I believe I got the long distance award for last weeks chat from our room at that time in Nagoya. Hi tonight from The Granvia Hotel, Kyoto, Japan!
OK, so here we are walking thru an underground mall distantly attached to Kyoto station with my wife and kids, when I hear someone call out to me. We turn around, and there is an acquantance from work who is at a neighboring hotel for a photolithography conference, and his wife, who teaches a dance class that my daughter takes! How is that for pretty strange?
Our retreat was last week, Wed-Fri. But all the staff came in from the field offices and bombarded me with requests starting on Monday, last week.
Most are still here, and will stay all week. So all of last week plus this week has been just insane. I'm coming in early and staying late every night.
I normally support a large group, first point of contact for IT needs for about 180 people. But when you add the field office staff, that number swells to about 250!
I'm multi-tasking so as I write this I have 4 computers at my desk and I'm working on all of them except my own. :sick:
I did get away long enough for a nice drive. The retreat was in Williamsburg, VA, so I drove from there straight to the beach. So basically I went east towards Norfolk, VA, and then north along the coast.
Just before Norfolk you go through a short tunnel then a bridge, it's nice. But turn north and hit the Chesapeake bay Bridge/Tunnel and you get about 12 miles of beautiful tunnel/bridge/tunnel/bridge. I had the Miata so I have a nice tan. :shades:
That's a nice drive up the eastern shore, especially in a Miata! Did you get to do any driving while in Wmsbg? The Colonial Parkway is always a good bet in a convertible, especially right after sunrise. I occasionally take that on my way to work when I have spare time.
Boy, I wish. I was first in, last out. Had to set up all the presentations and handle a lot of logistics. Took photos and produced a quick slide show for the finale.
I visited that area twice in one year .. once in April as spring was coming .. and once in the fall with the beautiful foliage ...
I do believe the Williamsburg, Norfolk, Jamestown area is one of the prettiest I've ever seen ... and *I* drove in through massive road construction as a squall moved onshore!!
I remember the tunnel/bridge too ... as the rainstorm hit ...
*Phew* ... and I was thinking - what "manifest" Lucien is talking about? :surprise: Then I thought Juice crashed on the deserted island in the ocean... assembling a vehicle from the palm branches and coconuts wouldn't be too hard for him, would it?
I know how you feel, because a Crew member, NYPDAU or something like that, is a NY police officer and quit posting right after 9/11. He popped in much later and I was quite relieved to hear from him.
Some private jet hit the Gol and the Gol plane crashed and killed 150+ people in the middle of the Amazon. Ironically noone in the little private plane was hurt.
We also had a member at one point (don't remember the handle), who said he was a member of K-9 unit in NYPD, and on 9/11 his Forester with his dog in it was parked near or under the towers... he lost his car and his dog on that day...
I grew up in Washington Heights across the river from Yankee Stadium and have been a lifelong Yankees fan...my wife grew up in Queens, so she has been a Mets fan...the last subway series, our son sat between us and switched hats every inning of every game to try to be non-partial. However, these last 2 years or so, he has blossomed into a loyal Yankees fan. As long as a NY team wins the series, I am happy. However, the Mets have lost both Pedro and Orlando and the Yankee bats are hot...the best lineup ever.
I drove eight miles this morning with 780 pounds of tile in the back of the Outback. The label on the door says the rig can carry 900 pounds. I'm 175 pounds so I was just a mere 55 pounds over ... if you ignore the half tank of gas and 2 gallons of adhesive in the wagon too. :shades:
When the forklift operator put the pallet in the back, I did wonder for a minute if the rear struts were going to peek up through the carpet.
There was room to slide the pallet forward another foot or so; I'm guessing it would have been a bit less tail heavy if more of the weight had been forward of the rear axle?
We had major connectivity problems at the last hotel we were at, so no posts. Thought about hitting a Starbucks, but no time!
