\n\tHello from Everett, WA\n<\/p>\n
\n\tSunday evening – September 23, 2018 (Second post of this travelogue)\n<\/p>\n
\n\tWe made it to Everett a day early (Saturday). The drive consisted of two 400 mile days and two 300 mile days. The trip was a bit quicker than we thought since the speed limit in both Wyoming and Montana is 80 MPH. The weather was good until just before we got to Seattle and then it poured rain (really, rain in Seattle?). \n<\/p>\n
\n\tAfter we left Butte, we drove to Spokane and stayed at the old standby: HI Express. As I noted, we get a few benefits from my Priority Club status, but mostly we know that we can expect a decent room, and a good breakfast. This trip there was an exception to that. Our stay in Buffalo was not good. The room was poorly prepared, the front desk person was not at all polite and the WIFI sucked. Fortunately that is the exception.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tWe are staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Everett (Google Maps link)<\/a>. I have stayed here before and it is a “middle of the road” HI Express. Since we arrived a day early, they had to do some maneuvering so that we could stay in the same room for the rest of our stay. That resulted in our being assigned a handicap room. We have stayed in handicap rooms several times and it is always an adventure. Everything is set up lower for wheelchair access. The closet bar is about 3 ½ feet off the floor. Doesn’t matter, it is a good place to hang out.\n<\/p>\n \n\t{google_map}47.8822, -122.2349{\/google_map}\n<\/p>\n \n\tOver the next three days I teach two classes. One is on lubrication fundamentals (two days) and one day on bearing fundamentals. Both of these classes were developed by a consultant to Boeing and NTT has now taken over the classes. They are quite different from the NTT lubrication and bearings chapters. The lubrication is much more detailed and, frankly, the bearing class is a mess. We have had to add some of the NTT material to make the class useful for the students.\n<\/p>\n \n\tI have had to put in several hours on this trip sorting out the details that the previous consultant presented in both classes. I think it will go well, but it will be hard to make them “smooth” presentations\/discussions.\n<\/p>\n \n\tTo top things off, the class starts at 6:00 AM and I have not been a morning person since I retired {grin}.\n<\/p>\n \n\tI have been eating most of my meals in the room for the past year or so of classes. I stop by a local Trader Joe’s and pick up things that I can microwave. The food is good and easy to fix. We made a trip there today and had Chicken Piccata tonight. It was very tasty. My expense reports reflect the cost savings and that makes NTT and Boeing happy.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThat is all for this post.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Hello from Everett, WA Sunday evening – September 23, 2018 (Second post of this travelogue) We made it to Everett a day early (Saturday). The drive consisted of two 400 mile days and two 300 mile days. The trip was … Continue reading