What can I say? I was kinda starstruck.
Sunday, August 29, 2004
Olympic Gold
There were several members of the US Olympic Softball Team on the plane back from Brussels. If you look close, you can see she's wearing her gold medal tucked underneath her Late Night with David Letterman t-shirt.
What can I say? I was kinda starstruck.
What can I say? I was kinda starstruck.
Thursday, August 26, 2004
Home at last
(ok ... I've been trying to get this post out for days. Here it is finally)
I'm back in Dallas (and *desperate* for a steak; or even a burger. I haven't eaten any beef in two weeks). Wednesday was exhausting - traveling for about 24 hours straight. Up at 5:00 am to catch my flight out of Bratislava. Glad I got there as early as I did, 'cause Austrian airlines couldn't figure out how much money I owed for changing my return date.
All in all, the trip was a success and the customer was pleased as punch. Here are a few photos from my digital camera. They've got better resolution than the ones I posted previously from the camera phone. I'll try to post an annecdote or two later on, as well.
Note that you can see all the photos at my yahoo photo site. Look for the two directories labelled SK. One has the highres digital camera shots. The other has the lowres camera phone shots.
I'm back in Dallas (and *desperate* for a steak; or even a burger. I haven't eaten any beef in two weeks). Wednesday was exhausting - traveling for about 24 hours straight. Up at 5:00 am to catch my flight out of Bratislava. Glad I got there as early as I did, 'cause Austrian airlines couldn't figure out how much money I owed for changing my return date.
All in all, the trip was a success and the customer was pleased as punch. Here are a few photos from my digital camera. They've got better resolution than the ones I posted previously from the camera phone. I'll try to post an annecdote or two later on, as well.
Note that you can see all the photos at my yahoo photo site. Look for the two directories labelled SK. One has the highres digital camera shots. The other has the lowres camera phone shots.
 | Bratislava |
 | Donovaly |
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Sunday, August 22, 2004
On the mountain
(I'll try to upload the related photos to my yahoo photo page site ...)
Well, that seemed to be the right bus. I made it into Donolavy just fine. It's a cute place, cut into a mountain valley. The mountain roads were littered with little chalets, winter homes, and sport shops. All of this seems a bit out of place in the midst of the summer.
I found a trail and hiked up one of the mountains for a couple of hours. It seemed to be a maintenance road of some sort - just a couple of tracks in the dirt really. Eventually, it dumped me out onto a ski slope maybe two-thirds of the way up the mountain.
Now, I just gotta admit it wasn't a hard hike, but I was still breathing hard at points. Dallas is just too damned flat for my own good :)
Anyway,I just sorta chilled up there for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet. A light rain fell, pleasant in its own right, as I made my way back down. A late lunch in the village, and then I caught the bus back to Banska Bystrica.
I had a wonderful nap back at the hotel, and then spent some time working as I listened to VH1 on the TV (one of the two english channels).
Feeling the need to get out of the room a bit before bedtime, I made my way back into the town center and am sitting in some club listening to dance music. The place is nearly empty though. Kinda quiet for a saturday night, but again it's off season.
So, all in all, a pretty good day.
Well, that seemed to be the right bus. I made it into Donolavy just fine. It's a cute place, cut into a mountain valley. The mountain roads were littered with little chalets, winter homes, and sport shops. All of this seems a bit out of place in the midst of the summer.
I found a trail and hiked up one of the mountains for a couple of hours. It seemed to be a maintenance road of some sort - just a couple of tracks in the dirt really. Eventually, it dumped me out onto a ski slope maybe two-thirds of the way up the mountain.
Now, I just gotta admit it wasn't a hard hike, but I was still breathing hard at points. Dallas is just too damned flat for my own good :)
Anyway,I just sorta chilled up there for a while, enjoying the peace and quiet. A light rain fell, pleasant in its own right, as I made my way back down. A late lunch in the village, and then I caught the bus back to Banska Bystrica.
I had a wonderful nap back at the hotel, and then spent some time working as I listened to VH1 on the TV (one of the two english channels).
Feeling the need to get out of the room a bit before bedtime, I made my way back into the town center and am sitting in some club listening to dance music. The place is nearly empty though. Kinda quiet for a saturday night, but again it's off season.
So, all in all, a pretty good day.
In search of ... pine trees.
It's saturday morning, and I'm going to play tourist for a while. The surrounding area is basically a big winter resort area, so things are pretty quiet in the summer. The mountains are pretty, though and I'm off in search of someplace to go hiking. Vlado (my Slovak buddy) wasn't very familiar with the area, but suggested a head toward Donovaly - a village known for its ski resorts. So, that's what I'm doing.
