fo rth e skae of th bolg
Beeeeerrrrppp Pfestttivaaal!!! Tlonighjt my went ot the beer ffestiveal in Germany!!! Oh people, I had such a grea time in the beer festivea;. IUt really was aewesome to tbe bone. Yoiu gon'e take to me about nthe beer festiveal, becauese it was something so good.. that ytou woudl have to be their to be able to talk to me abiut it. Right' now i'ts in the AM time in Gernamay and I just got balc from the festivitues. Pat and i dtanlk a lot of enbeers and had a realy,. tood time. Now i"ve somc home to the hotel and I am ready to go to ebd... but I wanted to post a Dridat enry before I did. So, here is what I wil post - some was weritten before the beer festival, some was bwtiiten after the berr fersive. Enogu.
Since I like to be honest with those of you who donate precious minutes of your time reading this page, I'll tell you straight-off that this is only Friday's entry because of Wordpress's ability to schedule entries. I actually just pressed "publish" on Thursday's entry - which won't go live until 2pm PST on US Thursday, and immediately began drafting this entry for a midnight Friday auto-post. Not a bad way to blog an entire week in a condensed way. I'm sitting now in Pat's hotel room (I don't like to link Pat's name to his site, 'cause it has my last name on it and I strive to keep that off the web - hey Pat, fix that), which is infinitely bigger than mine, listening to some Built to Spill on the iPod and contemplating taking a dump here instead of going to my own accommodations - his room has a bidet. It's still Thursday morning in Germany as I write, and my belly is still pretty full from breakfast. We plan to head down the cobblestone street for a lunch outdoors, accompanied, of course, by some beer - y'know, to prep us for the 3pm customer meeting... get our minds nice and limber and whatnot.
Tomorrow we leave, but not until something like 4pm, which puts us in San Francisco around 6pm - a mere two hours later. Since we have most of the day free, we're planning to stop over for a tour of Dachau, which I'm sure will be a sobering experience.
If you couldnt/ tell, those tw apragraphs were rtinne berfore the beer frestival - and this paragraph and the opener were wtrittn after the beer festival. The beer feasstialv was sooo awesome. Pat and I had soe much berr, that we ceased to know how mhch eer we actualle had - and ckept treindking beer depstitea out ob vious frunkeness. I want you to know that this entry was a bithc to sprrell-chjeck cbaezues I prupsoely left the drunbken fat-finerge erros intact for comedic reason.s I trulyu hope ytou enjoyed my writings from ermane. It's like 1ma here nand Pat just called me from his hotel room (rone foloor benath me) to tel me he was "fdrunk." CNo craop Pat, we're both frunk.... we were, after all, at the same beer fieagvl. Until the USA poeople, I love you ... please forive me.
Thhis is no koek... I really am stpyting this wayu b ecuae os the b eer. The beer has done nast y thing to my coordingaton... my finger are not doing waht my brain is telling themt o di... althog I will akdmote that I';m playing it uup (jsut a little) fo rth e skae of th bolg.
O(MFG this new Sufjan dong is carrygin me through Germanbu... one sogn can make an entire trip... this song is sooo good.
I love tou all and I miss you alll... going to bed now.. Dave is... ooooooooooooooooty.
all mod cons
Y'know, were I in the US and staying in this hotel room, I'd likely be complaining about it. It's small, cramped, and very European-feeling to me. A tiny cot-like single bed, a shower like a vertical glass coffin, and nowhere to set down my bathroom kit aside from the toilet with the lid down. To be fair though, it's got all mod cons - and I don't really need much more than a small cot-like bed, or a shower that can accommodate me. So, rather than complain about it, I'll instead dub it "quaint" and say it's "practical." It does suck though, that you're allowed to smoke in the rooms - as the person next to me tends to fire up around 6am each morning, filling my room with the stuff. I actually didn't think I was going to be able to post today, but, as it turns out, Pat and I got a reprieve from going to the customer this morning - only being required attendees after 3pm. That gave me back my morning, and is the reason you're reading this now.
Sharaun's making a solo trip to the baby-doctor with Keaton tomorrow, time for her two-month set of shots. I'm pretty bummed that I won't be along with her for it, and I know she wishes I could be there too. Poor little Keaton, having to get pricked. Monday, as we were walking around Munich city center, my eyes couldn't help but wander onto the babies being pushed around in prams - wearing little pink outfits enjoying the German sun in the shade of the Glockenspiel. Made me miss that little girl of mine - and I guess it'll only get worse as she gets older. The next few weeks are pretty full as well, mostly one and two day travel, short jaunts within the confines of the great nation of America - but time away from home all the same. Pat and I will travel again to North Carolina and Oregon in a couple weeks, and I'll be trekking over to the bay only three days after returning from Germany. But then it's over, no more travel for a while - one hopes, at least.
