A COOL TRIP

If you know me just a little, you know that I love to travel. Evenif I am really spoiled, I have to admitt that this week trip is even cooler than usual. In less than 1 week, I will do a round trip Los Angeles - Florida - Puerto Rico ...I am in a business trip. But I will take the weekend off in Puerto Rico. So if you are curious to know how Puerto Rico looks like (I am very curious), just check the blog in the next days.

WORKING from HOME

9AM on Monday. An other working week has started. An other strange working week for me. It has embarrassing names. Here they call it "Telecommuting". "Remote Work" is an other term that I heard. "Working from home" is definitely the one that I like the most. If you have never done it, it looks like a dream. If you have tried to do it. It is not easy to describe the feelings. But definitely I have found in Scott Adams strips the best way to laugh about it. These is the way a well respected and dedicated engineer gets after just 4 days of work from home ...Scott Adams is definitely a genius in the way he manages to describe the reality.

LEIF'S BLACKOUTS

Leif and alcohol are a strange combination. He really never pukes. He never shouts. He never curse. But he has this amazing blackouts, where he can't remember anything about the previous night. So, this story goes like this. I wake up and as soon as Leif realizes that I am up, he calls me and laughing he points his finger to the window. Come here and see. This is really funny. So I go there and I see. There is a mattress with pillow and sleeping bag, laying in our porch. I don't understand. Why is it there? I think Jason last night slept outside. I can't believe it! Me too, these Americans when are drunk do really strange things. And we laugh together. After 10 minutes he leaves, he has to run some errands. This time is Jason's time to wake up. Morning dude. How are you? Good. What about you? Good. Hey did you see the mattress outside? Yes, I just moved in. So, Jason, did you sleep outside tonite? Me? No. It was Leif. Leif? But he just told me that you slept there. I can't believe it. Dude, believe me. Take the camera that is in the kitchen, and I look at the pictures. And here is one ...... this is definitely Leif sleeping out. The day continued with Jason and I playing the game of me teasing Jason who supposedly slept outside. Until Leif look into the camera. And in the evening, he calls me. Andrea, I think I found out who slept outside last nite. Reaaaaaaaally? Yes, it wasn't Jason, it was me. How did you find it? I look into the pictures in the camera ... :) Roommates. There is nothing in the entire World, that I can compare to live with roommates. They are really like a family for me.

BLOWING THE GLASS

I think I have seen it in TV several times. But see it live is definitely an other experience. You can't really imagine how hard and exciting is to blow the glass. I saw it last weekend during my trip in Virginia. And I was thinking how things have changed with the economy of scale of the modern industry. We are so overwhelmed by any type of fancy stuff that we don't really appreciate anymore how much work there is in a single glass or in a pitcher ...

... anyways. This is definitely a fantastic work to do. Probably not really healthy, but definitely nice.

The PERFECT BUSINESS TRIP

So. Here I am. The Virginia - Carolina's trip is over. I drove 600 miles in 1 week. I visited three states. Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina. And now I can admit it. I didn't expect this trip to be this exciting ...I don't know how the idea of this trip came out. Probably my endless desire to travel makes me transform any small chance in a real journey. I had a 2 days work meeting in Richmond, VA and after 1 week a 1 day meeting in Columbia, SC. So I decided to work during the day in some coffee shops. Drive 2 - 3 hours after the working hours listening some good CD and sleep in some random motels on the way ... at the end I also saved money to my company because I saved the cost on a coast to coast flight back and forth. Thinking about it ... I just did an Easy Rider trip. I hope you have seen the movie. Probably among the 10 best movies ever. And you really appreciate it when you live and travel in US. Yes, I think I can definitely consider myself an Easy Rider Engineer ... :) ... now I just need to convince my boss to let me do it again in the future ... :O

A NIGHT at the AIRPORT

The difficult part of the day yesterday was supposed to be in the morning, when I had to present some work to my customer here in Columbia, SC. But that turned out to be the easy part. The challenging part was waiting for me at the airport. The substropical storm Andrea is hitting the South of the US. So our flight got delayed once. Delayed twice. Delayed three time. And when it was 10PM. Bang. "Ladies and Gentlemen, we are sorry to inform you that the flight to the DFW airport has been cancelled". I can't even complain. The storm has my name. Andrea. Next flight available is at 6AM. And I have even diverted to an other airline. So I had to organize myself. Go to get my luggage. At that point, I was hungry and in this small airport everything closes soooo bloody early. So I thought to get some delivery food. But can you get delivery food in an airport? So, I went to a rental car booth and I ask to the girl there if she could call a pizza delivery for me. And it did work. Yep ... I got my veggie pizza deliver for me to the airport ...

