I've looked at blogs from both sides now.

A lot has happened since I left Houston. Last Sunday I flew into Baltimore and took my Toyota Avalon rental out to Frederick, MD where I'll be working through next week. Back when I was a newby with BV I went on a training site with Chad. This site has seen us reunited as two seasoned* installation/integration experts. In addition, we each have our own newby to train so that a total of four BV folks have descended upon this paper. As a result, the week has been a bit more social than many installs; Tuesday night had the four of us drinking 40s in my hotel room playing my Game Cube. It was a classic scene.

This weekend I had tentatively planned on trying to get to the Philadelphia/NYC area to meet some friends, but instead I think I'll hang out around here; I have some friends and family in this area as well so that should be pretty cool. Next week will just have me and Ben (my trainee) on site, as the other two are leaving this afternoon. It'll be a lazier** week of post install troubleshooting and demo-ing one of the new features that I installed at our first site in Houston.

As has most of my family, I finished Harry Potter, and it was compelling and rich. My thirst for the next installment is at an all-time peak. And, because I don't have any other books on the road with me, I might find myself rereading book 6 again this weekend.

And on that note, back to work...

* Can I be "seasoned" after 9 months? I feel as though I can.
** Hopefully!

Rally, Sons!

Mary must be feeling jealous these days, as I'm currently spending some time in the humidity and Rudy's of Texas. I arrived on Tuesday and will be here through next weekend. THIS weekend, however, will be spent in Baton Rouge with Mom, Dad, and The Deuze. I'll drive there after work tomorrow and almost assuredly drink mansies and/or black russies while watching Anchorman. Booya, as they say.

The site has already proven to give me headaches, and by the end of Day 1 (yesterday) it was already unclear as to whether the installation would proceed. (Don't worry, it will.) My evening's have been somewhat relaxing (though partially work-filled), though, since the suite in which I'm staying is pretty great. I've got an almost-full kitchen (no stove), free laundry, free hot breakfast, and free happy-hour w/ aur dourves each weekday. In addition I've brought almost every dvd I own as well as my GameCube to pass the time. Top it all off with Shiner Light and you've got a recipe for success. Or something.

Lastly, I can't wait for Notre Dame football to start. Will it be a good season?! Maybe, maybe not, but either way it's going to be a very exciting season. Go Irish!

Isn't it a beautiful summers eve?!

Dear blogstyles,
Sorry for neglecting you, but sometimes you just gotta look in the mirror and say, "When in Rome!"
Sincerely,
MicVat

Now that I got that out of the way I can move on to tell the tales of our little family reunion here in southeast Michigan. Mom, Dad, and The Deuze flew up here for a week of relaxing, sight-seeing, movie-watching, grilling, swimming, whiskey, fire-making, and mostly, Anchorman-quoting.

Ooooooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhh!

We had a great time, and discussions of the future Vath-brother summer vacation spot were reignited. Other possible spots include:

‡ Austin, TX
‡ Florida Gulf Coast
‡ Michigan UP
‡ Grand Isle, La
‡ Spain

So many choices! Wait, it's clear. I know what to do...

This weekend more family will be in town: Nolan Cousins. Excellent. We'll probably spend some time at the boat and watching the symphony/fireworks thing in Detroit. Next Tuesday I leave for an insane road-stint which will take me to Houston, Maryland, and San Diego. The result of which is my doing work over my vacation, and on that note I'll get back to it.