I’ve been spending some time in Sacramento for the purposes of checking out a laboratory that my company uses to analyze environmental samples to either better understand a site we are actively trying to remediate, or as part of the actual remediation process. Yes, my day job is part of a team cleaning up other folks’ messes.

And while I was pleasantly surprised that it was not purely for show to visit the lab and make sure they were on the up and up (checking the box, as it were) and not “dry-labbing” their results (e.g., making up some reasonable numbers and putting them into a report as results when they never actually analyze the samples; and yes, I’ve seen it happen in the distant past), I got several bonus out of the affair that were unexpected: a better understanding of “exotic” service offerings that have come up on my radar in the past that I couldn’t find a lab to perform, some good chatting about other possible partnering opportunities, discovering some of the best Thai food that I’ve had in years (dinner was even better than lunch!), getting something on the order of 30k steps in and getting to see a lizard (gecko?) in the process, and (best of all), getting to meet someone in person I had only previously known via WordPress, Bridgette White.