Got the final tally for my CDs from the trade-in shop today: $1185. Forty-two of the discs were deemed "unacceptable" due to scratches (less than 10% of the batch), which I pretty much expected - they were likely ones that Sharaun had borrowed, she's like a CD shredding machine. I actually expected more, but accounting for the bum discs I feel I made out OK. I still plan on putting the money towards Lasik - which I expect I'll start shopping around for once I return to the States. I've heard about some "next gen" version of the surgery - but have also heard from those with experience that it comes with "next gen" prices - so we'll see. Despite not having written about it in a while, my excitement at the prospect hasn't waned - I'm still completely up for the whole thing. Just think, no more worries about not being able to see when I finally do get stranded on the desert island I keep talking about.
Seems like I made Thursday, now if I post Friday I may impress even myself. Until later, peace be with you, blog-people. Dave out.
mover and a shaker
Hung over?! Are you serious? I thought that didn't happen to me; steel constitution and all.
German Dopplebock, something called "Alligator," if I recall. Not only that, but the dang cigarettes finally caught up with me. I still don't know what it is about those beastly things that my psyche holds an attraction to - something about looking "Euro" perhaps. I'll trade this pain in my throat and sickness in my belly for looking Euro anyday though - as is always the case when I try and extend my "cool" via those awful, awful things. I have to give Pat the nod for attempting to contact my common-sense department when the idea to "try some local German smokes" crossed my mind. "Why?" He asked, "Won't they just make you feel like ass like any cigarettes?" Yes; yes they will indeed. It's like going to a different country and wanting to taste their version of the shit sandwich - you're pretty much guaranteed it'll be just as bad as the one they serve at your local cafe. Enough... let's move on.
Killed another presentation today, or, at least I thought did. When I sat down, Pat told me I bounce and sway too much. Unfortunately, this is not news to me – it’s been one of the banes of my public speaking skills for as far back as I remember. I suppose, bouncing isn’t as bad as being totally unengaging or dry – but it’s still a downfall. Anyway, I thought the discussion went rather well overall, and was happy with my effort. Still not sure it was worth a week in Germany, but I’m not protesting too much.
Right now, though, it’s close to 7:30am on my body’s internal California clock – but it’s only 4:30pm here and some guy is presenting in a thick German accent that’s making me sleepy. I’m stuck here for another hour at least, I fear. So, I write. I’ve got my iPod plugged into my laptop to charge, but I can’t plug the laptop in for the wacky German plugs and my forgetting an adapter – so it’s really just trading electrons from one battery to another. At least the iPod will be ready for the journey home, that’s all I care about.
The city we’re staying in is actually really cool, and dates back to medieval times (you can still see remnants of the original city wall from the olden times). Our hotel is on a cobblestone street in the older section of town. The whole place feels very “Euro” to me: with its outdoor cafes and tiny cars. We ate dinner at a small cottage-looking place, out on a vine-clad patio as the sun set. The food, and beer, were excellent, and by the end of the meal I’d developed a nice swimmy head from the combination of sleeplessness and dunkel bier. I debated on joining the folks who’d come over on the short UK flight for another round of beer, but my fatigue got the best of me and I turned in around 9:30pm. Had a nice restful sleep and hit the ground running at 6:30am this morning. Now, to catch you up to the present so I can continue writing: I presented, we had more dinner, we went for beer (see the "hung over" bit above), slept, and it's 7am Thursday here as I write this (I'll get to sneak this entry in just under the wire for US Wednesday).
Yesterday, I'd mentioned I'd be posting some images from Germany as well as Keaton. Believe it or not, I think I'm going to be able to come through on both. Not having near as many pictures of Keaton as I thought I did, I had actually decided yesterday to postpone my semi-regular weekly-ish update to her gallery. But, talking to Sharaun, she'd mentioned she'd taken quite a few good ones since I'd been gone - so I decided to walk her through taking them off the memory card and uploading to my server whereupon I could retrieve and post them from the other side of the globe. Worked great, and I'm happy to be able to follow through and give you this update to Keaton's Gallery. But wait, there's more. I was also able to cobble together a short set of images from our first couple days - even going so far as to produce one of my little movies. You can watch it here: autobahn.unregulated, and check out the rest of the stills here.
