Redcats

A New Blackberry Curve

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When I got home from the taping of the Daily Show last night I returned to a box containing my new Blackberry Curve 8310. Since I started my new job in September I have been lazy in researching how to order one. Over the holidays I finally broke down and realized I needed one to stay up to date with the contestant barrage of mail I get. So now I once again have to carry two phones, since I won’t give up my personal number. It has been almost 8 months since I had a Blackberry I used every day. I almost didn’t miss it.

I have a slightly newer model Curve from what I used at Redcats. The only major difference I see is that this new one has GPS built in, and is a titanium color. I am still trying to figure out what applications I want for it.

Relaxing

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Yesterday was Friday, so that meant another night meeting up with friends by my old Redcats office. I meet up with a bunch of people at Blaggards and hung out. It was Stanley’s birthday. There was a nice turn out. Luke was out of course. Jeannette, Vanessa, Herbie, Ben, & others also came out. I lost count of how much I spent. I think we had an obscene amount of shots, but I don’t fully recall. I don’t normally do that. Below is a before and after shot of one round.

I had a really good time in spite of my neck killing me again. Last month if you asked if alcohol would stop the sharp pain in my neck I would say no since I tried. Last night it must have been the Jameson shots because the pain went away. It is back again now, but I felt great last night! I now look forward to a restful weekend.

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Just a note on the photos. I only had one, and it was for Stanley’s birthday so we kind of had to do a round. We had a nice turn out!

Out With Friends

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The first week at work was interesting. I was glad to get out for a few quick drinks at Blaggards with some friends. I meet Luke, & Stanley there. After a while a bunch of old friends from Redcats showed up. We talked and hung out for a while. I didn’t want to stay out late so I was home by 9 ish. Sounds kind of early but when you start at 5ish it isn’t.

Memory Lane

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I gave up on trying to sleep tonight so I decided to post some recent and not so recent photos to my Facebook site. I got a bunch form the Redcats holiday party last December, a few from being out Friday night, and a bunch from HS. I have a ton more from HS I need to sort through and get up online. It is actually kind of fun to see the comments from everyone. I am most productive late at night when I can't sleep!

Starting Over

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Monday I start a new job. I am excited and nervous all at the same time. Consciously I know the decision to leave my previous job was the right one, but my sub-conscious mind keeps asking if I made the right choice. I know it is my way of worrying about how things will turn out, and keeping me on my toes. Change is good, but it can also get your worrying. People like routine. A new job is an entirely new routine. It is starting over somewhere that you know no one. In a way it is a clean slate, but in another way you have to prove yourself to everyone all the time. As always I am cautiously optimistic. Only time will really tell if I made the right decision, but I have always gone with my gut instinct. It hasn’t always been right, but it is rarely 100% wrong, if that makes any sense?

Ok, enough worried rambling. I am going to try to get some sleep and think about less deep topics to write about.

My Last Day

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Today was my last day at work! It has only been about 15 months but I am moving on for various reasons. I will miss this job. I will miss the people I work with, and the fun atmosphere but if you know me the reasons for me leaving have been obvious for a while. The opportunity that I am going to looks really promising so I am very excited. I am taking a whole 2 days off. I start the new job on monday.

My desk has been cleared out since Monday. I have be in limbo for the past two weeks so in that way I am glad it is over, but like I said I will miss this place. A bunch of us are going out after work to see me off and to celebrate Josh & Ben’s birthday.

I am now off to my exit interview, but as my boss said he would be shocked if HR gave him any feedback he didn’t already know. He is right, I have been completely honest with him and like several other boss’s I have had in recent history I would work for him again!

France Trip Recap

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Wednesday and most of Thursday were taken up by work at one of our companies offices near Lille. It was a massive place. It is weird getting used to going to a place like that when the office I work in only has 90 or so people. Thursday night we ended up heading back to Paris on the TGV and walked around the area by our new hotel until we found a sidewalk cafe to have dinner at.

My boss and I also had to figure out a way to get on a conference call with our team back in NY while at our hotel. The call could have turned into an hour long thing, so mobile phones and hotel phones would have been very expensive. We ended up using my macbook and skype to call our conference bridge. It was an interesting use of the technology we had at hand. The hardest part was getting the high speed connection in the hotel to work. Connecting to Skype worked flawlessly once we were online.

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Friday the morning was spent trying to go sight seeing but work took priority so we didn’t get out of the hotel until the afternoon. We hit the Louvre and got lost walking around there for a few hours. Then we walked to the Eiffel Tower. It was crowded so we didn’t go up. The line was really long. I got some decent pictures though.

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After that we had a decently hard time finding a cab back to the hotel. We hit dinner near the hotel at another cafe, and then at night meet up with some people from work who were finally in Paris from Lille.

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A Very Long Day

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It feels like monday night but it is fact Tuesday night in France. I am in Lille, France. The red eye last night was ok. I took some stuff to help me sleep and it worked a little but not completely. The bose noise canceling headphones also helped but it was still a long flight.

Once we got to Paris, we were able to goto a hotel and get a Day room. It is basically a room you pay for during daylight hours so you can shower, sleep, etc. We landed like 7AM local time but didn’t have meetings until noon so we needed a place to go and relax. That room made all the difference. I was able to take a shower and just lie down for an hour. I didn’t sleep but just able to relax on the bed was all i needed to get through the day and even end up at dinner at 10PM local time.

We had our meeting in Paris after we got a bit lost walking around to find our office. We then toured a data center for a bit and then our host took us to the train station so we can catch the TGV to Lille. The TGV was awesome. We got biz class on that also, but it probably wasn’t needed for the hour long trip. That train is fast, and quiet. I always like trains but this one was really cool.

Once in Lille we hit the hotel and then went out for some dinner. We ended up meeting up with some other people from our office and had dinner together. I didn’t get back to the hotel until late. It is weird when it is like 10PM and there is still some daylight out.

I am off to a much needed sleep in a bed.

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Ready To Go

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I haven’t mentioned it before (or did I, now i don’t remember) but I am going to France today. I have a flight later this evening (a red eye) and then I am there with my boss until Saturday. It is my first trip to France, or mainland Europe for that matter so i am a bit excited.

I don’t like red eye’s since i can’t sleep well, so this flight will be interesting. The bright side is i get to travel business class so hopefully I can sleep when the seat reclines allot but not 180 degrees. More details as the trip unfolds.

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