Just testing out the mobile blogging feature....which won't do much good from China anyway. Here's a pic from yesterdays non-flight

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China looks a lot like South Atlanta...

And we have lift off....wait, no we don't. After 2 attempted take offs that were aborted because the check engine light came on. Then we went back to the gate. Then after telling us "15 more minutes" about 5 times, we all got to grab our luggage and return to the gate. Apparently the repair the new Boeing 777 required went from "a few minutes" to "about 18 hours." Our flight was cancelled and the best we can do is to reschedule for the same rodeo tomorrow, leave ATL for Detroit at 10:55 AM, fly Detroit to Hong Kong at 3:30 and arrive Sunday night (HK time).

Through the whole experience, I want to give the Delta employees credit for being as helpful and kind as you can imagine. After much confusion we found three people at the International Rebooking counter that worked with us over an hour to sort out our best option, track down our luggage and get us a hotel and meal coupons. They went so far as to give us free overnight kits ( see pic), travel vouchers for $100 off our next flight, and cards for free drinks in flight.

And so it is that I find myself at the Comfort Inn North in South Atlanta (??) instead of stuck in a 777 high over the pacific. I think I'll look up some friends and go have a drink. Lord knows, I could use one...

The "Skyteam overnight kit" including a skyteam logo tshirt (xl), basic toiletries including push up deodorant, and a note in 15 languages that says "We regret to inform you that your luggage has been lost. Our deepest condolences in your time of bereavement." Or something like that.

Mechanical Pencil Overkill

I found these on a recent foray to our local house-o-office-supplies. A large pack of mechanical pencils. That look just like real pencils. um, huh?


Is there some tyrannical, gestapo school district out there forcing its students to rely on the antiquated wood-and-carbon sticks for communication, driven by secret kickbacks from the pencil lobby? Is there a heroic rebal alliance of forward-thinking students distributing these cloaked, highly advanced writing instruments to like-minded learners? Perhaps they are designed thusly in order to help the technophobe masses ease themselved into the advanced technology of non-sharpened pencils. I can see some confusion on that front, especially when granny first inserts one of these mimic wonders into her Grindapoit2000 5hp gas-driven pencil sharpener. Or maybe they just look kinda cool. I'll concede that they do.

An even better question though - WHY THE WEEPIN' JEHOVA DO YA NEED 28 OF THEM? They're MECHANICAL so they're REFILLABLE! So you can REUSE them! I checked, it says so on the package. Even accounting for loss, or -horrors- mechanical failure, 28 seems like more than overkill. And why 28? That's obviously smaller than the average class size in secondary education, and golf courses would need a smaller version, without erasers of course. Wouldn't 30 or even 25 make more sense? I suppose odd numbers would make the even distribution of yellow and black models more difficult.

It looks like one more product is happily answering a question no one asked. Don't we all feel safer because of it?

To The Far Side of the World

In the movie "The Truman Show" the lead character dreams of going to Fiji because it's as far as you can go before you start coming back. It may not be Fiji, but my upcoming trip to Shenzhen China certainly seems about as far from here as you can get, geographically speaking. It will be my first foray outside of the country, though hopefully not my last. It will be the longest flight I've taken, on the largest plane yet. I'm still a bit shell-shocked, but the excitement is starting to build as well. I've always wanted to travel overseas, and China specifically was on my wishlist but seemed pretty unrealistic given the vast difference in culture and communication. Or so I thought. Now, thanks to a return to a job I know well, it has moved from dream to booked, prepaid reality.

Normally I try to research the destination before I go for business in order to make the most of my time away from whatever obligations take me there. Surf the web, check the travel Channel site, read up on what Tony Bourdain did while there...any kind of local knowledge from like-minded adventurers can be useful. This time I haven't done much of that. Its such a foreign culture that I am trusting in my travelling partner who has been there repeatedly, and in the hospitality of the business associates we'll be visiting. It should be an adventure of the best kind. Or the worst, but I choose to ignore that possibility. I will try to keep updates coming and will try to post picture to my photography site (See link at right.) Since internet access will be free and cell coverage expensive, don't expect those nice picture messages like John H sends out. After all, I barely qualify as a Junior International Man of Mystery. So far.

