So... as I mentioned in a previous post, there were some snide comments directed towards yours truly recently regarding this blog...such as whether the blog was ever going to be updated again or it was "so 2007...". In my defense, I only just got back from Ireland (after a month) in the beginning of Jan, having eaten like a sumo wrestler readying herself for a famine during the Christmas season. By the time I digested all that food, something more punishing was around the corner: the last week and a half has been consumed by "hosting" the folks in town for our annual kickoff...these poor, mis-guided souls had to be escorted and steered away from the soul-sucking tourist traps, and who better for that daunting task than someone with such a strong sense of community and self-sacrifice? It was a job I took on with a legendary sense of responsibility, and my liver has since imploded. The economy, however, has been given a boost of unprecedented proportions, with hoards of Europeans tearing through shops, play money in hand (US$ for those subsisting in middle earth), buying everything in sight. The other evening, DB asked me if this indeed was my job or I actually did something for the company aside from this... har har...he's just the quintessence of Irish wit sometimes, that boy.
Truth be told, I'd been a bit of a wallowing-in-self-pity, moany bitch lately, what with the job situation and all. Then I caught up with a good friend recently with whom I hadn't exchanged 15 full sentences since I left for my Ireland assignment. His infant daughter (less than a year) has a tumor in her eye and is undergoing chemotherapy for the same. I can't even begin to imagine what this family is going through...now I feel like an over-privileged brat who has the luxury to complain about being granted one less company-paid perk and doesn't realize how lucky she is (and I'm the worst, really, because I often like to think I am far more evolved in these matters than I am :-) ). Hopefully, most of you reading this blog will take the time to do the same: appreciate our good fortune (till our parents stop sending the checks, anyway), and our health (and especially, by god, our industrial strength livers).
Right then...stay warm, and I'll update the blog with some recent happenings soon.
December 2007 - III
Christmas eve & Christmas
DB called over on Christmas eve with gifts (“so I wouldn’t feel left out over Christmas”), which was such an incredibly thoughtful thing to do that I was confused regarding his gender for a few seconds (didn’t last long, thankfully for us). What’s even better is the fact that these were all gifts that I just LOVED. We all know how it is with Christmas gifts… I mean, which one of us is really going to put that porcelain cat to use, hmm?... well, these have been used a lot since being received – the best gauge, in my opinion, for how much they are liked/ appreciated. Dinner was at TG’s place with a couple of his friends…Indian food (the preparation of which almost killed them with coughing fits… brave lot, these Irish, for being willing to ingest that very same food after that).
For Christmas, I guilted TG into inviting me to his family home for dinner and revelries with the family (I swear, CB has noted that I have acquired the guilt-inducing skills of a jewish mother (she’d know)). He is one of seven siblings, which in itself is stupefying to me. That they were all going to be there with families in tow was an epic event I could simply not have missed. As TG put it, “there’s always place for one more… noone’ll even notice you’re there”. The day started out with gifts being unwrapped by TG’s daughter, amid excited squeals and giggles. After a breakfast of eggs florentine whipped up by TG (this is the LIFE!), the young’un & I were bundled into the car and transported to the family home. After we had each consumed enough food for a small nation, we said our goodbyes, and off we went. It was an incredibly fun time, and I was invited back “anytime” (an invitation I totally intend to take them up on, little do they know!).
DB called over on Christmas eve with gifts (“so I wouldn’t feel left out over Christmas”), which was such an incredibly thoughtful thing to do that I was confused regarding his gender for a few seconds (didn’t last long, thankfully for us). What’s even better is the fact that these were all gifts that I just LOVED. We all know how it is with Christmas gifts… I mean, which one of us is really going to put that porcelain cat to use, hmm?... well, these have been used a lot since being received – the best gauge, in my opinion, for how much they are liked/ appreciated. Dinner was at TG’s place with a couple of his friends…Indian food (the preparation of which almost killed them with coughing fits… brave lot, these Irish, for being willing to ingest that very same food after that).
