Cool - me own blog!

Ok - this is one of "those" trips. I don't care what I do, where I go or what I plan - something's going to go wrong... and I've decided to both ignore it carrying on regardless, and personally take credit for the facile wake of destruction spreading behind me.

Arriving home from Vancouver a week or two ago - the weather turned to poo (note the title). Not so unusual in Spring of course but I had a guy in tow arriving to promote NZ. It'd be nice to have someone see that land of my birth at its shining best after the Kapa Haka send off mentioned in another pile of my drivel up or down the page.

But no. As we arrived - the rain clouds arrived... and (I hasten to add) as he left - the clouds left. Bugger.

So all travel issues previously documented notwithstanding, I'm in Paris - and there's a public transport strike starting about... 4 hours ago. Paris is either going to be clean and clear due to everyone quite rightly working from home (face it - there people are FRENCH... the care not what their employers think... they do as they damned well please).

Or... and here's where my money is... the road are going to be grid locked tighter than a snappers arse. Of course they are. I have a meeting at a customer tomorrow where I can spend 40 to (gulp) 80 minutes in a taxi getting there, deliver good news to them that someone stuffed up and I'm going to wear part of that financial loss (spending money) then head back from whence I came and more so I can get to the airport and fly directly from here to Amsterdam... via Zurich.

Go on - I dare you. Get a map, plot the course Paris, Zurich then onto Amsterdam and you get a measure of the amount of cynicism just oozing from the cold text on the screen before you.

No - I'm serious... I dare you. People like me are saving money and adding tons of crap to the atmosphere all at the same time. A cynical part of me wants to miss that flight, so I have to take a train, get there quicker, more comfortably albeit at the extra cost of EUR200 or so (so I'm told - I hope that's first class... I'm a first class kinda guy unless I'm awake or being ravaged in my sleep... go figure)

Anyhoo... back to the problems in my life... the disasters.

I got an email from my darling little sister saying my Bro in Law and my Mother had a falling out... just in time for a major family event. It carried the implied "HELP!!!!!" that emails of this kind from darling little sisters do.

Not there to really do much - but then I'm on email from Paris which is every bit as close as being on email from anywhere else. I await the next chapter.

Personal highlights though.

I'm forced to work with some pretty cool people. I enjoy humour and the weird and wonderful things that goes on around it. A key contact of mine Maria suggested a group of us head out to dinner so we did, except the other one in the group (a Frenchman...!) didn't show up. Aaaa well. Just she and me (makes "we" - sorry it rhymes and I've had some to drink so I had to) sat and ate in a great little restaurant and watched the Eiffel tower light up for ten minutes every hour on the hour.

Good fun and we played a mind game "My ship came into London and it was carrying.." you then start on the list of goodies on the ship, each starting with the next letter of the alphabet. I'm not sure how the description sounds, but I really want to play that game while reasonably under the influence and write down what comes out. Then play it again stone cold sober - and again, transcribe it.

I think I'm more creative (read funnier, better looking and irresistible to women) while moderately under the influence and here's a chance to prove it!

So - who's up for it? Hmmm?

Over and under - it's late, I'm tired and I really should get back to my email.
MDU