Business Trip

My boss arranged a trip for several of the software developers at the Boise office to meet our counterparts at corporate headquarters in Raleigh. As part of the group chosen to travel, I was able to go on my first ever business trip! We left Boise around mid-day Wednesday and got to Raleigh just after 8pm. On the flight out of Boise we were on the same flight as Olympic biathlete Sara Studebaker who was returning to Lake Placid for more training. I'm particularly glad I didn't check a bag - not only did I save $25 in fees but the two people who checked their bags both had them miss our connection in Chicago!

Thursday we spent most of the day at the Morrisville office in a meeting with the software developers and managers from Raleigh. It was actually a very interesting and beneficial meeting as we gained a much better understanding of what really goes on from a technical perspective and how us Boiseonians could benefit from all of the software investment being made at the corporate level. I was very impressed to find a fridge stocked with free pop, great people to work with, and a generally nice office environment. After being in a conference room all day, we adjourned around 4pm to get ready for dinner. We had a nice meal at Firebirds - I had the coconut shrimp which were very good and discovered my new favorite beer: Duck Rabbit Milk Stout. It's like a light stout but with extra creaminess that I've never experienced in a beer. That stuff was so good - I wish I could somehow take some home!

Friday morning we had more meetings which included some other Raleigh staff where they explained some of their technology at the hardware/firmware level and their testing strategies. Once again, all good stuff for us to better understand the company we now work for. We also got a tour of their facility which included some interesting equipment, such as electric meter calibration gear, electro-static discharge (ESD) test equipment, an x-ray machine for identifying component failures, and even an anechoic chamber (used for RF testing). Pretty darn cool stuff! Afterwards, we picked up lunch at a Chick-Fil-A which was actually the first time several of the group had eaten there. After lunch we took a brief tour of the headquarters in Raleigh where most of the my division's management is located. We then drove around town a little before heading toward the airport to catch our various flights.

However I did not go to the airport - I scheduled a late (7:45pm) flight to Nashville so I could spend some time with my family in Tennessee. I was dropped off at the hotel and John, a friend from college and resident of Cary, NC, picked me up from the hotel just after 4pm. I got to meet his girlfriend Crystal and catch up on everything. We had a small dinner at a nearby O'Charleys before I was dropped off at the airport. From there, it was on to Tennessee for a brief family visit!


Morrisville Office


Fridge full of free pop (refilled every day)


Sensus Office in Raleigh