Another trip to the Beer Engine.....

Last night, some of the co-workers gathered at the Beer Engine in Lakewood to give a good send-off to someone who was leaving the company. I was there two weeks ago with some of the same co-workers to celebrate Friday evening. This is rapidly becoming one of my favorite bars in town. They have at least 24 specialty brews on tap, and plenty more in bottles (and a few in cans). And the food is decent, too. I had some of their hot chicken wings and they had the authentic Buffalo flavor to them.

I also found out that one of the senior programmers on the team is only 32. Compared to him, I must be an old geezer. :-) I'm reminded of the passage in the Silicon Valley Guy Handbook that said that 35 was old age in the computer biz.

I welcome any level of human interaction with my co-workers. I don't get a lot of that during work, as programming is mostly a solitary activity, and we've got a deadline to get the code done, so we're all hunkered down.

Meeting fellow UB alumni.....

Tonight I went to a meeting of the local chapter of my alma mater's alumni association. It was held at the Step Right Up hot dog stand in Hudson. They use Sahlen's hot dogs and cook them over a charcoal grill -- just like Ted's. They also had beef on weck there.

I got to meet other UB graduates and alumni there, and talk about the school, the good times, the bad times (mostly standing in line at the bookstore, or the drop/add line), and the local food. I also re-met Carla, who I'd known from my college days. We didn't get along very well back then, but there was no mention of that past. It was like she forgot who I was, and for that, I was a little grateful. We'll be adding each other to our LinkedIn networks.

If you're in the area, and craving hot dogs or beef on weck, or are just curious about Buffalo food, I highly recommend this place.