Adventures in Austin

This is a bit old, actually about 4 months old, but it's been sitting here in draft form and I think it deserves a chance to live publicly.  In March, I flew to Austin to interview with National Instruments.  While I ended up not getting anything out of it job-wise, there were many interesting things which I saw and learned on the trip:

Hartsfield-Jackson Aiport:

• While waiting in line at Security, I swear I saw the mirror-universe Q (with the evil goatee and everything)


• Apparently, whoever did the voice on the Tram doesn't know the NATO phonetic alphabet.  They got Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, and Echo right, but decided to use David instead of Delta.  That bothers me.


• Flying made me wish I had a netbook, and being in a place without free wifi made me wish I had a smartphone.


• While about to board, a cute girl came to peddle the in-flight internet service.  I wonder if cuteness is a requirement in the job application?

In-flight to Austin:

• Easy things to see from the air: Wal-mart, Home Depot, Atlanta Motor Speedway


• Things not easy to see: Mississippi River, mostly saw the oxbow lakes and floodplain, the main river was hard to pinpoint

Austin "International" Airport:

• They call it International, but I didn't see an international flight listed either time I was there.  Maybe I just didn't look hard enough.


• I always forget: When it comes to airports, Hartsfield's the exception, not the rule.

On the ride to the Hotel:

• Drove by a place called... wait for it... BLAZER TAG!  That's right! Where Blades and Lazers combine!


• I don't like the Texas license plate, there's one reason not to move here.


• Saw one that said "Poopy" though


• I don't care if Texas was once technically a nation, that's no reason to fly their flag on the same level as the U.S. flag.  I call it "arrogance"

The Hotel:

• It was in a place called "The Domain", which seemed to be very similar to Atlantic Station (like an outdoor mall), only larger.


• The hotel was called the Aloft.  It and the Domain were very trendy.  But even trendy, when it's new(er), got a King Size bed, and an HDTV (complete with a place to connect any device to said TV), I'm gonna feel spoiled.

I probably had more, but this is where I left off when I first wrote this, and four months has trashed my memory.