Over the hump

Yesterday was just too frenetic to post, so this will likely be a gush of news.

As usual, I barely slept the night before the opening on TechEd. Too many irons in the fire and anticipation over the business press coverage. Over a quick breakfast, I scanned the IHT and FT. No coverage. Yikes.

Claudia and I cabbed to the Rai. My notebook wouldn't boot fast enough for me to get to the NYT site. The story is up and it's good! We're off and running.

Off to the keynote. Hmmm, I can hear the drumming as I enter the massive hall. The drums are cool. There are a half dozen drummers in African atire on stage leading the drumming. It's fun. People are joining in. Ten minutes till 10. I bolt for the press center to grab my new Olympus camera. Gotta capture this for the troops back home. Just in time to grap a couple of quick snaps. The keynote goes well. It's a little more casual than in the states, but the demos are good and the 1.5 hours passes quickly. Grab an extra drum for Hippie.

On to the press conference. Some tough (annoying) questions, but Jonathan does a masterful job. Perfect tone and manner without backing down. This is another win. Coverage rolling in (slowly), but it's looking good, remarkably on message and consistent. Still waiting for more from Europe. The press room is a beehive.

I've gotta say something about the VoIP phones available here. They rock. I've made calls all over the world and they just work. Fast, easy and super good quality. My news project when I get home is to sign up for this service. Another great way to extend the value of your PC.

The press party is at the Maritime Museum (sorry about the language), not far from our hotel. As we walk in, we're told it's the most beautiful building in Amsterdam. It is very nice and very relaxing. Good food and music. Nice wines from Italy and, of course, Heineken. Woosh, suddenly it's 11 p.m. The end of an exhuasting day.

Lynne has been scoping out venues for sightseeing later in the week and collecting gifts to take back. The weather here has been remarkably good all week. More coveraging rolling today -- still looking good.

Tonight's the big game, Holland vs. Portugal. Still scouting out venues for where we'll watch. Claudia, Heather and I will finalize our plans later today. Wearing my orange (oranje) shirt today in support of the Dutch. That's especially for Silvia, who has been very helpful with ideaas on what to do here as well as other don'ts. :)

Where have I been?

No blog entry for a couple of days...just cramming for my trade show in Amsterdam, which is where I am today. Nice weather here as I look out the press room windows at all the international flags in front of the RAI Congress Center. Dawn and Kim arrived today, too, as did Rob, Joel and Anna from the UK office.

We did a walk-through of the facility here, which is great and very functional. The wireless in the pressroom even works! IT got us up and running. Lynne's back at the hotel, contemplating a visit to the Van Gough Museum later this week.

We arrived at our hotel about 2:30 today after losing an hour on our flight from London. We immediately wondered out of the hotel seeking a) a bank machine; and b) food. We immediately wondered into this area of canals lined with buildings and sidewalks. No teller machines or the right food. But, we did wander full-blown into Amsterdam's famous red light district. It's legal and licensed here and is plunked down in the middle of a prime tourist area. Pretty interesting. I won't go into more detail and don't have photos :).

Tomorrow is Day Zero, but still lots of prep work to do. Everything is going wonderfully. Claudia got a Holland team jersey (bright Orange) that she's wearing around the press room. Holland is in the semifinals and plays on Wednesday which will be huge here.

I didn't cover the England loss to Portugal. It was too tragic. As one of the tabloids said: Idiot ref costs England. England scored with minutes remaining, but the referee disallowed it because of alleged goalkeeper interference. It wasn't. Then the game went to overtime. Portugal scored in the second extra period, but England countered. So, it went into a shootout. It was still tied after five shootout chances, but Portugal's goalkeeper stopped the sixth England try and then the goalkeeper made his kick for Portugal.

The Play's the Thing

We squeezed in a play last night so we won't have to tell people we went all the way to London and didn't see a single play. While it certainly wasn't the calibre of Anything Goes, Tonight's The Night was enjoyable although a little on the lightweight side. Simplistic plot, but lots of Rod Stewart songs. A little too much auidence involvement for my tastes.

Today is (once again) rainy and cloudy. The weather is wrecking havoc with Wimbledon, but what's new? Erica's brother-in-law is trying to get us tickets. We don't have many free days, but maybe this will work out nicely. Thanks Erica!

