitely need to go back!]