Darian Burow: Twitch Genius & The City's Hidden Tech Gem

Round 2 of "It's My Treat." This time with Twitch Genius Darian Burow. Kind of a chilly week, so I was super happy when Darian agreed to go to lunch with me. A third guest was going to join us, but we could not make the schedule work. You'll have to wait to find out who that was.

First, let me tell you about Darian. She is a co-worker and maybe the first person that I met when I walked through the doors of the City Building. She was great at the front desk, but has since moved upstairs to main office. There along with a couple of other great admins, they help the City run smoothly.

Darian as a person is one of the nicest you will ever meet. Always has a good attitude and is such a pleasure to be around.

The plan was to hit up Watson's and get some great chicken, but unfortunately it was closed for lunch today. Plans quickly changed and we headed across the street to Guido's. I was disappointed that I didn't get to try Watson's, but I was pleasantly surprised when we were greeted by a friendly waiter who brought us out a small sample of the soup of the day (Cream of Potato.) What a great idea to give a little sample to people. It was delicious. I think it even swayed Darian into having it along with a half sandwich.

I, on the other hand, could not be swayed away from my standard of a Bacon Cheeseburger. The waiter suggested curly fries and I am glad I chose them. Much better than the shoestring fries that you get at other places. Food was very good.

The waiter, David (last picture), was amazing. He even knew what Sloe Gin was. And he did confirm my suspicion that they did not carry it there. Side note: If you haven't had sloe gin, get the word gin out of your mind. This taste nothing like the nasty pine needle drink that some people say is good. (Martinis should be made with Vodka.) What was I talking about? Sloe Gin. Yes. It is a sweet cherry flavored alcohol that will turn a Diet Coke into a Cherry Diet Coke with a kick. So hard to find it when you go out, but if you ever go to a liquor store pick up a bottle and have it with a nice cola beverage.

Ok, back to the story. None of that alcohol information was important because we were on our lunch break and did not have anything to drink other than water and a diet soda. But the talk of alcohol did bring about one of our first topics of conversation. Drunk stories.

Darian had a good college Halloween story that involved being dressed like a vegan vampire (no teeth) and doing way too many shots in way too little time. Drinking led to walking to campus and enjoying all the other costumed people that were probably a little tipsy themselves. Luckily a friend was there to help her get home and fill her with water, so she was only slightly intoxicated when she went to work the following morning.

It is good to be young. My story also had a lot of alcohol, (peach schnapps, ever clear, and nine kamikazes - I couldn't make the tenth one to complete the shot pyramid.) That was a heck of night that I don't fully remember. It is good to be older and not do any crazy things like that anymore.

So after we loosened up on the alcohol stories, I got to know some of Darian's hidden tech talents. Apparently she is the go to person in the office if you have basic computer and office software questions. I had no idea, but apparently others go to her for things that are too basic to go to our IT department for. Also had no idea she worked at Wolfram before working at the City.

But the most fun thing that I learned was that Darian is a Brian proclaimed Twitch Expert. She says she just moderates and plays some games on other people's channels, but I have a feeling she is an amazing gamer at heart. I don't think my mining prowess in creative mode on Minecraft impressed her much. Ha.

All in all, I think that even though Darian wasn't overjoyed with the idea of going to lunch in the cold, she seemed to have had a good time. I know I did. It was great to get out and get to know more about someone outside of our everyday work conversations. We will have to do it again sometime when Watson's is open for lunch. Thank you, Darian.