Robby on Rails: Tag travel

Heading to London, grab a pint?

Robby Russell — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 01:55:00 -0600

Just when you think that you’re sneaking through Fall/Winter without getting sick… it hits you. Been sick the last week and am finally coming up for air. :-)

Anyhow, I’m going to be traveling a few times over the coming weeks/months and wanted to reach out…

Dear Londoners,

A few of us from the Planet Argon team, (Andy, Paige, and myself) are heading to London in just over a week to visit one of our big clients. We’ll also be staying for a few more days to explore. If you’re interested in grabbing a few pints and/or interested in meeting up, drop me an email we’ll try to coordinate something when we’re over there. =)

Airplane customers prefer bland food...?

Robby Russell — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 17:52:00 -0500

Earlier today, I was booking flights for Graeme and myself as we’re heading to Minnesota soon to visit one of our clients. While purchasing the tickets on Travelocity, I was glad to know that they remember that I’m a vegetarian. However, I almost made the mistake of submitting the form with the following meal preference for Graeme.

I found it amusing that this was the default in the drop down.

Speaking at Ostrava on Rails

Robby Russell — Wed, 02 May 2007 09:04:00 -0500

I have been invited to speak at Ostrava on Rails in the Czech Republic this June. I hear that Jamis Buck and Geoffrey Grosenbach will also be speaking at this event. Once a few minor details are set, I’ll post more information about the talk that I am giving, which will related to the Business of Rails panel, which is where you see me speak in just a few weeks at RailsConf 2007 (Portland, OR).

If you’re going to be at the conference in Ostrava, let me know. I’m thinking that I’ll also try to visit Prague before or after the event… as I’ve seen and heard great things about both cities. I believe my lodging in Ostrava will be decided by the powers that be… but if you have any pointers as to where to stay while in Prague, let me know. :-)

Staying home

Robby Russell — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 14:17:00 -0500

So, the Microsoft Technology Summit started today, which I was invited to. I had to cancel my trip late last week so that I could help out the design and development team out on a project that we’re wrapping up. Our office has had some colds going around, so I’m putting in some extra time to help out.

If you were hoping to meet up with me on one of these evenings, I apologize. I may be heading up to Seattle in the coming weeks anyways and if you sent me an email, I’ll let you know when I am planning to.

To those at the MTS… have fun and keep us posted on what happens!

Invited to the Microsoft Technology Summit 2007

Robby Russell — Mon, 12 Mar 2007 08:01:00 -0500

As mentioned a few weeks ago, I’ll be up in the Seattle area in a few weeks. I took the invitation to head to the 2007 Microsoft Technology Summit in Redmond, WA. When I received the invitation… my immediate response was, “Why me?”

Their response?

“The event is specifically for people other than Microsoft fanboys… they want to have a dialogue with influential members of the developer community outside of their comfort zone to see what we can learn from each other..”

Fair enough. Perhaps they’ll convince me to switch our entire team to Microsoft products… but I highly doubt my team would be cool with that. ;-)

It looks like Michael Koziarski (of Rails Core fame) will also be at the event. Supposedly, there will only be 50-60 people… so if you’re also going to be there, let me know.

I’m not sure what to expect yet from the event and they don’t have a web page dedicated to it. The most that I could find was a few blog posts from attendees of previous years. I plan to do some blogging during the event to share my experiences (good and bad).

p.s. thanks to those who invited me to have drinks/dinner while I’m staying in Bellevue. I’ll be responding to your emails in the next week. if you’re interested in meeting up, drop me a line.

Seattle in late March

Robby Russell — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 18:35:00 -0600

I’m going to be hanging out in Redmond, WA. late next month… why? That… I’ll explain at a later date. ;-)

What I can say is that I’ll be available on a few evenings if anybody is interested in meeting up to talk shop, which can include anything from d3, ruby on rails, bdd, agile interaction design... to BBC comedy shows. :-)

I’ll be flying up from Portland to Seattle on Saturday, March 24th. I’m going to try and stay downtown for that night… and then will be staying at Sheraton Bellevue until Tuesday night. So… Saturday-Monday nights are currently open.

I’m also planning to head to the monthly Seattle.rb meeting on Tuesday, March 27th.

If you’re interested in meeting up, drop me a line.

UPDATE If you’re taking the kinky aspect of BDD too serious... please don’t email me. ;-)

In California, for Rails Seminar

Robby Russell — Mon, 02 Oct 2006 13:25:00 -0500

Sitting in my hotel room in downtown San Francisco, CA. Mr. London himself, James Adam (of Rails Engine fame)... and I have been spending some time wandering around the area, which is where I grew up. We ventured over to Berkeley and down the coast to Santa Cruz yesterday. :-)

We then took the Cable Car late last night…

...and had food with almost too much garlic.

Today, we’re heading down to Santa Clara, CA to check-in at AjaxWorld Conference and Expo, where we will both be speaking tomorrow at their Ruby on Rails seminar.

Congrats to Steven Baker…who got married this weekend?! He’ll be meeting us in Santa Clara later and speaking tomorrow as well.

If you’re going to be at the conference, be sure to introduce yourself. :-)

RailsConf Europe, day zero

Robby Russell — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 23:33:00 -0500

Arrived in London yesterday after ~13 hours of flying from Portland to Chicago to London. It seems that sleeping on planes (or trains) is not something that my body does well… so I am pretty tired. That mixed with general jet lag due to an eight hour time zone change… my body is feeling pretty confused. In fact, I am typing this from my hotel lobby at 5am.

