Seattle

This was uploaded on my HTC EVO using the Blogger app.  Let's see how good it is.

Friday afternoon most of the team had flown in to Tacoma and settled in.  A handful of us decided to grab some lunch before heading into downtown Seattle to enjoy the night.  Since we didn't have to set up till Sunday, we definitely took advantage of the night.  Seattle is nice if you enjoy the "city vibe".  Many late night venues cater to the swarms of youngins looking to drink, dance and demoralize themselves.  Overall the people are nice.  Saturday I slept in and took it easy.  I meandered around the hotel and walked up and down the street to see what was around and get a lil exercise.  I definitely miss mountain biking and will be hitting the trails much harder than I was before.  I am trying to figure out a way to get a guitar on the tour with me.  I was told it can ride in the semi truck and now I want to see if my bike can come along too!  (fingers crossed)

Set up on Sunday went VERY well.  At 7:30am we started to unload the truck and set everything up.  We were done by noon.  This is quite impressive and I must give credit to the awesome team I get to work with.  These people work hard and get it done.  On my end, set up of the audio/visual stuff went quickly because I am familiar with everything now.  All the equipment is right where I left it and I expedited the set up by leaving a bunch of stuff inside the home audio rack connected.  After set up was complete I asked the producer how I have been doing and he said, "EXCELLENT!  Better than I expected!"  That made my day!  I have been working hard and being a team player as much as possible.  Glad to see it getting noticed.  We chatted further and he had mentioned that before he was promoted out of the position I now hold, he was making 80K a year for a handful of years.  My plan is to make that much within 10yrs of being here.  LET'S DO THIS!

Yesterday was the first day of presentations and time seemed to go by quickly.  Four of us decided to hit up a seafood restaurant for dinner, so we quickly changed at the hotel and departed.  The food was fantastic.  I'm pretty sure we all four went back to the hotel and went to bed early. 

This morning I woke up around 5am and got ready.  I then made my way down to the hotel lobby and waited for the breakfast area to open.  Hotel breakfasts aren't that good, but it's something, and it's free.  After eating and departing the hotel we arrived at the Tacoma Dome where the convention is being held.  They are building a really cool looking museum right next to the dome.  It will be interesting to come back here and walk through the museum at some point.

As I was prepping for the day I overheard one of the presenters talking to my producer about something that peaked my interest.  The conversation was about suicide and I had caught the end of it.  I politely asked who the presenter was talking about and he said, "my younger brother."  The comparison of his situation to my family's was scary.  We were soon lost in deep conversation about the mourning process and how other people sometimes avoid you when they hear the word suicide.  He put it like, "It's weird when some people learn of a suicide in your family.  They avoid you almost as if they don't want to get a disease."  I can relate to his comment.  Sometimes, however it goes the other way and someone decides to explain to you how stupid and selfish that person was for making that decision.  blah blah blah....   Back to my point.  You never know what someone else is going through and how much you might have in common.  It was great to talk to him about his situation and get to know him on a level other than the show.

I am currently in the middle of our afternoon show and will be working a third show from 6pm-8pm regarding roadside assistance for the Chevy Volt.