For Christmas, I guilted TG into inviting me to his family home for dinner and revelries with the family (I swear, CB has noted that I have acquired the guilt-inducing skills of a jewish mother (she’d know)). He is one of seven siblings, which in itself is stupefying to me. That they were all going to be there with families in tow was an epic event I could simply not have missed. As TG put it, “there’s always place for one more… noone’ll even notice you’re there”. The day started out with gifts being unwrapped by TG’s daughter, amid excited squeals and giggles. After a breakfast of eggs florentine whipped up by TG (this is the LIFE!), the young’un & I were bundled into the car and transported to the family home. After we had each consumed enough food for a small nation, we said our goodbyes, and off we went. It was an incredibly fun time, and I was invited back “anytime” (an invitation I totally intend to take them up on, little do they know!).
December 2007 - II
Business meeting in Germany
So off I go in Dec for a meeting in the back arse of nowhere in Germany. No, I mean it… this was no Berlin or Frankfurt. A fine time, nonetheless, because of the folks I was out to meet… they were great company, and I was brought around to a local winery (bought 12 bottles of good riesling… more on that later), the Mannheim Christmas market for what is possibly one of my favorite Christmas related things: gluhwein (mulled wine), a sumptuous meal in a non-tourist spot and loads of strong German beer.
But the excitement only begins after I crash face-down in the hotel. OF COURSE I don’t wake up when I intended to, because the alarm was set for 7 PM instead of AM. So there was a general rush to catch the train to get back to Frankfurt to catch the flight to Dublin. Now bear in mind that while I traveled very light TO Germany (1 small bag & 1 laptop), I now have an additional 12 bottles of wine (weighing 18 kgs) to take back. Basically, from now, pretty much every step, every stair, and every mini-sprint has that weight in addition to everything else and my own tubby self. And also keep in mind my fitness level (pathetic). In my haste, I get on the wrong train – this was not the fast ICE train that takes only 30 mins… this was the slow-ass local one that stops at EVERY damn podunk town on the way to Frankfurt. The ticket collector comes by and informs me that I am on the wrong train… this is not the ICE. Umm… no shit, Sherlock… I could've guessed that from the fact that the cows are keeping pace with us, for god’s sake. I ask him if I can make it in for my flight, which leaves in about 2 hours, and the man just freaks. He launches into a hysterical lecture of some sort in German, glancing at his watch repeatedly and gesturing in a rather maniacal fashion (all this makes him seem like the energizer bunny, but powered by stress instead of Ni-Cd or whatever... there was head clutching and hand wringing involved... truthfully, I hadn't thought Germans capable of such drama. Live and learn, eh?). Anyway, I gather from the hysterics that the answer is “no”. I imagine that in true German style, he simply cannot fathom how I'm not already at the airport, all checked hours in advance. By now he has managed to give me a panic attack as well… (normally not an easy feat when it comes to me & travel related matters)...I am having visions of spending days on this train as we go from village to village before getting to Frankfurt and having to eat my handbag with sauerkraut for meals, washing it down with lukewarm riesling. In the midst of this, I reckon he realizes that my blank stare could mean that I don’t speak German. He races off into the next compartment… at this time, I figure I’ll get there when I get there, and what’s the point in getting frown lines over this? But lo and behold, he’s back with a young lady in tow. She doesn’t speak very good English, but definitely enough to explain to me that I am screwed. He hands me off to her after explaining all my options to her. No, I won’t get to Frankfurt airport in time (1 hr in advance)… in fact, I won’t even get to Frankfurt city by then. Oh, and I have to change trains to get to the airport. Great.
This girl then proceeds to:
- sit with me throughout the journey in case I have any questions
- offer me the use of her phone to change tickets (Expedia is called and they mention it’s too late to change tickets if the flight is in less than 2 hours… I should do this at the airport…also keep this trivia in mind for later)
- give me her contact information in case I ever need help when I am in the area again!!!
- make me get off at the same stop as her, carries half my stuff, and deposits me on the right platform to catch the train to the airport. She asks another girl at the stop to make sure I make it to the airport, and the other girl agrees (!), picks up half my stuff as instructed by girl#1 and prods me to get off at the right stop.