Received this e-mail today:
I’m sure your aware, a tube and train strike is planned for next Tuesday from 6.30pm to Wednesday at 6.30pm. Many are away for TechEd next week, but those that are around, we need to make alternative arrangements in advance. Some of us may be able to work from home, but if you need to be in the office, maybe we can arrange a taxi pool or for extreme cases book a hotel. Can you let me know if you need to come into the office and I can look at altertative transport.

Argh, talk about making it hard to do business! Fortuntely many of us in the office will be at TechEd and won't be bothered by this.

England goes through

Mondays here are intersting because for the most part, it's still Sunday back home. So, there's time to catch up on late Friday mail and mail over the weekend (unless you did that on our Sunday, like I did this week). So, Mondays can be somewhat mellow, depending on the level of activity. Clients usually don't show up until mid-week. The TechEd team here is working hard and buttoning up the final details and briefings for the show, which begins Monday. Most of us will fly over on Sunday.

Wimbledon has begun, which is a huge news event in London, but the talk of the town continues to be the lads in Portugal. England faced its first sudden death threat last night (they needed a tie or a win) and came through with flying colors. After falling behind 1-0 in the first five minutes, the Brits came back to eliminate Croatia, 4-2, and claim the No. 2 spot from Group B in the Euro Cup. This is the first time that England has gone through to the knockout rounds in 23 years and the first time ever on foreign soil. The football team here is the source of enormous pride and the city comes to a halt during the cup games. Wayne Rooney again is the toast of the town, boy wonder, etc. He's even being compared by some to a young Pele! He has risen to fame over his last two performances in which he has scored a total of four goals and is now the leading scorer in the tournament.

England goes on to the quarterfinals where eight teams vie for the cup on July 4. England plays (they would say play here) Portugal on Thursday evening. The game is again at 7:45 p.m. local time, which means I might have to miss it because of calls back to the U.S. that night.

Sunday Brunch

Lynne arrived on Friday, but without her bag. It apparently didn't make the transfer in Vancouver to the British Air flight. I took the tube to Heathrow to meet her. She joined us for drinks at the pub after work on Friday. Friday afternoon there was a noisy parade in front of the office in which divorced fathers marched for their custody rights.

Saturday was Lynne's birthday, so we had a wonderful meal at a nearby French restaurant along with a fine bottle of Chateau neuf du Pape. We've picked up a couple of bottles at the local grocery stories and had decent results. We are leaning toward the South African Pinotages, which taste a little like Pinot Noir. Today we had brunch at the Belvedere in Holland Park. More great food and a nice bottle of French rose.

The weather has decidedly turned. Cool and lots of rain today. We went by the Portabella Road Market on the way home and got caught in quite a shower.

In football tonight, Portugal beat Spain, 1-0, to knock Spain out of the tournament and was the first competitive wine for Portugal over Spain ever. Greece also came through in Group A despite a 2-1 loss to Russia. Tomorrow England plays Croatia and needs at least a tie to go through to the next round. The streets here will fall quiet about 7:30 tomorrow as people crowd into the pubs and gather around TV sets to watch the match.

Game Day

Some of us sneaked away from the office a smidge early today to take in the Big Game at the Square Pig down the street. By the time we arrived a couple of minutes into the match, the place was jammed and rocking with England fans. (I showed up decked out in my England team polo.) Caroline, Julie, Tillman and Sean all showed up for all or part of the match.

As opposed to the massive disappointment on Sunday against France, this one was sweet revenge for the Brits. They crushed the Swiss, 3-0, are now in position to move to the next round IF they can tie or beat Croatia on Monday. No small task, however, since the Croats tied France yesterday after leading much of the way. That will be another crucial game and the pubs will be even more jammed because it starts at 7.45 here.

The result made front page news in all the local papers. The Times' headline: Baby elephant brings the house down, in reference to Wayne Rooney's two goals. A new star is born as Rooney became the youngest (18) player to ever score in a European Cup match.

The weather is finally turning cooler here and we even saw a sprinkle this morning.

A running mate

I'm writing this on Thursday morning because yesterday just turned to be too long a day (another). But at least it didn't have to do with work. Annette, Alison and I went to "Anything Goes" at the Theater Royal Drury Lane. It was really an enjoyable and relaxing evening of fine music, dancing and comedy. (The only drawback was the theater, which was like a sauna. Hint to self: Lose the tie and sport jacket next time!)

