Postapalooza: Arizona
And finally, a couple more weeks after Comic-Con was a trip to Arizona for work. This was the last trip for which I was originally scheduled (Paris and Frankfurt being the EU versions of the same trip). I found out the week before I was to leave that now I'm going to China the day after I get back from Phoenix because I'm the only engineer who can go with my teammate who had already planned on going. Yay. I'd hoped to get through at least one year with this company without going to China but apparently this won't be that year.
We got to Phoenix easily enough on Sunday evening. It's a short flight so it was nothing exciting. This site is only half the size of the other ones we've done so we were basically done after three days. I still had some work to do because I had to work with a vendor to get some equipment that was DOA replaced but we had literally nothing left by Thursday.
Saturday we drove up to the Salt River for some tubing. Sure, it was a bazillion degrees outside and the sun was beating down on us but with enough beer apparently no one noticed. Or at least, that was for two hours. We got out at the first exit point because they had run out of beer (I had plenty of water so I don't know what was the big deal). I was having fun. It's the first time I've been tubing and it was quite relaxing to just float along the river for a few hours. I would have liked to go for the full five hours but the rest were complaining about the lack of beer. It probably ended up being for the best since I managed to burn my shins quite badly just from the two hours. I crashed for a nap when we got back.
Sunday, two of us drove down near Tucson to check out the Biosphere 2. It was a ninety minute drive so it wasn't exactly close. I vaguely remember the news about it back in the nineties. It's called Biosphere 2 because Biosphere 1 is the planet Earth. Ooo...deep. Anyway, it was pretty interesting but while originally it was designed to be an enclosed ecosystem with humans living inside it that ended a while ago and now it's basically a giant greenhouse. I mean, it's more than that and the science research they're able to do in this huge, super-controlled environment is amazing but from a tourist perspective it was only moderately entertaining. Walking through it was pretty cool and the machinery and technology involved in the project were neat but it wasn't quite as awesome as I'd expected from what I'd remembered about it. I'm still glad I went but I wouldn't have minded doing it as part of a bigger Tucson trip than a three hour round trip from Phoenix just for it. We also stopped on the way back to walk around downtown Phoenix and discovered that we were the only ones IN downtown Phoenix. Apparently no one hangs out there at 5pm on Sunday. None of the museums, shops or restaurants were open and we were two of a handful of people even walking around. Oh well. There wasn't a whole lot to see, anyway, and it hadn't changed that much from when I went driving around it six years ago. But it was nice to see. I can see where it has the potential to be interesting but I guess not on Sunday evening.
Monday I had lunch with a friend of mine who lives in Phoenix with whom I lost touch years ago. I couldn't really remember how we'd parted so I was a little hesitant when I had emailed her to let her know I was here. Apparently whatever had happened neither of us were focused on it because we were both excited to meet. We had lunch at Havana Cafe. I'd never had Cuban food before and she said it was really good. The only thing I'd said when she asked where I wanted to eat was I wanted a local restaurant since all we'd eaten at up until then were chain restaurants. We ate and talked for a few hours. It was really nice to reconnect with her. Despite both of us having changed a bit since our twenties, it still felt much like the old days. I didn't really realize how much I'd missed talking to her until we parted. Hopefully, we won't disappear for another six years.
Today was all work. The site we built went live today (or will soon, at least). We started at midnight and should be done soon. I think this is the longest of these maintenances yet. Some stuff took quite a bit longer than we'd expected and we ended up fixing it only by accident. Whoops. Oh well. We'll be done soon and I can get back to bed.
We all had our flights changed to leave tomorrow afternoon. Originally, everyone else was scheduled to stay until Friday and only I was flying back tomorrow (because I need to go to China on Thursday). But there's really no reason to stick around long after the site goes live and no one really wants to hang out here any longer than they must. I'd be looking forward to going home but it's basically just a stopover on my way to Beijing at this point. Oh well. At least I can get some laundry done.
We got to Phoenix easily enough on Sunday evening. It's a short flight so it was nothing exciting. This site is only half the size of the other ones we've done so we were basically done after three days. I still had some work to do because I had to work with a vendor to get some equipment that was DOA replaced but we had literally nothing left by Thursday.
Saturday we drove up to the Salt River for some tubing. Sure, it was a bazillion degrees outside and the sun was beating down on us but with enough beer apparently no one noticed. Or at least, that was for two hours. We got out at the first exit point because they had run out of beer (I had plenty of water so I don't know what was the big deal). I was having fun. It's the first time I've been tubing and it was quite relaxing to just float along the river for a few hours. I would have liked to go for the full five hours but the rest were complaining about the lack of beer. It probably ended up being for the best since I managed to burn my shins quite badly just from the two hours. I crashed for a nap when we got back.
Sunday, two of us drove down near Tucson to check out the Biosphere 2. It was a ninety minute drive so it wasn't exactly close. I vaguely remember the news about it back in the nineties. It's called Biosphere 2 because Biosphere 1 is the planet Earth. Ooo...deep. Anyway, it was pretty interesting but while originally it was designed to be an enclosed ecosystem with humans living inside it that ended a while ago and now it's basically a giant greenhouse. I mean, it's more than that and the science research they're able to do in this huge, super-controlled environment is amazing but from a tourist perspective it was only moderately entertaining. Walking through it was pretty cool and the machinery and technology involved in the project were neat but it wasn't quite as awesome as I'd expected from what I'd remembered about it. I'm still glad I went but I wouldn't have minded doing it as part of a bigger Tucson trip than a three hour round trip from Phoenix just for it. We also stopped on the way back to walk around downtown Phoenix and discovered that we were the only ones IN downtown Phoenix. Apparently no one hangs out there at 5pm on Sunday. None of the museums, shops or restaurants were open and we were two of a handful of people even walking around. Oh well. There wasn't a whole lot to see, anyway, and it hadn't changed that much from when I went driving around it six years ago. But it was nice to see. I can see where it has the potential to be interesting but I guess not on Sunday evening.
Monday I had lunch with a friend of mine who lives in Phoenix with whom I lost touch years ago. I couldn't really remember how we'd parted so I was a little hesitant when I had emailed her to let her know I was here. Apparently whatever had happened neither of us were focused on it because we were both excited to meet. We had lunch at Havana Cafe. I'd never had Cuban food before and she said it was really good. The only thing I'd said when she asked where I wanted to eat was I wanted a local restaurant since all we'd eaten at up until then were chain restaurants. We ate and talked for a few hours. It was really nice to reconnect with her. Despite both of us having changed a bit since our twenties, it still felt much like the old days. I didn't really realize how much I'd missed talking to her until we parted. Hopefully, we won't disappear for another six years.
Today was all work. The site we built went live today (or will soon, at least). We started at midnight and should be done soon. I think this is the longest of these maintenances yet. Some stuff took quite a bit longer than we'd expected and we ended up fixing it only by accident. Whoops. Oh well. We'll be done soon and I can get back to bed.
We all had our flights changed to leave tomorrow afternoon. Originally, everyone else was scheduled to stay until Friday and only I was flying back tomorrow (because I need to go to China on Thursday). But there's really no reason to stick around long after the site goes live and no one really wants to hang out here any longer than they must. I'd be looking forward to going home but it's basically just a stopover on my way to Beijing at this point. Oh well. At least I can get some laundry done.