Viva Las Vegas

I attended a business conference from Sunday all the way through Thursday. The conference was in Las Vegas, & I admit to being someone over the excited about the idea of meeting people that I haven't interacted with in a long time. (And no, it's not at Golden Nugget.  I just like that casino.)

I was completely packed well ahead of time, and I had my clothes set out for an easy TSA walk through. I also had subscribed to the NEXUS program, and I tested that with flying colors (later).

By the way, this is what I look like right out of bed:

There was a time when I could simply walk out of the house never having touched any part of my head.  An ex girlfriend would get upset at me for having such fortune.  But those days are long since past I fear.

My packing skills remain peerless.  6 days worth of clothes, underclothes, toiletries, and assorteds, in a bag this size.  I thought I should include a DVD so you can get a sense of how not-big the bag is.

To help the matter, I got some McDonalds Bacon, Egg (White) and Cheese Biscuits, a large coffee and a small orange juice.  That gave me enough energy for the next 4 hours.

I breezed through TSA Pre-Check in 2-3 minutes.  In fact, they order you not to take your shoes off or to take anything out of the bag.  I found that rather interesting.  (more to this story on the trip back, though.)

In case you've never seen SeaTac (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport), once you get past TSA, this is what you're confronted with.  Quite visually appealing.

 Since I was terribly early, as usual, I figured I would prepare my system with the elixir that keeps me forever young: Starbucks' Shaken Iced Green Tea, Unsweetened.  No matter how hot it may be, you will be refreshed.  I AM straightedge, after all.

Once on board the plane it was a different ball game.  

Rather than local shots at the airport, I got to capture what I'm 98.76% sure is Mount Rainier, as the plane reached altitude.  I included the normal shot as well as one that was post-processed by the Nexus 7 (I didn't want to pull out the Galaxy S4 and have the flight attendant start yelling about phones on the plane).

I got asked more often than I care to admit why I would pay $50 to upgrade to first class on a 2 hour flight.  The answer is simple.  I come from the old school when airplane tickets were over $500 a piece, but with that you got roomy, comfortable seats, REAL meals, and a much more pleasant flying experience.  That's back when you had airlines like Northwest, Pan Am and TWA.  But I digress: I am one of those who is willing to pay for a comfortable experience, especially on shorter flights.  $50 is a small price to pay for that experience and I really wish they would consider doing it upfront at that price.  I mean look.

REAL glasses.  Clean trays.  A very well prepared veggie wrap.  This kind of stuff used to be standard on planes and I'm sad to see people settling for the garbage they put out now.  I on the other hand am more than willing to pay for this.

Anyway, I arrived fine, and National Car Rental as always took good care of me.  I'm an Emerald Club member, and under Alaska's Mileage Plan saved quite a bit of money.  The way it works: you rent a midsize car but can pick any of the cars currently on the Emerald Aisle, which include full size and SUVs.  Look at what they had waiting for me.  A Ford Fusion Titanium (non-Hybrid).  I got to feel right at home, although the car ran rather rough given it only had like 8,500 miles on it.  I'm assuming that's the EcoBoost engine; compared to Aston Marcus which purrs like a kitten, I wasn't impressed, but at least it was a familiar overall experience.

Here I am, approaching the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.  More on this scam hotel later.

My hotel reservation was very nearly messed up.  I had to pay out of pocket to at least stay the night.  Fortunately it got sorted Monday morning.  But I didn't like having to pay money.  I then proceeded to settle in and relax for the conference.  I did go to the local stores to get some food though; I wasn't paying the ripoff prices for snacks (more on that later).

Here are some shots from the event.

My tweet even made it up on their ticker.  How cool is that?

I also got to visit a past co-worker which was refreshing, and despite the nonsense traffic from the Mayweather/Canelo fight crowds, I did enjoy the fight itself.

Before leaving, I had to make sure to get a couple of shots from my hotel room window.  It was facing the strip, so I took full advantage.  First, a small panorama in the daytime (and unfortunately, since Mandalay Bay doesn't believe in washing their windows, it wasn't a very clear shot).

Then, I caught this rather appealing shot the night before I headed home.

 At the Las Vegas Airport, after turning in my car (which consisted of simply parking it and walking away, mind you), I then patiently awaited my flight home, capturing some of the signage (aka, a bunch of TVs slapped together in a crooked pattern).

All in all a great week.  I learned a lot and got quite a bit of useful information from the trip which I'm eager to share with the team.  This was the first time I'd gotten to attend one of these particular conferences though I'd helped others go, so it was enlightening.  A bit overkill with some of the fluff, but a great event nonetheless.

Tune in later for my review (aka REAMview) of the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino.

Return of The Franchise

You might be wondering why, after over 3 years, I decided to start writing again.  Well, there are many reasons.  Most notably, there's a lot to say.  Most of it is best suited for a blog, rather than a video.  There are too many thoughts, too many opinions, and too many ideas.  I need an outlet for what goes through my head, because as I age, it's getting increasingly difficult to manage everything mentally.  I'd like to start by simply updating everyone as to where I am at this point.