Wow, what a wonderful two weeks. Once I get settled, I will post some more about our travels, and try and get some pictures up. We got home a day late after American blew our connection, and had to put us up for a night in Dallas. Plus side: First class today. That is on top of the Business class trip across the Pacific when they blew the connection on the outbound leg. So with two nights in hotels plus food, $2,000 in travel vouchers, and two flight upgrades, they lost money big time on us!!! And two of our 4 seats were on frequent flyer miles to begin with...
Highlights: Of course the wedding in Nagoya, the Toyota factory tour, and the incredible beauty of Kyoto (yes, Ken, this is my 3rd time there). By stark contrast but still fun was the Namba district of Osaka, which resembles a square mile street fair. And then the very somber day spent in Hiroshima. You cannot appreciate the impact of the A-bomb until you see how this city and it's residents suffered. Right, wrong or indifferent about the decision of the time, it is a must experience event.
As I was flipping through the November issue of Smart Money that I found in my seat pocket during a flight home on Sunday, I came across an article about companies turning to bloggers to market their wares. As I was reading, I thought of these forums and then a few more paragraphs down, there's Juice quoting away about Edmunds and some of the perks he's received from Subie.
Way to be out there Juice - just a few months ago wasn't someone at your house taking pics of you loading up the Forester? How do you keep all the paparazzi at bay? :shades:
You sounded fine and represented the crew well. It was an interesting article as I've always thought these forums and blogs were great marketing tools. It was cool to come across your name completely at random.
Welcome back Steve. Sounds like you had a pretty eventful trip thanks to AA!
Didn't know you were in Kyoto 3x already! And yes, the Namba area in Osaka is quite the difference. Actually, one of my favorite cities in Japan is Osaka. I pratically lived there when I was working in Japan. I find the people and food to be more enjoyable compared to Tokyo.
The a-bomb memorial in Hiroshima is something worth seeing once in a lifetime. As you pointed out, the heartbreaking stories of the everyday civilians are worth knowing for the future regardless of one's context of a war long past.
Well, I usually wait until something is published before I tell people. Plus it's a lot more fun when people find it for me.
It's not on the web site, yet, at least. It's the November print issue of Smart Money, and wasn't really supposed to be due until next week. I still don't have a copy but I reminded her since Anne Kadet told me she'd sent me one.
They're either queuing up for a spot on the Brooklyn Bridge to jump from or they're busy drowning their sorrow and dashed hopes at the corner pub :shades:
Mourning the loss of Cory Lidle...and there is always next year... A LIFELONG Yankees fan...grew up acroos the river from Yankee Stadium and had my bar-mitzvah a block away. Serge
Oops, scratch that proposal.... Got a call from the supplier late last night that they ran into a new technical problem, and will need two or more weeks for a redesign.
Comments
That's just nuts, Bob.
OK, so here we are walking thru an underground mall distantly attached to Kyoto station with my wife and kids, when I hear someone call out to me. We turn around, and there is an acquantance from work who is at a neighboring hotel for a photolithography conference, and his wife, who teaches a dance class that my daughter takes! How is that for pretty strange?
Brenda - congrats!
Steve
Our retreat was last week, Wed-Fri. But all the staff came in from the field offices and bombarded me with requests starting on Monday, last week.
Most are still here, and will stay all week. So all of last week plus this week has been just insane. I'm coming in early and staying late every night.
I normally support a large group, first point of contact for IT needs for about 180 people. But when you add the field office staff, that number swells to about 250!
I'm multi-tasking so as I write this I have 4 computers at my desk and I'm working on all of them except my own. :sick:
I did get away long enough for a nice drive. The retreat was in Williamsburg, VA, so I drove from there straight to the beach. So basically I went east towards Norfolk, VA, and then north along the coast.
Just before Norfolk you go through a short tunnel then a bridge, it's nice. But turn north and hit the Chesapeake bay Bridge/Tunnel and you get about 12 miles of beautiful tunnel/bridge/tunnel/bridge. I had the Miata so I have a nice tan. :shades:
The catch? $12 toll there, yikes. Biggest toll I've ever seen.
