The Escape from the Smoke

For the second time in the month I escaped a dire situation! Big T was not so lucky but more on that later. Last time I checked in I mentioned that I was preparing to head into the belly of the beast that is the Big Smoke. Everything went quite smoothly on the entry, but it usually does. The meeting was very interesting and we covered many topics of a diverse nature, touching on many aspects of the business. It was an excellent opportunity to touch base with colleagues whom I haven't had the chance to talk to in some months. This meeting also afforded me the chance to participate in some "team building" activities. We got a tour of the Rogers Center which was a little lackluster due to a guide who seemed to lack enthusiasm for his work but more so due to construction. That building was erected in 1989 and continues to be a marvel of modern engineering, including rotating seating and the rare feature of a fully retractable roof. I knew most of the history and had been in most of the areas previously but was still impressed. We also bonded over a celebration. As I mentioned several times previously we commercialized that new soybean trait and this was the first time our group was together so it was on. Some people knew it was on before others and as a result we had a very striated level of intoxication within the group. This made things very entertaining. I, myself, was in the middle of the pack. The marketing team seemed to be on a more accelerated track, this lead to an unpleasant morning for many of them I'm told. I'm glad, they deserved to let loose, we all did. So that was the first night of the meeting, pretty tough to beat that experience I admit. The next night we went to Real Sports to watch the Raptors home game. It's funny how things change, time was that we would have a box for such an event at the venue, now we're watching it at a sports bar. The overall experience was mildly negative at this establishment but I'll save those details for my Tripadvisor review. I was tired and decided to join the mass travelling back to the hotel after the dinner was wrapped up. I'm told the late night group only lasted until high noon anyways so I only lost an hour of adventure by going to bed early, which I am comfortable with. So the meeting wrapped up around noon today and I was able to jump in with a colleague who navigated us smoothly out of the city. I was home at a good hour and I've fed myself and will be going to bed soon. The Leaf game hasn't even started yet and I'm looking to find my bed already. I'm as surprised as you are, don't worry. I guess I'm tuckered out from such a prolific meeting.