I took a new route for my morning run on Wednesday. This time I went west from the Waterloo Bridge, up the Victoria Embankment toward Westminster and on to the Vauxall Bridge, then back along the south embankment, past the London Eye and on down to the Millenium Bridge. Part way along the run, I hooked up with another runner who seemed to be going the same way and at about the same pace. Turns out he is an IT pro with Coopers. He knew about TechEd Europe, but wasn't going. He served as my unofficial tour guide of the waterfront.

The weather has turned cooler here -- finally. It could even rain. Wednesday was an incredibly busy day in the office with out-of-town visitors and lots of clients bustling through. Today's a little more laid back as everyone's jamming to get their work done in time to leave a bit early (5.00) for the Big Game -- England vs. Switzerland. As Gary, the doorman, told me today, "If we can't beat a bunch of volunteers, we don't deserve to be there." He was referring to the fact that the Swiss don't have a professional league on the caliber of other European countries. The team is apparently made up of club players, not highly paid professionals. Hmmm,they played pretty well in their first game, tieing Croatia 0-0.

Picnic in the park

I missed my first day of blogging and am somewhat embarrassed about that, but I had a good excuse. I did take time out for dinner with Claire and Alison, but still had to return to the steamy confines of the London office to complete some critical work before midnight Monday. Too pooped to do the blog.

Another whirlwind day in the electrified atmosphere of the London office. Time just flies by here. You get into the office. Boom, it's noon and then 2 and zowie 4 and the West Coast is stirring. This was a good day. Made progress on the uber messaging and other key nitty gritty. Today turned out not as warm as predicted (good). Alison discovered the Pret (baugette, brie, tomato and basil).

Claire, Caroline and Rod invited Annette, Alison and I out to their cozy place at Holland Park. We walked the short distance to the park and partook in some wonderful French whites and tastey goodies. We heard the operat, but did not attend. Caroline ran Rod and I through our cricket courses.

Claire also steered me to a secret place that I'll write about later. Rod and I are going to run on Saturday. Gary, the doorman, has mapped out a new route for me tomorrow. I'm going west on the embankment from Waterloo Bridge towards Westminster, then back along the south embankment.

I took the tube there because I was late (proactive call). I much prefer the tube to the ultra expensive cabs here. It's how the people get around and it's fun. I took a bottle of Bergstrom Pinot Noir that I carried from Oregon. We returned to the hotel about 11 p.m. I'm writing from my favorite spot in the hotel bar where the cubans are good and Rui, the bartender is accommodating. He is Portugese and hoping for a better result from his boys tomorrow. We (Come On England) play Switzerland on Thursday at 5, which means the office will empty early. Germany and Holland tied today, which is a bit of a surprise. the Dutch were favored. Ladbrokes (I forgot to be last Sunday) still has the Brits at 8-1 and fourth favorite to win the Euro Cup.

Running out of steam . . . and time.

Terrible!

In a word, that’s the mood of a country overcome by football fever tonight as England loses to France, 2-1, in its opening game of the Euro Cup 2004. As I was walking back to the hotel, that’s what a young Brit muttered as I passed by. Another young woman stopped to asked the score and then replied, “Oh, my God, really?” The game was played n Madrid and was a crusher for the passionate English fans.

It was worse than the score as England led 1-0 into the final minute before the French scored on a free kick and then again in extra time on a penalty kick. I decided to really experience this, so I set out to find a suitable pub from which to watch the game. I ended up in a pub at Leiscester Square where I sat by a Croatian who now lives in Las Vegas and a woman from Surrey wrapped in a St. George’s Cross flag. What started out quiet became boisterous when England scored off a free kick late in the first half to stake the English to a 1-0 lead. As more people packed into the tiny pub, it appeared the They were on their way to a major upset. But it wasn’t to be and they have David Beckham, who missed a penalty kick in the second half that surely would have sealed the win for England, to blame. Not everyone is a football fan here, but it’s huge and the nation’s No. 1 sport.

The English loss was the topper on an otherwise wonderful day. It turned out warm and sunny. I headed off for Holy Trinity Brompton, down the road from Harrod’s for services. HTB is one of the most progressive Anglican churches in London and the home of a worldwide evangelical program known as Alpha.

