Yet Another Another New Beginning

I’m back from Texas.

What? I didn’t tell you I was going to Texas? I’m sneaky like that. Now, I know I mentioned in passing that I was in Texas, but if you didn’t read the blog carefully, you might have missed it.

Anyway… I am back, much to the delight of my dogs who missed me terribly. I think Hubby missed me, too. He hasn’t been following me from room to room, though. Which is a good thing. A very good thing, actually. It would really be weird to have Hubby curled up on the floor of my office while I work. Dancing around when I get back from the store. Sniffing at the bathroom door while I am in there. Or sniffing at… well, you get the picture.

Why was I in Texas? I started a new job. Same job, different company. The last company I worked for grew very big very quickly. From about 500 employees to about 12,000. I am not exaggerating, it happened through acquisitions. I hated it.

Don’t get me wrong, there were some awesome people there. I just don’t like working for such a huge corporation. One sort of gets lost among the masses. I’d never be a good assembly line employee…

I had to go to Austin, Texas for a week of new employee orientation. Don’t worry, I’ll be working remotely from my home office. No moves to Texas in our near future. Although, I must say, Texas was pretty cool. It was way hillier than I expected. And the food was YUM-MO.

Unfortunately, I only took my point-and-shoot camera. So I didn’t get many fabulous pictures. But I did capture a few I thought I’d share here.

I took that space shot with the camera on my phone. Yes, I know it’s very geeky to take pictures from the airplane while flying, but I don’t care. The sky looked cool. And I thought the picture made it look as if I were flying in outer space.

The hotel I stayed at — Homewood Suites, which I just loved — had a complimentary breakfast every morning. With a waffle iron that made Texas-shaped waffles. How cool is that?

Yes, I get excited easily.

Since I was supposed to be capturing morning images for last week’s You Capture theme, I snapped a few pics while driving. Actually, I should say “while in the car” since I wasn’t exactly moving. Traffic got a bit congested in spots. You can see how hilly the place is. Austin’s downtown is ahead and to the left, beyond those hills.

This was the view from the office they had me sitting in. Not bad, eh? Several folks commented that I had the best view in the building.

Not much to say about that shot. I just think it’s cool.

When I say this mural of Betty Boop, I immediately thought of my buddy, Ally, who many of you know as ShyBiker. She loves Betty Boop.

Not only was I limited by only having a point-and-shoot and phone camera with me, the space was sort of tight. You see, it was on the wall of a women’s bathroom. A relatively small bathroom, I might add.

I got a slightly wider view with the point-and-shoot.

I only accomplished that by standing in the hallway outside of the bathroom, propping the self-closing door open with my left foot while balancing precariously on my right foot. It wasn’t easy. But I just HAD to get the shot. Know what I’m saying?

I didn’t make too much of a scene. It was right before closing at Lone Star BMW/Triumph, where I’d gone to buy a shirt for my Hubby. (Yes, Rachael, I thought of you, too, being surrounded by Tigers and all.)

That’s it for my shots.

Next time I am there, I’ll have to go to the downtown area. To the city park specifically. Apparently, there are stray cows/steers (I don’t know how to tell the difference) roaming around.

No, I did not take that last shot. I wish I had, though. I think it’s pretty funny.