Seattle

I write from Bellevue. Not the Bellevue in cornhusker-land that I've grown rather accustomed to during the last 6 years; instead, I find myself supplanted in Washington state, a personal first. This 2 day retreat to metropolitan Seattle is to attend a network security conference at Microsoft's state-of-the-art corporate facility in Redmond, WA. The Microsoft campus, as it's called, is headquarters North America for the company, a virtual city with Bill Gates as mayor. The campus is impressive... an unexpected mixture of sleek corporation and a garden of Eden: meticulously landscaped parks, trails, and flowerbeds nestled among giant redwoods and gleaming glass office buildings. Tomorrow as I head back home to "The Good Life," I take with me a newfound respect for the company and the impressive corporate image casted by the "campus." Check out the photos from Seattle here.