Hall of Honors, American Design Drafting Association

Received induction into the Hall of Honors for the American Design Drafting Association at their annual conference held in Kansas City, MO on April 13, 2011.

Airlines are a mess

I'm now flying a few times each year for various reasons. Though I don't fly all that often, I've noticed a decline the airlines. When I came home from San Antonio, TX in January, my flight was delayed several times before we finally boarded. Then the plane broke down and everyone had to wait for a new plane to come in even later. Today I'm on my way to Kansas City. I'm stuck in the Phoenix airport because the second leg of my flight was cancelled due to the plane breaking down in Sacramento. I'm spending enough time at the airports between flights to qualify as actually visiting these intermediate locations! Crazy.

ADDA's 52nd Annual Technical and Educational Conference

April 12 - 15, 2011, I attended the Annual Technical and Educational Conference by the America Drafting and Design Association in Kansas City, MO. 

Senseless Sunday: the long and short word

• The word hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia means fear of long words.


• Flint, Michigan is the largest city in the U.S.A. to have just one syllable in its name.


• An urban legend defines a twit as a pregnant gold fish. Gold fish do not get pregant. They lay eggs that get fertilized afterwards. A twit is also not a comment on Twitter. That is a tweet.

San Antonio, TX recent visit

I recently visited San Antonio, TX for a world conference that I attended. Though I didn't get to explore anywhere outside of the downtown area, I did visit The Alamo , River Walk, and the Tower of the Americas (known to the locals as "Space Needle" in apparent recognition that it was built to compete with Seattle's Space Needle).

San Antonio appears to have a lot to offer both visitors and residents. The downtown area is large, with a lot of restaurants and places of interest.

There's a saying that everything is bigger in Texas. However, The Alamo seems a bit smaller than expected. The history around this monument is told throughout the associated park. It's worth a visit, but don't expect to be wowwed.


The Tower of the Americas is beefy and tall. The problem with it is that there's just not much to see from the top. In every direction is the city of San Antonio, the good and the ugly. The Seattle Space Needle has a much better view since Seattle has a more interesting skyline, greener city, and beautiful coastline.

The River Walk is a glorified shopping mall. It is a good place to visit, but perhaps too touristy for the locals to hang out. I enjoyed the water tour and walking around.

The week I spent in San Antonio had similar weather to Silicon Valley over the same period. However, a week before there was a terrible storm, and a couple weeks after there was a snow storm. We barely get rain in Silicon Valley, and it never snows.

I guess my trip to San Antonio, TX taught me that there isn't nothing terribly bad about it, nor is there anything very compelling. It's a good place to live and visit.

Certified SolidWorks Professional (CSWP)

 

January 23, 2011 in San Antonio, Texas, I earned my Certified SolidWorks Professional (CSWP)! (Facebook)