Back in Colorado

My trip to San Francisco was a big success... well, at least I think so.

My trip started off bad. I had a VERY early (6:15 a.m.) non-stop flight out of Colorado Springs. I set my alarm for an even more ridiculous time, but forgot to turn the damn alarm on. I woke up at 5:20 in a panic. I skipped the shower since I had showered the evening before. Threw the remaining items I needed into my bags and headed downstairs. Then I hesitated. I started thinking I shouldn't be freaking out, and that there is no way for me to get to the airport, bags checked, and through security in time to make the flight.

I got online to see about switching to the next flight out, which of course has a stop in Denver. Then I looked at the clock one more time and figured FUCK IT, I'M GONNA TRY TO MAKE IT.

I through my bags in the cars and tore out of the neighborhood. I parked the car in long-term parking and there was no shuttle, or it wasn't in the area of my parking space anyway. So I walked at a very quick pace to get to the terminal. I approached the United counter and informed them that I am trying to make my flight. She checked her terminal and informed me they had JUST called final boarding. I would have made it if I hadn't stopped and checked other flights.

I asked them if they could get me on the next flight possible. There was a 7:00 a.m. flight to Denver, but I had to be in first class. Little did I know, but the put me in first class for the Denver flight and the San Francisco flight (WOOHOO BABY).

It was unfortunate that I was losing out on about 4 hours of time at the client office in SF, but I tried not to stress about it. Next time I'm offered a relatively cheap upgrade to first class I am going for it.

Work was interesting because it was very unstructured. I didn't have a detailed agenda of what I needed to do, but I had a short list and accomplished those things and more.

My first day I was in SF talking to some of our guys at our biggest clients office. The client has us doing custom software changes right in their office. I guess they felt they needed to micro-manage. This is also the office that I am STILL trying to hire someone for. I have no idea what the status of that is (SHIT!).

This was the cheapest real hotel (real meaning not a flee bag) in the area. I thought it was strange that my company recommended it, but I think that recommendation came because it was the closest hotel to the client office that I had to visit. The A/C was incredibly loud (yes, I needed the A/C on at night). I woke up every 20 or so minutes when the A/C would turn on, then again when it would turn off. That was frustrating. The the power outlets were only 2 prong. I needed 3 prong for my laptop.

I spent the next 2 nights in Oakland at the Marriott in City Center. Very nice!! Then again I might have been swayed by the fact that the A/C was quiet, but that bed felt incredible. The fact that the girl manning the front desk that reminded me what room I was in was cute and kind of flirty might have influenced my grade too.

Working in the Oakland office is quite a bit different than the Denver office. There's hardly anyone there. Half the people that work their are the President, and a couple VPs in the company, and a few software developers. It was a little un-nerving to have all the big wigs coming by my cube to say hi, and see how I'm doing. The fact that they knew who I was is kind of freaky to me. I am used to being very low on the totem pole.

While I was at work Tuesday I got a call from Chrissie. I hadn't heard from her since I initially told her I was coming out there, so I assumed she was going to blow me off (get your minds out of the gutter people, I meant she wasn't going to meet me). Well, we made quick plans to get together that evening. She suggested we meet half way. She lives in a small town a few hours from SF, so it made sense. Half way ended up being a pretty small town as well, but they had a Chili's.

Getting there took me some time because I was driving through city traffic while she wasn't, but I finally arrived. She showed up a little bit later, she decided to visit some old friends of hers since I was running late.

Meeting Chrissie was a real treat for me. We've been friends for about 2 years, so finally talking to her face to face just felt great. She didn't quite look the same as her now non-existent HNT photo's but she is stunning. Now I know she is real flesh and blood. Unfortunately, I forgot to take my new camera with me (IDIOT).

I was probably obnoxiously loud when laughing during our conversation. I can't hear myself, especially when I'm drinking. She always has me rolling. I am sure I had my stupid grin going full blast. I didn't want the night to end, but we both had some driving to do, and I had to be up at a ridiculous hour for a teleconference. Fucking work. I need to win the PowerBall.

The next day was filled with meetings that we kind of pointless. I had testing to do on my groups new system. I don't have time to hear people whine about how they have to do system backups. Just figure it out. I was pretty fried by this point.

Terry and I were going to meet in San Francisco in the Mission District. One of her favorite bars is there. She had e-mailed me very detailed instructions. I had to take the BART into SF, which was a new experience for me. I asked the front desk clerk at the hotel where the nearest BART station was, and she pointed to it right outside the from of the hotel. She asked me where I was going. I told her 16th and Mission. She got a worried look on here face and told me to always be aware of my surroundings. My immediate thought was "Where the fuck is Terry dragging me?"

There was one little mistake in Terry's directions that got me headed the wrong direction. I realized the problem when none of the landmarks she had told me about were anywhere to be found. Lots of drug addicts and hookers though. I got Terry on the phone and worked my way back to the Bart station to start over. I really got turned around at another point all by myself. So even if you give a guy instructions (although we NEVER need them) we'll still screw it up.

After a nice brisk walk I finally caught up to Terry at her bar. We had some really funny conversations about each other's friends, jobs, my girlfriend, and had some VERY tasty Sidecar's. Apparently most of her blog readers thought I was some sort of perv way back when. I'm glad she realized I was harmless early on (I never said I wasn't a perv). After the second round (or was it the third) we figured we should get some food, so we hit an Indian restaurant across the street. Another favorite of hers. The food was great. I've had some Indian food that I didn't like in the past, but this stuff was excellent. Good call Terry!

We ended the night with another drink at a bar around the corner. We had to kind of scream at each other to hear, but it was still great fun to see her.

I slept in a little this morning. My flight was at 1, so I figured I'd take it easy for the morning. I got out of the hotel around 10 and headed for the San Francisco airport. I gave myself extra time because I didn't want to miss another flight. I found the rental car return with no trouble. I love that you take a tram from the terminal to the rental car facility.

I was in the terminal with lots of time to spare. I put my credit card into the check-in kiosk, and it said it couldn't find me, so it told me to try my confirmation number. I enter it and was told to contact an airline representative (HOLY HELL!). I flagged a woman down and gave her my ID. She tried to looked me up in the system, but couldn't find me. She asked if I had a boarding pass from the flight out to SF. Luckily I kept them and handed her one. She asked if I had a change to my itinerary. I told her about missing my flight out, and that they put me on the next flight out. She said it looks like when they scheduled me for the new flight the cleared out my return reservation. Breathing... staying calm. I asked if there was still room on the flight. She was apparently already working on this and kind of indicated to me to be quiet.

I got one of the 2 remaining seats. No first class bump this time... bummer.

Time to crash