And, that's about it folks - the laptop is down around 20% battery and I didn't bring the goofy German plug adapter. I'm off to catch the end of this episode of the German Flintstones and grab a shower before a sausage and potato breakfast. Not sure about posting Thursday and Friday US, as most of those days will be devoted to travel for me - but we'll see.
Good-day to ya.
40,000ft: shrimp and wine
Day one in Germany was spent trying to stay outside and occupied during daylight hours to stave off jetlag. After picking up our rental (BMW 318i convertible, gotta love Germany), we headed straight from the airport into downtown Munich, where we parked at a Marriot (for familiarity sake, not our hotel) and asked the concierge for "stuff to do." We planned to take the subway into city center, get some beer and 'wurst, and watch the Glockenspiel do its thing. After that, we pushed a planned visit to Dachau off until Friday, as time was short. Checked in at the hotel, grabbed some coffee to try and keep the eyes open, and am now taking the pre-dinner downtime to pen this entry. If all goes well, tomorrow's entry will include a gallery update from Germany and also an 8-week update to Keaton's gallery (lofty goals while on a business trip, I know). But... for now... this is it.
Sometimes I wonder about the clientele they’ll book in business class these days. Take for example this kid: iPod hardwired to his ear canals, a ratty, pea-green knit shirt tucked into baggy khakis (the kind with the “cargo” pockets on the thighs), and a pair of overworn brown shoes.. He’s got those scuffed shoes off - I can see him curling his toes within his brown socks, and his drink order was a simple “I’ll have the ‘cab,’” as if he comes from money.. I’d peg him in his early thirties, his thinning crown says not much younger, if any. Exuding a lack of polish: stuffing gobs of lettuce into his mouth from the salad bowl, occasionally re-positioning his crotch with his hand when he thinks no one is looking, picking asparagus out of his teeth with his fingernail. How can this kid fly business class? How can he afford to rub elbows with us, think himself on-par with us?
I’ll tell you how, bitch. I’m that kid in the green shirt, I like it because it’s loose and not “scratchy.”. Oh, and those khakis, they’re comfortable and I can put my passport and iPod in those “cargo” pockets. I’m the change of the guard, motherfucker, and me and an army of kids just like me are taking over. We’re coming to take your job, take your money and your glory. We’ll push you out of your office and into an assisted living facility where you can reminisce about the days of US Steel. We’d punch you in your wrinkled face, but we don’t have a free hand for adjusting our huge balls. Get used to it; we’ll see you on the next flight to Munich, when we look back on you from 1st class. We are the new.
Until tomorrow, auf wiedersehen.
the sun kicks into gear
Woke up early Saturday morning, as I had Mr. Mom duty while Sharaun was at an all-day seminar. Keaton and I sat and watched a couple TiVo'd episodes of Andy Griffith while the sun warmed cracking and popping sounds out of the windows. It's nearing 2pm now and I've done a tall pile of nothing all day. Did manage to sneak out and fiddle with the backyard sprinklers, which were acting up when I did my Spring-is-coming test during mowing the other day. Turns out I've got some annual repairs to get done before the sun kicks into gear... as there are a couple broken heads and some adjustments needed here and there. Other than that brief spurt of arguably productive time, I've been sitting around like a stone... listening to the iPod, clicking through random articles on Wikipedia, playing with the baby when she's awake, and snacking on some prunes.
Oh my word folks, I'm smitten with this album by Wolfmother. This Australian band is Black Sabbath's Paranoid reborn in the 2000s, with Deep Purple and Led Zeppelin all thrown in the blender for good measure (really, just check out the band's webpage if you don't believe me on the comparison here). Right now, I'm simply infatuated with the entire album, but the standout tracks for me are Pyramid and White Unicorn. Actually, I could see how this album might be lumped with the whole "joke, or not?" metal-reborn stuff that The Darkness kicked off a couple years back - I mean, some of the lyrics literally sound like lines from Spinal Tap or Jack Black's character in School of Rock. With song titles like Tales from the Forest of Gnomes, rolled Rs, and freakin' flute solos... this is the real deal. These kids make rock, plain and simple. Really, listen to that song I linked above and tell me it's not 100% ass-kickin'.
