I have taken the wireless plunge and purchased a laptop. Mostly because I sit in my hotel room on work nights and get bored senseless. All the T.V. programs are in German and, frankly, that shit is hard to understand. Sure, the late nite stuff is all ads for the German version of '900-' numbers and there are lots of tits, but still(!) between the hours of six and midnight it's just painful.
Now I can come home after a hard day of modeling and, instead of watching television I don't understand, I can surf the web, and blog, and catch up on Facebook, and play games, etc etc etc. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know it's a pricey toy, but what else am I going to spend my hard-earned money on? Also, I can now take pics with my handy dandy digital camera and post them, at least I assume I can post on blogger.
The only thing I lack is access to Lord of the Rings Online (a MMORPG). I left the software in Virginia, shazzbat! Not that I can't break down and buy another copy here.
II: The Fatherland Beckons
Oh my, what a long flight!
I started my Friday (that would be Friday, June 20th) slightly behind schedule. I had nothing packed. I didn't get to the ATM. My apartment was woefully unclean. But, I didn't really care. Packing would take an hour...there were ATMs in Europe...and I wasn't going to be there, so who cared if there was some grime and filth left behind?
First order of business: set up a ride. So, I let my fingers do the walking and picked up my handy-dandy Falls Church Yellow Pages. Guess what? 'Cabs' aren't listed. Nor are 'Automobile Rentals', 'Transportation Services', or anything else that that I could think of that would get me to the airport. Ugh! Defeated so soon! Oh, wait, try 'TAXICABS', ah yes, there we go...
By noon, I had succeeded in putting the majority of my life into two bags; one to check and one to carry and my immigrant waited at the lobby. The journey to Dulles was uneventful except the dam thing cost nearly $60! Holy Toledo, who knew? Fortunately, there's both a Fuddrucker's and a Pot Belly Sandwiches in the airport, so my lunch was delicious. Farewell, American food! I'll miss you!
Check in was the usual airport hassle. I managed to time my arrival just in time to get behind a pack of wild hyenas, or were they just adolescents in a tour group? The ticket agents were very nice, and moved me (without my asking) to an exit row so I would have more leg room. Security was long but very tolerable. The only problem was my toiletries. Since I was going on a very long trip (three months!), I did not pack travel sized items, so my tooth paste was confiscated. A harbinger of things to come? No, just an annoyance.
The flight itself was quite nice. We had some turbulence midway across the Atlantic, but it was a minor shake-up, if you'll pardon the pun. The entire crew was French, apparently Delta sub-contracts flights to Paris via Air France so that was understandable.
The layover at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris was about four hours. Then it was off to Stuttgart. I have a rental car that's about as big as two shopping carts, a hotel room with a teensy weensy kitchen-ette (that is it has a mini-fridge and a microwave) and, best of all a breakfast buffet. At least, I assume that's included in the bill. I'm going to have a very unhappy realization if it isn't.
I've started my new job, but mostly it's all paperwork at the moment. There's a whole load of processing that happens for a new hire and even more when it's overseas, but I'm getting through it.
Now, if I can just get caught up on my sleep and defeat the evil jet-lag.
I started my Friday (that would be Friday, June 20th) slightly behind schedule. I had nothing packed. I didn't get to the ATM. My apartment was woefully unclean. But, I didn't really care. Packing would take an hour...there were ATMs in Europe...and I wasn't going to be there, so who cared if there was some grime and filth left behind?
First order of business: set up a ride. So, I let my fingers do the walking and picked up my handy-dandy Falls Church Yellow Pages. Guess what? 'Cabs' aren't listed. Nor are 'Automobile Rentals', 'Transportation Services', or anything else that that I could think of that would get me to the airport. Ugh! Defeated so soon! Oh, wait, try 'TAXICABS', ah yes, there we go...
By noon, I had succeeded in putting the majority of my life into two bags; one to check and one to carry and my immigrant waited at the lobby. The journey to Dulles was uneventful except the dam thing cost nearly $60! Holy Toledo, who knew? Fortunately, there's both a Fuddrucker's and a Pot Belly Sandwiches in the airport, so my lunch was delicious. Farewell, American food! I'll miss you!