This is just astounding to me… simply AMAZING… I am humbled by such genuine helpfulness!! Several other people offer to help carry things, but I am simply too embarrassed by now to put any more people through any trouble. I manage to run/walk/crawl to the Aer Lingus counter (miraculously, 30 mins before the flight) and choke out my destination. Imagine my surprise when the lady behind the counter says “you’re not on the 10:30 a.m. flight…you’re booked on the 8 p.m. flight. No, we don’t do standby, sorry. Next!” (HOW could Expedia not have told me this earlier??) So now I have half a day to hang around. I go to the company’s Frankfurt office to get some work done, or browse the internet. At the office, I meet some more interesting people… such as the IT manager, a super sweet guy who also happens to be an uber-geek. The following are the highlights of the interaction with him:
Him: please can I take a look at your laptop for a minute?
Me (thinking I had accidentally brought in a virus in or something) yes, of course
He simply looks at it and asked which one it is. I tell him the model number.
Him: "ah... you are a manager position? In the US?"
Me (thoroughly perplexed): "um.. yes"
Him: "I see"
He then goes on to tell me that they have different laptops for different position levels in that office!!!
He and I then have this awkward little chat about computers and why he thinks that IBM laptops suck now that Lenovo has bought them, etc – to the point of insisting that “ze plastic is not even feeling that good". That I was boggled by this attention to work laptop details would be an understatement. I felt inadequate that I had nothing to add to feed this passion… I could only manage to squeak out something about bad battery life… it seemed to work, and he went on to tell me AT LENGTH how to deal with it (including taking me to his office to show me a program used to manage battery power). Then he stopped by a bit later and said, "also you could change the battery". I could only blink vapidly in response, once again surprised at the fact that someone would actually care a whit about my petty woes. Friendly lot in that office...I may go back for a visit after all.
So off I go in Dec for a meeting in the back arse of nowhere in Germany. No, I mean it… this was no Berlin or Frankfurt. A fine time, nonetheless, because of the folks I was out to meet… they were great company, and I was brought around to a local winery (bought 12 bottles of good riesling… more on that later), the Mannheim Christmas market for what is possibly one of my favorite Christmas related things: gluhwein (mulled wine), a sumptuous meal in a non-tourist spot and loads of strong German beer.
But the excitement only begins after I crash face-down in the hotel. OF COURSE I don’t wake up when I intended to, because the alarm was set for 7 PM instead of AM. So there was a general rush to catch the train to get back to Frankfurt to catch the flight to Dublin. Now bear in mind that while I traveled very light TO Germany (1 small bag & 1 laptop), I now have an additional 12 bottles of wine (weighing 18 kgs) to take back. Basically, from now, pretty much every step, every stair, and every mini-sprint has that weight in addition to everything else and my own tubby self. And also keep in mind my fitness level (pathetic). In my haste, I get on the wrong train – this was not the fast ICE train that takes only 30 mins… this was the slow-ass local one that stops at EVERY damn podunk town on the way to Frankfurt. The ticket collector comes by and informs me that I am on the wrong train… this is not the ICE. Umm… no shit, Sherlock… I could've guessed that from the fact that the cows are keeping pace with us, for god’s sake. I ask him if I can make it in for my flight, which leaves in about 2 hours, and the man just freaks. He launches into a hysterical lecture of some sort in German, glancing at his watch repeatedly and gesturing in a rather maniacal fashion (all this makes him seem like the energizer bunny, but powered by stress instead of Ni-Cd or whatever... there was head clutching and hand wringing involved... truthfully, I hadn't thought Germans capable of such drama. Live and learn, eh?). Anyway, I gather from the hysterics that the answer is “no”. I imagine that in true German style, he simply cannot fathom how I'm not already at the airport, all checked hours in advance. By now he has managed to give me a panic attack as well… (normally not an easy feat when it comes to me & travel related matters)...I am having visions of spending days on this train as we go from village to village before getting to Frankfurt and having to eat my handbag with sauerkraut for meals, washing it down with lukewarm riesling. In the midst of this, I reckon he realizes that my blank stare could mean that I don’t speak German. He races off into the next compartment… at this time, I figure I’ll get there when I get there, and what’s the point in getting frown lines over this? But lo and behold, he’s back with a young lady in tow. She doesn’t speak very good English, but definitely enough to explain to me that I am screwed. He hands me off to her after explaining all my options to her. No, I won’t get to Frankfurt airport in time (1 hr in advance)… in fact, I won’t even get to Frankfurt city by then. Oh, and I have to change trains to get to the airport. Great.
