Return to Index for 2003

On this album page, I have put any pictures that I took on the various business trips that I made during 2003. I didn't always go to someplace new and interesting, so I didn't always take my camera. But if I thought there might be an opportunity for some picture-taking, I did.

Many of the pictures on this page are pretty mundane; a lot of them are pictures of the company buildings, the classrooms and the attendees. But I did take quite a few pictures of the surrounding areas sometimes, and that's the main reason for having this album page. As I have done before, I've provided you quick links at the top left of this page to take you to any particular trip, but you can always just scroll through them if you wish. There are links at the end of each trip section to take you back to the top of the page, should you wish to go back to the Index for 2003 at any time.

July 15-17:
Data Junction Corp. (Austin, TX)

Austin is by far the most frequent business trip I make- at least once a month. I come down to teach classes, work on new features, do documentation and so on. I suppose it would have been easier to move there, but I am quite happy in Dallas and don't mind the drive back and forth.

This week, I have come down to teach a basic class and work on some new course materials.

I just took a couple of pictures this time. One was of our department administrative assistant, Peggy, and the other was of one of my fellow instructors (seated) and another employee who happened to be in the room with us. You can look at that picture here.

July 21-23:
LepCorp (Buffalo, NY)

I left Dallas on Sunday evening, July 20, to do a three-day class for LepCorp, a company that provides statistical and monitoring services for the electric power industry.

I left from DFW Airport in late afternoon, and arrived in Buffalo about eleven. I stayed at a Ramada Inn just outside the downtown area. I commuted into downtown and parked in a garage quite near the LepCorp offices (they only occupied part of one floor in the building in the center of the picture).

There were only two people in the class, and so we spent little time in lecture but mostly just worked together on their own projects to illustrate the capabilities of Data Junction.

On Wednesday, I went out at lunchtime into downtown Buffalo to take some pictures, and in the afternoon, since I had some extra time before my plane back to Dallas, so I took the opportunity to go to Niagara Falls to see what I could see. Since these pictures have nothing to do with the business of this trip, they are on their own album page which can be reached through the Index for 2003.

August 6-7:
Data Junction Corp. (Austin, TX)

This week, I have come down to Austin to evaluate a new instructor/consultant (whose name escapes me now). She is doing a class for a few clients (one of whom is the fellow in the front row in the pictures below) and a couple of Data Junction folks who want to learn more about how clients are using our software.

I just took a couple of pictures this time; they are below:

August 11-16:
Plant Equipment, Inc. (Temecula, CA)

This week, I have a trip to California to do a five-day class for Plant Equipment, Inc., in Temecula, California. The way the scheduling is working, I am having to fly out on Sunday evening but won't be able to fly back until Saturday morning, as there is no flight I can get from either San Diego or Ontario, other than a red-eye, that leaves an an appropriate time.

The best flights I could get went in and out of Ontario, California, about sixty miles north of Temecula. I arrived from Dallas about eight-thirty, and had dinner near the Ontario Airport, and then drove down I-15 to Temecula.

My hotel in Temecula was, as it often is, a Holiday Inn Express. I had not been able to find a hotel in Temecula that had the right kind of exercise bike for me, but the Holiday Inn website said that this hotel had complimentary passes to a local fitness center, and I checked them out to make sure that THEY had recumbent bikes. So it all worked out. I got to the hotel about eleven-thirty.

The hotel was pretty convenient to the office where I would be working. I only had to drive about a mile north on Jefferson and then turn into an industrial park to find Plant Equipment Inc. at the corner of Rio NEDO and Calle Emplenado.

Plant Equipment Inc. makes equipment for 911 call centers and notification centers, and the examples of their own data that we used during the class were interesting. The class went well, and I think everyone was pleased with the training.

I did take a number of other pictures while on this trip, but since they have nothing to do with the business trip itself, I have put them on their own album page for this same date. You can reach that album page by returning to the Index for 2003 and then selecting "August 11-16: A Trip to Temecula, California."

On Friday afternoon, after class, I went to the fitness club one more time to work out, then drove up towards Ontario Airport, stopping at a Best Western on Central Avenue in Chino, CA. I had a late dinner near the hotel, and flew home early the next morning.

September 10-12:
Harte-Hanks, Inc. (Billerica, MA)

This week I taught a three-day class at Harte-Hanks, northwest of Boston. They are a direct-mail advertising firm. There was not much interesting this week, and I did nothing else but commute back and forth to the class.

My Hotel

As I quite often do when I am working anywhere around Boston, I stay out in Waltham, Mass. It is a lot cheaper out here, and there are lots more restaurants and things of the type I would patronize. Also, the Holiday Inn Express has very nice rooms and a fitness center that has the type of exercise bicycle that I prefer.

Usually, I wouldn't take pictures of my hotel, but this time the Holiday Inn gave me one of their top-floor rooms, and it was unusual because of the layout and of the sloped ceilings. So this time I did take a few pictures- one of the sleeping area, one of the entry (with the door down at the end of the hall to the left) and my work area.

Commuting to Harte-Hanks/Around the Office

Getting to Harte-Hanks took me about thirty minutes each way, pretty much a straight shot up Route 123 and then up Route 3 to the town of Billerica, and an office park near the center of town.

Harte-Hanks occupied three buildings in the office park. The largest was the production building where much of the direct mail that they produce is put together. My class was in a nondescript building nearby.

About the only odd thing in the area were all the ducks that seemed to be wandering around, although there was only a small pond.

The class was quite normal and went quite well.

October 19-24:
Allegheny County Government (Pittsburgh, PA)

This week I have come to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to do a week-long class for the Allegheny County Government. I am staying out west in a town called Greentree, at a Best Western that I have stayed at before. Each day, I drive into the city through the Fort Pitt Tunnel to park in a garage near the office building the county government uses. The class was a pretty normal one, and I only took one business-related picture- the one of the classroom and a couple of the class members that you can see at left.

I did take some pictures in and around Pittsburgh while I was here, but I have put them on a regular album page.

November 18-21:
Omgeo Corporation (Boston, MA)

This week, I have made a trip to Boston, MA, to do a class for Omgeo, which is a computer firm that provides support to brokerages and other companies to help handle the paperwork involved in securities trades. The class is to be a normal three-day affair.

The Omgeo Office

The Omgeo offices were in downtown Boston, actually quite near the new Seaport renovations. The area was all torn up when I was there, and on the first day it was hard to find a place to park. The office itself was a three-story affair in a long row of upscale office buildings and lofts. The offices were quite nice; business must be good.

My Hotel

As I quite often do when I am in Boston, I stay out in Waltham, Mass. It is a lot cheaper out here, and there are lots more restaurants and things of the type I would patronize. Also, the Holiday Inn Express has very nice rooms and a fitness center that has the type of exercise bicycle that I prefer.

Commuting to the Office

Getting to the office from the hotel was really quite easy, although it did take me a little over a half-hour each way. I just hop on Route 128 and go south to the interchange with the Mass Pike, and then take that all the way into town to an exit near the Omgeo office. Then I just have to navigate a few blocks of local streets to find the parking garage right near their building.

The Class

The had a pretty nice classroom, and the class went very well. There were only about six people altogether.

On the last day, I took a couple of movies to introduce the class members; you can watch those movies with the players below:

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