ZogBlog

So I get to the airport... and the line is longer than I have EVER seen it. Thankfully, I get to hit the First Class line, but even that one took about 10 minutes. These lines are just ridiculous. My boarding pass still says Economy Plus. They tell me to pick up my ticket at the gate.

At the gate they tell me that I am on standby for first class... and hand me an Economy Plus ticket. With NO seats anywhere I'm forced to stand. Now, if they had just handed me a First Class ticket I could have hit the Red Carpet Lounge, but NOOOOOO. I'm crazy hungry and since I'm locked out of the Red Carpet... I chew into a apple oatmeal bar (I had to buy it on my last flight to San Antonio a few weeks back). They jerked me around for so long, I thought I was going to be royally screwed out of my luxurius seats (you know the normal sized seats). First my flight gets canceled and now I've spent 15000 miles to ride in Coach. Great.

After they announce boarding for first class... wait a few minutes, then announce boarding for Seating area 1... that's when they call me up. YES! First class all the way BABY.

On the plane, I immediately order a Bloody Mary (Perfect mix too). After we take off, I watch "House of Flying Daggers" on my PowerBook. The battery drains so fast though, I miss the last 5 minutes. Dinner consisted of Macadamia nut-crusted chicken with rasberry demi-glaze, Ham and egg fried rice with julienned green and red peppers and some warmed bread. Dessert was two-scoops of ice cream with hot caramel syrup and whipped cream. Mmm....mmmm. Once I gulped that down, it was time for another Bloody Mary. :)

Feeling quite content, I got onto a red Super Shuttle to head downtown. Our company was a woman in town to recruit MBAs for the University of Buffalo, a British guy from Atlanta, and three german guys who just flew in from Seattle. They were lucky enough to get a tour of the VS teams office (and a one-on-one demo I'm assuming).

After I found out about the woman's two tattoos (a gecko on the front and a daisy on the back) and that she's married (aren't they all)... I'm almost at the New Otani.

Last time I stayed at the New Otani it was over-priced and run-down. This time it's merely overpriced. After unpacking and writing this little blurb... it's already 10:00p PST. My first Pre-Conference is scheduled for 10a. I'm not sure when the buses start running but I'll be downstairs by 9a. I'm guessing breakfast will be served at the LACC... but not until Tuesday (the official start of the conference).

For now, I'm going to get some rest... well maybe after the Bourne Supremacy finishes. Good night all.

Tags: [PDC05]

I just got a voice mail from United. My flight has been canceled! Boy, getting to the PDC is starting to become a challenge. Last time the fires... now this.

Luckily, they've rebooked me on a later flight. I'll still arrive a day early for the PreCons and 3 days early for the conference. I suppose this is a blessing in disguise since I'm still loading my iPod and doing laundry. ;)

Tags: [PDC05]

PDC Bound! This time I'm paying for it out of pocket.

Why? Apparently my company doesn't see the need to advance it's employees careers. It's the only training/conference I've asked for in TWO YEARS, there are no .NET training classes internally, and external classes must be paid for by our business unit. We have an Educational Benefit - but that is for taking classes at a "degree granting institution". Unfortunately, our business unit DOES NOT BUDGET for training. Therefore it comes straight from what they affectionately call - OVERHEAD. So, my request was doomed for denial from day one.

Or so one might think. My project manager gave me a song and dance show for almost a year... and then tried to get our CUSTOMER to pay for it. How is that for ethical? Sure, make our customer pay for our employees career growth. Sure. Makes sense to all my fellow employees... who cares where the money comes from right?

I do. It's a simple matter of ethics. This is not an expense I, as a tax payer expect my funds to go. We don't pay consultants to go to training - UNLESS it's beyond the scope of their initial task. The kinds of things one might learn at a PDC is however, beyond the scope of our employment. Many of the things I will see and learn will not be implemented by my customer for 3-5 years (if ever). The truth is that's beyond the LENGTH and scope of the existing contract. But to my government PM's credit - she wanted to pay for it anyway because she VALUES my contribution and doesn't want to lose me. Unfortunately she couldn't commit the funds unless I could give her a verbal commitment that I was staying with my company.

What really burns me though is that this just shows my company's complete lack of support for my career. Or, hell any developers career.

Crap, I've got to get moving. My $5000 week + LEAVE is about to start. Company be damned. My career is more important.

Tags: [PDC05]