This girl then proceeds to:
- sit with me throughout the journey in case I have any questions
- offer me the use of her phone to change tickets (Expedia is called and they mention it’s too late to change tickets if the flight is in less than 2 hours… I should do this at the airport…also keep this trivia in mind for later)
- give me her contact information in case I ever need help when I am in the area again!!!
- make me get off at the same stop as her, carries half my stuff, and deposits me on the right platform to catch the train to the airport. She asks another girl at the stop to make sure I make it to the airport, and the other girl agrees (!), picks up half my stuff as instructed by girl#1 and prods me to get off at the right stop.
This is just astounding to me… simply AMAZING… I am humbled by such genuine helpfulness!! Several other people offer to help carry things, but I am simply too embarrassed by now to put any more people through any trouble. I manage to run/walk/crawl to the Aer Lingus counter (miraculously, 30 mins before the flight) and choke out my destination. Imagine my surprise when the lady behind the counter says “you’re not on the 10:30 a.m. flight…you’re booked on the 8 p.m. flight. No, we don’t do standby, sorry. Next!” (HOW could Expedia not have told me this earlier??) So now I have half a day to hang around. I go to the company’s Frankfurt office to get some work done, or browse the internet. At the office, I meet some more interesting people… such as the IT manager, a super sweet guy who also happens to be an uber-geek. The following are the highlights of the interaction with him:
Him: please can I take a look at your laptop for a minute?
Me (thinking I had accidentally brought in a virus in or something) yes, of course
He simply looks at it and asked which one it is. I tell him the model number.
Him: "ah... you are a manager position? In the US?"
Me (thoroughly perplexed): "um.. yes"
Him: "I see"
He then goes on to tell me that they have different laptops for different position levels in that office!!!
He and I then have this awkward little chat about computers and why he thinks that IBM laptops suck now that Lenovo has bought them, etc – to the point of insisting that “ze plastic is not even feeling that good". That I was boggled by this attention to work laptop details would be an understatement. I felt inadequate that I had nothing to add to feed this passion… I could only manage to squeak out something about bad battery life… it seemed to work, and he went on to tell me AT LENGTH how to deal with it (including taking me to his office to show me a program used to manage battery power). Then he stopped by a bit later and said, "also you could change the battery". I could only blink vapidly in response, once again surprised at the fact that someone would actually care a whit about my petty woes. Friendly lot in that office...I may go back for a visit after all.
December 2007 - I
The complete omission of all December 2007 events from this blog has been noticed by certain observant readers (the sanctimonious little twits that they are) and I have been pulled up on this. As such, the next few posts (including this) will be addressing that concern…
Company Christmas party in Ireland
Venue: Ramada Inn, Co. Carlow
This was an absolute smashing hit, in my humble opinion. Not that I EVER had doubts that this would be the right thing to do (the other option was to bore myself to tears at the company Christmas party in the US), however I still must reiterate that this was a great ol’ time – very well planned and attended. There was a copious amount of alcohol (the great social lubricant), and a good time was had by all, nolens volens. The air guitars were out in full force, and our lads were second to none when it came to partner-toe-crushing action. Needless to say there was singing involved…some mighty fine singing voices in the group, although the other end of the spectrum was also, sadly, well represented.
Company Christmas party in Ireland
Venue: Ramada Inn, Co. Carlow
This was an absolute smashing hit, in my humble opinion. Not that I EVER had doubts that this would be the right thing to do (the other option was to bore myself to tears at the company Christmas party in the US), however I still must reiterate that this was a great ol’ time – very well planned and attended. There was a copious amount of alcohol (the great social lubricant), and a good time was had by all, nolens volens. The air guitars were out in full force, and our lads were second to none when it came to partner-toe-crushing action. Needless to say there was singing involved…some mighty fine singing voices in the group, although the other end of the spectrum was also, sadly, well represented.
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