If all goes well, I should be first- and business-classing it over to Munich while you read this. Expect potentially odd posting times this week, I mean... in case you're charting them. See ya.
steerage no more
Mowed the lawn after work today, by the grace of daylight savings time. I had been looking forward to it, not only because it was badly needed, but because I would get to try out my new E2c headphones in a situation where it's notoriously difficult to hear music over ambient noise. I was amazed... the normally overpowering rumble of the mower's motor was reduced to a barely audible background drone. I could hear every note of even the softest songs the iPod shuffled up - it was like I was sealed off from the world. Man, I love those things. Getting out in the sun with crisp tunes in my ear and a brown bandana tied 'round my head really helped to force the cobwebs of work out of my head. Work has been... cruel... lately, neverending. I'm ready for my trip to Germany, but only because I won't be in the office every day.
I feel like a fool, y'all. All this time I kept wondering why my VIP 100k mileage status on United hasn't been garnering me more upgrades. Then, today, I was browsing my mileage account on United's website and I noticed a link called "E Upgrade Summary." Hmmm... what's that all about, I wondered. Turns out, I have this massive stockpile of e-upgrades just sitting there... accruing with me being none the wiser. They are wholly separate of my miles, different animals altogether - just plain old "free" upgrades. Turns out I have 14,000 miles in "bump one service class" upgrades for domestic flights, and 6 "bump one service class" for international flights. I was stunned. All the time, these things have just been sitting there. I flew three times last week, and could've been 1st class every time, had I only known. Needless to say, I used one of my international bump privileges to get into business and 1st class on my trip to Germany next week. What's more, because I'm a 100k flier they don't disappear when the expire, United actually converts them into miles straight up... I'll never fly coach again.
I had stuff written last night, but it blew - and I worked until midnight.
Tonight, I didn't do that. Goodnight.
all the better to hear you with
Almost 8pm on a Monday night and it's still light out. I love this time of year, when I can still have light enough to mow the lawn after work. In fact, I think I'll do just that tomorrow evening - get this jungle of a yard under control before I leave next Monday for Munich. It's hard to stay on top of a yard when unending rain not only prevents you from mowing, but also works like grass-steroids.
I was actually hoping for a slight respite at work this week, maybe a break from the pace set by my last pre-travel week. Looks like I'll have no such luck. Things are intense, and look like they'll remain that way for a while actually. Being a manager is starting to become a little easier, I think I'm getting slightly better at it. I still have a lot to learn, and I think I'll only take the lessons to heart when they're real-world things, as all the training and scenario-play can't really build experience like real experience can. Good at my job or not, I'm certainly consumed by it of late... I think this week will be another storm right up until Friday. I am, however, excited about the trip to Germany... work or not, I'm planning on having a grand time regardless.
Germany! Too bad I'll be one week too late to miss this show where one of my favorite bands of last year is supporting the Stars, who I'd love to see again too, consequently.
I learned something in recent travels-by-air: I hate my current iPod earbud solution. Having quickly abandoned the ubiquitous stock white iPod earbuds, I'd been using an over-the-ear pair a friend bought to replace a pair he'd lost. They were nice, but they hurt my ear after just a short while. I must have sensitive ears, or not understand how to use traditional earbuds properly... because the vast majority I've tried end up leaving my ears sore in short order. Previously, I thought I'd found the solution in those over-ear foam ones (not in-ear, they just rest round foam speakers against the ear). However, on a plane, or mowing a lawn, or doing anything where ambient noise is a detracting factor - they just don't cut it. You really need that in-ear isolation that earbuds can give to get rid of the outside stuff. And, with my long flight to Germany looming - I figured it was time to get serious and drop the requisite dough to get a decent pair of earbuds.
So, having some Best Buy gift cards stored up - I hit the web to check the reviews. Confident in my research, I went in today after work fully intending to buy the reasonably-priced Sony MDR-EX71SL earbuds. I instead left with a pair of $100 Shure E2c earbuds. I know, $100 for earbuds? But man, let me assure you these things are amazing (and I only paid $30 for them after the gift cards anyway). When they are wedged in, you hear absolutely nothing - Shure's "sound isolating" tagline isn't just marketing fluff. I had Sharaun scream at me while listening to the Allman Brothers belt out "Dreams" live at Ludlow - and heard nary a peep, just watched her mouth open in a wide, soundless wail. The bass response is amazing for such little things, and they're surprisingly comfortable for how "stuck" in your ear they have to be to work right. It is taking me a little while to get used to the increased pressure in my ear, which is a product of the tight seal they rely on - and I can actually "feel" the flex of the small waves of air in my ear canal. But man, even as I sit and type this while doing an extended-listening comfort test, I can't hear a single keystroke over whatever Deep Purple track the iPod has shuffled to.
Goodnight friends, I've no more in me this evening.
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