Archive of the '2012 Orlando Live' Category

I found out about a cool extra bonus today. There is a trolly that runs up and down International Drive going past most of the conference hotels around the convention center. If you take the north route the last stop is an outlet mall. If you take the south route the last stop is an outlet mall.

We went south and hit that mall. It had more stores than possible to visit in one trip. And the great thing about the trolly is the price. It is $1.25 per trip. If you are a senior it is 25 cents! That sure beats a cab or renting a car. It is clean, fast, and very nice.

It even stops at Sea World if you would like to spend some time there.

I was wandering around the Animal Kingdom and ran into this old bus made into a snack bar. I was in the Asian section of the park and it really brought back old memories. I spent some time in Southeast Asia way too many years ago to acknowledge. The U.S. military decided I needed to experience this part of the world one summer.

I rode all over Thailand in buses like this one. It was fun, interesting, and terrifying all at the same time. It was never boring. I never expected to go to see Mickey and take this trip down memory lane.

Theme parks are designed to provide fun - just plain fun. I was really surprised by Animal Kingdom. It was a theme park. It had rides. It had a plethora of souvenir stands, junk food heavens, and other opportunities to spend money for things you will never look at once you get home.

It also had some of the best animal exhibits I have ever seen. Pam and I have been talking about San Diego and where to go during the General Meeting. One place high on the list is the San Diego Zoo of course, but this was super good and we feel we have been to a super high tech zoo. We may still go after all it is the SD Zoo! Back to today - we had so much fun doing the Africa Trek, the Mararajah Jungle Trek, and DinoLand. The dinos left an impression. They almost seemed alive.

Yesterday we went to Epcot. They focused on being able to travel around the world at the park. They ahve some great areas to visit like the UK, France, Germany, Japan, China, and many others. It was really cool, but I told Pam there was a danger visiting all exhibits - we would want to go for real.

France was super and brought back lots of memories of Paris. What a beautiful place and we had such a grate time. Then we hit the UK and had flashbacks to London. And on it went. Today we went to Animal Kingdom and guess what. It is divided into different parts of the world too! The travel bug has hit - big time.

But what is really cool is the fact I have friends from all over the world coming to the PES T&D Expo. We see each other once or twice a year at events like this or the PES general meeting. And it is always great visiting. So, the theme parks have got me thinking about traveling, but they have also reminded me how lucky we all are to see old friends from around the world and get to share experiences and talk about our work in this electrical industry.

I wish we had a mono-rail set up in the convention center. I have been looking at the exhibit floor layout in the PES T&D Expo book. This is going to be one huge event with a great deal of walking. So, I decided to get in shape by walking my feet flat around Orlando for a few days before the Expo starts.

Now my big problem is which park to hit next. There is so much to do here it is hard picking. Pam and I spent some time with the travel consultant in the hotel lobby. She was super helpful, but now we want to do way more things than we have time for. When you think about it, isn’t it better to have more to do than time to do it. You can’t get bored and there is always something to do.

We ate in the Everglades tonight! The Gator Chowder was fantastic. They also had venison. Florida Grouper, and bison It was really hard to pick out something from the menu. Andddddd - they had Key Lime Pie and it was yellow not green. True Florida key lime pie is yellow and tart. I don’t know where that green stuff came from, but it isn’t home cooking in FLA.

Actually the Everglades is restaurant in the hotel, but it was cool. There were all kinds of art on the wall, a tropical aquarium, and lots of other tings to enjoy. It was soothing after a day in airports and on airplanes. The perfect way to end a day.

Early this morning we were looking at the snow on the front range in Denver. A few hours later, we are in balmy Florida. When every thing works out with the air lines it is really great. We flew into Denver with a little over 30 minutes to make our connection to Florida. We had time to spare, the plane got in 10 minutes early.

Denver to Orlando is almost a 4 hour flight, but it really flies by with a good book. Over 2 hours went by in the blink of an eye. The next thing we knew, we were in Orlando. The sun was bright, the weather great, and everything was good.

I sure hope you have a great trip too.

It’s snowing this morning! It’s also April in New Mexico. So far we have about an inch on the ground and no sign of letting up. Growing up in Florida did not prepare me for weather swings. It was always sunny and warm.

Looking out my window reminds me how much I am going to enjoy Orlando in a month. As my kin-folks used to say, I have sand in my shoes. That was an expression meaning - once you come to Florida you have to return again and again. The snow helps so does the vision of palm trees swaying on the beach.

I’m all set. I have my airline tickets and reservation at the hotel. Don’t forget to make yours. I have found the hotels fill up quickly for T&D Expo. You really want to be close to cut the commuting time. And it is still snowing outside my office.

I realized I was behind in planning when I received my official invitation for the 2012 PES T&D Expo. The mailman brought me a stack of mail one day and this old school postcard fell out on the floor and I realized I hadn’t made reservations for the hotel, airlines, and all the other things needed to be done, but the card stopped me short.

Most importantly, there are events, vendors, and just plain fun this year’s Expo to plan for. I know “icksnay” on the fun aspect.

You are probably thinking, “How do I go to the boss and get permission to go to an event that has fun too?” Well I had those problems too - that is until I started my own company. Now I work twice as hard, but I don’t have to worry about the boss and I take opportunities for fun where I find them. When I worked at a utility it wasn’t unusual to put in 60 hour plus weeks, so why not have a little fun with work.

The main reason I want to go to the T&D Expo is to learn, but I have found learning is improved with a little relaxation (fun) added. So tell your boss you need to learn more about the smart grid technologies and the fun is going to help you retain what you learn.