Flexibility
(October
5 - October 23, 1998)
Well, things changed since I sent you the last
travelogue on
Tuesday. One of the things the manager who interviewed me for
this assignment back in
1993 told me was that the job required FLEXIBILITY as plans can change
in an
instant. It isn't uncommon for us to not know on a Friday where
we will be on
Monday. As it turned out, schedules changed and Paris was no
longer in the cards
for me. SIGH! (and that's a BIG SIGH). That audit won't
start until
November 2nd and I will be at my nephew's wedding in NY on November
7th, so it didn't pay
for me to stick around. The team leader for Paris, Sue Ann, was
on my team in
Germany and she and another colleague who was slated for Paris headed
out on
Wednesday. They will spend next week doing some staff work and
planning. The
boss, Sue, went home on Thursday morning to Chicago. Diane and I
drove two other
colleagues to the airport later Thursday morning, Lacey (finishing up
his last audit
with our team) who was returning to Boulder, CO and Sergio (who was on
loan to
us this
month) returning home to Brazil (Rio). Even though it ended
early, it was
a great three weeks and we enjoyed it very much.
Diane and I had a few hours to ourselves on Thursday so we decided to
do a little more sightseeing. A friend of mine from Poughkeepsie,
Dave Meck, is on assignment in Montpellier in the south of France and
he sent me a note
with some suggestions for restaurants and places to see. One of
those
was a 'modern' castle, Hohenzollern, about an hour from where we were
staying. What a place! It was way up on a hill and visible
for miles
around. We drove up as high as we could and then had to walk the
rest of the way and what a
walk it was. It was beautiful with the fall foliage peaking.
Hohenzollern dates back to the 1400s when the first of three versions
of the castle was destroyed by two fueding brothers. It was
rebuilt and
lasted many years until fueding factions of the family moved away and
the castle
fell into disrepair. In the 1800s, a family member returned to
the place of
his roots and fell in love with the place and rebuilt it a third
time. It
stands to this day and the 'chief of the castle' is a 23-year old man
who got the post
by the rules of succession in the family. We took the tour, which
is
where we learned this stuff, and found out that no one has ever lived
in this version of
the castle. It was built soley to demonstrate the power of the
family. It is really quite a place and we ended up spending a
couple of hours
there. Sorry, no digital camera this time but, if you want to see
what the castle
looks like, you can check it out on the web at
http://www.burg-hohenzollern.com.
After we finished touring the castle, we started heading back on a
scenic route so we could eat one more time at the Schwanen Restaurant
in
Herrenberg. They have venison goulash that became one of my
favorite meals at that
restaurant. As we drove through Rottweil and saw that it looked
like a walled old
city we decided to stop and check it out. So we spent an hour
for a
quick walkaround and then headed to Herrenberg. We still had to
pack
for the trip home on Friday.
Things have a way of working out sometimes and they did for our trip
home. Due to the length of the flights, I always get to fly
business class when
traveling out of the USA. When Diane comes with me I either get a
business
class frequent flyer seat for her or, if IBM is paying her way (which
is
coach fare), I upgrade her to business class. She has gotten very
spoiled and
rightfully so. Not that I haven't gotten spoiled traveling around
the world
on someone else's money and enjoying the perks. I usually tease
Diane at least once on a trip that she is really
spoiled. WELL, after our trip home from
Germany, the bar has been raised. I have never in my life flown
first class on an
international trip, which is nothing like first class domestic.
We were sitting
at the gate at the Stuttgart airport waiting for the bus to take us out
to the plane when I heard my name announced. I went to the desk
and the lady said she would like to
upgrade me to first class. I said thanks, but I was flying with
my wife and
would rather sit with her. So she looked on her screen and said
she would give me TWO
first class seats. Talk about getting spoiled. You eat on
nice dishes
and not off a tray, which they do even in business class. It sure
was a treat and we both appreciated the opporunity to
experience an international flight in first class. Wow!!!
Now that I've locked in my pension, I realize that I can make the
decision to retire at a moment's notice, so I know that each trip I
take on
business like this could be my last. I have been extremely
thankful for this
opportunity and my only regret is that I didn't learn about such
traveling early in my
career. Better late than never. However, who knows, I may
not have
appreciated it as much earlier in my career, plus Diane wouldn't have
been able to travel with me given that she was raising four kids.
I was telling Diane
on the ride home
from the airport that I'm glad our plan is to travel the USA in an RV
because I
can't imagine what it would be like to retire from this assignment,
with all
this travel, to nothing but a routine existence around the house.
I
think we would go nuts. ;-) I love to golf, but I'm not
sure I would like golfing five or six times a week, nor do I think my
back would stand for it.
Well, that's it folks. I'm done with international trips for
1998. I'm sorry I didn't write these travelogues from February
1993 to November
1996. What a diary that would have given me. I was able to
write all but this
last couple of paragraphs on the plane as we journeyed home, and I'm
writing this
last paragraph from my den on Saturday morning with the first fire of
the
season going in the fireplace, sipping a hot coffee, shuffle playing
some CDs, and it is so peaceful and quiet. Sometimes life
is good, even when not
traveling. :-)
I'm in a class in Dallas next week, then I'll be in Boulder, CO for
three weeks for anyone whose travel plans may take them to those
places. Not
you Tom, I KNOW I'll see you in Boulder and I'm looking forward to
getting out to
dinner a few times while we are out there. Then I will be on
vacation from
Thanksgiving Day until January 4, 1999. So, until next year, as
far as
travelogues are concerned, this is THE END! Diane and I wish
everyone a very happy, safe, and blessed holiday season.
Until next time.
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