Willkommen in Berlin!
Back in Berlin, far from the family, so I am a little maudlin. I’ve been traveling for 13 hours, including a airport switch in London.
Immigration control agent: “How long will you be staying in the UK?”
Me:”Hopefully, about three hours.”
And I just read the fine print on the Internet service in the hotel I am staying in. Data rate: Up to 128 kb/sec. 128K? What is this, the dark ages?
Travellus Interruptus
Sadly, a combination of fog in Frankfurt and delays in Berlin has cut short my travels for today. I’m stuck in Frankfurt until tomorrow. Which means I had to call the little one and tell her that daddy won’t be home until tomorrow. Which SUCKS!
I think she and I are going to play hookie Monday. I smell a range trip coming up.
Nowhere near Berlin!
I’m coming up on the end of a VERY long week. It’s evening as I type this here in Berlin, and I am looking forward to going home. Between long work days and staying up to call the shortie, I’ve been averaging 4-6 hours of sleep. I feel like the truck driver from Eurotrip:
Scott: Let me handle this, I speak better German. Hello!
Truck Driver: Hello!
Scott: [in German] My German is ill, but I can understand on you if the speaking is slowly.
Truck Driver: [in German] German! I have been driving for 14 hours straight and I haven’t slept in three days and I am wired on schnapps, benzedrine, and those little chocolate covered peanuts.
Speaking of which….no Eurotrip on iTunes? For shame, Apple!
Light blogging alert
I’ll be light blogging this week. I’m in Berlin for work. I’m staying right across the street from the Erotik Museum. I’ve not been inside, but from the outside it looks just as bizarre as you would expect.
Thoughts from Russia
Some thoughts from my trip to Moscow:
1) Russians love to play American music. Unfortunately, they also believe that the American music scene stopped in 1987, and they LOVE to play American music. I should have known when I got off of my Aeroflot flight when they were playing an instrumental version of “Porgy and Bess” that something was not quite right. There was a lot of Abba and mid 80′s Madonna.
2) You cannot swing a dead cat in a Russian business hotel without hitting one, if not several, young ladies offering “professional companionship.” Sunday evening there were several ladies of the evening in the hotel but by mid-week the guest::hooker ratio was rapidly approaching dangerous proportions. As near as I was able to discern, the going rate is $100-$200 US$ per hour, and pre-payment is encouraged. There is no pay-at-the-pump option as far as I can tell.
3) Contracts. In Russia contracts are more like guidelines, really. Kind of like a fantasy baseball: a fun enough diversion, but not having any relation to the real world. True story: one of our speakers showed us a building that they were building that had received the necessary approvals. The mayor of Moscow happened to be driving by the site, and decided it was “too tall.” They were forced to shorten the tower. Total cost to builder: $4.5 million $US.
4) Related story: When they told us the above story, it was being relayed through a translator. Being a finance guy, I asked “How much contingency is generally budgeted for in Russian building projects?” I got a blank stare. “Contingency? You know, like for unexpected things that might come up?” “Oh, you mean bribes!” “Err….no.”
I’m had a good time, and learned a whole lot. Moscow, architecturally, reminds me of the South Bronx. The architecture is about of the same period, and like the Bronx it looks like it was built and then never maintained. The Russian economy is very dependent on oil…the price of oil drives everything, and building projects shut down when it gets too low. The food was, surprisingly, very good. The food at the hotel was essentially inedible, but I was able to go to several restaurants that were excellent. Including, incidentally, Макдоналдс. A cheeseburger is 25 rubles…about 85 cents at the current exchange rate. I got 2 burgers and”Coca-Cola Light” for 90 rubles. It was a little slice of heaven.
Feedback Bleg
Help me out, gunnies. I’m going to be flying with my guns for the first time. I’ve read the TSA regs and know the rules and all of that. I’m transporting my M&P and a J-Frame. I’d like to make sure that they don’t get stolen. I’ve got two competing strategies:
1) Get a small case like this and go incognito. Nothing screaming “gun” or even “something valuable.” Can be placed in regular checked luggage. Downside: easier to conceal if you wanted to walk off with it.
2) Go with a larger locking Pelican case, checked by itself as a standalone “bag”. Bigger, difficult to hide, better security. Downside: Advertises “something valuable” if nothing else.
What do you think, Internet? If you travel with your guns, I’d love to get some feedback.
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Do your part!
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