49th Super Bowl, 6 days, 2 offices and an historic winter storm

In the past, February has been a time for celebration of sorts, the headache of the January poverty is over and the ‘financially stable’ year can now begin. This year however, has been a little different. My excitement was escalated and mixed with a healthy dose of nervousness, by the last minute news that I was destined for Chicago on February 3^rd for training. I had just changed teams within Allstate NI, (you all know that because you all follow me on Twitter and Linkedin don’t you…) back to the team where I started my Allstate development career. There is a huge plan afoot for this team, and I was departing on a 6 day visit to Home Office for team orientation and Microsoft training…6 days which included the Super Bowl…#cloud9.

So bags backed with 6 days worth of office attire and the 7 day forecast of -12^oC to look forward to, I headed off on a 7 hour flight to New York followed by a 3 hour flight to Chicago. The whole journey, I was braced for an experience that night that I had longed for all my life, watching the Super Bowl ‘stateside’. I watch it every year, even if it involves a late night /early morning (depending on your perspective), and this year’s game was an epic. The great atmosphere in the hotel, and the post match celebrations really were the best way to start my time in the USA. Needless to say I slept like a log that night but I was ready for the hard work to begin.

Monday morning I had a major dose of tummy tingles, partly because of the heavily caffeinated coffee served at breakfast, but also because this was a big day for me! Leaving the hotel, the scene I witnessed was like something from the arctic. I can remember the blast of cold air that hit me that morning when the doors opened. If the coffee hadn’t kicked in, I’m sure that breeze would have blown the jet lagged cobwebs off! Having chipped at an ice cube that I was assured was my rental car and braved left hand driving for the first time, I arrived at Allstate Parkway. I drove for what seemed like miles, past a parking lot that could serve a theme park, and arrived at building G of the Allstate Office Complex. I was overwhelmed by the size of the office building; I walked for 15 minutes to get to my desk! Meeting the team was a huge privilege, I have worked with these guys before and it was great to put faces to the voices that I heard so many times. Meeting, greeting and working done for the day, my focus changed to the main reason I was over here. I was attending Microsoft Training on SCCM 2012 tomorrow, a product we are upgrading to here at Allstate. I found out that day, the training was at Microsoft HQ, but the office was 30 miles down state, which involved a drive down an Interstate. Typical me, I was outwardly relaxed about the driving the next day. I enjoy driving…well I thought I did.

Tuesday came; breakfast, coffee, dig the car out of a snow drift (my daily morning routine) – then I started my journey to Microsoft HQ, Downers Grove. I eased my way onto I294 to be met by an 18 wheeler hurtling past. This is when the relaxing drive started to get a little less relaxing. 30 miles, $6 in toll fares and who knows how much nervous sweat lighter, I arrived at the foot of Microsoft. I walked through the lobby, past a museum display timeline of Microsoft from the first PC with DOS to the new Surface tablet. I gave the portrait of Mr. Gates (hanging at the entrance to the conference room) a nod as I took my seat in what was to be my second ‘office home’ in as many days. It would be at this point my story would break to an 80’s style video montage of my activities during the following 4 days. Musically backed by ‘Highway to the Danger zone’ by Kenny Loggins – no 80’s style montage is complete without it – the scenes would include labs, lectures, discussions, gallons of coffee and three entries of my daily morning routine. I’d end my montage (as the music fades) with me staring at the weather forecast in the hotel on the final night. My heart was pounding as I read that New York had 16 inches of snow overnight and that 2000+ flights had been cancelled because of winter storm Nemo. At that point, my flight was still on schedule, but the fact is, I wouldn’t know until I was airborne whether I was getting home on schedule or not. Needless to say, that night I was eating Tayto Cheese and Onion Sandwiches with a side of Pretzel M+Ms. (You kept those quiet America!)

The whole point of this trip was for me to learn about SCCM 2012. Although the labs we completed were based around a heavily watered down enterprise setup, I am now equipped to look at our implementation and draw parallels to our design decisions. I may also be in the position to add to the idea’s pool. I will also be developing a website using the SDKs for this product, so I need to know what part of the application I need to target, and what processes need to happen to get the required results. This experience has also boosted my confidence and given me the motivation to hit the ground running in this team. I look back on the whole experience with a certain amount of sentiment, not just for the fact I was flown out to Home Office, but also for the fact my team in Allstate thought enough of me to invest in my skills and my career here. I am now ready to rise to the challenge of this momentous year, and I have some terrific anecdotes to boot…Allstate Northern Ireland… #InvestingInMe.