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the Decker Journey

mark of Jan Broersen Decker

My Journey

May 2009

I am going to put this under May, even though most of it occurred in June.  :)  My prerogative.  My justification is the fact that it began on May 31.

I had the opportunity to attend a conference in Seattle.  Now, I had been to Seattle before.  Twice.  The first time, about six years ago, I had to attend a half day of training on a Saturday morning.  I flew out, as I recall, from the airport in Grand Rapids, about a two and a half hour drive.  This followed by nearly five hours in the air, arriving in Seattle late on a Friday night.  I attended the training in the morning (outside the city), then had the afternoon for sightseeing in downtown, the whole Space Needle thing.  First thing Sunday morning, I flew home, swearing never to do that again. 

About a year later, I was offered a trip to attend a Saturday conference at Microsoft, paid for by a textbook publisher.  So... off I go again.  Fly out Friday (and arriving at nearly midnight due to a delayed flight in Detroit, I believe).  Attend a conference Saturday.  Fly home Sunday.  Whew.  Didn't see anything this time, except for the inside of the hotel and the conference room.

So, this time I wasn't sure what to expect.  It was a longer trip, so that was helpful.  And it was a great trip.  We attended a security (in education) conference, but this was wrapped around four nights in downtown Seattle, with each day around seventy five degrees, sunny, and just gorgeous.  Having co-workers along helped - we got a lot more done since we were all in the same city rather than spread out around Michigan.  Everything went smooth, from the flight in to the flight out.  Overall, it was productive, enlightening, energizing, and interesting.  (How many adjectives can I use?)

Next up...  Salt Lake City and San Francisco.

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