Missouri Visit

Megan, Morgan, and I went to Missouri last weekend where there family lives and a lot of them still reside. I've been so busy with work and school (test) that haven't had a chance to write about it until now.

The plan was for Morgan to come up to Overland Park and drive out their Friday (2/16/07). The drive takes about 4 hours from OP. Unfortunately, the weather was really bad and the blowing snow was really bad for road visibility. We stayed the night and headed out in the morning after the snowing had quit.

Besides being scared half to death with Megan driving on the slippery roads, we made it safely to their grandmother Judy's (where we usually stay) a little after noon. She lives in Middletown, MO (map). We just kind of hung out and Megan, Morgan, Judy and I played poker later that evening. Morgan won with me in second place :(

Sunday (2/18/07), I got to go ice fishing with Megan's dad. This was the highlight for me and I got all bundled up for it:


Here's another pic of me. Megan's dad has a buddy where we've gone fishing before that has a good sized pond. We went out there and used an auger to reopen some holes that had already been used several days before. I ended up catching about 8 crappie and 7 bluegill. Marty (Megan's dad) caught at least this many if not more. The ice was about 8 inches thick and apparently they quit ice fishing when it gets to about 4 inches. It's a good thing we went last weekend because it warmed up a lot and I think that was the last opportunity to go this year.

We also went to a hospital in Quincy (map) on Sunday to see Megan and Morgan's grandfather. We then played poker again that night and this time I won and Morgan came in second :)

We headed back to OP on Monday. The drive was much smoother because the roads were clear so I didn't have to worry about being on edge the whole time (at least as much as the drive there).

The "Other" Side

On Thursday (2/15/07), the manager (actually, my old manager) in the KS office I work with and I went to the Engineering and Computer Science Career Fair at KU in Lawrence. They had the career fair in the Kansas Union (map) and it was just like I remembered it.

Although it was only about 2 and a half years since I graduated from KU, it seemed like it had just been yesterday that I had attended the career fair looking for a job myself. Which, by the way, I never got a job this way :(

It was a relief to know that the students I talked to were just as nervous as I was when I was in their position. After they realized that I was not much older than them and I was actually still in school, most of them loosened up around me.

The fair started at 12:30 (with an awesome buffet lunch before at 11:30), but by 3:00 we had only gotten about 3 resumes. We were worried that it was going to be a bust, but the last 2 hours until 5:00 were much better and we ended up with about 20 resumes. I even talked to a couple of graduate students that we might consider for the team I'm on: SAM (Strategic Account Management).

I definitely don't miss the days of looking for a job and the notorious catch 22: employers are looking for applicants with experience but the applicant needs the job in order to get the experience they're looking for.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Early Valentine's

Megan and I both have class this Valentine's Day on Wednesday so we decided to celebrate on Saturday (2/10/07). My managers had given me a $100 gift certificate to Morton's, The Steakhouse to show their appreciation, so we decided to go there for dinner. I made reservations a week ahead of time and we went to the KC location (map).

This had to have been the fanciest place I have ever eaten at. Megan and I were the youngest people there by 20 years! There was an old lady there that was wearing this over-the-top furry hat that reminded of something you would see at a party in The Great Gatsby.

One unique dining feature at Morton's is the visual presentation of the food. They bring out several different cuts of meat including a live, yes - live lobster and describes each piece of meat and complimentary sauces, sides, etc.

The food was incredible. We started out with one of their cheaper bottles of Riesling ($38). We had the Jumbo Lump Crab Cake ($12) as an appetizer:


Note that the appetizer version of the crab cake had only one of these while we were expecting at least a few :) Megan then had a Caesar Salad ($8.50) while I had the Center Cut Iceberg Salad ($9.50). Finally, for the entree, we both ordered a steak (imagine that). Megan got the Single Cut Filet Mignon with Sauce Bearnaise ($36) medium done:


While I got the Porterhouse Steak ($44) done medium-well:


We both shared mashed potatoes ($7) with the steaks because the waiter informed us that this was enough for two people to share. We were ridiculously full and both of us ended up bringing home a bit of our steak.

After tip, the final tab was $200 - by far the most I have ever racked up for two people. Even-though I had a $100 gift certificate, it was still $100 out of pocket. All-in-all, it was a unique experience and Megan and I both agreed that their steaks were the best we have ever had.

Boston Touch and Go

I just got into Boston about an hour ago. I'm staying at the the Hyatt Harborside. It's super nice. I have a king size bed, couch, desk, and a huge bathroom. I'm here because my managers and I are meeting for a few hours with one of our biggest customers. I'll be back tomorrow tonight. A quick trip, eh?

Since it's so freakin cold out, I decided to stay in and eat at the hotel's Harborside Grill and Patio. I figured since they had an executive chef, it couldn't be that bad. I indulged in Boston's favorites: the clam chowder and Samuel Adams Boston Lager. I was definitely not disappointed. For my entree, I had the surf and turf which consisted of a fillet and lobster tail with some yellow potato concoction. It was amazing!

Well, I'm gonna do a little work and then I'm off to the hotel lounge for some more Samuel Adams to watch the basketball games.

UPDATE (2/25/07): Added pics from my trip