... and I had to eat it using my mighty luggage as table. Pretty funny situation. But I really liked it. I didn't sleep a sh*t all night. But who cares. I had plenty of night full of sleep in my life ... :)

NORTH CAROLINA SUNSET

This is North Carolina. I had really a wonderful time driving thru it. All the way from north to South, I really saw wonderful landscapes. Lot of swamps. The Atlantic Ocean shacked by a terrific wind. The Woods. But definitely this sunset is the best shot that I am stealing from this wonderful state ...... almost better than a California sunset ... ehehehehe ... :D

THE FIRST MAN TO FLY

North Carolina, The First in Flight. I read it all day on the car license plates while I was driving. But I didn't really pay much attention to it. I knew what it meant. It is the story of the Wright brothers. They were used to have a bicycle factory. But their dreams were bigger than that bicycle shop. Their dream was to fly. Everybody want to fly. The fact is that at that time, nobody invented airplanes yet. So, they decide to invent an airplane. and they actually managed to fly. It was on December 1903. Just 100 years ago.Isn't that amazing? Last year I was lucky enough to see the copy of that original first plane at the American History Museum in Washington DC. But during this trip I have been even luckier. I was basically driving in the Outer Banks in North Carolina ...The wind was ferocious. I have never seen anything like this. And suddenly in the the side of the road I see the sign "Wright Brother National Memorial" 5 miles ahead. And there you go after 5 miles, the memorial ...

Unfortunately I got there at 8PM and it was closed. But it is an open area and I saw the hill from where the first man flew. Pretty exciting. And you know all that wind that I saw? It made sense ... no place was better to attempt a flight ... maybe they just made a big kite ... and they call it airplane ... :)

YORKTOWN, VA battlefield

An other day in this strange business trip, which is becoming more interesting than a regular vacation trip. And an other interesting visit for me. This is Yorktown, VA. Apparently famous in US for its battlefield. Here Americans and French defeated the English during the Independence War back in 1781, 5 years after they declared the Independence. Apparently this is the last big battle between the two armies. And of course there are a lot of pieces from those days ...

Here it is a self portrait with a small cannon in the battlefield ...... and here a fellow tourist that really wanted to check what was inside the cannon. Weird enough to deserve a picture. I am not even sure if he managed to get out of that stuff, or he is still there ...And of course a real demonstration of how these old stuff really work couldn't be missed ...

... I felt weird when I saw this demonstration. In a way it is just a show for tourists. And I enjoyed it. At the same time, my pacifist soul didn't really like it.

Colonial WILLIAMSBURG, VA

Before this trip I didn't really know much about the history of Virginia. I knew that even if to me, geographically, looks very much a Northern State, during the Civil war it was part of the South. And that Richmond, VA was actually the Capital of the South. But this trip really help me to learn a lot more than that. The excuse to visit Williamsburg, VA just few miles north of Jamestown, VA convince me that this state was really used to be really rich. Most of its wealth came from the tobacco crops and trade. The colonial Williamsburg, VA is today a big touristic attraction. And a visit it is definitely a good idea if you are around. The city is really very well restored. First of all the "locals" ... who are really trying hard to convince the tourist that Williamsburg, VA is really a special place. A Disneyland type of approach? Maybe. But you know what? It works ...

And the building are really very well restored. The style it very much "they look new" ... but even this is not a big deal. Here some of the buildings that I like the most ...

I have to admit it. The West coast to me is the best part of the US There is where you really feel you are in a special place. There is nothing like the open spaces and the National Parks and the explosive nature of the West. But time to time it is really nice to spend an afternoon wandering in an old city. Even if it is only 300 years old.

400 YEARS AGO, HERE ...

I guess the birth of a new nation can't just be simplified in a single event that happen in a certain location. This is true also for a young country like the US. But, if there is a place where the root of the US started to work, that place is here in Jamestown, VA. Today I went to visit this historical site and I learned a lot about the first baby steps of the English venture here in North America. Basically back in the December of 1606 three tiny English ships part of a private venture sailed from London, for the first time, to the "new world" ...

Spain and Portugal were already too powerful and busy to care about this expedition. And North America wasn't as rich of Gold as the Center and South, so they had the OK t ocome here to make their business ...

