LV/SFO… Done. Thank God. January 10, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in work.Tags: airport, facebook, lauren poulter, macworld, northwest, san francisco, southwest
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I am back in Minneapolis, and very, very happy to be here. I had a great time in Las Vegas, and for the most part the San Francisco trade show trip was an okay time, but the last 24 hours were insane as the three of us tried to solve the simple problem of getting two iMacs home. I wound up racing across an airport at the last minute searching for a UPS store because the boxes were too big to carry on the plane. Whatever, it’s over, I’m home, and I am very happy the trip is over. But I’m still a little upset over that whole ordeal and am sure it will carry over to work Monday.
I don’t really have any other tales from the trip to mention. We finished the show, packed up, ate dinner at the Wharf, and went to bed early. The flight was as smooth as can be. I will give big props to NWA for another great flight. I’ve heard people say Southwest is the superior airline, but I am now 10-for-10 receiving my luggage from NWA and 0-for-1 on Southwest.
It was quite the moment when I spotted Lauren at the airport to pick me up. I couldn’t run fast enough to meet back up and get on the road. I was even relieved to see our wildly messy house, Sarah, Walsh, Nick, Roscoe, and even black farm cat who apparently made a disastrous poopy mess of the basement while I was away.
I’ll work on posting pictures this weekend on Facebook. I’ll post a link as soon as they’re up.
LV/SFO: Day 7 January 9, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in baseball, vacation, work.Tags: giants, macworld, san francisco
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Seven full days on the road so far… and still two left. Thursday was the slowest of the days here on the trade show floor so far. I continued to demo the GX, which has been the most popular product here, probably due to its positioning on the end of the table. People have been very receptive to the new software for our printers/publishers. And the USB Flash Duplicator has been a crowd-pleaser.
Before the show started at 10, I had a chance to run down to AT&T Park for the San Francisco Giants baseball stadium tour. On the tour were a grand total of three people, not counting the tour guide. It was a chilly Thursday morning, so what can be expected. The tour lasted about two full hours and I got the chance to go right down on the field and run around. Sadly, the baseball field had been replaced by a football field since the stadium recently hosted the Emerald Bowl between Cal and Miami, so that took away from the experience a little. But overall I was still entertained and impressed by the stadium. Despite this being my third trip to San Francisco since 2001, it was the first time I’d so much as seen the stadium.
After the show, Josh and I went out for a very cheap $13 steak dinner at Tad’s Grill. I went back to the room and chatted with Lauren for a while, while watching TV and sipping on some Jim Beam. I was out cold by 10:30, and for the third time this week, Josh worried about me during the night due to me making strange noises in my sleep, or not breathing for long periods of time. Hmm… might wanna get that checked out.
But, today is the final day of the show and I’m excited to head for Minneapolis tomorrow. It seems like a very long time ago that we took off for the airport at 5am on January 2.
LV/SFO: Day 6 January 8, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in vacation, work.Tags: san francisco, macworld, sinbad, benjamin button, seafood
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The first day on the show floor was kinda fun. The second day was exhausting. That leaves us wondering how bad today will be! There weren’t many highlights yesterday other than a special visit to our booth by Sinbad. Yes, the Sinbad.
A special guest in our booth!
After the show, Barry, Josh, and I took a cab death ride to the wharf (the driver was a maniac) to eat a seafood dinner at Sabelle and Latore’s, a staple on the San Francisco seaboard for nearly a century. It was good, but the food was basically taken out of the ocean and dropped directly on our plates. I was thankful I ordered the swordfish. Josh and Barry had to fight for their shelled crab and shrimp.
After dinner, I parted ways with the group and headed to the local theater to catch “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.” I gotta say, it was great, but really dragged out. Once I understood the premise, it was pretty predictable. Brad Pitt was excellent as Benjamin, who was born as an old man and aged backwards until his death as a baby.
Today, we work the floor for another day and hope to bump into more celebrities. No plans yet for after the show, but I’m sure we’ll figure something out!
LV/SFO: Day 5 January 7, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in vacation, work.Tags: indian food, las vegas, macworld, san francisco
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Time for another quick morning post, live here from the Moscone Center in downtown San Francisco. We’ve still got a good 45 minutes before the show floor opens, but this is the only time I can get online for a few minutes.
Yesterday, Macworld kicked off its first day. We were quite busy here in booth 234 with lots of interested customers stopping by. Our next-door neighbors make an iPhone application that allows you to play the flute by blowing into your phone. They assembled an entire band of iPhone players and did “Stairway to Heaven” no fewer than 100 times. At first it was cool, but by mid-day we were requesting them to learn something new.
The show was tiring, but it went fairly quickly. We left promptly at 6, where Barry and I headed down to New Delhi for a delicious Indian dinner. We left stuffed to the brim and sweating bullets, just what you like to see from an Indian restaurant. I got back to the hotel around 8 and was planning on seeing a movie at the theater next door, but wound up staying in and talking to Lauren on the phone and watching ABC’s premiere of Scrubs, then reading a little before bed.
Not much else exciting to report from yesterday. I’m guessing it will be more of the same today. Tonight, the three of us plan to head down to the wharf and get some seafood for dinner.