In a side note, the new (old) job (or is it the old(new) job...) is going well. The strangest thing is that it looks the same...but it tastes different. I left, worked elsewhere, and returned to different circumstances that Mike and I negotiated. Everyone else kept working there, so their view and their experience never changed. To them it's the same old job, but to me it's not. Add in that I know information about future company plans and actions that they aren't cleared for, and it can be a strange experience sometimes, I am happy to be back and I'm enjoying the work and the people. I seem to have found a peaceful center regarding work in general that I couldn't claim in the past. I believe the time spent at the asphalt plant was necessary and good. I put some tools in my toolbox that will serve me well, and gained some perspectives that I needed. The new adventure should be a good one.

And then it was Tuesday..

Tuesday was slightly less than spectacular. We grabbed a quick breakfast at McDonald's and headed to class. The classes have been pretty intense as company training goes. Maybe not drinking from a firehose, but certainly like a well-pressured garden hose. Most of the guys in the class are actually instrument techs fom major production facilities, so they have a technical background that we lack. The class is well organized, though, and we've been keeping up with no issues. We'll certainly have a first-rate understanding of our equipment at the plant. Lunch at the school was Tex-mex, and was fair except for the corn tortillas which had the texture of well-worn Nikes.

After class I sojourned off to Mellow Johnny's bike shop in downtown. For those of you that don't follow cycling, this is the local shop owned in part by Lance Armstrong. The shop was huge, and very nice. They have an on-site coffee shop and training facility with computer linked stationary trainers and huge screens. They also have a commuters area with showers, lockers and support equipment. They have a real focus on commuter gear and support overall, and not just the trendy no-brakes-fixie kind. The staff was also very friendly and helpful, something that's rare in the high-vis celebrity store. I could actually see shopping here if I lived inthe area.

After the bike shop wechanged at the hotel and headed off to the legendary 6th street. It was dead. I think there were fewer bars open than there were on Sunday. After driving around and finding nothing interesting that was open, we ended up at Joe's Crb Shack. I try to avoid chain restaurants, and now i remember why. Overcharged for crappy food, annoying staff and watery drinks. I won't even give them the dignity of a real review.

Monday in Austin

Monday in Austin dawned gray and misty, but warmer than i would expect for December. We braved the I35 up to Reaseach Blvd (the 183) and grabbed a quick bite at an IHOP near Emerson's facility. Traffic wasn't too bad, but from hearing the locals talk, I'm guessing we were just a little early - and lucky.

We're taking a process control hardware troubleshooting class, so at least the classes are fairly hands-on and not endless lectures. I'm very impressed with Emerson's setup here. Everything is top notch, including the eats for the class. In the hall / break area outside class there is a free-for-all vertical cooler stocked with water, sodas, juice and so on. They also have Starbucks coffee in the tureens, and the put out pastries, fresh fruit, and biscuits and gravy about 8:30. Lunch is included in the classes (as it should be for the price) so I was expecting typical fare. I was happily surprised to get a light buffet with a small fresh salad bar, artichoke hearts baked with onions, roasted acorn squash and a nice spaghetti carbonara. Man, that's first class eats. They also kept rotating out snacks of small pastry, trail mix, Chex mix and others throughout the afternoon.

After classes we headed back south but took a detour around the 360 Loop. This was kind of unplanned. When visiting new places I often get a wild hair and take off in unknown directions with little hope of recovery. We didn't even have our nifty hotel-provided map, but, hey, it's a loop right? We have to get back around eventually...

Let me say eventually can be a long time in Austin at rush hour. Okay, it wasn't that bad and we did get to see some of the countryside. After seeing lots of hills, rocky cuts by the roadside and LARGE homes, we made it to the south side of town and to South Congress Avenue. I saw many road bikers out torturing themselves on what would be a grinder ride in heavy traffic. I also saw several guys on knobby tires that didn't look to be commuting. South Congress eventually crosses the lake back into downtown, but just before the bridge is a great, funky little area of shops, bars and restaurants. We ate at a highly recommended place called Guero's Taco Bar.