Met the wife at the beach condo, so we had a nice weekend, but then it was back to work early Monday again. I'm exhausted.
-juice
-juice
No spare time at all, never even got on line.
-juice
Cheers Pat.
I do believe the Williamsburg, Norfolk, Jamestown area is one of the prettiest I've ever seen ... and *I* drove in through massive road construction as a squall moved onshore!!
I remember the tunnel/bridge too ... as the rainstorm hit ...
It's pretty neat. We've taken it a few times on our way to the Outer Banks of NC (via MD/VA eastern shore).
Bob
Wow, you're in Kyoto? First time? Any chance to sightsee?
Ken
(Yes, I've watched "LOST" too much lately... )
I know how you feel, because a Crew member, NYPDAU or something like that, is a NY police officer and quit posting right after 9/11. He popped in much later and I was quite relieved to hear from him.
Some private jet hit the Gol and the Gol plane crashed and killed 150+ people in the middle of the Amazon. Ironically noone in the little private plane was hurt.
-juice
I'd like to what he makes the VDC out of though...LOL
LETS GO METS!
Len
For what Steinbrenner is paying them they ought to be :P
-Frank
At least I have TiVO.
-juice
PS Work is finally, FINALLY, settling down. Whew.
When the forklift operator put the pallet in the back, I did wonder for a minute if the rear struts were going to peek up through the carpet.
Go Mets.
-juice
-juice
Wow, what a wonderful two weeks. Once I get settled, I will post some more about our travels, and try and get some pictures up. We got home a day late after American blew our connection, and had to put us up for a night in Dallas. Plus side: First class today. That is on top of the Business class trip across the Pacific when they blew the connection on the outbound leg. So with two nights in hotels plus food, $2,000 in travel vouchers, and two flight upgrades, they lost money big time on us!!! And two of our 4 seats were on frequent flyer miles to begin with...
Highlights: Of course the wedding in Nagoya, the Toyota factory tour, and the incredible beauty of Kyoto (yes, Ken, this is my 3rd time there). By stark contrast but still fun was the Namba district of Osaka, which resembles a square mile street fair. And then the very somber day spent in Hiroshima. You cannot appreciate the impact of the A-bomb until you see how this city and it's residents suffered. Right, wrong or indifferent about the decision of the time, it is a must experience event.
Steve
Get some R&R.
Jim
Way to be out there Juice - just a few months ago wasn't someone at your house taking pics of you loading up the Forester? How do you keep all the paparazzi at bay? :shades:
The article was about the Subaru Crew and Edmunds.com specifically, pretty cool really. How did I sound?
-juice
Bob
Didn't know you were in Kyoto 3x already! And yes, the Namba area in Osaka is quite the difference. Actually, one of my favorite cities in Japan is Osaka. I pratically lived there when I was working in Japan. I find the people and food to be more enjoyable compared to Tokyo.
The a-bomb memorial in Hiroshima is something worth seeing once in a lifetime. As you pointed out, the heartbreaking stories of the everyday civilians are worth knowing for the future regardless of one's context of a war long past.
Ken
Well, I usually wait until something is published before I tell people. Plus it's a lot more fun when people find it for me.
It's not on the web site, yet, at least. It's the November print issue of Smart Money, and wasn't really supposed to be due until next week. I still don't have a copy but I reminded her since Anne Kadet told me she'd sent me one.
-juice
-Frank
A LIFELONG Yankees fan...grew up acroos the river from Yankee Stadium and had my bar-mitzvah a block away.
Serge
-juice
Steve
Keep me posted, but I may have very limited access to email until I'm back. (I'm traveling sans computer! :surprise:
Jim
So where in NY, Jim?
Steve
I'd be proud if I new what that meant. LOL
CarSpace is also mentioned, again a very positive piece. :shades:
-juice
Bob
Ken
Had a nice road trip to the beach this weekend, probably the last trip this year. We winterized the condo (read: we cleaned it!).
Sandy broke 27mpg with 4 people, a dog, and a full load. Not bad.
-juice