botto 

reported.

rideaz

I was in London last summer with my kids for 3 days. I was in Amsterdam when I was 17 ('nuff said, I lost a week's worth of my memory and have a stupid tattoo to show for it). I've visited Paris twice but both times with a school trip. I lived in France for a summer but never made it to Paris again.
Anyways, London is very cool. The touristy stuff is even cool. We bought a 2 day bus pass and used the double decker bus tours. Kinda cheesy but it allowed us to get around the entire city. We'd get off at different stops and walk around. Covent Gardens, Tower of London, The London Dungeon and some of the big dept stores were the favorites. We spent hours at Camden market. They have knock off versions of everything and pick pockets galore, but they also have some of the best street food I've ever had! Plus, the atmosphere is great there. Groups of Punk rockers still hang out there! If you can get out of the touristy areas, there's some great English pubs that serve good food and beers. Like Matt said, Indian food in London is awesome!

I hope you have an awesome trip!

rkwaki

One time I was in Austin, as was Hammy and we were planning on having dinner together. Rockets asked us what we wanted for dinner, I told him I was easy (first mistake). He suggested this cute little French Bistro and I was tickled by that idea as it had been a long time since I had a fresh baguette. As we were driving to the restaurant Hammy leaned over to Rockets and said "I brought the clipboard like you asked..."

hammy56

****.

shovelhd

Matt, congrats and good luck. In MA it is state law that vacation is comp and must be paid out.

Paris. I was there once for work in 1993. Paris Air Show. I found a restaurant on the main drag that served all you could eat carpaccio on platters. I stopped at eight.

Find a pub on the Seine to people watch. I found one on a corner next to a bridge. That's all I remember. They served Guiness in liter mugs and has outside seating. Man the view of the sidewalk was eye popping. Have fun.

happybday29475

correct
incorrect

happybday29475

fify.

gsteinb

correct

mattm

Thx all for the congrats. Definitely exciting!

Fix?? My tumblr thingy may not be the best, but now it's broken? Damn, tough crowd. =]

Unused vacation time (all 90 hours of it!) will be paid out for sure; too bad the 80 hours of sick time I never used won't be.. oh well. Note to self, use sick time instead of vacation time when possible!

As for getting two weeks pay after I'm gone, not happening. I asked the HR guy and they just don't do that here, everything terminates on my last day. I told the HR guy I wasn't exactly happy with the early-termination thing but it is what it is.

Also learned today that you can give notice but not say where you're going, and then they can't early-terminate you. Next time I quit a job I'll know all the tricks!

It's not so much the unpaid vacation time that I mind, it's losing health insurance. With two stage races coming up it's probably not a great idea to do them uninsured.. when I was previously unemployed I got USAC's "supplemental" insurance thingy, but given that it said "THIS IS NOT INSURANCE" on the bottom of the card they gave me didn't exactly instill confidence.

Cobra, here I come I guess.

Fat Boy

Take a look at the way COBRA is implemented. It may be possible to not pay the premium up front, then if you need it, back-pay the premium and use the insurance. It sounds hokey, but I remember something like that the last time my wife left a job.

furiousferret

Our first few minutes in Paris we got in a cab stand, and when cabbie put our luggage in the trunk, then when my wife couldn't pronounce the Hotel name properly he tossed out (i.e. threw) the luggage on the sidewalk and left. The people waiting behind us were from another part of France and told us the rest of the country is not like that...

That was the only incident except for getting yelled at by a cashier after taking a picture of a Royal Cheese on the menu at McDonald's.

The Orsay is a must see if you are into art.

ridethecliche

From what I understand, you have to pay ALL the previous months premium if you use it. i.e. if you get sick in month 5, you need to pay for 1 through 5.

kindablue

Anyone else dread intervals with power? I'm sitting here putting off VO2 max hill repeats as I'm afraid of not hitting my target wattage.

New plan
1) fu allen and coggan
2) I think I'll just pocket the PM and read the data later tonight
3) Enjoy the beautiful scenery

revchuck 

Outside of Paris, French people are really nice. They're proud of their culture and show it graciously. Stopping for lunch in a small town is one of the nicer things you can do for yourself.

ovoleg

I would definitely not recommend going w/o insurance especially if you're going to be racing soon. You could rack up some hefty bills in a matter of seconds.

shovelhd

It sort of has to work that way. Employers take their time letting their COBRA administrators know of your termination, and they in turn take their time informing you of the plan costs and the election requirements. If you plan to go on COBRA no matter what, any claim during the COBRA period will be paid, no matter when you pay the premium, within some kind of time limit that is less than 18 months. My insurance at my old employer runs out this Friday, and I haven't seen my COBRA docs yet. I'll still race this weekend.

mattm

Thanks good to know.

Homebrew01

Cobra is expensive. Shop around. I found short term insurance quite a bit cheaper while I was unemployed for a few months a while back.

Homebrew01

I guess I've been lucky. At my last 2 jobs, I got laid off at one, and gave 2 weeks notice at the other. Both paid unused time, and neither "walked me out" despite access to highly sensitive data.

mattm

Colonel Sander's secret recipe?

Enthalpic

I recently received ten weeks severance pay without losing my job...

They changed the policy on voluntary severance for long-term employees. The old policy stated that long-term employees were entitled to one week pay per year service even if they quit or retired. They wanted to change the policy such that you only get severance pay if you were laid off; so they paid out all the accumulated severance for voluntary departure yet I still get severance if they decide to lay me off.

waterrockets 

Well, not hitting your targets is more of a bad zone settings problem than anything to do with training with a power meter. There are times when you're just "off," but otherwise missing targets just means your zones are too high. On the 2nd interval, find a rhythm at the right RPE, check power at the top, and set that as your new target (or maybe chop off 10W).

tetonrider

i just spoke with the USAC insurance folks earlier today. nice people, actually. it IS supplemental insurance (basically they match your deductible between $1k and $5k, and then they pay out at 70%, so if your personal plan pays 80% after the deductible is met they pay 70% of the 20%).

if you do not have any insurance, they act as primary, though i suspect the deductible is the max.

if you are curious, call them. may help you decide whether or not risking a month "uninsured" is worth it:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/USACWeb/for...eClaimForm.pdf

tetonrider

i generally agree, but i have personally watched a cafe owner literally THROW two would-be patrons out of an establishment in the french pyrenees, a particularly tiny town, because they had the nerve to ask for food.

it was a sunday, mid-day, and the owner did not feel like serving food other than to 3 reserved tables. i had politely inquired and stuck with drinks when i got the negative reply.

another couple was a bit more persistent...

it was awesome to watch, actually.

Homebrew01

Shhhhhhhhhh !

If you want McDonald's secret sauce recipe, ask Waki