Title Completed

in

I completed the title of this blog over the last week with my first trip to Frankfurt. I enjoyed every moment of it as I got to do normal things such as buy really cheap food (2.20 Euro Dogs and cheap cola), grab a Starbucks (just for old times sake), walk around and shop for electronics although it definitely wasn't Best Buy and just get to see some sights. I even got to see Mr. Bill Gates who stood 3 feet from me but whose guards wouldn't let me take a picture with him at the General Aviation Terminal, FraGas. Oh well, a missed opportunity for a good picture, but its all good I guess.

Frankfurt was an overall good experience. It's definitely a lot more city than Luxembourg but definitely not as quiet. I wouldn't mind living there either, but Luxembourg has definitely grown on me quite a bit.

I uploaded some new pix and there are a bunch of Landstuhl just for you Mar! (they are on page 2 of the Frankfurt Gallery) I tried to take some of the little town and signs mostly. You and Jojo should come out and visit ASAP. It's not that far from Luxembourg at all. Be sure to click on the photo gallery icon on the right side of this blog.

Adelle found some old pix of me and her that we took together our first Halloween in 2002. We weren't a couple yet if not far from, but it definitely was the beginning of things to come. I'll post it sometime later but definitely they were good times.

Bonjour / Au Revoir

in

I had a good drive to Paris from Luxembourg with two crew members which proved to be really fun as we stopped by Reims on the way. I even got to attend a French Catholic Service at Notre Dame Paris!

This was a really quick trip to Paris to swap out Jepp Bags and then back to the Luxembourg Parc Plaza!!! You can barely see the Eiffel Tower in the background, but it's there!
Check out the gallery by clicking on the photo!

Goodbye Hilton?

in

I just found out from the receptionist downstairs that I will be forced out as they are booked for two consecutive weeks. Looks like I'll be transferring hotels once again. Parc Plaza anyone? At least now if I ever decide to drink which is hardly ever, I can walk home just fine.

I read the forecast for this morning, and it had as a description, "possible snow showers," which definitely didn't sound fun. I mean, I love the snow, but living in it is totally different. No there weren't any snow showers and the sun is brightly shinning today, but the temperature is still at a low 4C as of this posting. The ext. forecast calls for a range of 8C to -2C for the weekend and into next week. How exciting!!!

Things are going well. Yesterday was the start of Christmas shopping and decorations here in Luxembourg. There is no sign of Thanksgiving what so ever either. =( I think that we are going to try to celebrate it with some friends over here (Greg and I <-- he's going to cook perhaps) which will bring some festivities to the event. We'll see how that goes. I got to check out some long johns while shopping for more electrical outlet adapters and they were quite expensive at €13.00 for a top and then another €13.00 for the bottoms. They did look a little better than the Hanes one I use to wear as a kid. I wore three layers the other day with a double pair of socks. I think though that a face mask would be key.

I bought some new gel today which is just like the gel I use to get for Halloween! It's sticky as heck. It doesn't freeze your hair over either, but man, I need to get a haircut very soon. €25-30 anyone? I also found out that getting a shoe repaired is €30. It's getting ridiculous to live here with all these minor lifestyle expenses. Another price point for ya: it cost €4.60 to dry clean a shirt and €8 to complete a load of laundry. It's just nutty here! And to think that I am not getting any European Living Monetary Compensation. Umm...what do other companies do? Now, it is true that living in Asia would be much less and yeah that wouldn't be cool if the co. paid us a lower dividend, but I don't think that any co. does.

in

So, now that this version has come out, there have been a few things that have annoyed me. It is still a great and very responsive browser, but since IE 7 came out, it is tempting to d/l it and run it exclusively. There are still some webpages though that do not work with IE 7 and Firefox which is still a little dosconcerning (i.e. Focus Air HR Webpage).

Lifehacker posted a nice little list of configuration tweaks that I must give a shout out to because of how useful they have been. Check it out at: http://www.lifehacker.com/software/firefox-2/geek-to-live-top-firefox-2-config-tweaks-209941.php

Something Indescribable

in

As the title says: Something Indescribable as landed in the office. These are the Jeppesen updates that we have for the next few days. Focus Air has 8 Kits each consisting of two bags thus two sets of plates. It's going to be TREMENDOUS!!! Am I going to get overtime? I don't know, but this is ridiculous! If anyone wants to kick it Jepp style, just hit me up. I'll be sitting in the Luxembourg office sleeping on the floor from time to time. =(

time for each "set" = 3.5 hours

turning a new leaf

in

The colors of autumn popped out of nowhere over the past week with some trees bearing their branches after only 2 days of color change! It's beautiful out here especially the ride from the Hilton to work. Leaves falling as you drive through the tunnel of trees just gives you the sense of a movie like autumn-winter season. It really is breath-taking.

I've been getting a lot better lately with all the positive thoughts and mental motivation lately. Going out and just trying to keep a constant smile really does a body good. It was a rough time in life for me, but its all part of growing up I guess. I have said before that knowing when you are going to be coming home gives you a different sense of being prepared rather that not knowing at all. My leaves are a changin' ~sorta...

Tonight / It might get cold eh?

in

Tonight was good, the cycle is once again on an upswing and I'm loving every minute of it! I still have yet to know a definite on whether or not I'm going to be staying in Luxembourg, but so far its all good.

As stated by the Underground Weather Forecasters, I'm in for a treat this coming week especially on Thursday!!! So it begins...can anyone send me some Long Johns SOON!!!! Oh yeah, I'll be needing a Focus Air Beanie too!

5-Day Forecast for Luxembourg: EXTREMELY COLD!!!

the possibilities...

in

As much as I would like to come home, the possibilities out here are plentiful. I mean, the sense of managing an international station of a cargo airline is awesome. Even though things are said to change and get better, I still will have to wait to actually see the fruits of that tree.

As I have come to find out, home means more than anything to me. The possibility of having a family and being home with them just means too much to me. I always find myself talking about the future in this business to see whether or not it is conducive to family life, and it just really isn't. What am I suppose to do? I find myself at a very huge crossroad.