Yesterday, I was wandering around London, seeking a new UK/US power adapter (thought I blew the one that I brought… long story) and was taking a picture, when I heard a familiar voice say, “Robby?” Go figure… travel across the world and some Canadian (david goodlad) spots you in downtown London. He was walking with Luke Redpath and Jarkko Laine to PizzaOnRails. It’s a good thing that I bumped into them because I thought it was in the complete opposite direction!

Here are a few pictures that I snapped…

The pictures that I took at the pizza & beer party didn’t come out so well… but here is one of James Adam. I was really looking forward to getting to spend some time with him again. We’re both speaking at the Ruby on Rails Seminar in California in a few weeks as well. That’ll make four conferences in six months that we’ve both been to together. :-)

Thanks again to everyone who has sent me links to veggie-friendly places to eat at in London.

Quotes from RailsConf Europe

The only one worth mentioning so far was…

“This is definitely the first time that I have eaten pizza while walking in the rain.” -drblack

Buzz in the Rails community

The RadRails guys are up to no good. Kyle Shank gave us a quick overview of a Rails project that they are working on called HedgeHog. The project is definitely something that I’ll be looking forward to trying when it’s available. :-)
Everybody is extremely busy with client work. By the way, we are hiring.
A Dublin Ruby User Group is in the works… would they be called DRUG? ;-)
Everybody is really excited about BDD!

I’ll try to post entries throughout the day and will be taking lots of notes today.

If you’re in London for RailsConf Europe, stop by #railsconf on freenode.

Cheers!

Meeting up in London

Robby Russell — Mon, 11 Sep 2006 21:09:00 -0500

I’m leaving for London tomorrow. Thank you all for your responses to my travel security questions. I really appreciate it. :-)

I’m going to be getting in on Wednesday afternoon and am going to try to meet up with people at PizzaOnRails.

Thurs-Fri is RailsConf fun… but I haven’t figured out what I will be doing over the weekend. I’m leaving for New York on Tuesday.

Does anybody know of any good vegetarian places that I should go out of my way to try in London? Interested in hanging out and talking shop? Email me! :-)

Question: Travel Restrictions

Robby Russell — Sun, 10 Sep 2006 12:09:00 -0500

Travel restrictions?

When I purchased my tickets for my trip to London for RailsConf Europe through travelocity.com, it showed me the following warning (after I paid).

Traveling in the UK:

If you are traveling within the UK, you will have to check ALL of your belongings. Wallets, IDs, and necessary medications are the exceptions, and must be carried in a plastic bag (clear bags are recommended).
Laptops, mobile phones and iPods are among the electronic items banned in carry-on luggage on British flights.
Liquids, gels, and pastes are no longer permitted in carry-on luggage on board any aircraft within the U.S. and UK (This includes toothpaste, sunblock, and perfume.)
Please check our website for updates and the latest information.

So, I follow that link and come across this page, which doesn’t mention laptops, mobile phones, or iPods.

Does anybody know what the current restrictions are for flights to and from the US and UK?

Leaving on a Jet Plane...

Robby Russell — Fri, 01 Sep 2006 19:01:00 -0500

Just got my confirmation email…

Your payment of £616.88, has been received and your RailsConf Europe 2006 registration is now complete

Ouch! In USD… this translates…

UK£ 616.88 = $1175.21809 U.S. dollars

Sheesh.

So, I am going to be heading to sunny London, UK on September 12th for the RailsConf Europe. In fact, I’ll be traveling for about two full weeks in September as I will be heading to London for the conference and to wander around for a few extra days. Then I will be flying to New York City on the 17th or 18th for almost a week where I will be working with one of our clients for a few days and spending the weekend sightseeing.

If you’re interested in meeting up with me in either London or New York during these trips… email me. :-)

james.adam: hey, there's a small possibilty that i might be in NY at the same time as you too!

robby: heh. cool

james.adam: that would be 3 weekends in a row. people will talk

Overheard at PLANET ARGON

Robby Russell — Fri, 20 Jan 2006 12:54:00 -0600

Some random quotes from this week:

“It’s fun coming to work and finding a passport form on your desk.” – Jeremy Voorhis, Lead Architect of PLANET ARGON.

“Bright ideas are nearly worthless. Execution is everything.” – Jason Watkins, Lead Product Developer of PLANET ARGON.

Refactoring and the Pacific Ocean

Robby Russell — Tue, 22 Nov 2005 06:59:00 -0600

I am currently sitting in a hotel about 40 miles north of San Francisco. One more day on-site and then I fly home to Portland, so I can drive to Seattle for a day of rest. I might be back down here in a week or so.

I took a photo of the luggage of Jeremy... it was too funny to pass up.

He takes great pride in his packing… just like he does with the code that he designs. It was great that we fit in a few minutes for him to take his first real look at the Pacific Ocean.

I’ve been meaning to post those… so there you have them. :-)

Back in Portland... back to San Francisco

Robby Russell — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 10:33:00 -0600

Last night, Jeremy and I got back to Portland after an intense but enjoyable rails consulting project. I’m flying back down there either later tonight or tomorrow AM to work for a few more days on-site.

Yesterday, we got to meet Deirdre Saoirse Moen and Steve Enzer on Haight St at a Wifi-friendly Coffee shop. It was nice to get to meet some bayarea rubyists. :-)

I’ll post some photos on our PLANET ARGON flickr page later…but I must go run a few errands first and we have another meeting with one of our other clients this afternoon. (then I fly back…)

I’m looking forward to sharing some of things that we’ve been learning over the past few days. I can’t discuss much about the clients business (at the moment), but we know from first hand that Ruby on Rails is being used in a fairly large production facility. At any moment 30-40 people are using a few internal Rails applications to manage the production of their business. It’s quite impressive. I’m talking… Barcodes <=> Rails. :-)