a good lesson is learned

in

These last few days (or weeks) I can't really tell because time just goes by at light speed has really brought me on a spiritual, growth, psychological, emotional, all over the place roller coaster. From debating my purpose here in Luxembourg to where I want to be in general; all these questions just really started to bog me down. I've noticed myself not dealing with things again. I'm still working but the details of my own life are getting left behind.

On my way to Amsterdam yesterday, I got to drive and just do a lot of thinking. Being with all the crew members and even meeting some cool people at Aero Ground just made me feel better all around. Things were looking up. It was a mess in trying to do my job because of security clearance issues, but I still was able to complete my mission (change out those Jepp bags). I got a room at the Novotel and enjoyed the night hanging out.

Today, I had the oppurtunity to drive with one of our assistant chief pilots back to Luxembourg. We took a rather scenic route back to Luxembourg through Bastogne which provided some good time for conversations. The gist of it though came at the end when I just started to speak about what was going through my head. "Don't let false obligations get in the way of oppurtunities." I needed to quote that because it just made sense. I'm missing my family and that is definitely a reasonable obligation, but the purpose of me being here is to grow and learn. That is an obligation that I owe myself perhaps. I don't know how to reason it out, but its slowly beginning to feel right. I know that I've all the time later on to "hang out" but as long as I'm learning and am able to take something back with me, then its all good. I have to handle my workload and budget what I'm suppose to do and not over work myself because that's where things go a little crazy. I have to give my mind a rest really.

I'm glad that I'm finally coming to my senses. It's taken a lot out of me, but as long as I'm able to *tune* Always think of the bright side of your life *end tune* then my head will remain straight. Thanks for everything guys!

Thanks mom and adelle too. Calling it homesick just gave it a definition but talking about always helps. Sorry for venting Manoj. Things are looking up! Hopefully...

General Patton's Grave and Bastogne

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I promise that I will find some time to write out a little more as soon as I get a time to relax. I'm dead tired now but until then, I've uped more pix. (note: the other gentleman is a Captain / FO for Focus Air that actually wanted to come with me on the drive back to Amsterdam so it actually wasn't that boring. Thanks Mike!

http://www.elijahnicolas.com/cphoto/thumbnails.php?album=13

Check out these new pix. I have so much to write, but its just been crazy here:

Monday: 10 hours of work
Tuesday: 14.5 hours at work
Wednesday: Drive back to Amsterdam and switch out Jepps
Thursday: Drive back, if Wednesday was successful, to Lux
Friday: more Jepps! It's just crazy!

2 Hours Lost in Lux

in

updated

So, as the story goes...Greg took me to Uptown, Luxembourg where we had really good pizza for about €12.50 and some change for water. All in all, if I eat one meal a day for < €20, I'll seem to be alright. This of course considers the fact that company is paying for my breakfast in the hotel. Now, when I move into an apartment, I don't know what's going to happen. Everything is really expensive around here.

Anyways, back to the story. After the pizza, Greg offerred to show me the way back, but I really thought that I could it being that I drove around a little bit on my own. I was starting to get the feel for the area, but oh boy I was wrong. Initially upon arriving in Luxembourg, I was told to follow the signs to Ettelbruck in order to get to the Hilton. I did assume then that the Hilton was in Ettelbruck. In correlation to the map, I underestimated the true size of Luxembourg because Ettelbruck was up north quite a ways. (I don't have any type of GPS in the car because Budget didn't get me the CD nor did they have one. And it isn't the nice colorful map that you might be thinking off either) After departing the Onesto Pizza Place, I went down the hill, made a left then an early right which didn't look so familiar and then ended up with a sign that said no entry. I turned around, headed back up the hill, and went the other way. I was relieved to once agian find my way to signs saying "Ettelbruck."

