Jeff Billimek’s Journal

We had yet another meeting this morning about the error handling situation. This one was interesting though because a manager in the meeting spoke out (agreeing with my position) and stated that the… differing opinion didn’t make any sense whatsoever. Maybe there is hope after all.

We treated Bob Melo to lunch today for his 49th birthday. Bob’s a really great guy. He always has a positive attitude and is never hateful towards anyone. Last year he had a very close call with Meningitis and has nearly completely recovered. It’s an honor to work with someone like Bob.

We took him to ‘623‘ (I suggested Smokey Bones, but was shot down). Bob, Casey, Brian, Scott, Susan, Alex, Anil, and me went. It was a big group so we took two cars. We sat outside because it was sunny and nice out. The cute waitress (not the one James asked out) with the tattoo on the small of her back was working today. I had the Caesar salad and half of a ham & swiss sandwich with sweet tea. I really enjoy eating there.

When I got back to the office I decided I should probably make arrangements for my trip to Hawaii. I got a rental car through Alamo for around $170 for an entire week! This is roughly the same price I paid to the lying cheating scumbags over at Enterprise (whom I am boycotting) for just 1 day. Something doesn’t quite add up. I also booked a flight on Hawaiian Air round trip to/from Honolulu to Lihue, Kauai for around $160. My strategy is to try to fly out Sunday afternoon (via LAX) arriving in HNL at 10:30pm and then getting a place to sleep (didn’t make reservations anywhere). Then the next morning fly to Kauai and get the rental car. I’ll spend most of the day doing my own thing driving around (and hopefully taking lots of pictures). Then around 3pm or so on Monday Larry & the clan will arrive and I’ll link up with them at the house. If I can’t make the Sunday afternoon flight, I’ll fly out Monday morning and go via SLC, arriving around the same time as Larry & Co.

As the afternoon wore on, I did my FirstCase time entry for this week and next week. I also completed my status report. I walked around and met with Anil, Jegan, and Ram to discuss next week and to let them know they can page me if they need to get in touch. Carole came by and wished me a happy trip. I changed my voicemail greeting and set the Outlook ‘out of office’ to on and then left for the day.

James had an extra ticket to Music Midtown that he offered to me for tonight. Since I wasn’t doing anything, I took him up on the offer and met him at his place. Casey & some of his friends were going also and Casey decided to go via Marta.

James and I waited for Casey at his place until about 6pm when Casey showed up. We headed out around 6:30 to the Marta station near James’s condo. I was very tempted to bring my camera along to capture the event. The rules state that only disposable and fixed-lens cameras are allowed so I know I could have technically been able to bring it. However, it was going to be dark soon and I’m not too keen on people photography, so I decided not to bring it.

We rode the train only two stops to the civic center station and walked a couple of blocks to the entrance. There was a very strange moment while we were walking along with the throngs of people. The demographics of the event-goers was probably 85% middle-class teenage while people. On one of the streets we were walking down, all of the people were walking along on only the left-hand side of the street. On the right-hand side was a line of what looked to be a large mass of (minority) homeless people staring at everyone walking past them.

Casey, after observing the throngs of teenage girls, commented that he hopes he never has a daughter. Almost all of the girls were dressed quite provocatively and looked like they were at least 20 years old. Of course they were probably mostly 15 years old. Funny I don’t remember girls looking like that when I was in high school. Entering the park involved getting patted down by some security guards.

We got some food from the food stands and hooked up with Casey’s friends. A while later we headed over to the ‘96 Rock’ stage where Sheryl Crow was due to perform at 8pm. When she started, we snaked our way through the crowd closer to the front of the stage.

The whole time, I noticed eerie dark storm clouds moving closer and closer. During her second song, the wind really started to pick up and the suspended stage lights started to sway wildly in the wind. On the big screen, I could see Sheryl looking up nervously at the swaying lights. As soon as she finished the song, a bunch of people ran onto the stage and escorted her & her band members off the stage. A minute later, it started to rain.

We didn’t want to be trampled by a panicked mob, so we began to work our away toward the exit. By this time, it was raining very hard and lightning was flashing everywhere. Standing in the middle of a large open field with lightning flashing overhead didn’t sit too well with me.

We decided it was time to leave. We went to the exit and ducked under some trees next to a gated apartment complex. Keith, one of Casey’s friends, somehow managed to figure out the keypad code to the gate leading into the apartment community. A bunch of us rushed in side to get shelter under the balconies in front of the doors to people’s apartments.

We stood there for about 20-30 minutes until the rain subsided some. James, Casey, and I decided we had enough and decided to leave. We walked back to the Marta station (soaking wet) and rode back to James’s place. I went straight to my car and drove home.