On the way back, I wondered through St. James Park where the veterans of the Normandy invasion were commemorating the 60th anniversary. That tied into a visit to the Cabinet War Rooms, which have been restored to the condition they were during World War II. I visited the Cabinet War Rooms in 1985 when they first opened, but the tour has been enhanced and greatly improved. It’s not as well known as many of London’s attractions, but highly worthwhile. I happened by Buckingham Palace as the Queeen’s Guard was heading out for the Normandy veteran ceremony and parade, providing a colorful and unexpected treat.

A quiet Saturday

This was a nice day to relax, sort of. I slept in and then went for a five-mile along the Thames. Same route I took the other day. This time I got my Garmin GPS watch to work, sort of. It didn't kick in right away, but finally started working on the south side of the river. I had the time set for Portland and that might have had something to do with it. The trees and buildings didn't help either.

It was a nice day here and a big one for the Royals. The Queen celegrated her birthday. It's not really her birthday, but she celebrates it today because the weather is usually better. They have this parade thing called the Trooping of the Colour. When I got back from running, it was on TV. It was pretty cool. Lots of bands, marching and horses. The Queen looked good in a yellow dress.

I went on an eight-hour exploring trip starting at Covent Garden, where I picked up a Cuban cigar. Cigars are expensive here because of the tax -- which makes everything expensive. A 17.5% VAT is built into most purchases. On to Picadilly Circus where I picked up an England football shirt marked down at Lillywhite for tomorrow night. I visited Jermyn Street, my favorite haunt for shirts. I especially like the Thomas Pink store. On to Carnaby Street and crowded Oxford Street. I swear there must be lots of disposable income in this country because there's nothing but retail and restaurants around here and they always crowded.

Pub food tonight. I went to the Freemason's Arms down the street to watch the Spain-Russia Euro 2004 match on the big screen and down a couple of lager and limes. Spain won with a goal in the second half, 1-0, but Spain totally dominated the game. Portugal, the host country, was shocked by Greece earlier in the day. Of course, the big match is tomorrow evening when England takes on Spain. Most stores and pubs have visible displays of support for the locals. Big banners hung along Picadilly imploring: Come On England. It'll be a sad day Monday if they lose.

Finally Friday!

Today wasn't too sweet, having stayed up a little past my bedtime, lost in mail and blogging. Claudia, our EMEA client from Paris was in for the day and Joel and I spent time with her working on TechEd details. Claudia remided me of days past when Tektronix was a client and she was working for Rob Stewart, the marketing manager. We didn't actually work together, but we remember each other. Running all day, skipped lunch. It was cooler today, but the expected rain didn't arrive.

Left the office early (9:30 p.m.). I waited for Erica and since we were the last ones out, we had the joy of figuring out how to lock up from Julie's instructions. A little bumpy, but we managed it. The alley in front of The Ship was busier than ever on this Friday. I joined Caroline, Tillman, Joel, Aaron and others for a pint.

Erica and I had a late (very) dinner at Poon's an excellent Chinese restaurant on Leicester Square. We had a helluva time find it, but it was definitely worth it. Thanks Erica and John for the wonder recommendation. Lynne and I will return there.

Tomorrow is a day to relax mostly even though I have some work to do. I'm going to get a good long run in during the morning and then explore the neighborhood. Nothing special, just do some walking around to ge my bearings and checking out the local shopping scene. Erica's headed for Stockholm on business.

Finally, a "normal" day . . . and Fish & Chips

Finally got the sleep I was craving. I also got in that first run here. Gary, the doorman at the hotel, helped me with an interesting 5.7 miler along the Thames. Down Kingsway to Allywch, across the Wellington Bridge and up the South Embankment to the Tower Bridge and back along the North Embankment. A nice run, but lots of discovery following the ins and outs of the Thames path along the river. Went by the Starbucks across from the hotel, but ordered -- drumroll -- tea and milk. There's something about how they make it over here that's just better.

Joel and I had a lunch meeting at The Ship, but we eschewed the pints (lemonade and Diet Coke). It was a good day in the office. First call with an EMEA client. We went over the TechEd press conference and he liked our recommendations. Claudia comes tomorrow from Paris so we vet our plans with her. I'm seeing the value that can be added by having this kind of integration with the U.S. teams. We broke a few rules in the office today (after Claire went home). The air goes off in the office about 7 p.m., so us working fools get hot and there's no way to override it. Opening the windows is verboten, but we did it anyhow. Joel and I had a conference call back to the US at 7:30 GMT so I brought up pints from The Ship to help us battle the heat and freshen us up.

