Minneapolis Wrap-up

Day 4 of Minneapolis was pretty smooth. Did some more training. Had another fabulous pizza lunch, this time at Punch (Napolitan style pizza). Finally got snowed on (what’s a winter trip to Mpls without snow, right?). Flew some. Sat around in airports. Flew some more. Finally got home.

I’m looking forward to getting into the new office and getting to work on Monday. It’s going to be a big challenge to get my part of the operation whipped into shape, but it’s going to be fun. I’m looking forward to getting back into the news bidness. I’ve missed it.

Minneapolis, Day 3

My head hurts.

I’ve learned so much new stuff the last three days that I fear my noggin will esplode with it all.

Actually, I just have a backache from the too-soft mattress in my hotel room. Otherwise, I’m doing great. I’m going to miss all the great people I’ve met and worked with in the last few days when I return home to my full-time assignment.

Ate lunch at a great place called Pizza Lucé. If you go, get “The Bear.” It’s fearsome good.

After work, one of my new colleagues (dare I say “friend”? I think so) drove me all over Minneapolis. I saw the statue of Mary Tyler Moore throwing her hat in the air. I saw First Avenue, where Prince got his start. I saw the wreckage of the I-35 bridge collapse. I saw all sorts of stuff.

I finally went to a Trader Joe’s. I went BACK to the Mall of America to pick up some Legos for The Boy at LegoWorld (or whatever it’s called). I went back to the Apple Store to get a World Traveler Adapter kit for charging my Apple goodies on my upcoming jaunt to Germany.

I am now relaxing at the hotel and getting my stuff ready for a half-day of work tomorrow and then seven hours of traveling to get home (a two-hour flight, a three-hour layover, and another two-hour flight). I will be sleeping most of Friday.

Probably no post tomorrow night, but I’ll catch up on Friday, since I’ll more or less have the day off.

Minneapolis, day 2

My brain hurts from all the stuff I learned today. Training proceeds at lightspeed. I think I’m retaining most of it. I’m feeling pretty close to being ready to hit the ground running next Monday in the new position back in NWA. It’ll be a while before I get my workflow really efficient, but that’s a fun challenge in and of itself, right?

Finally got to IKEA today. I love it nearly as much as I thought I would. I’ve never been to one. I hope to go to one again soon. I ate the swedish meatballs. Excellent. So was the macaroni and cheese.

Bought a few things, including a tinkertoy-like building set for The Boy’s birthday next week.

Finally got to the Mall of America, too. I needed to go by the Apple Store to have my iPhone checked out. It was showing some display flakiness. They replaced it quickly, and I’ve already restored all my info on it. LOVE the iPhone.

Also got to briefly fondle a MacBook Air. Astonishing construction. WAY more solid than my MacBook. Still underpowered and overpriced for my wants (needs?), though.

MOA also has a Legoland. They were near to closing, so I just got to browse. The Boy and I will be having SO much fun with Lego soon.

Looking forward to going to Germany. Just 15 days away!

Tired now. Must sleep before tomorrow, another full day of training and meeting people.

Minneapolis, day 1

Day 1 of training with the new company went pretty smoothly. The people are really great. They (we? I won’t be working out of this office, though) have a Wii and foosball table in the break room. Free (pretty good) coffee. I think I’m going to like working here.

Was going to go to IKEA and/or the Mall of America after work, but decided I was too tired. Will definitely do it either tomorrow night or Wednesday night after work. There’s snow on the ground here. Apparently, it stays around all winter. That would take some getting used to. It was a balmy 35F or so today, though.

Chabon the genre-smasher

Michael Chabon is the first writer to be nominated for both the Edgar Award (mystery) and the Nebula Award (SF) for the same novel, the fantastic The Yiddish Policeman’s Union.

In the land of snow and ice

Yup. I’m here in Minneapolis. Home of two of my most favorite 80s musical acts: Prince, the Replacements, and Hüsker Dü. Okay, that was three. So far, I’ll have to say that the people are friendly and it’s very cold. And their pizza is good even if they employ the wrong cut (the grid or tavern cut).

I’m here for a week of meeting the new boss and other folks, doing some training, and getting orientated to the culture of my new employers.

Yes, new employers. I have given up the full-time freelance action for a return to the online news business with an interesting job with a really (so far) cool company. I’m not going to say who they are, because this blog isn’t about them; it’s about me.

Anyway, more about Minneapolis — including a trip to the Mall of America and IKEA (SQUEEEEEE!) — and travel throughout the week. Maybe some about work, too.

John McCain vs. the Environment

According to the Sierra Club:

Two weeks ago John McCain was the only Senator to duck a crucial vote on the future of clean energy in America — dooming to failure the measure that would have helped make renewable energy more affordable and accessible. Now it turns out this missed vote is part of a pattern.

Last week, the League of Conservation Voters (LCV) released the 2007 National Environmental Scorecard giving Senator McCain a score of ZERO. According to the scorecard, McCain was the only member of Congress to skip all 15 crucial environmental votes scored by LCV.

McCain’s LCV score exposes the real record behind the rhetoric — a lifetime LCV score of 24, a history of siding with the polluters and special interests, and a consistent pattern of ducking important environmental votes.

Despite giving the enviroment some lip service, McCain’s voting record speaks much louder. Vote Obama (or Hillary Clinton, if she should win the nomination) in 2008.

Warren Ellis » On The Phone

I link to this not because Warren has a new phone, but because he mentions that he wrote “comics, screenplays and most of a novel” on his Treo 600 that died last night. Wow. That’s dedication.

Email Apnea?

I TOTALLY have email apnea, though not just when reading email. I do it all the time. Breathing exercises DO work (I use several), but you have to really work to stay mindful of your breathing.

Free eBook of John Scalzi’s Old Man’s War

In anicipatory promotion of their big, new SF website, Tor books is giving away the eBook of John Scalzi’s excellent military SF novel, Old Man’s War. It’s one of the best novels I’ve read in the last five or six years. The sequels are pretty good, too.