I'm sitting on a bus as I type this on my phone. I *think* it's the right bus :)
I'm sitting on a bus as I type this on my phone. I *think* it's the right bus :)
Friday, August 20, 2004
Blog entry by proxy
"Cheese ... now!"
(I had problems posting this yesterday ... here it is again.)
Quick update ...
I've been working my butt off here, but then the idea isn't to blog work activities. Looks like I'll probably be here an extra day or two.
You may recall that caught a ride to the customer site with another guy. He's been here all week, so we've been hanging out at night, eating dinner in a quaint little village square. He's looking up an old friend tonight, though, so I'm on my own. I'm working late (still in the lab, actually) but hope to catch a cab back to the hotel. My friend here has coached me on the equivalent of "taxi ...< address> ... to < hotel> ... now." Of course, < address is only one word so we'll see how this turns out in the end.
I can't help but think of my brother, who moonlights as a taxi dispatcher. Wonder what he'd do with such a call.
A few more random thoughts ...
The locals assure me that this is not a new building per se. Apparently, they're just adding on to an existing building. What-ever.
These people really dig cheese. I mean, I like cheese as much as the next guy (ok, maybe not quite that much), but come on people. Cheese for breakfast. Cheese for lunch. Last night, I ordered some chicken without the cheese on top. The waitress helpfully suggested that I might instead like the one *stuffed* with cheese instead. Then, she looked at me funny and my companion shrugged as if to say "what-ever."
As I mentioned my destination to folks, I can't tell you how many guys responded by saying "the women there are really hot." Apparently, there's like a whole czech aisle in the adult video stores (< ahem> not that I'd know). Well, I gotta say they're not entirely wrong. Maybe it's all that cheese?
Quick update ...
I've been working my butt off here, but then the idea isn't to blog work activities. Looks like I'll probably be here an extra day or two.
You may recall that caught a ride to the customer site with another guy. He's been here all week, so we've been hanging out at night, eating dinner in a quaint little village square. He's looking up an old friend tonight, though, so I'm on my own. I'm working late (still in the lab, actually) but hope to catch a cab back to the hotel. My friend here has coached me on the equivalent of "taxi ...< address> ... to < hotel> ... now." Of course, < address is only one word so we'll see how this turns out in the end.
I can't help but think of my brother, who moonlights as a taxi dispatcher. Wonder what he'd do with such a call.
A few more random thoughts ...
The locals assure me that this is not a new building per se. Apparently, they're just adding on to an existing building. What-ever.
These people really dig cheese. I mean, I like cheese as much as the next guy (ok, maybe not quite that much), but come on people. Cheese for breakfast. Cheese for lunch. Last night, I ordered some chicken without the cheese on top. The waitress helpfully suggested that I might instead like the one *stuffed* with cheese instead. Then, she looked at me funny and my companion shrugged as if to say "what-ever."
As I mentioned my destination to folks, I can't tell you how many guys responded by saying "the women there are really hot." Apparently, there's like a whole czech aisle in the adult video stores (< ahem> not that I'd know). Well, I gotta say they're not entirely wrong. Maybe it's all that cheese?
Tuesday, August 17, 2004
The Bare Necessities
I think, if it really came down to it, all I need is a toilet and a good internet connection. I mention this because those are exactly the two things I've been living without the past couple of days. Yes, I'm still at a customer site here in scenic Slovakia. In a comment to one of my previous posts, Liz described her mental picture of the customer site as an isolated shack somewhere in the woods.
If only.
Imagine if you will an urban construction site. In a little out-of-the-way section of town, they're constructing a new office building. Down a couple unmarked alleys and behind some delapidated warehouses. There's a concrete facade of a building and big holes in the ground cordoned off by plastic tape. Crews of men are pouring concrete and pushing wheelbarrows around. It's exactly the sort of place the Russian mafia would go to dump a body.
You enter the structure of the building and carefully make your way up a couple flights of stairs. Carefully, because there are no walls in the staircase and it's a long way down. Everything is bare concrete. You make your way past the construction debris to the center of the building, to a flimsy temporary wall with a door.
Passing through the door is like moving into a different world entirely. Miraculously, there's a fully operational switch room inside: power, lights, racks of telco equipment, raised flooring, the whole nine yards. Hell, they even got security cameras up. I can't even begin to imagine how or why they installed all this equipment into a halfway finished building. Or, for that matter, why they considered plumbing to be so non-essential. Apparently, that's a "phase two" thing.
