Hotel Del

This is the view from the balcony of room 3279 at the Hotel Del Coronado, where my new company's "annual event" is being held this year. Beautiful old hotel and great location. I got a room with a courtyard view, but the beach and ocean are right out the back door of the hotel. Tonight was the initial get-together dinner and they had a guest speaker for afterward. The husband of one of the women who works here is a Navy S.E.A.L. They were seated at my table. I am a pathetic, fat, lazy loser. Not just compared to the S.E.A.L., but he didn't make it any easier for me to ignore. Anyway, he was a good speaker and he had some interesting stories during the Q&A. Enough for tonight. I'm thinking about getting up early and going to the fitness center. I probably won't, but thinking about it is more than I've done lately. It's a start. Kind of.

New Job: Day 1

So today was my first day at the new gig. I show up at a little before 9:00 this morning (after a 6:05am flight) and find out I'm just in time for the weekly Director's meeting. Great. Nothing like sitting front and center at an important meeting your first 5 minutes on the job. Especially after on 3+ hours sleep. At least nobody asked me anything. I'm still waiting for my laptop and BlackBerry, but I should have both by the end of the week. It's is amazing how disconnected you feel when you don't have a work e-mail or laptop. I'm sure I'll be as annoyed by the e-mails eventually, but I miss being connected.

I'm in San Marcos, CA, for the next couple of days learning more about the company and what they're going to expect of me. Probably will expect more than MoO, but it's all sounding good so far. The one down-side of San Diego is the difference in climate from Sacramento. I'm used to dry heat and sunshine. Went out to dinner tonight and felt a little cold sitting on the patio. Fortunately, I found a place right next to the fire pit. Toasty warm! There's a section of town here called "Restaurant Row" where there are 20-30 restaurants in one big area. Makes it really convenient when you're not sure what you are in the mood for. I actually went to find a sports-bar and thought this looked better. Mostly because of the fire pit. I might have more tomorrow, but I brought the good camera down to get pictures from the Hotel Del Mar on Wednesday and Thursday. Bitchin' hotel, from everything I've seen. Definite updates from there.

D.Q.: Orangevale-Style

So Rachelle and I stopped at the D.Q. for a little soft-serve on the way home from dinner tonight and I had to use the bathroom. "Why would you ever use the bathroom at the Orangevale D.Q." you might ask yourself. Good question! Probably had something to do with the 22oz Sierra Nevada at the Outback, but that's a whole different issue. Anyway, I'm in the bathroom and I notice they have the toilet-paper padlocked to the wall. Definitely the sign of a classy joint. Makes you wonder how many rolls of toilet-paper got lifted before they decided to drop $5 on a Master Lock.