40 Years of Service.

On June 21, 2017, I celebrated 40 years of service at IBM (my actual service anniversary is June 20). IBM provides a dinner (or shopping points if you choose that) at every 5th year anniversary starting at 25. This just started last year, so this is the first dinner I've had since my 25th anniversary.

We went to Benny's Chop House in Chicago. The team was there doing a Proof of Technology, and so we were all able to travel and be together. The date was just a coincidence.

L-R: Regi Barosa, Mark, Connie, Wilbert Kho, Jennifer Velasquez, Kathy Bazinet, David Bean, Ed Steele

Here are the seafood appetizers. This were very, very good. Yes, that's a whole lobster stuck in the top, with crab legs, jumbo shrimp, and lobster tails on the ice. I'm not sure how much they cost, but I'm sure they weren't cheap. Just to the side of the big stainless bowl, is maple syrup covered bacon.

Mark & Connie chowing down. We did share a steak. Always trying to save the company money!

I was a little concerned about the cost of going to Bennys. The program provides 2X the per-diem per attandee. The per-diem is for the entire day, not just dinner. I told Kathy that I didn't know if this would fit into the budget. She said she wasn't worried about the budget. Thanks Kathy! It was great.