Check in was the usual airport hassle. I managed to time my arrival just in time to get behind a pack of wild hyenas, or were they just adolescents in a tour group? The ticket agents were very nice, and moved me (without my asking) to an exit row so I would have more leg room. Security was long but very tolerable. The only problem was my toiletries. Since I was going on a very long trip (three months!), I did not pack travel sized items, so my tooth paste was confiscated. A harbinger of things to come? No, just an annoyance.
The flight itself was quite nice. We had some turbulence midway across the Atlantic, but it was a minor shake-up, if you'll pardon the pun. The entire crew was French, apparently Delta sub-contracts flights to Paris via Air France so that was understandable.
The layover at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris was about four hours. Then it was off to Stuttgart. I have a rental car that's about as big as two shopping carts, a hotel room with a teensy weensy kitchen-ette (that is it has a mini-fridge and a microwave) and, best of all a breakfast buffet. At least, I assume that's included in the bill. I'm going to have a very unhappy realization if it isn't.
I've started my new job, but mostly it's all paperwork at the moment. There's a whole load of processing that happens for a new hire and even more when it's overseas, but I'm getting through it.
Now, if I can just get caught up on my sleep and defeat the evil jet-lag.
I: I blog; therefore, I'm an egotist.
Renee DesCartes goes into a bar and orders a beer. A few minutes later the bartender comes by and asks, "Would you like another?" To which DesCartes responds, "I think not," and promptly disappears.
Open with a joke, they always say. Granted, not the best joke, but still...
Here is the completely unoriginal 'first' blog where I tell you, dear readers, a little something about me and why I'm doing this and what I hope to get out of it.
A little something about me:
I live in Northern Virginia, very near Washington, D.C. Because of this proximity, I work for the federal government. In fact, if it wasn't for that employment, I would most likely be living somewhere else as I don't particularly care for the location, but I'm trying to adapt. Next week, my job is sending me to Europe to work for three months. And, since I've never been there (or anywhere else for that matter), I hope to take advantage of this opportunity and visit as many new places as possible while temporarily assigned there.
Why I'm doing this:
Since I don't want to be sending multiple emails over and over detailing the awesome time I expect to have, I figured it'd be easier to just write about the trip in general and let you, dear guests, read at your own pace. This way I get to exercise my typing, grammar and spelling skills and you can take your time and savor the words that flow from my conscious and sub-conscious minds.
What I hope to get out of it:
This is an easy way to keep in contact with all the people in my life who have internet access, as well as the rest of the world. Plus they get to visit Europe with me, well virtually, as I will be telling them all about my fantastic trip.
And that's it for the first post. See, that wasn't so hard!
Next post should be from Europe, ooo isn't that exciting?!
Open with a joke, they always say. Granted, not the best joke, but still...
Here is the completely unoriginal 'first' blog where I tell you, dear readers, a little something about me and why I'm doing this and what I hope to get out of it.
A little something about me:
I live in Northern Virginia, very near Washington, D.C. Because of this proximity, I work for the federal government. In fact, if it wasn't for that employment, I would most likely be living somewhere else as I don't particularly care for the location, but I'm trying to adapt. Next week, my job is sending me to Europe to work for three months. And, since I've never been there (or anywhere else for that matter), I hope to take advantage of this opportunity and visit as many new places as possible while temporarily assigned there.
Why I'm doing this:
Since I don't want to be sending multiple emails over and over detailing the awesome time I expect to have, I figured it'd be easier to just write about the trip in general and let you, dear guests, read at your own pace. This way I get to exercise my typing, grammar and spelling skills and you can take your time and savor the words that flow from my conscious and sub-conscious minds.
What I hope to get out of it:
This is an easy way to keep in contact with all the people in my life who have internet access, as well as the rest of the world. Plus they get to visit Europe with me, well virtually, as I will be telling them all about my fantastic trip.
And that's it for the first post. See, that wasn't so hard!
Next post should be from Europe, ooo isn't that exciting?!
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