In honor of Earth day, I thought I'd pass along a link for a new website that sells designer reusable shopping bags. The owner of the company is an online acquaintance of mine and it's very exciting to see her vision online and for sale! Check them out!
22 April 2008
13 April 2008
Miami trip
My trip to Miami (and working only 5 hours a day as Duane said in the previous post!) went pretty well. The reason I went was because my company contracts out manufacturing of our patch product to a company in Miami. They have been having a little trouble so my company has placed 4 QA people there each week while they are manufacturing. We rotate shifts and it ends up being about 5 hours of work a day. Not too bad of a deal since we each get a car and room at the Dadeland Marriott. While I wasn't working I spent two days going to the Keys.
Wednesday I went South to the Keys. I started at John Pennekamp State park and walked a few of the trails and had lunch. I next drove South and made it to Long Key State park. I had been to both before when my college roommate, Margaret and I did a marathon 3 day trip to the Keys over a long weekend! On the way back North, I stopped at one of my favorite places in the Keys. Robbies is a dock where a bunch of HUGE tarpon hang out. You can buy a bucket of fish to feed them and when they aren't feeling fat and sluggish they'll even jump out of the water for the fish! This particular day they were being kind of lazy but they were still amazing to see. There was one that was, no exaggeration, as big as me. Definitely as long and almost as wide, and that ain't no fish tale! The only problem with feeding the tarpon are the pelicans. These birds act like they are starving! Robbies does have one enclosure that the not as large fish swim in and out of and it's a good place to avoid pelicans and feed them.
Thursday I went over to Key Biscane and Bill Baggs state park with Florida's cape lighthouse. I could see it from my hotel room which was pretty cool. I did a few walks and took lots of pictures. I went in the lighthouse too and up all 109 spiral steps. Let me tell you, it was tiring and dizzying but worth it! This lighthouse is no longer used to alert ship captains. They complained in the mid 1900's that the light wasn't tall enough so in the 1960's they installed a Eiffel tower type light 6 miles out on the coral reef.
My camera is horribly underexposing photos for some reason but here are a few I salvaged and liked. Also check out my flickr page for more!
Wednesday I went South to the Keys. I started at John Pennekamp State park and walked a few of the trails and had lunch. I next drove South and made it to Long Key State park. I had been to both before when my college roommate, Margaret and I did a marathon 3 day trip to the Keys over a long weekend! On the way back North, I stopped at one of my favorite places in the Keys. Robbies is a dock where a bunch of HUGE tarpon hang out. You can buy a bucket of fish to feed them and when they aren't feeling fat and sluggish they'll even jump out of the water for the fish! This particular day they were being kind of lazy but they were still amazing to see. There was one that was, no exaggeration, as big as me. Definitely as long and almost as wide, and that ain't no fish tale! The only problem with feeding the tarpon are the pelicans. These birds act like they are starving! Robbies does have one enclosure that the not as large fish swim in and out of and it's a good place to avoid pelicans and feed them.
Thursday I went over to Key Biscane and Bill Baggs state park with Florida's cape lighthouse. I could see it from my hotel room which was pretty cool. I did a few walks and took lots of pictures. I went in the lighthouse too and up all 109 spiral steps. Let me tell you, it was tiring and dizzying but worth it! This lighthouse is no longer used to alert ship captains. They complained in the mid 1900's that the light wasn't tall enough so in the 1960's they installed a Eiffel tower type light 6 miles out on the coral reef.
My camera is horribly underexposing photos for some reason but here are a few I salvaged and liked. Also check out my flickr page for more!
07 April 2008
Happy 1st Birthday to our blog!
I think it might technically be a bit later in the week, but I'm not exactly sure. At any rate it's been one year since we started this here weblog.
P.S. This is Duane posting - Kim is on an audit in Miami where she will be forced to work grueling 5 hour shifts every day this week! Can you believe these slave drivers?! :)
I bet she'll come back with some good pics from the Keys. I think she is planning to drive out there during the 19 hours per day she isn't working!
P.S. This is Duane posting - Kim is on an audit in Miami where she will be forced to work grueling 5 hour shifts every day this week! Can you believe these slave drivers?! :)
I bet she'll come back with some good pics from the Keys. I think she is planning to drive out there during the 19 hours per day she isn't working!
