Last night I met my good friend Tim (Big Country) in NYC for dinner and a few drinks.   Tim has been in Chicago for about 4.5 years now.  Every so often we get to catch up with each other if we have customer engagements in the same area or if we can get to training.

A few folks from work met up and we hit Ted’s Montana Grill on 51st for some good Bison burgers.  Mmmm!  Afterwards we went to the Playwright Tavern on 49th Street where Tim showed us his drinking skills.

Although it was a short visit as I had to head to Long Island, it is always good to see Tim.

-Allen

So I am up in Burlington, VT on business and I had the day to myself.  I made the pilgrimage that any Phish phan must make when they come to Burlington.  Nectar’s!  The bar where Phish got their start.  This is not the first time that I have been here.  A few years ago, I went with Susan and my parents.  Allegedly last time we missed Page by a few hours (according to the waitress at the time).  This time, I was by myself and the experience was a little different.  School is out for winter break and there is a HUGE storm up here that is dumping about 2 feet of snow.  Regardless, I still enjoyed my lunch and hanging out in the bar, even though there were no Phish sightings.    Although the half mile walk back to the hotel in a windy snow storm was not fun, the trek to Nectar’s was well worth it. 

"What ever you do, take care of your shoes…." 

-Allen

On a recommendation from a good friend, I installed the Windows  Mobile Traveler’s Toolkit gadget for Vista today.  This thing is awesome!  It allows you to track flights, weather, travel guides, and more for cities you where you are traveling.  This build appears to even work for some of the international cities that I have visited.  Not sure how I lived without this.  Thanks JohnRo!

-Allen

This will make you want to bring your own glasses and towels the next time you have to travel.

GROSS!!!

-Allen

This past Friday, Susan and I held our annual holiday party and Toys for Tots drive at our house.  We encourage all guest to bring a new unwrapped toy to the party to help make a needy child’s holiday a little bit happier.  This year we broke our previous record and beat our goal collecting $519.89 worth of toys!!!

Thanks to everybody who was able to make it for your donations and thanks to those that were unable to make it and still sent donations!  It only takes a little to make a big difference.

-Allen