Archive for October, 2007
Germany…. Day 1 & 2
I finally made it to Germany… after US Air totally messed up my schedule… they upgraded me to first class on the flight to Frankfurt. It was more than a little weird for me… the social injustice in the idea of “first class” kept me awake for all of the flight… I wasn’t brave enough to ask to be downgraded to regular… but for all of the flight I had this overwhelming sense of the “haves” vs the “have nots.” It kept me up for quite awhile… Ira Glass and Garrison Keiller kept me in check for the remainder of the flight.
I wasn’t sure what I was expecting when I got to Germany. Beyond my expectations, the people have been kind, friendly, and most helpful. I was immediately lost in the Frankfurt Airport, and two kind Germans helped me find my way.
The days have been filled with mostly work stuff…. nothing to exciting or worth mentioning. The fun has been had at night, while trying to find spots to eat, places to drinking Dankel and Pils, and sitting around tables playings poker and silly games boys played while we were in elementary school. ( Anyone ever play table football?) The young German guy serving us in his bar promised us that we could could stay there until we wanted, and he kept his word, taking shots with our entourage until we shut the bar down.
The sense of being a world away is very real to me right now… I can’t quite get over the distance I feel from my family. I am happy to be here… but I would rather be home with the crew. The reality of being half a world away has set in… And I’m not sure I like it. The people are great, the colleagues I am with are great too, but I feel a distance within that I can’t quite put into words.
I must say goodnight for now… the day has been long, we’ve been eating and drinking for quite a bit, and if If I don’t go to bed soon, I will be a mess tomorrow,… so good night from Germany my friends…….
In preparation…
Yup… I’ll be going to Bad Orb, Germany in seventeen days for a business trip, and while I’m really thankful I’m going, its driving the wife nutty that I’m not bouncing off the walls with excitement. I’m trying to get there… my mother-in-law sent me the above book, and I bought some German beer to get in the mood. It’s just that the trip marks the beginning of me being gone for twenty-two straight days (Germany, then out to Delaware and then to Indiana.)
I’m working on it, and once I get off the plane (I hate flying, btw) I’m sure I’ll be really excited to be there. For now, I’ll drink the German beer and read the German guide… I’m sure my inspiration will come soon.
Jackie-boy and me…
That’s me on the left, circa 1980. Jack on right, age 4
I wish i could run…
I’m sitting in my home office trying to get some work done, and I just noticed a group of people come running by. Out of my second window, I can see that they are part of the Navy Seal Team training team. They are doing sit ups on the hill, then they all roll over and hold a push up position for awhile. The wife did the training team for awhile, and I always thought that she was nuts for doing some of the stuff that they did. I went to one of their bring a friend days, but I ended blowing out my knee soon after.
Right now, all I’m wondering is “don’t these people have jobs to get too? Its 10:20 in the morning!!”
They’ve distracted me for a good ten minutes… and I realize it’s because I wish I could be out there running around. No such luck, tho. It’s another round of doctors and physical therapy for me. Hopefully this time, it will get me back where I was, because more than anything, I miss running after the boys playing a silly game of tag or ninja or anyone of the goofy games that boys come up with.
Before I forget…
Fifteen years ago… sometime in September, the future wife and I started dating. We spent a good couple of hours reminiscing about it the other night. Trying to hash out how it happened, when it happened, and which other potential loves might have stopped it from happening. Even though I have an awful memory, I can still remember the first time I saw her. I immediately had a crush on her… and it wasn’t long before I loved her. I know… it’s cheesy, mushy even; but I constantly have to remind myself of what a good woman she is, how much we have been through and that is has been no cake walk. I always jokingly tell her that she couldn’t help herself about choosing me… I was so smooth and cool that there was no way she could pass me up. The truth lies more in that I would have been crushed if she had not chosen me to be with her, and I certainly wouldn’t be the man I am today.