A Tough Week at Work

Hello Friends, this is Sean writing.

As a few of you know, I have officially begun my next project at work.  I am flying to Kansas City every week to teach older folks how to be half as awesome as me.  While flying across the country twice a week and working long hours away from family doesn't appeal to some, the perks of this job are undeniable.  I plan on outlining the week before Lia's birthday below.  Spoiler alert: I was home for most of Lia's birthday, so she does still love me.

This was a special week at work.  A whole bunch of the team was in training so the onsite team was just the project manager and a whole bunch of analysts.  In order to curry our favor, our project manager planned a trip to one of the best BBQ joints in the world: Oklahoma Joes.  

We knew the place was classy the second we heard that it was located in a gas station on the Kansas side of KC.  Well, we got there and the line was out the door.  It really did live up to the hype.  I had the half rack of ribs, brisket, texas toast and french fries.  The brisket was brisket.  It was good, but really brisket is just a medium for the sauces.  The ribs, however, were phenomenal. What really shocked me were the french fries.  They were some of the best fries that I've had in a long time.  Not quite McDougal fries, but dang close. Anyway, Anthony Bourdain listed Oklahoma Joe's as one of the top 13 places to eat before you die, and he uses a lot of profanity so he has to know what he is talking about. The only negative I had for Oklahoma Joe's was that there was no sweet tea.. what a shame.

The next day I flew to Atlanta to party it up with my coworkers.  It was good to catch up with my friends from my previous project, and one of my buddies and I may or may not have karaoke'd Friends in Low Places.  The hotel we were staying at was pretty cool.  It was the Marriott Marquis in Downtown Atlanta. 

The rooms were not spectacular or anything, but the entire inside of the building was open, from the lobby floor all the way up to the glass ceiling over 50+ floors up.  It was pretty cool to be on that lobby floor looking up.

Our view wasn't bad either.  I was rooming with one of my college buddies, Andrew, and we were on the 33rd floor looking North. The conference itself was pretty typical.  Lots of learning and important people talking about complicated things.  The awesome part was the venue for our Thursday night social.  Has anyone ever heard of the Georgia Aquarium?

Here is a picture of my new friend, the Whale Shark.  I couldn't capture just how big he really was with my amazing BlackBerry camera, but I tried anyway.  There were two big glass viewing panes in the ballroom.  One of them was for the world's largest aquarium which had the whale shark and tons of different fish, sharks, sting rays, etc. and the other pane was for the cold water tank which just had a bunch of crazy beluga whales.    The beluga whales just kept ramming the rocks, backing up, and then ramming the rocks again.  I think Lia was right.. no one is meant to be cold.  Not even whales.

Please notice the artsy awesomeness of my photography.  Or just look at the really cool looking stingray swimming by.

And finally, I am going to leave you all with a Go Dores pic.  It is only fitting since Vandy grads are taking over the whole company.  Picture is of three of my frat brothers from college, Ian, Trey and Andrew, along with a new friend, Jen, and one of my current project teammates, Kaitlyn.  The theme was Country Club, so don't judge Andrew for his choice in pants.

The next day I flew home to be with my wifey on her birthday.. which I am sure will be covered in our next post.