Sunday, August 24, 2008

Airports, rental cars and snow...

One can not say that my life has been boring since we decided to settle down in Denver.

On the contrary, it's been rather busy. I decided to take the post with SAP as a LE (Large Enterprise) Account Exec, looking after a the St Louis and Kansas City territories, building new business. Well, if you have not already figured it out, this means living in Denver and flying about the country every week to see everyone.

It's rather exciting for now, as I get to see the country and meet lot's of people, oh and try close the odd deal.
My first week started off by jumping on a flight last minute to SL (St Louis) for a customer event. SL is great, very quaint and pretty. I decided to hire a car so I could drive around and get to know my way. Luckily I remembered to drive on the right hand side this time.

Cute little houses in a St Louis Suburb

View from the air, flying back to Denver

In between Denver had some funny weather, and even had some snow in the mountains, which is a little strange for this time of year. It was great driving to the airport and seeing Mount Evans topped with white snow. Stunning!!!


This week started off with a Monday morning flight to Philadelphia, to the SAP HQ in Newtown SQ. This place blew me away. I know everyone said Philly was not the best place to be, but out in the country and in the little town of Newtown and Devon, where I stayed in a hotel, is like going back in time.
I had to smile seeing freshly baked bread delivered to the door of a deli - still closed and opening later, the bread just sits on the doorstep until the shop opens - Imagine that in SA. Not!
Horse Race track in Devon - Phylli
Typical home in a Devon Suburb

The train station
Freshly baked bread anyone??
On the way to SAP, trees, trees and more trees
The SAP HQ
Entrance Hall - Impressive

The SAP Guest cottage - well one of the many

SAP Conference Centre
A church down the road

Devon is a stunning little town, clean and lot's and lot's of trees. The SAP HQ is just as impressive, situated on it's own campus, quest cottages, training facilities etc.
Again I rented a little car to zoom around in, and thanks to Chris's GPS, am finding my way around just fine.

The rest of the week was spent in my Denver office, where on the 14th floor of the highest building in the Denver Tech Area, I look straight onto the Rocky Mnt's.


View from my office

What is Denver Tech? There is the main part of the Denver City, which we locals ((-:) call Downtown Denver. About 10 miles away from Denver Downtown, there is the Denver Tech Centre, where most of the IT and other big corp's are situated. This area is very new and has stunning buildings.

Other than that, Chris and I invited Fred and Loraine over for Dinner. We had a fab time and caught up on all the news. Chris has also been checking out all upcoming Ski Sales for winter, and is now almost a pro at what's what, what to wear and which gear is the best to get. He also managed to get a great pair of ski boots on sale already, and has been wearing them around the house like a kid, "trying to break them in".Guess who's excited about ski season.

Chris also surprised me with my new set of golf clubs, the ones I've been spying on for the last month. They are the Callaway X18's. So guess who's off to the driving range today!!
Other than that, we are having dinner with Melanie and Jenni tonight, and look forward to hearing all about their hikes and news while they were on leave.
I am flying off to Austin tomorrow until Wednesday for a bunch of meetings.

Well folks, that's my news for now, I'm loving being back at SAP, and having fun in between.

Remember, life's a journey, NOT a destination!

Driving on the right hand side ...or is it the left??

I had to laugh at this, well at least I thought it was funny.

There we are, Melissa and I, out and about in Highlands Ranch, going from shop to shop looking for goodies for Melissa's new home, and chatting away as gals do.
All was going really well until I was about to turn left up the road. Melissa quickly said I could not turn as it was a red arrow, and carried on sms'ing on her phone. So I patiently waited for the "robot" to turn green, then noticing the guy on the opposite side of the road throwing his arms up in the air, and shaking his head. This guy was not a happy camper. What was his problem?

Then I saw the problem, there I was, happily parked in the left hand side lane, directly in the way of the oncoming traffic!!!
I quickly put the car in reverse, and swiftly reversed back into the right hand side lane.
Well, at least I know I have excellent muscle memory! Hee,hee

Sunday, August 10, 2008

Loving Life in Denver

As most you you can see by my lack of updating my blog of late, that I have been a very busy girl.

This week we had a whole lot of exciting things happen.

Chris finally found a car that he loves. We went car shopping last week Saturday, and he found a great bargain at the VW lot. I call it VW because the Americans can not pronounce "Volkswagen". He fell in love with a dark blue Jetta 2.5, with all the bells and whistles, on board navigation, electric everything, seat warmers and the list goes on.
He collected the car on Tuesday and has been loving every minute of it.

The Man with his new car

I also received my offer from SAP on Wednesday, signed and sealed. I start on Monday 11th August. I will be looking after the Large Enterprise Market, mainly in Missouri, and one or two accounts in other areas. It all feels very virtual, working out of the Denver office (the most stunning building, on the 16th floor, overlooking the rocky mountains), my boss is based in Dallas and I will fly around the place looking after customers in Missouri and a few other places. I am very excited to get back into work mode, never thought I would hear my self say that, but you can only loaf around so much.

Chris and I then went furniture shopping, and boy did I have a fab time. We went to a place that imports all sorts of furniture and nic-naks from all over the world, esp. Asia (India, Indonesia etc). We finally managed to finish furnishing the house, now at least it feels like home and not a student's digs.

My crazy Canadian friend Melissa and I then had a fab afternoon on Friday, we went to Parkmeadows Mall, and sat outside enjoying the afternoon atmosphere at a viby new Italian spot, drinking Mojito's. Later that evening we helped one her customers out, playing on their softball team. This is the second time I've played softball and we had such a great time. My first time hitting (batting), I actually hit the ball, and had everyone in stitches when I ran to next base, but forgetting to drop the bat. Well, you live and learn.
We then went out to dinner in Highlands Ranch, and after a few margaritas, we were def not allowed to drive, the cops dish DUI's (Driving Under the Influence) out here like candy. So I stayed over at her place and we walked to collect our cars the next morning.

Melissa and I

Chris and I decided to take a day trip up to lake Dillon, which is in the heart of Ski Country. Of course there is no snow now, but the lake is viby and they have concerts in the amphitheatre in the evenings. Well, when Chris and I arrived, we were met with the smell of food, and about 5,000 people. After managing to find a spot to park, we went to investigate what was going on. It was the annual Dillon BBQ competition. There were hundreds of stalls, all cooking up , or should I say, BBQ'ing up a storm. Ribs, Pork, Turkey legs. All you do is walk around, drinking beer and tasting all the food. It was good fun and we finally found the best BBQ and put in our vote.

A pit stop at SilverthornThe quaint and bustling little town of Dillon
The BBQ festival competition

A rain storm was coming in, so we decided to take a ride around the lake and I found my most favourite place where one day, when I'm big, I will build my log cabin.

Stunning view of Lake DillonIn the mountains on lake Dillon, my future house on the hill - can you see it...

The popular ski town of Frisco

We are very lucky. Colorado is one of the most stunning places, and we have everything right on our doorstep.


Chris is off to a Rockies Baseball Game today. The Rockies are our home team here.
Jasper, our SA friend who works at Coors has invited him with, free beer, free food and
top notch tickets, not all bad, life could be worse.

Well folks, that's all after an exciting week. Will keep you posted .