Friday, May 15, 2009

Sprayed the lawn with weed killer

Sunday, May 3, 2009

The Chateau on the Lake



April 28 through the 30th one of the departments we support sponsored a conference in Branson at The Chateau on the Lake to witch I was required (got) to go. None of it really pertained to IT but it was a nice get away.

The Chateau on the Lake is a beautiful hotel sitting on top of a hill all by itself overlooking Table Rock Lake. My first impression was WOW, this place is incredible. It has a long deck that overlooks the lake witch turned out to be a great place to gather in the evening, watch the sun set and drink tequilas while snaking on jalapenos, white cheddar, chocolate covered popcorn form Harry and Dave’s (amazingly it’s a lot better than it sounds). There were several gathering places though out with seating that was made both for looks and for comfort. There was a constant sound of moving water and chirping birds form the nature themed waterfalls and live birds. The Chateau is a wonderful place to kick back an relax
Now for my complaints!

  • The rooms didn’t have a refrigerators or microwaves. 
  • The room had a 50 inch HDTV but only received an analog signal. Analog looks terrible on high def TV’s. If you have an analog signal your best to show it on an analog device.
  • They charged for the wi-fi. Normally I wouldn’t have cared but I couldn’t get a 3G connection on my cell phone wireless card.
  • There were no paper or disposable cups in the room, they were all glass. After watching the news reports on how some housekeeping cleans dishes in hotel rooms I refuse to drink out of real glass or ceramic mugs.
  • When I opened the window in my room I got this really loud roaring sound of some kind of equipment, probably air conditioners (room 309) 




Most of our free time was spent jumping from restaurant to restaurant. Our first night went down to the landing and ate at a little Mexican placed called “Cantina Laredo”. We ate out on the deck on what couldn’t have been a nicer evening. The Guacamole was prepared fresh at the table as well as our desert which created a flame ball as it was prepared. Every thing was great.

The hotels cheapest breakfast was $14 so we made a trip to wall mart to pick up some fruit and breakfast bars for breakfast to save us from the gouging.
 
Lunch the next day was at Danna’s Bar-B-Que and Burger. Stupid me, I had the fried catfish sandwich. My lunch was so-so. Everyone else loved their hamburgers and bbq.

For dinner that night we ate at “Shogun Japanese Steak and Sushi”. This is one of those places where everyone sits around a griddle and the food is prepared as entertainment in front of the diners.

Breakfast the next morning was at McFarland's per my friend Kelly’s recommendation. I had the best skillet breakfast I’ve ever had. If you go, be sure to get their gravy.

On the drive home we stopped at Missouri Hick BBQ in Sullivan. As always I got a half slab of ribs. Everyone should have the joy once in their lives of eating ribs from Missouri Hick.

Yard work

May 2, 2009 - Fertilized the lawn with "Scotts Lawn Pro Super Turf Builder."