As I sit, on an empty ship, traveling, somewhere by Bordeaux, up a river I have been
on so many times yet cannot name, I am very aware of the strange month I have
had.
Bed # 1 – San
Francisco
Arguably, my month started with me packing up my belongings
and leaving San Francisco.
Bed #2 – Santa
Barbara
There was a pit stop in Santa Barbara, truth be known, for
chemotherapy. (I don’t think of it as chemotherapy. And anyone who has every
had chemotherapy would not say it was chemotherapy. But apparently my insurance
company considers it chemotherapy.)
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| The J.P. Getty Center and 405 from the Cessna. |
But my real adventure began upon greeting my Swiss friends,
after they parked their Cessna at Van Nuys Airport in the San Fernando Valley
(Greater Los Angeles Area). After hugs
and pleasantries, they asked me what my schedule for the day was. I said I
needed to be at LAX by 4pm. An LA girl, in some ways, I then launched into why
I needed to be at LAX at 4pm and traffic implications.
They quickly said, “We can take you.”
And with that, I skipped the 405 and hopped a private ride from
Van Nuys Airport over the Getty Center and Bel Air to LAX.
Bed # 3 – Some Hotel
at LAX as I needed to be at LAX at 4am
From there, I flew to to Linz, Austria.
(Miles Flown ~ 6000)
Perhaps the most surreal experience was getting into an
Austrian cab and curving swiftly around the narrow streets of this little
Austria town, listening to Gloria Gaynor sing, “I Will Survive.” What a global
world it has become.
Bed #4 – Linz,
Austria The Arcotel upon the Danube
Although I work in one of the most geographically dispersed
industries (cruises industry), it is also, strangely, among the smallest in
terms of spheres of people. I arrived in Linz to the greetings of my company colleagues,
Barry, Jasminka, Florin and Josef as well as expected former colleagues from a
company had worked for previously, Ulrike and Attilia, but also unexpected
colleagues from the past Thomas and Valerie.
It is always such a pleasure to see old friends and so
strange too, especially when their presence is unexpected. These are people I met
on oceans far and wide, not a single one of them near home in Linz, Austria,
and yet here we were, once again, crossing paths on a ship.
(Montage of the Arc Electronica Center through its various stages from The Arcotel Hotel)
Bed #5- Aboard a ship, and though only a short month later, I can’t even remember the ship’s name.
Work was hard and the hours worked RIDICULOUS. But I must
recite my favorite quote from the trip.
I was speaking with an IT colleague who proved to be
amazingly proficient. Eventually I
asked, if he studied computer science at university. He responded “No, veterinary
medicine.”
That left me a little dumbfounded, and finally saying,
“Those aren't exactly similar, computer science and veterinary medicine.”
I think his exact reply was, “I quite disagree. Think about
it. Both are basically about debugging, but the interface is a bit
different." (Perhaps one of my favorite quotes of all times.)
On my way to my next assignment, I carved out time for
dinner with an old friend and her family in Munich. Taking the train from Austria
to Munich, I was awed by the small scenic European towns in the foreground, the
meadow lands of the middle ground, and the ghostly apparition, angular white Alps
in the distance.
So wonderful to catch up with old friends in new homes,
nearly a world away.
Bed #6 - Hotel in
Munich
Silly me, I did not get a picture of us at dinner, but I did
get a picture of the pastries at the train station the next morning. (If you
know me, you would know this is apropos. I love my friends, but I LOVE my
pastries.)
I am absolutely certain I arrived in Miami and although it
was merely two weeks ago, I could not tell you a think about the flight, the
airport, or even what airline I flew. I hope I earned miles though.
I can tell you about passport control. I am a Californian.
Any time I have lived in country, in the last three decades, I have lived in
California. So it was quite a surprise, when going through passport control, I
was asked, “What part of New York are you from?
New York? “New York?” My brain was muddled.
It was effectively the middle of the night for me, after a
grueling week of work. “I am from California.”
That raised the alarm with the physically quite sizable,
austere, passport control official. His eyebrow arched, and his very deep voice
sternly said, “Your passport says you are from New York.”
Or course it does. I was born there. But saying I am from
there is quite nominal and hardly something my 3am brain was ready for.
That was a little sticky to untangle in my groggy,
sleep-deprived haze. Luckily, as a thirty something white-woman, who is quick
to instantly flash a broad smile, I can easily work my way through these
things. (I think I would still be there if I was of middle-eastern decent.)
(Miles Flown ~ 5000,
running total for this trip: 11,000)
In Miami, my mother picked me up at the airport. My mother,
god love her, is fulfilling her obligation as a New York born Jew, and has
moved to Boca.
Bed # 7 – Mother’s
guest bedroom in Boca
Although I etched out some time to see my mother and my good
friend (long ago colleague Jaylene), Florida was all about the cruise industry
trade show Sea Trade. This too proved
the cruise industry is a small one. I ran into people I knew from my first
ship, fourteen years prior!
The trip was also an excellent opportunity to brainstorm
with my colleague who provided the second memorable quote of the trip. We were
discussing program logic and trying to join program logic with the user
business process mindset in a step-oriented methodology. (Blah blah blah, bland business
software speak, blah blah blah.)
But the wrap-up was fabulous.
Excited at the prospect and the successful conclusion of the
brainstorming session, Danielle concluded, “Great! Then all we have to do is
add a Sherpa! And… we’re done!” Hands clapped together and thrown apart.
(And thus was born the new programming standard of shipping
small Himalayan Nepalis instead of “wizards.”) (Maybe you had to be there.)
Bed #8 - A fabulous
house in Coral Gables with my coworker care, of my company, and well worth
the brainstorming that it fostered around the pool.
And with that, I was off to the airport to catch a plane to
Amsterdam.
Imagine, a dark arena, and a boxing ring, the spotlight on a
large suitcase in one corner, the PA loudly announcing, “Ladies and gentleman,
boys and girls, in this corner, despite not having a scale herself, proving
herself a worldly traveler, weighing in at precisely 49.3lbs….”
If you travel a lot you know that limit is 50lbs. So coming
in at 49.3lbs, without even checking, it a true skill.
And now as you judge me for 50lbs of luggage, I would like
to say: one winter coat for Austria, one week winter smart business attire
Austria, some light weight and color business casual for Miami, three suits for
the conference in Miami, etc. All in all, six weeks, business formal, business
casual, just plan casual, Miami heat to Austrian winter, doing all that in one fifty
pound suitcase which included American gifts for colleagues, is a freakin' SKILL! (I hope to get to 49.9lbs by the time it is rightly recognized as an
Olympics sport.)
(Miles Flown ~ 5000,
running total for this trip: 16,000)
The journey, bed
count, and miles flow continues in Amsterdam with the next installment of
Stupid Cool.
Stupid: Oh my goodness am
I tired.
Cool: Um, start at the
beginning and re-read…
