Final update

Well, work ended a bit early today, so I'm sitting in the conference room scanning through email. Enough of this, though. I'm going to sign off and head out for the day. Tomorrow, I catch a train back to Paris and will have one last night there. Will probably hook up with Cedric (assuming he's managed to stay out of jail) for some dinner. Then, I catch a flight home on friday. Hopefully my cats will still be talking to me.

I may not get a chance to go online again before arriving at home. So to anyone who's been following along (hi mom!), I'll say adieu, au revoir, and good night.

The longest sentence ever constructed

I have a reservation for my return trip to Paris, scheduled to leave in the late afternoon and arrive around 9:00 pm. I decided that wasn't very convenient - I'd have to hang around Lausanne all day (luggage in tow) and it didn't give me enough time for one last night in Paris. So, I headed down to the train station last night to see if I could change my reservation.

While there, the person at the registration desk didn't speak English. So, I managed to construct what had to be the longest sentence I've ever uttered in French: "J'ai un reservation pour aller a Paris, et je voudrais connais est ce que c'est possible pour moi aller dans le matin." Amazingly, the man behind the counter actually understood perfectly. I was so proud of myself.

The experience would've been *so* much better if he hadn't spent the next ten minutes explaining to me that my reservation, in fact, was already for the morning and that I had misunderstood what was printed on my ticket.

Swiss update

Well, I've made it through my first work day here in Switzerland. It'll apparently take two weeks for any of the local shops to order a replacement power supply for my laptop (why am I not suprised?), but I've managed to bum one off a student in my class for the time being. The voltage isn't quite the same as my old one, but it hasn't fried anything yet, so I'm optmistic. At least the customer site lets me tap into their internet connection.

I'll probably grab a taxi (assuming I can find one) down to Lausanne tonight. There aren't many restaurants within walking distance. That, and I'm just about finished the reading material I brought with me. And with a four hour train ride and ten hour flight ahead of me, I'll be in desperate need :)

Btw ... my intent was to upload photos of my travels. I even brought my camera and media card reader along with me. But, unfortunately, the card reader crashes my laptop, so I haven't been able to upload the photos. So ... that'll have to wait until I arrive home. (technology can be a real pain in the *ss sometimes)

Switzerland on my mind

I made it to Switzerland without issue. The train ride
was a novel experience - quiet and comfortable. I'm
struck by how tolerant people are of dogs around here.
I've seen them on the streets and the metro, of
course, but also in hotels and restaurants. I mention
it because a woman sitting across from me on the train
had a small dog with her as well.

The train dropped me off in a town called Lausanne,
and then it was about a twenty minute taxi ride to
Crissier, where I'll be staying and working for the
next few days. Lausanne seemed like it had lots of
shops and restaurants, but there really isn't much to
do in Crissier. I spent yesterday walking around the
area, but it's a typical small city - car dealerships,
malls, houses, etc. Being sunday, all the malls and
stores were closed.

Tragedy struck on Saturday night, though. The charger
for my laptop up and died on me. *Hopefully* I can
find a new one from one of the stores around here.
It's going to be a long and difficult week if I
cannot.

I'm running off battery for now, so will keep this
short.

Leaving on a jet train

I'm off to Switzerland today. I've never been there, but hear it's
beautiful. So I'm kinda excited. I'm taking the train from Paris to
Lausanne. I'll have tomorrow to explore a little bit, and then get to work
on monday. Next week's going to be busy. In addition to my day job, I have
two conference calls that I'll need to attend in the evenings. They're prep
work for my next trip - to Kentucky. Somehow, it's hard to get as excited
about Kentucky :)

Count de Monet

So here I am in Paris. Been here all week, actually, but haven't been able to go online very much. And let's face it: it's hard to write a travel blog when you don't have internet access. Tonight, though, I'm in geek heaven. My hotel offers wifi access. So here's a brief update of the week.

All in all, I'm having a good time. It's my second visit in recent months, so I know my way around the city pretty well and have been bouncing from place to place. I've even got a sidekick this time. I'm here with a coworker, Cedric. He's new to the company and this is his first visit to Paris, so I've kinda been showing him the ropes, so to speak. And I haven't gotten us lost once :)

I visited the Musee D'Orsay today. I've decided it's my favorite museum. It's not so overwhelming as the Louvre. The galleries are smaller and more intimate, with a handful of pieces in each room. In contrast, the Louvre has these huge halls of paintings stacked floor to ceiling. The overall effect is that the artwork is more accessible. It's all right at eye level and you can literally reach out and touch it (they sorta frown on that, naturally).

One piece in particular caught my attention today. It's a winter landscape, and therefore dominated by the white and grey of the snow and clouds. But upon closer inspection, I was amazed at how much color was actually used throughout it - even in the seemingly "white" spaces. He used color to add texture to the ground, and a sense of depth to the field and trees beyond the gate. It gave me, someone who's largely ignorant of art, a small iota of understanding about impressionism.

Not bad for a friday.

iPod fanatics

Much has been written about the Apple iPod and the degree of fanaticism it has inspired among gadget freaks. And, I must admit, I really, really love my iPod. I had to chuckle, however, when I came across this post on an iPod forum. I'll quote the salient part:

"I have both iPods after the divorce (muahahah) ..."

Maybe it's just me, but that opening line struck me funny. We go on to read that he doesn't know his ex-wife's password, and so he can't copy the music off the device.

Oh, the irony.

Hero

I went to see Hero yesterday, which has rocketed to #133 in IMDB's Top 250 movie list. Now, I'm not an afficianado of kung fu flicks or Hong Kong-style action films. I've never even seen any of Kurosawa's work. Rather, I was just hoping to kick back and enjoy some elaborately choreographed, highly stylized butt kicking, in the mode of Kill Bill. I got so much more than I bargained for.

Whereas Kill Bill was merely an excuse for flashy action sequences, this film transcends the genre. The plot outline is simple: a lone man defeats an infamous trio of assasins and earns an audience with the king. But all is not what it seems, and through a series of flashbacks, the film explores the characters' motivations and their respective paths to enlightenment. It touches upon themes of war and peace, love and honor, loyalty and deception.

There are no simple answers. The king wages war in the pursuit of peace. Is he a tyrant or a visionary? And what about the warrior who lays down his life for such a man? Is he a hero or a fool? Can death be an expression of love?

As if that's not enough, the movie was also visually stunning. Major scenes took place against a backdrop of hyper-reality: desolate desert vistas, crystal mountain lakes, and a heart stoppingly beautiful grove of trees shedding their autumn leaves. At times, it pained me to drop my eyes to read the subtitles. The actors struck just the right chord, as well. The nameless warrior's dignified humility. The king's righteous authority. The assassin's relentless pursuit of justice. The lover's anguish.

So, this film just seemed to fire on all cylinders: a captivating story, stunning visuals, masterful action sequences, and nuanced acting. Not bad for eight bucks.

Starbucks announces a coffee-flavored doughnut

Hah hah. Just joking. That would be silly.

Office Productivity Tool

What's your high score? Mine's 105.

If you build it, they will come ...

The odd bit for the day ...

(and if you read farther down the column, I gotta admit I'm curious to know how far a pumpkin can fly.)

Art imitates life

Liz's blog contained a link to a nifty little web page that lets you create your own South Park character.

So, without further adieu, let me introduce my own likeness done in post-modern South Park style. Astute viewers will note the rumpled hair, ever-present solid color T-shirt, and jeans.