Brunch with those who escaped...

It was called to my attention by H.M. Margaret (H.M. stands for High Maintenance, not for Her Majesty!) that I forgot to mention our lovely visit with her and some other former colleagues from my company. It was a delightful time and it was great to see her and meet these other folks who left before my time. And she picked a VERY cool place: the Vinyl diner on 9th Ave. in NYC. Great to see ya, hon, and best wishes to you and your mom for a fabulous 2006! Next time we have to make sure to get you in the picture as well!

Home Sweet Home

Back home safely. Was a very long day. The companies that made it easier were the Flamingo Hotel & Casino, United Las Vegas ground staff (especially the supervisor), the company that makes Ambien (my favorite new drug - zonk-o-rama!), and a great Dutch taxi driver. The companies that pissed me off were Wendy's Dulles (incompetent, rude people), the United Flight 946 Business Class cabin crew who were surly and unfriendly. So glad to be home with Wilbert and the kitties! Now time to unpack!

More Old Friends at X-Mas

Got a very special treat this holiday season... I got to Las Vegas a day early for the Consumer Electronics Show which I'm attending for my company, and arranged to meet one of my fellow students from the exchange program I was on in Spain in 1990-91. Kahunya was one of my dear friends while I was there and helped make life bearable in a world before cheap phone calls and ubiquitous e-mail access. He's now finishing up grad school in Oregon and it was great to spend 36 hours with him (even though we both snore like hippos!). :-)

One of our outings included a session at an oxygen bar and one of those dry water massage capsules. Silly but fun! It was great to see you, man, y te deseo mucha suerte con tus estudios y con escoger el proximo camino que vas a caminar en tu vida. Un abrazo muy fuerte!

Living High on the Hog

Sometimes I just have to laugh out loud at my life. But in a good way.

This morning I was reviewing my loyalty points on various websites and came across a summary of my last three months of hotel stays with the Starwood chain (to which I am insanely loyal because they've been very good to me). It looked something like this:

• Jan 04, 2006 Aladdin Resort & Casino, Las Vegas
• Jan 03, 2006 Sheraton Manhattan Hotel
• Dec 17, 2005 Sheraton Belgravia Hotel, London
• Nov 28, 2005 Four Points by Sheraton Milan Center
• Oct 17, 2005 The Great Wall Sheraton Hotel Beijing

Add to that the 9 flights that I will have taken between 22 Dec and 8 Jan (and a fistfull of shopping mall and amazon.com credit card receipts), and that gives a pretty good picture of what my life has looked like for the last quarter. A combination of business and pleasure, but still... for a three month period, this is a pretty intensive and dreamy schedule for a guy from a state that produces corn and soybeans. There's still that very Iowan part of me that thinks traveling two hours away from home by car is a big deal, so let's just say that part of me is very impressed with the life I lead today. The funny thing is that almost everyone I work with leads a very similar life. It's the nature of international business and being an expat (or a former one).

Bottom line is that I love my life (for lots more reasons than just this!), and that it's made all the more meaningful by having someone wonderful to spend it with. I love you, scheetje! Our next hotel stay together is in only 14 days... :-)

And the most special moment of the year...

And why is that? To be announced... (op z'n tijd).

Friends at New Year's in New York

It was fantastic to see old college gal pal Dr. Mike and his "matzah belle" boyfriend and famous gay author, Joel! Check out (and buy) his book! They're a great couple and we really enjoyed and appreciated our time with them. We look forward to seeing them in Holland sometime soon.