The outside seating in a dirt courtyard covered by ancient Spanish oaks wrapped in white lights was absolutely out of sight. With a local band on the small stage, I could certainly imagine whiling away many a summer night in the soft glow of the antique lights. Unfortunately, imagining it was all I had since they weren't running service outside and the stage was empty.

The inside of the restaurant was a hodgepodge collection of various south-of-the-border decorative memoribillia that has become the go-to style for casula dining. Somehow, they managed to do it right and the whole place had a great ecclectic, slightly worn feel that made it a welcoming place to hang out.

I ordered a Don margarita that was notable for the smoothness of the the smoothness of the tequila but otherwise un-noteworthy. For appatizers we opted for the guacamole and queso dips, both of which were good. My entree for the evening was a taco plate - 2 large soft shell tacos on homemade tortillas with your choice of about 8 different fillings with rice and beans on the side. I decided to try the renowned Al Pastor (slow roasted, marinated pork with grilled onions, pineapple bita and fresh cilantro) and the Al Carbone (chicken marinated in orange juice and peppers.) The tacos were very good, if a bit dry. A condiment bar with fresh limes, salsas, and so on was available and probably would have moistened them up nicely, but I wanted to try the flavor in it's purest form. The Al Pastor was particularly nice. The beans were fair, but the rice was simply delicious. I can't say enough good about it. To be honest I was thinking pretty highly of the meal until the check arrived. I guess a big-city-surcharge is too be expected in the trendy areas, but I felt a little overcharged even with the quality of the meal. But hey, it was good eats.

Austin - the journey begins

Today my coworker and I departed the cold rainy south for one week of training at the Emerson facility in sunny Austin Texas. Having always heard good things about the other A-town capital, I have been looking forward to the trip. Tag along in spirit, and I will try to keep you updated.

The trip through Atlanta-Hartsfield and the flight out were unremarkable, other than being downgraded to a CRJ-700 for the flight. It's not quite the Miata of commercial jets - more like the bottom rung Camry I guess. Not quite roomy, not quite sporty, but it will get you there without any drama. The view from my cramped window seat was of the top of a flat white cloudbank to the horizon. So I read a book.

The clouds burned off just as we started descending for Austin. The land I could see was flat - a green and brown patchwork of farms and small neighborhoods dotted frequently with water. Small ponds, creeks and rivers seemed to be everywhere, but that could be the result of the aforementioned retreating clouds and rain. The Austin airport is significantly smaller than Hartsfield, but I guess most are. We picked up our rental car (I upgraded us to a nice Mercury Milan - Shh, don't tell anyone!) and headed for the Holiday Inn at Towne Lake. The Hotel is older but has been updated. The room strangely doesn't have a full-drawer dresser, but there are a couple small drawers in the entertainment center that will function. Other than that, it is fairly nice - clean and comfortable. Here's the view:

We drove over to the training center, just to locate it, and then drove back to 6th street downtown to hunt some grub. Sixth Street is the bar and party district of the city, and most of the bars were open. The scene was pretty laid back given that it's Sunday night, but you can see how much fun it could be. The street is in old downtown, so the buildings are all great old brick that have been fixed up to varying degrees. There are bars, curio and tshirt shops, a couple hotels - all kinds of stuff. If you doubled old Cherry Street in Macon, and then stocked it with the Buckhead section of Atlanta and then threw in Little Five Points in Atlanta for the weird factor, I think you'd be approaching Sixth Street. I think if I had gone to college or turned 21 in this town, I would have spent way - WAY - too much time down there.

We ate at Paradise, a nice sports-bar kind of place recommended by Fthr. Chad, a recent Austinite who is now rector at St. Francis in Macon. As per his word, the catfish tacos were outstanding and the bar was nice. They were displaying large original artwork all over the old brick walls, giving it a nice twist in atmosphere. Good art and a mohawked bartender are a rare combination, but it seems to work. The Fireman's 4 pale ale was good, but not outstanding. It was very cold, though, and that's always worth a mention. As it was, I could only drink two.

We'll be exploring several places through the week that were recommended by Chad's lovely wife Amanda, so stay tuned. And if you happen to have a favorite Austin hangout, let me know. We're always looking for something cool to do...