I'm out on the west coast this week visiting friends and family before flying off to the MVP Summit in Seattle next week. This week I'm visiting with members of Kim's family in California. We're actually in Orange County; a beautiful bit of countryside complete with mountains on one horizon and the Pacific Ocean on the other. The weather has been blissful, if a bit dry for this Georgia native. What can I say - 99% humidity has become normal for me.
I've been having a wonderful time out here. My most strenuous mental activity so far has been deciding what to eat for each meal. I've run the gamut in terms of cuisine, from Del Taco to 5' in Laguna Beach. I'm actually writing this blog entry about that restaurant experience. 5' (Five Feet) has been among the best dining experiences I've ever had. The ambiance is great, the food was excellent and the wine pairings allowed me to taste bottles I would never have known about otherwise.
Today I'm going to DisneyLand and tomorrow I fly out of sunny CA up to frigid Spokane Washington to visit my family. I've got several days out there and then I fly to Seattle for the Summit. I'm in the SQL Server group so all of my sessions are SQL focused. I'm planning on coming back with a ton of knowledge about the next generation of SQL Server, code name Katmai.
Last Thursday I went to go see Billy Joel in concert. The ride down to Philips Arena sucked pretty badly with all of the rain, but not as much as walking the several blocks from the car to the arena. By the time the four of us managed to get inside, we were completely soaked. Once we made it inside the evening began to look up. I was actually standing in line picking up some beverages when he and the band came out on stage and started up.
The concert was excellent, ranging from songs I knew by heart (I still know all the words to "We Didn't Start the Fire") to songs from albums I didn't know existed (mostly this meant stuff from the mid to early 70s). At one point he even brought out one of his roadies to sing AC/DC's Highway to Hell, which was both really funny and really engaging for the audience.
I had a great time and this was completely worth the price of the tickets. Oh - did I mention that the tickets were free? One of Kim's oldest friends in Atlanta happens to be married to the nephew of Billy Joel's tour manager. Whenever Billy Joel comes through Atlanta, they always have some extra free tickets. While the nephew and his wife sat in box seats, the rest of us had to make due with sitting about 100 ft. away from the stage.
Great show and great time, terrible weather not withstanding.