Road Trip!

As at most companies these days, Cadence is doing what it can to minimize travel expenses wherever possible.  Consequently, whereas my business trips used to always involve an airplane in some way, these days myself and my colleagues fan out by car from our repective offices to visit customers.  Hence, this week I'm on the road -- literally -- driving behind the wheel of my own vehicle to call on a long time Specman customer in concert with several colleagues from our Field team.

Legend has it that this particular site was the second one ever to adopt Specman in the USA, so the relationship with this customer predates my start with Team Specman by quite a few years.  However, while there are plenty of technical and personal bonds with the people there, and the relationship between our two companies has been mutually productive throughout these many years, you just can't take such a relationship for granted regardless of the state of the economy.  For all the above reasons, when word of this opportunity came up, I was happy to temporarily set aside my pre-DVCon tasks and volunteer to hop in the car and drive up to this site.  The Fates seem to be smiling kindy on my decision since upon my arrival in the customer's locality, a rainbow appeared outside in roughly the vicinity of the site we'll be visiting:

Don't believe me?  Look at the time stamp in the image's EXIF data -- this is a real photo I took earlier today!

While it's always nice to be greeted by auspecious omens like this, I assure you that if I see a unicorn run by, I'll visit the nearest medical facility for a head examination before driving home.  (Unless, of course, I manage to snap a picture of the elusive beast!)  ;-)