Pics from upstate NY...

So I'm back from scenic upstate NY, where I was for the last 6 days for Apple hardware training. The good news is that I passed both the Apple Desktop Technician and Portable Technician tests. The bad news is that I still need to pass the OS System Technician essentials test in order to be certified in the two areas, and I need to do it in the next couple weeks if I want to be able to do it in 10.4 instead of Leopard. I bought a copy of the PeacHPit book, and I'm hoping to schedule a day to take it in the next few weeks. Hopefully I'll pass on the first try and be certified.

Training was in Rhinecliff, NY at a place called Business Rules, one of only 4 certified Apple Hardware Training centers in the country. bsom, a friend and coworker, went with me, which made it more enjoyable . Training was conducted by the very knowledgeable and enthusiastic owner of the place.

Rhinecliff is a tiny village on the Hudson river. It's essentially a couple old buildings. It is a few miles away from the small town of Rhinebeck, which has a handful of very good restaurants and a bunch of antique shops and boutiques that did not interest me a bit. It has no real hotels, so we ended up staying at the Courtyard by Marriott in Kingston - a larger town on the other side of the Hudson that has a small commercial strip including most of the major chain stores (Wal-Mart, Barnes and Noble, Staples, Office Depot, ect) as well as the Hudson Valley Mall, the only enclosed mall within 30 miles, a small 1-story affair with Target, Sears, Best Buy, JCPenny, and Macy's as anchors, and a food court with only 6 resturants.

So now for some pics:

the hotel. It was pretty good - nice room, breakfast included (including a make your own waffle station), and a 24 hour free coffee and tea station that we drank the hell out of.

the car - neither of us wanted to take our own cars, so we got work to rent a car, which turned out to be an '07 Chevy Impala. Pretty nice car - roomy, good acceleration, nice smooth ride. Experience was somewhat marred by the fact that it ran out of wiper fluid on the Garden State Parkway, and the "driver info center" in the dash also kept telling us that the remote battery needed to be replaced, the rear right tire was low on air, and it needed an oil change.

Business Rules building. The building is actually only two years old, but was built to replace a garage. Rhinecliff is a historic site, so the building had to be constructed to look historic. It's actually really nice inside, and despite being tiny has 8 good-sized workstations in the second floor.

Christmas tree - in the burg of Rhinecliff

Business Rules is a block from the water. There is actually an Amtrak station there, a leftover from when the Vanderbuilts had an estate nearby and took the train to and from New York City. The following pics were taken from the platform overlooking the Hudson river.

Hudson river one


Hudson river two


Hudson river three

clouds over the Hudson

and finally, bsom throwing up signs, yo!