Downbursts Are Baby Tornadoes, Right?

"...severe thunderstorms...could cause large hail and downburst winds..."

Okay, so it turns out that downbursts aren't baby tornadoes.  But this was the gist of what I read on the National Weather Service website before I got on a plane to Dallas yesterday.

Last Thursday, I was eating lunch at my desk when my boss called me into his office. When I went in, he was staring at the vacation calendar that's posted on his wall. My heart nearly stopped. "Err...is everything okay with my vacation?" I asked nervously. "Oh yeah, we're good," he replied. "Can you go to Dallas next week?"

We are apparently looking into getting some new equipment. The sales guy for one of the vendors had arranged a demo at a cosmetics company in the States. This project actually belonged to my coworker, but his visa paperwork didn't come through in time. My boss was going to go, but there was a customer visit at our site on the same day that was pretty important. The sales guy had already rescheduled the demo once and couldn't change it again. So I became the pinch hitter.

When you think about it, I'm probably the more ideal candidate to go to a cosmetics company. On the other hand, it's Texas. All I can do is hope that they don't shoot the girl first.

I had dinner with the sales guy at a really good steakhouse, Del Frisco's.  It's a small chain that originated from Texas but has locations all over the US.  I would say it's a small step above Ruth's Chris.  They had valet parking and everything.  The meal was great, but it was a little too much food a little too late in the night.  I was exhausted and stuffed.  But I guess it helped me out because I slept like a log the whole night, which is unusual (I usually toss and turn the first night in a hotel from the unfamiliar environment and the different noises).

We went to the facility, which was a strange experience.  It had a security fence all around it.  We had to get buzzed in through the gate before we could even get to the front door.  They had a uniformed security officer at the reception desk.  It's a cosmetics company.  I wasn't aware that they had to protect themselves that much.  And yet, they let me take as many photos and videos of their equipment as I wanted.  So weirdly contradictory.

The equipment was pretty impressive.  The engineering technician who took us around the plant had nothing but good things to say.  The last 4 new pieces that they bought were from this vendor, so that's a telltale sign.  We got a good look around, and then we left, just as the rain started.

No hail.  No downbursts.  Less than 24 hours and I was out of there.

"The sun will shine from time to time, oh when you dream of me yeah"