When I started the blog, I was working at a loan company.  I believe I was an auditor at the time.  While I liked the company, I really didn't enjoy working for/with certain people.  Additionally, the company was hit hard by various laws passed as a knee-jerk reaction to a relatively benign situation, and they had suffered mass layoffs as a result.  From a peak of over 700 employees to just north of 60, it was clear that the company was in dire straits.  I very well could have stuck around, waited to be laid off and collect a windfall, but that would have meant tolerating a very poor situation.  I'm really not a tolerant type.  If something annoys me, I can't simply ignore it and hope it goes away.

So I began a new career, with a new company.  I also have my own online service company online at Franchise-Net Media, LLC.  Underneath this company are three branded services: Tempting Reviews and Tempting Guides, both of which are a YouTube channel, and Public Engagements which I'm just starting.  I plan to branch out into other consulting-type servies such as book publishing.  I have written and published a book which is for sale right now on Amazon, "True Stories of a Common Man", which is a brief look at how I got to where I am.  A friend of mine was rather surprised that I would write such a book, but in my world I wanted to have something already out there that spoke to who I am, in the event something were to happen to me.

What do I hope to accomplish with the blog?  Not sure.  I think it will simply be a running diary. I will play it by ear, and hopefully everything will turn out alright.

Until next time,

The Franchise

Jury Duty...

NOTE: This is a migrated entry.

So I got summoned back in February to go to Jury Duty. I was asked to postpone until August. So I went today.

Before, when I was paid hourly, I could easily get out with a letter from HR stating that they would not pay jury pay. Unfortunately, that doesn't fly now that I'm salaried, as part of it is paid by my company. However, I still managed to make do. Before I reveal the magic, I just had some observations.

First off, I think the current process for JD is unnecessarily bureaucratic. They send you a notice in the mail to show up on a certain day at a certain time to wait to possibly be called to serve on a jury. Why not just send a notice telling you that you've been explicitly selected for a trial, and must show up to court by a certain date unless you have a viable excuse? Get rid of the interstitial waiting period, it's a waste of people's time and not worth it. $15/day? For potentially 8 hours x 20 days worth of serving? Seems as though it hasn't caught up with the economy.

There is one good thing about JD: there is always at least 3 sexy females up there waiting right along with you. It's a prime place to get phone numbers - if you're into that sort of thing. Me, I like looking at them, not necessarily talking to them (because they're always stuck up anyway).

Anyway, how I got out of it: generally trials are quoted at 3-7 days long. That's business days, of course. That means, if your company pays less than 7 business days, you're in a good spot. Using mine as an example, they pay "a week" - which equates to 5 business days. The possibility that the trial could go 7 business days is the catch. That means two business days your company is not paying. That's money not going to bills/expenses. That's your hardship, and even if they require you show up at the waiting room, you won't get assigned to a trial.

Now, your company may pay 10 days or even unlimited in some cases. You're screwed. Accept it and get ready for trial. But if your company pays little to no days for jury service, you have an out.

DISCLAIMER: The above presentation does not apply to Federal jury service which does not acknowledge financial hardship as an eligible excuse reason. Only County jury service allows for financial hardship.

When you just don't feel like doing anything.

NOTE: This is a migrated blog posting.

A new day, a new blog category. Personal thoughts, feelings, opinions, whatever...just information I felt like sharing.

I'm going to work in reverse order, starting with today.

The boss - Senior VP - had informed us previously that she noticed certain concerns about attendance from the team. Likely not me, since it's next to impossible for me to take PTO. Anyway, my colleague took the day off...again...so I was pretty much on my own. I was called upon to assist in some projects, meanwhile I had my own tasks that needed to be completed (I fell behind due to the additional tasks that I've been asked to join in on). Meanwhile, I'm (re) training a co-worker from another department on our current solution that I administer - he's a standup guy, I know it'll be in good hands - but it was another task to do today.

Once I got past all of that, and came home, I ate my food, then shortly thereafter, I began to feel ill. Nauseous, just "ill". As though I'd just gotten off a 3-day cruise or something (I get seasick). To be honest I've felt a general "ill" feeling for about three weeks now. Part of that is due to the heat - I'm absolutely intolerate of sweltering heat (Anything over 20 degrees Celsius, basically). Part was my bed - I'll never own a memory foam mattress again, basically. The other part...I don't know. Thank goodness for GABA or I'd never get sleep.

So now I'm up at 9pm, watching Law & Order, and still feeling ill. My stomach isn't upset, but it feels like I've got some indigestion. That could have caused my nausea; not sure. I have a very picky stomach; one day I can pig out on things, the next they make me sick, then I can go back to eating them again.

Oh well. Time to find out if el cuerpo humano can self heal.