I can see the destiny you sold
Last week I decided to go to the local Big Database Company Advertisement Day, where a certain large company that specializes in database management systems hosts lots of local database people somewhere nice and try to sell us more of their products. My workplace uses a few of their products already, and they have some other interesting-looking ones (and the event is free), so I decided to go. The professional aspect of the event gets discussed with coworkers where applicable, so this blog is about all the others parts of it.
The event was held at the Heinz Stadium, just across the river on the North Shore. I decided to bike there, since I figured a) bike would be much less annoying than bus (no direct bus routes), and b) much easier to park back at work than car (I don't have a parking pass for CMU), and c) it ended up being reasonable nice weather that day. I made it there (which was 1/3 downhill and 2/3 more or less flat) in 40 minutes, which is not bad, I think, considering that Google Maps estimated it would take me 45 mins. I managed to dress just right so I comfortable temperature-wise the whole way, with the exception of my toes, which I got rather chilled. Note to self: booties are really important for longer rides. I averaged about 13-15 mph on the bike path (depending on how flat it was), while pushing reasonably and sustainably hard. A few other commuter cyclists zoomed by me, which didn't contribute at ALL to my continued feelings of being a slow-ass snail on wheels. Sigh.
At the stadium, I was happy to find that there were actual bike racks, although somewhat incredulous in that I seriously doubt they could hold more than about 6 bikes total. Then again, considering the demographic of the average visitor to Heinz Stadium, I guessed that's not really something they worry about. Sigh. I switched shoes, changed outer top layers, stashed my bike gear, quickly pinned up my braids, and in a few minutes outside, transformed myself into perfectly acceptable business casual attire.
Inside the event, I got into line. Line? To check in. To check in after pre-registering, to get my pre-printed nametag and free gift of the ubiquitous branded hot/cold insulated reusable not-plastic cup, which were being looked up by hand. Why is a database company running an event check-in by hand? Who knows. I was going to skip the free cup, because I already have some CMU-branded ones, until I saw they had just run out of mugs in the breakfast line, and I'll be damned if I have to wait for my morning tea. Oddly, despite half a dozen people remarking on what a good idea it was to use the cup for a drink, I didn't see a single other person doing it.
Incidentally, it's interesting to see the variety of hot drinks available at different events, depending on the expected audience. This one had plenty of food (pastries, fruit, yogurt, etc), but for tea, only generic Lipton, with half'n'half from the coffee line. Basically, my "I'm desperate" tea (as opposed to breakfast tea with milk). I'm not sure what else I could do, though, for the few times a year where this is my only choice. It's possible to stick a few of my preferred teabags in a pocket and use that, but there's really no good way to carry around a shot of emergency milk. So I sucked it up and had my Liptop with half'n'half in a promotional cup.
And a good thing, too, because although I don't think I underdressed that drastically (I had three shirt layers, but no jacket since I figured indoors wouldn't be THAT cold, silly me), sitting quietly in a large space for hours on end got me REALLY COLD, and the only other easily accessible drink was ice water at the tables. They were obviously really nice VIP meeting rooms, but I just kept looking at the sun and wanting to be basking in it somewhere warm. So I just refilled my tea every break, and kept a warm cup in my hands, and it was much more tolerable. Also incidentally, one nice thing about being a woman at an event like this is that there's never any wait for the restrooms.
Fortunately, the best part of the day came and lunch was served, and OMG, it was a delicious lunch. Plenty of options, for I'm pretty sure every food-orientation that I know of. Since I'm mostly omnivorous it meant everything was really yummy. Totally worth the price of admission, and made me really glad I was doing an extra 10 miles of exercise that day.
Afterwards, I did the mostly-uphill bike back to CMU, which was pretty tolerable except for the corner or Forbes that goes under the Boulevard of the Allies, right where traffic merges in and the hill goes on forever and I have to keep pushing and ugh. But I made it, and I even beat my officemate back to the office, as my travel time was longer, but parking and walking in afterwards were MUCH shorter. Made it to an afternoon meeting I was interested in, then headed home. My legs were pretty worn out by the end of the day, but not unduly so. Perhaps I should try trips like that more often.