As for the internet connection ... you'd think I'd be in geek heaven. I'm in the middle of a freakin' data center, surrounded by LANs, IP switches, and high-speed data links. But it doesn't do *me* any good. Company security policy forbids me from jacking into their network. So I'm hobbling along with a GPRS phone that's "connected" to my laptop via the infra-red port. Of course, IR is a line-of-sight thing, so if I move the phone on the desk (or pick it up to answer it), I lose the connection.
Anyway ... that's all I got for now. Shutting down and going to bed.
If only.
Imagine if you will an urban construction site. In a little out-of-the-way section of town, they're constructing a new office building. Down a couple unmarked alleys and behind some delapidated warehouses. There's a concrete facade of a building and big holes in the ground cordoned off by plastic tape. Crews of men are pouring concrete and pushing wheelbarrows around. It's exactly the sort of place the Russian mafia would go to dump a body.
You enter the structure of the building and carefully make your way up a couple flights of stairs. Carefully, because there are no walls in the staircase and it's a long way down. Everything is bare concrete. You make your way past the construction debris to the center of the building, to a flimsy temporary wall with a door.
Passing through the door is like moving into a different world entirely. Miraculously, there's a fully operational switch room inside: power, lights, racks of telco equipment, raised flooring, the whole nine yards. Hell, they even got security cameras up. I can't even begin to imagine how or why they installed all this equipment into a halfway finished building. Or, for that matter, why they considered plumbing to be so non-essential. Apparently, that's a "phase two" thing.
As for the internet connection ... you'd think I'd be in geek heaven. I'm in the middle of a freakin' data center, surrounded by LANs, IP switches, and high-speed data links. But it doesn't do *me* any good. Company security policy forbids me from jacking into their network. So I'm hobbling along with a GPRS phone that's "connected" to my laptop via the infra-red port. Of course, IR is a line-of-sight thing, so if I move the phone on the desk (or pick it up to answer it), I lose the connection.
Anyway ... that's all I got for now. Shutting down and going to bed.
Sunday, August 15, 2004
The introvert express
I took this job six months ago, knowing that it would involve some pretty extensive travel. I had this romantic vision of jetting around the world, seeing new places and things. Having adventures. Not suprisingly, it hasn't matched the hype.
It's not that I *haven't* been jetting around the world, seeing new places, and having adventures. It's just that I didn't fully appreciate the downsides. Turns out that this is far different from leisure travel. It's tiring, stressful, and sometimes just plain inconvenient. And something else I didn't even anticipate.
Travelling by yourself is lonely.
True, I've strolled the beaches of the south pacific and the avenues of Paris. And that's cool and all. But I've done it alone. And it's not as much fun when there's noone to share the experiene with; to discuss what you've seen and plan your next step; or to laugh with or get a little wild and crazy.
I mean, it's been over a day since I've exchanged more than three sentences with anyone. I hear other people tell crazy stories about how they meet people on the road. How they cross paths with other groups of travellers for an hour or an afternoon. Maybe it's just me. Maybe introverts just aren't cut out to be world travellers.
Anyway ... gonna try to get some sleep before things kick in in the morning.
It's not that I *haven't* been jetting around the world, seeing new places, and having adventures. It's just that I didn't fully appreciate the downsides. Turns out that this is far different from leisure travel. It's tiring, stressful, and sometimes just plain inconvenient. And something else I didn't even anticipate.
Travelling by yourself is lonely.
True, I've strolled the beaches of the south pacific and the avenues of Paris. And that's cool and all. But I've done it alone. And it's not as much fun when there's noone to share the experiene with; to discuss what you've seen and plan your next step; or to laugh with or get a little wild and crazy.
I mean, it's been over a day since I've exchanged more than three sentences with anyone. I hear other people tell crazy stories about how they meet people on the road. How they cross paths with other groups of travellers for an hour or an afternoon. Maybe it's just me. Maybe introverts just aren't cut out to be world travellers.
Anyway ... gonna try to get some sleep before things kick in in the morning.
We're not in Texas anymore, Toto.
One thing that struck me odd. When I checked into DFW airport yesterday morning, the gate agent informed me that the entry requirements for Slovakia included "having sufficient funds for my stay, including a minimum of $50 per day (not including credit cards)" and "registering with the local police within three days of my arrival."
Not sure what that was all about, but it was just a bit weird.
Come to think of it, I wonder if those two requirements are related. Maybe I'm supposed to make a contribution to the local policeman's retirement fund?