So, I continued to follow signs for Ettelbruck passing up one that was slightly covered that said Hilton on the left. The hill / mountain that the Hilton was on was covered in a little fog so I wasn't able to catch it on my right, so I continued driving following the sign for Ettelbruck. I noticed that I started getting into places that I didn't recognize. I drove into the city of Merche and Diekirch just circling Ettelbruck, but after that, I decided to start asking people where the heck I was or where to go. The first two people that I asked (gas attedant and a passerby on foot) didn't speak english or when I said Hilton, they said no hotel here. I finally found a McDonalds where the drive through person understood me a little, but he said that he didn't know of any in Ettelbruck. He only knew of the one in Lux!? I was like no...but then just told him to show me the way. He then said that the Hilton is on a hill when we drives to work. I got excited, asked him where he lives and eventually found myself back to where I began the night's excursion. I did pass by the University and a tank display with an American Soldier Statue which was cool. I also saw signs that said Bastogne which is about 1.25 hours north. That's when I decided to turn around really.

So, when I got back to my original starting point, I eventually saw the sign that I missed and ended back home about 15 after 12. Exciting times in Luxembourg!

I'm in Lux!!!

in

I made it after a couple of hours of driving, one fuel fill up at ~ 40 Euros, two trips to the restroom at .30 Euros each and a small Honey bunches of Oats Cereal Bar. Now that I think of it, I don't think I ate any lunch or dinner. I did have a beer though when I got to the Hotel. Thanks Greg for the welcome.


last night:
After we got back from the "Lighted Square, " we met up with a bunch of crew in the downstairs lobby and hung out for a bit. I got to meet more people which was a good thing and even met up with Vic. Good stuff. I had yet another beer and a shot of yeagermeister. I'm starting to get use to drinking and not having the red spots show up. Good thing? Who knows...

the beginning of the day:
I had breakfast with the crew which was great company, picked up the rental at Budget in the Amsterdam Airport, drove back and gathered all my stuff. I got some assistance from the manager lady and loaded the little car up. It's a fun little car and has some moderate to okay acceleration. Although it wasn't the A-Class that I thought I would be getting, it definitely worked out just right to fit all my stuff. The internet connection that I have here in the Amsterdam Hilton isn't that great at all, so I won't be able to really upload all the pix that I took on the road trip until I have some decent connectivity.

I had a small hassle on the way down taking a 20 minutes detour in between Brussels and Antwerp. It was good small town driving. The entire trip started at 1330 local and ended at around19:30. I did also take a 20 minutes stop over to rest a bit. Raining also started pouring but no one really slowed down, so I just followed along. Driving around here is definitely weird, but I'm running out of battery. The Hilton only allows you to connect one device in a 24 hour period and didn't let my personal laptop onto the internet. Oh well...more tomorrow.

http://www.elijahnicolas.com/cphoto/thumbnails.php?album=11

driving to lux!

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Here is the new Budget Rental Car. At first, I was told a Mercedes A Class, but I ended up with a Renault Scenic which is considered comprable. Check it out! Should be a great drive to Luxembourg. I have Cruise Control (haven't figured it out yet), 5 speed tranny, A/C and a radio! I'll post pics of me standing next to it later on. This shot was taken off of the wiki. Stay tuned...

Day 2: Still in AMS

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Well, after another awesome breakfast and some downtime, I finally got the call to actually head out and enjoy the city. I did work a little bit today on a computer and hunted an individual to change out badges. It's weird that I'm not sure how to keep track of stuff. Coordination with the main office and everything else just makes it seems as if you are working of that you have to stay on top of things. Peace of mind is a little hard especially when you don't know where you are suppose to be or how you are suppose to get there. It's all a great adventure though which I don't mind at all.

I upped more pictures today. click here This album contains some places that we ate at, hung around and a person from the US that we met on the shuttle from the Sofitel to the Van Gough Museum. Kim walked around with us and she even had dinner with Tony and I at an Indian Restaurant called Bollywood. Definitely some good food. She later showed us a bar that we kicked it at for a while until we had to walk back to our pick up point. The cover band played songs from Nirvana and Coldplay to Keane. Good stufff. On the walk back, I wanted to take a picture of the "outhouse" that they had. You can see it better right here. It's a four sided system for men and its placed just right outside. A little awkward you can say. And no, I was not actually taking a leak.


The night got a little better when we got back to the hotel in that I had the chance to meet a bunch more of the crew members and even drank a little bit more. Good stuff. Tomorrow, I'm suppose to rent a car (maybe a Mercedes A Class) and drive to Luxembourg. It should be quite a journey. In the meantime, make sure to always check out the Photo Gallery and my mobile blog.