So, after a journey of 122 days on May 14th 1607, exactly 400 years ago, the three tiny ships got exactly here and they installed the first settlement ...

The expedition was very far from successful. Even if the local Indians were friendly, and they were living side by side with the white people ...

... the settlers died one after the other for all type of diseases. Even for famine. And the English crown was not really interested in these expeditions, and was not supporting them. And the location of the settlement was not even that good. They didn't even access to clean fresh water. So in 1975 it was abandoned. And new cities were founded. Today all the area is an archaeological park with a lot of the "primitive" village rebuilt. Even the three original ships have been reconstructed. I have to admit that despite my initial doubts this visit turned out in one of the most interesting historical visits in US, so far. I definitely learned a lot. Also small details. For example the name Virginia is a dedication to the Queen Elizabeth I who at the time of the expedition she was already dead. Elizabeth never got married. And because of that her nickname was The Virgin Queen. From there the name Virginia. The name Jamestown is a dedication to the actual King of that period, James. And also the story of Pocahontas did happen here in Jamestown. I never watch the Walt Disney cartoon, but I guess I will have to watch it now. And I think that also the movie "The new world" was based on her true story.

MY OFFICE in RICHMOND, VA

Things are definitely changing in the way a lot of people works. I see it everyday on my own skin. And, at least for me, it is definitely getting better and better. With a computer you can go to basically any corner in the US and you can easily find a Wi-Fi hot spot and connect to internet. And if you go to Starbucks, you know that you will get it. An example? Step into my today's office in Richmond, VA ...... when I was not in the customer office, I was just going to the Starbucks close by. And there you go. I am connected to Internet and my company Intranet. I can speak on the phone with my colleagues. And last, but not least ... I see nice people around me ... :)

THE QUEEN is in TOWN

Elizabeth is here in Richmond, VA today. But she didn't even gave me a call to meet up. I guess she lost my number. Ehehehe. Elizabeth who? Elizabeth, the Queen of England. She is here in Richmond, VA today. A lot of people was pretty excited today about it. Not sure why. Even during the meeting with our customer they mentioned it. Apparently she came for a tour of her former colonies. Jamestown, VA was the first English settlement in America and also with Richmond was founded 400 years ago. Here is a picture that I found on Internet with the Queen visiting Jamestown, VA ... during the weekend I am planning to visit it as well. Maybe she has left a graffiti with her name somewhere in the first English Settlement ... :)

LOST, REIMBURSED & FOUND

I got to the deserted Richmond, VA airport. And believe me, I have never seen such an empty airport. To give you an idea, I think you could expect something like that big so empty only if you will manage to move the Rome St. Peter church to Saudi Arabia ...... and the corousel of my flight was even more depressing than the empty terminal. Completely empty. My luggage didn't show up. It was lost. They lost my luggage ...The problem is that I am always flying in relaxed cloths. Teared jeans, flip flop and sweatshirt. But of course because I am here to meet a customer, I need something formal. Slacks, shirt and black shoes. So I went to the lost & found office. And I have to say that this was my lucky day. I told to the guy my problem, and he told me "I understand. No problem sir. You have $100 to spend in cloths". For $100 you don't really buy a lot, but I went straight to Macey's and they had a sale. So I had some good bargain. I spent $140, but I got some good stuff for me ...So now I have a new outfit, basically paid by American Airlines ... :) ... and they also delivered me my luggage!

CHICAGO by the SKY

The city seen from the sky are something special. I love them. And I loe to take picturs of them by the airplane windows. Today I was on my way to Richmond, VA and I had a stop over in Chicago. A very fast stop over. But I guess it was worthwhile for the beauty of the view over the city and the lake ...... and it is true what I was told. It is a lake, but is so big, that it looks like an ocean. BTW the tiny American Eagle airplane where I was in, started bouncing in the air, while we were trying to land in Richmond, because of an heavy storm. Really scary. People start shouting. I didn't do it. But I was not very far from it. Definitely, the scariest flight ever for me. At a certain point I really thought this picture of Chicago, was going to be the last of my life. Fortunately for us, the pilots in the cockpit knew what they were doing ... :D

TICKET to ALASKA

While I still have in the my eyes and in my heart the India pictures that Carine sent me yesterday, I have made a major step for an other dream trip. Alaska. I bought the flight ticket! Los Angeles - Anchorage round trip at the end of August! This is the itinerary of one of my dreams, that is becoming reality ...... soooooooooooo excited. And now we need to get all our hiking and camping gears ready for the trip to the last frontier ... :)