The event was held at the Heinz Stadium, just across the river on the North Shore. I decided to bike there, since I figured a) bike would be much less annoying than bus (no direct bus routes), and b) much easier to park back at work than car (I don't have a parking pass for CMU), and c) it ended up being reasonable nice weather that day. I made it there (which was 1/3 downhill and 2/3 more or less flat) in 40 minutes, which is not bad, I think, considering that Google Maps estimated it would take me 45 mins. I managed to dress just right so I comfortable temperature-wise the whole way, with the exception of my toes, which I got rather chilled. Note to self: booties are really important for longer rides. I averaged about 13-15 mph on the bike path (depending on how flat it was), while pushing reasonably and sustainably hard. A few other commuter cyclists zoomed by me, which didn't contribute at ALL to my continued feelings of being a slow-ass snail on wheels. Sigh.
At the stadium, I was happy to find that there were actual bike racks, although somewhat incredulous in that I seriously doubt they could hold more than about 6 bikes total. Then again, considering the demographic of the average visitor to Heinz Stadium, I guessed that's not really something they worry about. Sigh. I switched shoes, changed outer top layers, stashed my bike gear, quickly pinned up my braids, and in a few minutes outside, transformed myself into perfectly acceptable business casual attire.
Inside the event, I got into line. Line? To check in. To check in after pre-registering, to get my pre-printed nametag and free gift of the ubiquitous branded hot/cold insulated reusable not-plastic cup, which were being looked up by hand. Why is a database company running an event check-in by hand? Who knows. I was going to skip the free cup, because I already have some CMU-branded ones, until I saw they had just run out of mugs in the breakfast line, and I'll be damned if I have to wait for my morning tea. Oddly, despite half a dozen people remarking on what a good idea it was to use the cup for a drink, I didn't see a single other person doing it.
Incidentally, it's interesting to see the variety of hot drinks available at different events, depending on the expected audience. This one had plenty of food (pastries, fruit, yogurt, etc), but for tea, only generic Lipton, with half'n'half from the coffee line. Basically, my "I'm desperate" tea (as opposed to breakfast tea with milk). I'm not sure what else I could do, though, for the few times a year where this is my only choice. It's possible to stick a few of my preferred teabags in a pocket and use that, but there's really no good way to carry around a shot of emergency milk. So I sucked it up and had my Liptop with half'n'half in a promotional cup.
And a good thing, too, because although I don't think I underdressed that drastically (I had three shirt layers, but no jacket since I figured indoors wouldn't be THAT cold, silly me), sitting quietly in a large space for hours on end got me REALLY COLD, and the only other easily accessible drink was ice water at the tables. They were obviously really nice VIP meeting rooms, but I just kept looking at the sun and wanting to be basking in it somewhere warm. So I just refilled my tea every break, and kept a warm cup in my hands, and it was much more tolerable. Also incidentally, one nice thing about being a woman at an event like this is that there's never any wait for the restrooms.
Fortunately, the best part of the day came and lunch was served, and OMG, it was a delicious lunch. Plenty of options, for I'm pretty sure every food-orientation that I know of. Since I'm mostly omnivorous it meant everything was really yummy. Totally worth the price of admission, and made me really glad I was doing an extra 10 miles of exercise that day.
Afterwards, I did the mostly-uphill bike back to CMU, which was pretty tolerable except for the corner or Forbes that goes under the Boulevard of the Allies, right where traffic merges in and the hill goes on forever and I have to keep pushing and ugh. But I made it, and I even beat my officemate back to the office, as my travel time was longer, but parking and walking in afterwards were MUCH shorter. Made it to an afternoon meeting I was interested in, then headed home. My legs were pretty worn out by the end of the day, but not unduly so. Perhaps I should try trips like that more often.