All Set for 9 Days on the Road January 1, 2009
Posted by glanzerr in random, work.Tags: cat, las vegas, macworld, new years eve, san francisco, vacation
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Last night, a small group of us hung out and kept things low-key for New Years Eve. The four roommates plus Walsh, Jason, and Cooney played Seinfeld SceneIt, Scattegories, and a couple card games, while drinking moderately and listening to cable music channels in the 900-range. It was a good time, and we were able to save quite a bit of money by not going out.
Some 2009 firsts include…
- first thing eaten: a hamburger, grilled at about 12:50am
- first TV show watched: Flight of the Conchords
- first movie watched: Bachelor Party (starring a young Tom Hanks)
- first text message received: Charlie Ahern, surprisingly
- first phone call received: still waiting! You can be the first if you act fast!
- first dollar spent: at our local ghetto K-Mart, bought food for kitty (see story below)
- first business visited: Wells Fargo, to deposit checks
- first beverage consumed: Korbel champagne
In other news around the house, the cat (who I accidentally brought back to Minneapolis with me after Christmas break in South Dakota) is doing just fine and probably loving it here at our house. Lauren and I went through many different names for it before settling on Manu, which is short for Chargers backup tight end Brandon Manumaleuna, who happened to be on TV at that particular moment. Manu pretty much stays in the basement, where it is secure from Roscoe. It’s got a litter box, dish, and plenty of food, not to mention mice to catch… and no other animals to fight against for food. Yep, he’s got it pretty sweet here!
Tonight, Lauren and I had best go to bed early. We’ve got to be up very early tomorrow to catch our 7am flight to Las Vegas. We’ll be spending the next 2+ days in 60-degree weather, winning a fortune at the casinos. We still haven’t made any definite plans once we get there, but we do intend to eat at some interesting restaurants, do a small bit of gambling, and meet up with Dusty Hovde. I also want to track down my old favorite karaoke bar the gang went to in 2004 on spring break, and again in 2007 while at a trade show for work.
Sunday, Lauren and I will have to part ways for six whole nights! Since I met Lauren on November 30, 2007, the only time we were apart for more than a day was when I went home for Christmas for three days that year. So it will be quite different to be apart for a while. Lauren says she has plenty of stuff here to keep her busy, like starting to clean out the upstairs for when we move out at the end of February.
I, on the other hand, will be working tirelessly to push the latest products at Macworld for four straight days. If this show is anything like the other two I’ve done for the company, it will be exhausting. It truly is far more difficult than a normal day of work. You’re standing all day with very minimal breaks, giving the same shpeel over and over. But, it also means I’m in San Francisco for six days, away from the cold and snow, eating meals on the company’s dime. I’m sure we’ll find wholesome stuff to do at night after the show each day.
I’m not sure if I’ll have much access to the internet over the next nine days, but I’ll see if I can find time to update with pictures and tales of my travels. See everyone next Saturday afternoon! Except Josh and Barry, who I’ll see Monday in SF.
2008 at a Glance… or Should I Say Glanz? December 31, 2008
Posted by glanzerr in random.Tags: 2008, 2009, las vegas, macworld, san francisco, year in review
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2008 is very quickly winding down. With under seven hours to go, I can’t help but begin looking forward to the immediate fun to be had in 2009. Of course on Friday, Lauren and I are flying to Las Vegas for an inexpensive winter vacation. I’ll continue on to San Francisco Sunday night for the Macworld show. I’m excited for the trip! But before I get too carried away, I thought I’d take a moment to reflect on the magical year that was 2008.
The big highlights of the year involved the Glanzer children. In May, Jordan gave birth to Baby #3, Hudson William Krogman. And just a few days later, Alex said “I do” to longtime girlfriend Ann. Four short months later, it was my turn in the spotlight as Lauren accepted my marriage proposal in the presidential suite of the Minneapolis Depot hotel.
I also continued to slave away at MB Technology, where I suppose I am lucky to even still be employed after a few discrepencies between upper management and my website/blog. And when I would have had free time on the weekends, I instead loaded up my car and traveled all over Minnesota to DJ wedding dances. From Mankato to St. Cloud to St. Paul, I ate a lot of free meals, earned a few extra bucks, and heard “Cha Cha Slide” 3,493 times.
I traveled to Milwaukee and Chicago for baseball-related trips in the summer, and attended another 20 or so Twins home games. I also put together a men’s basketball team in Chaska, where we lost often but got a lot of exercise, as well as a co-ed softball team in Minneapolis, where we finished a respectable 5-8. What wasn’t respectable was our 0-20 record in the Eden Prairie co-ed “Gold League,” meant for players who play to win and not to enjoy themselves.
I also went tubing at Cannon Falls, took in a Vikings game, two Timberwolves games, a Wild game, reunited with old classmates over the 4th of July, and hosted Alex’s bachelor party full of minors.
I took my car to the shop more times than I can count. I got violently ill a couple times. I made 6.5 trips to South Dakota. I kidnapped a farm cat, flushed a fish (RIP Jarrod), and slept regularly with a beagle, albeit unwillingly.
Yes, 2008 certainly was a year to remember. What will 2009 hold in store? The big Glanzer/Poulter wedding, moving again, a trip to Las Vegas and San Francisco. Yes, 2009 should be one for the books as well.
