Your Friday travel update

Hello again from 665 Broadway, 10012.

This week was the most intense that we have had on our project. On Wednesday, we had our second "milestone" meeting with the executives, and the week leading up to this meeting was grueling, with most of the team working 12+ hours last Saturday and Sunday (not me).

So, this Thursday, I got to sleep in and leave early for the airport. Time I left the office for O'Hare: 2:30 pm Thursday. Time I arrived at the Radisson in Manhattan: 3:15 am Friday. Technically, it's not quite 12 hours of actual travel because of the time change.

The only good thing about the wait at the airport was that I treated myself to a bag of Chile Picante Corn Nuts. MMM... brought me back to my childhood, to which Corn Nuts provided a solid foundation. While on the plane, it really hit me that I don't like United. It's old and staunchy (sp?). It's like the GM or Ford of the airline industry. When you fly United, you get the feeling like the company is set up for the benefit of business class and first class travelers, and that the rest of us are really just there as a necessary evil. It's little wonder that, in an era of high consumer strength, United is doing so poorly compared to other, smaller, more attentive airlines.

Phone pic of my view sitting and waiting for our pilots to arrive.

Of the last 5 United flights that I have had where I tried to use the headphones to listen to the in-flight entertainment, 4 of them have not worked at all or not worked well. Last night, I had to hold the headphone plug with my hand at just the right place in the jack so that I could hear the same "The Office" episode that they have shown since I started flying in June (it was old then). The girl behind me stole my pillow. I don't use the pillow and didn't really care, but she tried to be slick about it and slide it out from between my seat and the window. She did it little by little, and it took her the whole flight to finally get it out. As we unboarded, I saw her put it in her large purse. You have to be pretty pathetic to steal a pillow from a fellow airline passenger, then steal it from the airline.

The only nice part of the flight was that there were some big thunderstorms just south of us as we flew through NY airspace. You could see the lightning in the thunderheads in the middle of the night. It was a really spectacular show that we got to witness from a safe distance.

As I stood in line at the Radisson to check in (yeah, a line, at 3:15) I realized that it would be really nice if hotels had check-in kiosks like airports for frequent travelers. Just walk in, swipe your credit card, confirm the room rate, and out pops your key card. That would be really nice. It is a true test of one's patience to stand for 15 minutes in line while someone tries to wrangle $10 off their rate after you have traveled for 11 hours.

I will end this post with the Siemens induced weekly inspiration that fills my life. I am quite sure I know how most of you will react to it:

Phone pic of the poster hanging in the office a few feet in front of my desk.

Thanks cute overload, you made my day.

The test is on Tuesday, and Wednesday, and Thursday, so I haven't found much to smile about this weekend, but this little guy gets a bona fide giggle. Is it a gremlin or a really stoned dog? You decide.

Report from Florida

I am in the great state of Florida this weekend, visiting the Smith clan. True to the family form, we have spent the weekend eating unhealthy food (they've never met wings or cheeseburgers that they didn't like, but who knew you could get cheese and bacon on french fries?), lying on the beach and playing games. But the games have downgraded over time. We used to play Monopoly and Risk. This weekend I've played Trouble with my five year old niece twice. Pokemon Monopoly is reportedly coming out of the closet very soon. Where we used to watch adult movies, tonight's agenda includes the Swan Princess. Oh, there's still beer drinking and poker playing, but the atmosphere in the Smith household has definitely changed. My niece is awesome and definitely spunky. She takes after her aunt, if I do say so myself. I am getting tired though. Hanging out for a weekend with a five year old is good birth control. So, if anyone needs to remember why none of us have kids yet, let me know and I'll hook you up with a trip to the Smith house.

Dammit Jim, I'm a doctor, not a dump truck

To continue the net neutrality debate, I'd like to turn it over to Jon Stewart and John "I'm a PC" Hodgman:

I think it's my turn

So, I'm stealing some moments away from work on this Tuesday morning mostly because I'm feeling a little lazy, but also because I have a couple of hours before I have really concrete direction on what needs to happen next.

This last weekend was the first that I got to spend at home since we moved. I have to say that I like the new place much, much more than the last one. It may not be as big, but it makes up for it in everything else. This includes the two window units that keep the den and bedroom nice and cool.

The weekend before last, I was in Germany. I arrived on Friday morning, put in a long day at work, and quickly got very drunk with the other five interns from the office. There is a place in Munich called the Hof Brau Haus (I think that's how you spell it). Anyway, they sell beer in liters, and we each had three.

Most interesting exchange of the weekend:
Me and another intern standing with beer. Two girls walk by.
Other intern: "That's a cool shirt, where'd you get it?"
Girl: "Blah, blah, blah."
Me: "Where are you girls from."
Girl: "We're from the south. (in a very southern belle kinda tone) Where ya'll from?"
Me: "New York."
Girl: "Ya'll from New York? Oh, so you're someone to ask this question: where can we get some drugs?"
Other intern: "We just got here, we haven't made any connections yet."
Girls: "Oh." Followed immediately by a 180 turn and walk directly away from us.
Us: [Shrug]

Later two of us went to another bar and drank another liter and a half. I don't remember going to the hotel, but I was very happy to wake up there the next morning. I woke up to the phone ringing to tell me that the bus would leave in 15 minutes. That bus took us to the Austrian town of Pertisau, on the shore of Lake Achensee in the Alps. It was a living postcard.

SMC has an annual retreat called Somerfest, and the company takes over the town. It was organized through http://www.rentavillage.com/, as all the ads clearly told us. Saturday night was the main dinner, along with a speach by the Siemens CEO, who started SMC ten years ago. That night was also the Germany soccer match for third place in the World Cup. It was something else to be surrounded by dozens of Germans, all singing unintelligible songs, drinking beer and being generally happy.

That night, four of us interns were the last four to leave the bar at 4 AM. That wasn't too bad, except for the fact that I needed to be up at 10 AM. By 11 AM, I was firmly strapped between the legs of an Austrian man. With all the calm in the world, I ran off the side of an Alp. I'm grateful to say that the parachute took hold very well and the 15 minute descent into the town below was fantastic. We did a very tight spiral that apparently makes many people sick in mid-air. I was very grateful for the no-hangover gene.

That afternoon, we were bussed back to Munich, where we later saw the World Cup finals at a biergarten among many disappointed French fans. I was suprised to see them greatly outnumber the Italian fans. Nevertheless, those Italians made a huge raucous up and down the streets the rest of the night.

I was back in the states the next afternoon, happy for the trip, but happier to be back home and with an afternoon to recover.

My only regret: forgetting my camera. :-(

N'Djamena... Doot doo, da doo doot doo

I got back from Key West yesterday. It is, if you've never been, probably the coolest place I've ever been in the continental US. Pictures forthcoming.

To expand upon my Hermosillo post from last week, it appears that Google Maps has actually updated its aerial photos for almost every large city on earth, including Africa. So if you ever wondered what the capital of Chad (N'Djamena) looked like from above, you can stoke your curiosity. I don't know why I like those aerial photos so much.

By the way, every time I hear N'Djamena, I think "menomena." Because they're pronounced the same way.