Stormsail

From San Francisco I flew into Denver, Colorado so I could meet my boss in the Broomfield office and after a short drive from the center of downtown Denver I made it to the vicinity of the Broomfield office….except I’d got the address of the old StorageTek campus…..doh. Anyway driving around that campus that I spotted a large number of Praire Dogs poking out of their holes and managed to get some close ups!

Eventually after phoning my boss Mark I managed to get to the right office and mingle with some of the folks in the office. I managed to leave the office early with Mark as he and his wife Kat were cooking dinner for me which was very kind of them. I must say looking around their newly built property you do seem to get a lot of space for the money you pay. Still after stuffing my face and an attempt to eat a BBQ’d Jalapeno pepper I called it a day and made my way back to the Comfort Inn in downtown Denver, although had to negotiate the one way system…..

Anyway thanks to both of them for feeding me and showing me around. Perhaps I can return the favour if they visit the UK.

Continuing on my trip in the US with work I’ve now ended up at Santa Clara in Silicon Valley at the headquarters of my employer Sun Microsystems. Funnily enough the Santa Clara campus was formally the Agnews Developmental Center and originally known as “The Great Asylum for the Insane” was established as a facility for the care of the mentally ill. So I guess you do have to be slightly insane to work for Sun and probably explains why I fit so well into the company!

It kinda of explains the serene surroundings in the campus!

Next stop on my visit is a brief stop off at the Broomfield office in Denver, Colorado before flying home at the weekend.

What can I say…..we beat the French! Still I had to go and watch it whilst in Las Vegas and managed to find a pub called the Crown and Anchor down the road from the hotel I was staying in. The pub was packed sideways and the game incredibly tense….but again Wilkinson’s boot saved the day. Now we’re going to face South Africa in the final but can we seek revenge after the 36-0 defeat in the group stages……

So after waiting for surveys, solicitors, money to transfer from Northern Rock I’ve finally completed on buying my first house in Blasingstoke. So once I get back from the US it’s time to get serious with the DIY.

As you can see it does require quite a bit of work and I intead to install central heating, sort out the damp issue, install a firewall, decorate and install a wood burning stove before I move in…..still should keep my quite for a while and probably poor….

It’s good getting free trips through work and especially this one on a visit to Las Vegas in Nevada USA. I guess I would have enjoyed it slightly more if I’d not gone down with man flu the day before I flew! Typical really…..anyway the main reason for visiting was for Sun’s technical symposium. It’s a good excuse for techies to mingle and meet with other techies around the globe……or for a jolly depending on how you look at it. Most of us stayed in the Paris Hotel on the strip where the rest of the top hotels are.

I have to say that I found the entire Vegas experience over the top but I guess that’s the plan. It’s got a slight surreal air about it what with fantasy hotels and sight, sounds etc but that’s the attaction so many people enjoy. I only managed to gamble $6 but I’m sure many others gamble a lot more. There are slot machines in every hotel, shop and even at the airport and even come with seat in front of them so you can sit down whilst giving away your money to the casino conglomerates.

Later in the week a small group of us took the hour drive to the Hoover Dam which is south of Las Vegas. It’s quite an incredible piece of engineering and it’s well worth visiting the vistor’s centre and taking the tour of the complex underground especially viewing the generating equipment.

Next on the hit list was a trip to the Grand Canyon which Jarod and I took via hiring a car. Embarking on the 10 hour round trip seemed like a crazy plan but the long journey across the state was worth it for the brief viewing pleasure of the canyon.

So if you’re really bored then you can see my entire Vegas trip pictures here.