Did I mention that this year started off with some crazy travel?
Sunday-Wednesday in New York for the largest retail tradeshow in the world.
If you're interested at all in what I do, read on. If not, skip to the last 7-8 pics.
I arrive Sunday around 10am to help with setup.
An hour or so after I arrived, the booth next to us collapsed.
Hundreds of pounds of construction and technology came crashing down in stages.
We all rushed over, thinking people were crushed under the wreckage, but everyone escaped unscathed.
So, we did what every American would do; we took pictures.
Back at our booth, we have things well in hand in the convenience-store section.
Our terminals are all up, though they're not actually online yet.
Ogre, which is what I 'affectionately' call our union rep, has yelled at me several times for touching anything that looks like a cable, but also won't plug things in at the speed at which I am accustomed.
Whatever. It'll eventually work, but in the meantime, I can do internal overviews as if it works.
Conveniently, the other NCR folks know nothing about gas stations.
We have the largest booth at the whole show - 50'x70' (which is the length of that sign - 70').
Microsoft, Intel, Cisco, and other monsters have smaller booths.
Sone of our newer terminals.
So, while the former-Radiant sections look clean like this,
the legacy NCR section is a massively over-loaded.
We have a huddle of about 50 booth-workers where we learn what and how to talk about the booth, the company, the divisions, and other general housekeeping.
We ultimately have about 170 people attend.
I need to meet Palak at 7:15. It is 6:15 now (despite my phone time).
I'll eventually take a cab, but I start walking.
I go through Times Square, where I see the Naked Cowboy for the first time.
For those that know me, you know how I resisted the urge to take some inappropriate picture with him.
The vision of Palak with a bottle of red wine at whatever restaurant she had in store kept me walking.
...and Times Square was happening tonight.
I pass some things I hadn't seen in lower Manhattan, like Grammercy Park (I think that is what this is) and Union Square.
I walked fast and made a ton of lights, so I found myself at the Bowery Hotel early, so I ran across the street for a picture of this place.
I'll come back some day with my little Wren.
Finally at the Bowery Hotel, where we have a bottle of Uppercut Cab.
Dinner is down the block at Il Buco Alimentari & Vineria - an amazing eastern Mediterannean restaurant.
(Sorry Il Buco, but I can't just call you Italian when you have Pulpo, Iberico, rabbit and so many other French/Spanish/Portugese dishes.
Oh - and Palak has GREAT friends.
I'll resist the urge to shout 'CONGRATULATIONS' to my favorite chef. Instead, I'll just say to keep watching the Food Network.
The next day, after dinner with Jimmy Park (not pictured, but it was a fantastically relaxed meal at a truly great steak place called the Strip House), I pass a UPS truck with one of the $2mm worth of parking tickets UPS gets on Manhattan alone - the cost of great service.
When the show starts, we're the biggest, baddest booth around.
OK. How do you know if someone works for NCR? They're wearing black.