04 April 2008
Chattanooga visit
I was in Chattanooga Monday through Wednesday of this week. I didn't have high expectations of the town, but boy was I wrong! I went for an audit of a chemical manufacturer with my manager, Scott and a director of Quality from the UK, David. David arrived the day before us to deal with jet lag and when we arrived around dinner time on Monday, still did not have his bag. The poor chap was wearing a Chattanooga Choo Choo T-shirt, blazer, pants and sneakers when I met him!
We took him shopping and ate at the Big River Restaurant on Monday night. I also didn't have high expectations for the mall, after all the girl at the desk told us to either go to to Hamilton Place Mall or Wal-Mart. David seemed more like a mall kind of guy so we headed there. Again, I was pleasantly surprised! We entered through a store I'd never heard of, but I would have loved to shop around - it was a department store just for women called Belk! We also had to find a Wallgreen's so he could get deodorant and those types of things. While waiting int he car we saw across the street, a huge building with a neon sign stating it was an "Amputee clinic". We wondered if there were really that many amputees in Chattanooga to warrant an entire clinic! Anyway, we stayed at The Chattanoogan and as you could guess, I wasn't expecting much. Again, I was pleasantly surprised, my room looked just like the one on the website!
The audit, while exhausting, went well. The people at the company were very receptive to our suggestions and super nice. The company sat just below a high cliff where there was a Civil war battle and now there is an inclined railway and other attractions.
The site hosted us for dinner on Tuesday night. It was the nicest meal I've had yet while on business. We went to the St. John's Restaurant, where I didn't know what half the menu items were! We enjoyed ourselves in true southern style, slow, not rushed, taking over 3 hours just because we were having fun. I got a kick out of our British friend, he had been to some amazing places and has funny stories to boot (I guess the accent always helps too)! I had Maine Lobster and Parsnips soup (I later found out I liked parsnips but had no idea when ordering) and a Kobe beef dinner. Of course I had a Chocolate dessert - Chocolate molten cake. Everything was super! David was overjoyed with the service and time spent on the meal "Not anything like the rubbish service and rush you get in Philadelphia, yeah?"
The second day of the audit again went well and our flights home went off without a hitch. Too bad I didn't have more time in Chattanooga, the little town that defied all my (low) expectations!
We took him shopping and ate at the Big River Restaurant on Monday night. I also didn't have high expectations for the mall, after all the girl at the desk told us to either go to to Hamilton Place Mall or Wal-Mart. David seemed more like a mall kind of guy so we headed there. Again, I was pleasantly surprised! We entered through a store I'd never heard of, but I would have loved to shop around - it was a department store just for women called Belk! We also had to find a Wallgreen's so he could get deodorant and those types of things. While waiting int he car we saw across the street, a huge building with a neon sign stating it was an "Amputee clinic". We wondered if there were really that many amputees in Chattanooga to warrant an entire clinic! Anyway, we stayed at The Chattanoogan and as you could guess, I wasn't expecting much. Again, I was pleasantly surprised, my room looked just like the one on the website!
The audit, while exhausting, went well. The people at the company were very receptive to our suggestions and super nice. The company sat just below a high cliff where there was a Civil war battle and now there is an inclined railway and other attractions.
The site hosted us for dinner on Tuesday night. It was the nicest meal I've had yet while on business. We went to the St. John's Restaurant, where I didn't know what half the menu items were! We enjoyed ourselves in true southern style, slow, not rushed, taking over 3 hours just because we were having fun. I got a kick out of our British friend, he had been to some amazing places and has funny stories to boot (I guess the accent always helps too)! I had Maine Lobster and Parsnips soup (I later found out I liked parsnips but had no idea when ordering) and a Kobe beef dinner. Of course I had a Chocolate dessert - Chocolate molten cake. Everything was super! David was overjoyed with the service and time spent on the meal "Not anything like the rubbish service and rush you get in Philadelphia, yeah?"
The second day of the audit again went well and our flights home went off without a hitch. Too bad I didn't have more time in Chattanooga, the little town that defied all my (low) expectations!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
