It's Friday...I think. For some strange reason, after another night of coding and chatting with Woody, I decided to watch "No Country for Old Men". Umm... that was a mistake. The movie was good, but getting to sleep at 4:00 AM wasn't. Oh well. Once again, shower and shave in the hotel, then it's back to the bus for some more twister and guy talk. Actually more coding and coding.
Woody and Jason are working on getting the bus cam app ready. Sterling, our driver, is doing maintenance on the bus. Erin has left for the airport and I didn't get a chance to say goodbye. C' est la vie, there will be other times to see her. We finally start heading up to Red Bull about 3. A slight problem though, the official invitation says 7:00, the Code Trip web site says 6:00. Uh oh.
Traffic is bad and we're hardly moving. But Sterling has this amazing ability to bend time and space and we pull up to Red Bull at 5:30. Just freaking amazing.
We pull into the Red Bull parking lot, and I say to myself, "self...there's not enough spaces for all the people, with all this grass." The parking lot has geometric designs made from parkable grass. Nice.
Walking into the building is one of the most amazing things. If looking at the building from the top, picture two long, skinny buildings, with 30 feet between them. Now, in this space is a wood floor, which is bisected by a glass wall. Looking closer at the glass wall it is actually a roll up door. Beyond the glass wall/door, is a 20 foot high skateboard ramp. A freaking skateboard ramp in the office. But wait, it gets better. It's not just a ramp, it's actually a wave, with two crests and two valleys. The end of this rampwavybreakyourneckonit thingy ends up in the movie theatre where they have meetings. Absolutely amazing!
I spend some time helping to setup, and guarding the swag. Like anyone would want Internet Explorer T-shirts :). But some of the employees start chatting with me, so I pass shirts out. You would've thought they were made of spun gold.
Music is on, party is starting. A bunch of my friends start showing up. I get this great picture of Woody, Jason, David, and me, and have my first Red Bull and Vodka. Holy Crap, what a drink. I'm feeling like really great and it's time for the presentation. David has "thrown" together an app in about 20 minutes to show the power of SQL Server Data Services. Then Woody presents the iZoofari app from Interknowlogy. JD Lewin, the new roadie, asks if the app will show visitors the exit routes for when the tigers escape. It's time for the raffle and I think we need some excitement, so I go on down, start grabbing T-shirts and hurling them into the audience. Yeah baby!
Carmina is on her way, lots of people are excited to meet her, but an accident on the I-10 has slowed things down. She doesn't get there till about 9:15-ish. As she walks in, she's the Belle of the Ball. She was nervous to meet these people, but you wouldn't have known it by how she just plays the room. Both Geoff and Woody give her hugs and everyone is genuinely happy to meet her. I love this woman.
Party starts winding down. I quit drinking Red Bull and Vodka about 90 minutes before and just kept slamming Red Bull straight. Carmina has been "enjoying herself" and is having quite the good time. She asks Jason if he's single and wants to meet her sister. Sister couldn't do any much better than Jason...that's all I have to say. We make our good-byes and head to the bus to get my bag. Her and Woody talk, smile and hug some more. Then the most amazing thing happens.
David is getting ready to leave in his taxi. Now remember, we've only known each other for 24 hours. He asks if I'm OK to drive because if not, he'll get us a cab. I say, "do you know how far away we live?" His response, "I don't fucking care. You're too important to take a chance on." He then goes on to tell me that "anything I ever need, just ask." Wow..what a guy!
We head out, Carmina needs to pee so we stop in at a Denny's and grab some grub. We get home about 1:15 AM. I send David an email that we arrived safely, then head to bed.
A bit of advice. If you're gonna drink Red Bull, it's best to do so before noon. :)
Thoughts and observations on this trip in a day or two.
J
Update - My new friends at TechZulu did this video featuring my other new friend David on SSDS. You can see what the Red Bull offices look like, and David's presentation on SSDS
http://www.viddler.com/explore/techzulu/videos/7/
Now playing in my head Coolio/Rhino Hi-Five: Coolio - EP - Rhino Hi-Five: Coolio - EP - Fantastic Voyage