Not sure what that was all about, but it was just a bit weird.
Come to think of it, I wonder if those two requirements are related. Maybe I'm supposed to make a contribution to the local policeman's retirement fund?
On the road again ...
This time, my work takes me to Slovakia (of all places). I'll try to publish blog updates as I go along, but I won't be able to upload photos until I get back home. At any rate ... here's the first entry.
All goes well so far. I left on Saturday morning. My itinerary called for me to travel through Washington DC, then Brussels, and on to Bratislava, Slovakia. I arrived without major issues in Bratislava on Sunday morning (today). Though
we skirted the edge of Hurricane Charlie on my way into DC, so that was a pretty bumpy flight. And during my layover in Brussels, I had three separate parties approach me (in french of course) for information on which gate their flight to Africa was flying out of. Not sure what that was all about.
For whatever reason, I didn't sleep much on the overseas flight, so I was pretty wiped when I finally got to my hotel around noon today. I grabbed a little nap before heading out into the city.
My hotel is located on the Danube River, just on the outskirts of historic Bratislava. The old town district is pretty quaint - lots of winding cobblestone streets, old stone buildings, fountains, churches, and of course cafes liberally dotted along the way. There really isn't much to do but stroll along and people watch. I did catch the tail of end of an outdoor concert (and I do mean tail end. We're talking about thirty seconds of oomp pah pah and then they packed up and left). And I joined a crowd of spectators as we watched some old timers play chess on a giant chessboard in a park.
After walking aroud for an hour or so, I decided to have an early dinner. Still a little leery of traditional Slovak cuisine, I opted instead for my "safe meal." That's a grilled chicken breast with garden veggies on the side. It's a hard dish to screw up, so regardless of where I am, I can usually find a halfway decent entre. And tonight was no exception. A nice little outdoor eaterie; grilled chicken with herbed butter, white rice, peas, and a little salad. Round it out with a coke and finish with a cup of coffee. The exchange rate is pretty favorable, so all that cost me a whopping $8 (US).
So ... my first impression is pretty favorable. The weather is beatiful, sunny and low 80's. I think I had this mental image of eastern europe being kinda grey, overcast, and dingy. So far I'm pleasantly surprised.
Tomorrow morning, I meet up with my customer contact. We'll drive about an hour or so into the heart of the country to where the install site is. I'll spend the rest of the week there. Not sure what to expect there. The region is apparently known for its ski resorts. Hopefully it's not too deserted in the summer.
All goes well so far. I left on Saturday morning. My itinerary called for me to travel through Washington DC, then Brussels, and on to Bratislava, Slovakia. I arrived without major issues in Bratislava on Sunday morning (today). Though
we skirted the edge of Hurricane Charlie on my way into DC, so that was a pretty bumpy flight. And during my layover in Brussels, I had three separate parties approach me (in french of course) for information on which gate their flight to Africa was flying out of. Not sure what that was all about.
For whatever reason, I didn't sleep much on the overseas flight, so I was pretty wiped when I finally got to my hotel around noon today. I grabbed a little nap before heading out into the city.
My hotel is located on the Danube River, just on the outskirts of historic Bratislava. The old town district is pretty quaint - lots of winding cobblestone streets, old stone buildings, fountains, churches, and of course cafes liberally dotted along the way. There really isn't much to do but stroll along and people watch. I did catch the tail of end of an outdoor concert (and I do mean tail end. We're talking about thirty seconds of oomp pah pah and then they packed up and left). And I joined a crowd of spectators as we watched some old timers play chess on a giant chessboard in a park.
After walking aroud for an hour or so, I decided to have an early dinner. Still a little leery of traditional Slovak cuisine, I opted instead for my "safe meal." That's a grilled chicken breast with garden veggies on the side. It's a hard dish to screw up, so regardless of where I am, I can usually find a halfway decent entre. And tonight was no exception. A nice little outdoor eaterie; grilled chicken with herbed butter, white rice, peas, and a little salad. Round it out with a coke and finish with a cup of coffee. The exchange rate is pretty favorable, so all that cost me a whopping $8 (US).
So ... my first impression is pretty favorable. The weather is beatiful, sunny and low 80's. I think I had this mental image of eastern europe being kinda grey, overcast, and dingy. So far I'm pleasantly surprised.
Tomorrow morning, I meet up with my customer contact. We'll drive about an hour or so into the heart of the country to where the install site is. I'll spend the rest of the week there. Not sure what to expect there. The region is apparently known for its ski resorts. Hopefully it's not too deserted in the summer.
Monday, August 09, 2004
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