Josh and his friend Sibylle dropped by shortly afterwards and we all went to The Rock & Sole Plaice for dinner. Dined outside on the street with the guy in the priate hat who was putting the big make on his girl. Shaun from the London office, who's leaving tomorrow for holiday in Cypress, joined us.

The news here is about today's local elections and fretting over England's first match in Euro Cub 2004. This is like a very big deal. England plays France on Sunday night and every pub in the city will be rocking. I visited Ladbrokes to check out the odds. There are odds on everything, but England is the underdog. It's like the fifth or sixth favorite. It's not as big as the World Cup, but fairly close.

So, now for the pics . Attached find pics of my hotel, the office, The Ship and a strange place across the street from the hotel called the Leisure Exchange that I think is a video game parlour.

I'm posting this from the hotel bar (again) and cringe to think about how late it's getting. The Cubans, which you can smoke indoors here, are superb. But gotta log onto mail to do a smidge of work.

Are we having fun yet?

After barely surviving my first day here I'm still running on fumes. Fixing the sleep deprevation problem tomorrow, however. I was up until midnight last night and then up again this morning at 6 to catch the train to Cambridge where Microsoft has a research facility. They were having an Open Day, which is short for a press/analyst day. I attended the morning sessions and stayed through lunch. The Webber Shandwick folks were propper hosts though I'm sure somewhat unnerved by my presence. The presentations were quite consumer focused, which was a bit of a surprise. The facility is very nice and the people all seem very smart.

Cambridge is about an hour's train ride (the fast train!) from King's Cross station (21.70 pounds return fare). I was able to catch up on e-mail on the way back. Was in the office from about 3-9 and now recuperating in the hotel bar, which has wireless. Nice, but strange. It connects to the internet and even our intranet, but not our e-mail. Can't find the UK server, which is a block away! I was on the expensive cell phone to 3CP trying to debug, but to no avail. Travis worked hard on this, but still a myster. Josh can come over here tomorrow and we'll get it working, I'm sure. Maybe it's God's way of telling me I'm working way to hard.

It's a bit addictive. Catch up on overnight mail in the morning and then work realtime and have meetings from 3 p.m. onward. My Spot watch doesn't work here so I'm not bothering to wear it. Bummer. Gotta get a new cheap one because I can't live without a watch. The weather wasn't as bloody hot and humid today. But I also wised up and wore a short sleeve shirt.

I'm in the hotel bar where the wireless is free (sans e-mail :)), I can have a drink and catch up on personal e-mail, pay bills :( and do my blog entry. Signed up for smugmug, so tomorrow maybe pictures.

Had a nice Chateau neuf last night at dinner with EricaG of MapPoint fame and her Brit client. We chanced getting mad cow because we were all starved. Tonight Erica and I shared Thai takeout from the joint next to The Ship Pub downstairs from the office and continued to work.

Tomorrow's projects: getting in a morning run along the embankment, buying a watch (Swatch most likely) and sleeping in! That's a bit of a conflict with running, but I gotta get some decent rest.

Tomorrow ... pictures (maybe).

Here in one piece

I arrived in London today, touching down at 11:30. I decided to be adventuresome and took the tube from Heathrow. Only problem is they're having a heat wave here and nothing is air conditioned. I was dripping wet on the train with my long sleeve shirt and sport coat. I made it to the hotel and checked into a very nice room and headed out to find the office, which is a matter of two blocks (or less away). I've been in meetings most of the day since I got to the office about 3 p.m. If I can stay awake may be going out to a pub tonight. Had one good wine on the plane -- Chateau de Landiras 2002, Graves Blanc Sec. Not sure what it is, maybe a Sauvignon Blanc. Anyhow, it had wonderful citrus overtones and the nose reminded me of orange creamcicle. Maybe I can find some more of this stuff in a wine bar around here. More later...

World traveler

I leave later today for London where I'll be spending the better part of the next four weeks, working on a special project and staying current on my work here out of our London office. People have asked me if I'm excited and I've said, yes, if I had time to think about it!

This all has been quite rush, rush. Plans have only been confirmed for a week. But, I think I'm as ready as I'll ever be. I love London and I'll have a chance to visit Amsterdam and perhaps take a side trip to Florence.

I'm buttoning up some final details before getting ready to head for the airport. My flight leaves tonight at 6:30 and gets me into London at noon tomorrow.