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Payback's... not really payback...
Oct. 26th, 2010 05:08 pmBack in 2002, the annual ATA Conference was held in Atlanta, and Jim W., who lived a couple of hours north of Atlanta invited some colleagues, myself included, to visit his haunts, where we had a nice lunch and spent some time visiting a park and the southernmost point of the Appalachian Trail.
If I'm not mistaken 2002 was also the year that he, I, and a couple of other colleagues consciously avoided the Association's end-of-conference dinner and had a very nice restaurant meal just down the street for just about as much as it would have cost to partake of rubber chicken. (While I'm on a reminiscence roll, it was also a year that I ended up not going on a November campaign I had been scheduled for, but I digress...)
Anyway, Jim and his wife Pat stopped by our neck of the woods yesterday afternoon, having driven from Albuquerque, where they had spent the past few days as tourists, on their way to this year's Conference in Denver. We had an excellent dinner last night and a very nice morning.
The provenance of dinner was at issue in our household until shortly before Jim and Pat arrived. There was an argument for all of us going out to eat, but in the end, I made a grocery run for some London broil, some shrimp, a bag of mixed "fingerling" potatoes (including a few specimens of a potato, purportedly from Peru, that was dark purple), and some salad fixin's, and put together a repast that was declared quite good by all.
Some time ago, I decided I would give Jim a token of my appreciation for having recommended me for The Big Edit™, said token being a bottle of Grey Goose vodka (which I knew from our acquaintance was a brand he liked).
I will admit that recent developments with The Big Edit™ client - I have effectively not been paid in over two months - caused me to pause for a few milliseconds to consider the sense of thanking Jim like this for a job like that, but I concluded that a recommendation was a recommendation, karma was karma, and anyway, Jim was a friend.
I don't know if there is any significance to the fact that Jim and Pat's "coming to visit" gift to me and Galina was a bottle of Gray Goose, but I choose to think of it as a favorable omen (and as further proof that great minds do think along similar lines).
After breakfast this morning, I took Jim and Pat for a drive up Piedra Road to the area of Williams Lake, stopping briefly for a look into the Piedra gorge. The weather cooperated, as did some of the wildlife (a small herd of deer crossed the road in front of us, jumping over fences on each side of the road).
The area around Williams was beautiful, as always. Here's a shot I "stitched" together from four photos:
While enjoying the scenery, we spoke with a hunter who was visiting from Pennsylvania, and who was very happy at having shot a bear this morning, this, after successfully bagging an elk a few days ago. He described this season as a once-in-a-lifetime hunt.
I invited Jim and Pat to walk along one of my favorite paths in the area, and I was surprised to find, as we walked back to the car, a small group of reasonably fresh - yet frozen - mushrooms!
I must rehearse my presentation tonight, and make myself ready to leave for Denver tomorrow morning. The Conference kicks off tomorrow evening.
Cheers...
If I'm not mistaken 2002 was also the year that he, I, and a couple of other colleagues consciously avoided the Association's end-of-conference dinner and had a very nice restaurant meal just down the street for just about as much as it would have cost to partake of rubber chicken. (While I'm on a reminiscence roll, it was also a year that I ended up not going on a November campaign I had been scheduled for, but I digress...)
Anyway, Jim and his wife Pat stopped by our neck of the woods yesterday afternoon, having driven from Albuquerque, where they had spent the past few days as tourists, on their way to this year's Conference in Denver. We had an excellent dinner last night and a very nice morning.
The provenance of dinner was at issue in our household until shortly before Jim and Pat arrived. There was an argument for all of us going out to eat, but in the end, I made a grocery run for some London broil, some shrimp, a bag of mixed "fingerling" potatoes (including a few specimens of a potato, purportedly from Peru, that was dark purple), and some salad fixin's, and put together a repast that was declared quite good by all.
Some time ago, I decided I would give Jim a token of my appreciation for having recommended me for The Big Edit™, said token being a bottle of Grey Goose vodka (which I knew from our acquaintance was a brand he liked).
I will admit that recent developments with The Big Edit™ client - I have effectively not been paid in over two months - caused me to pause for a few milliseconds to consider the sense of thanking Jim like this for a job like that, but I concluded that a recommendation was a recommendation, karma was karma, and anyway, Jim was a friend.
I don't know if there is any significance to the fact that Jim and Pat's "coming to visit" gift to me and Galina was a bottle of Gray Goose, but I choose to think of it as a favorable omen (and as further proof that great minds do think along similar lines).
After breakfast this morning, I took Jim and Pat for a drive up Piedra Road to the area of Williams Lake, stopping briefly for a look into the Piedra gorge. The weather cooperated, as did some of the wildlife (a small herd of deer crossed the road in front of us, jumping over fences on each side of the road).
The area around Williams was beautiful, as always. Here's a shot I "stitched" together from four photos:
While enjoying the scenery, we spoke with a hunter who was visiting from Pennsylvania, and who was very happy at having shot a bear this morning, this, after successfully bagging an elk a few days ago. He described this season as a once-in-a-lifetime hunt.
I invited Jim and Pat to walk along one of my favorite paths in the area, and I was surprised to find, as we walked back to the car, a small group of reasonably fresh - yet frozen - mushrooms!
I must rehearse my presentation tonight, and make myself ready to leave for Denver tomorrow morning. The Conference kicks off tomorrow evening.
Cheers...
