Today was the user conference for our partner. I presented to about 125 people. I thought it went well. The topic had some controversy to it, so that made it even more fun. Then after the conference there was a whiskey tasting event. Ughhhh. I walked around outside until it got too cold. I went inside and stood in the back. The guy running the event really wanted me to participate. Kind of awkward because you really don't get a chance to explain why -- though somehow he knew I am Mormon. Then came dinner. Had a pretty good church discussion with four other people. Talked about the details of the Word of Wisdom to one guy. It's just important to faithfully do what is right. Others will think what they want. Hopefully, some admire it and get interested. The guy sitting next to me brought up politics and religion and other personal stuff. Kind of funny.
Tomorrow is the really difficult day -- the golf tournament :-) I'm looking forward to it, exept for the drinking that will go on that evening. I have no way back to the hotel, so I'll just find someone to hang out with. There are usually one or two other non drinkers. That's it. I'm tired. Hope everyone is well. Matt, Jordan and Paige drive safe!
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Day Four Johannesburg:
It's almost midnight and I've got to get up early, so not much text for today. More press interviews. We did drive to one interview (the editor was a no-show), so I did get to see a little more. Dinner with a partner tonight (I hate the whole shmooze thing). I present at a conference tomorrow. Just so you guys don't think I'm staying in some shanty town, here are a couple pictures of my hotel -- one from the front and one from the back (the one with the pool). The thing reminds me of Versailles! I also shot this pic of a guy selling skins on the side of the road. When was the last time you saw someone selling a zebra pelt. Where do you think we should hang it, Robyn? (I hope I can get it squeezed into my suitcase. Have a great rest of your day everybody. Love, Dad.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Johannesburg
Day 3 (remember to start reading this post from Day 1 below): Today was a busy day. All business. We started at 7:30 with a breakfast meeting. Then we began five, nearly back-to-back press interviews. They were all different from one another. Overall, they went well and the editors liked our story. One difference with the interviews here vs. those in the U.S. is that the editors come to us. All meetings were here at our hotel. In the U.S. you have to go to the editors, which means racing from apointment to appointment. I like the way it works here. For dinner, my two co-workers and I went to a Portuguese restaurant. Not sure I've ever been to one. I had a grilled pork fillet -- it was very good. Okay, so my day must have been very boring if I'm telling you about what I ate for dinner. I warned you in my opening message (I think I warned you) that it would be a lot of boring business stuff. Same for tomorrow, then things should get a little more interesting. So keep coming back to read. I'll try and find something whacky to write about:-) Love, Dad.
Day 2: Today is Sunday (about 10:00 p.m.). I nice quiet day. I woke up at 3 a.m., fell back asleep around 7 a.m. and slept until early afternoon (man, is my body clock messed up). I spent the day reading, preparing my lesson for Aug 24th, and catching up on email. I tried to find the church online, but couldn't pin down the location and didn't want to risk getting lost in Joburg, so just me in my hotel room. I did meet two of my coworkers for dinner, both of them are from the UK. Tomorrow start our press tour with about five one-hour meetings -- starting the day at 7:30 a.m. I've got a church DVD that I'm going to watch, then off to bed. Boring text, I know. But hey, at least I'm a consistent blogger this trip (so far).
Oh...I did give out a pass along card on the plane yesterday. I sat next to a really nice guy from Ivory Coast (western Africa). Also saw a Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe parked in front of my hotel (a VERY nice hotel). That's a $425,000 car! I would like to have seen who drove it:-)
Good night!
Day 2: Today is Sunday (about 10:00 p.m.). I nice quiet day. I woke up at 3 a.m., fell back asleep around 7 a.m. and slept until early afternoon (man, is my body clock messed up). I spent the day reading, preparing my lesson for Aug 24th, and catching up on email. I tried to find the church online, but couldn't pin down the location and didn't want to risk getting lost in Joburg, so just me in my hotel room. I did meet two of my coworkers for dinner, both of them are from the UK. Tomorrow start our press tour with about five one-hour meetings -- starting the day at 7:30 a.m. I've got a church DVD that I'm going to watch, then off to bed. Boring text, I know. But hey, at least I'm a consistent blogger this trip (so far).
Oh...I did give out a pass along card on the plane yesterday. I sat next to a really nice guy from Ivory Coast (western Africa). Also saw a Rolls Royce Phantom Coupe parked in front of my hotel (a VERY nice hotel). That's a $425,000 car! I would like to have seen who drove it:-)
Good night!
Saturday, August 9, 2008
South Africa...
Day One…
Is it day one or day one and two? I’m still in the air with a little over an hour to go until we land in Johannesburg. Pretty uneventful travel with a couple of minor exceptions. I got to the airport in plenty of time. After taking the shuttle from the parking lot I get in the check in line. The guy in line behind me has four large boxes and a huge duffle bag. As we weave our way through the line waiting our turn I see him open the duffle bag, mess with the contents and then work to zip it closed again. The bag is filled with zip lock bags filled with some kind of powder substance (weird, but not the point of the story). As we are waiting, the guy suddenly blurts out “*@##%” and runs for the door. I’m thinking, “He must have forgotten something. But then through the window I watch him chase the tow truck that is towing his car. I don’t see him again for the next five minutes. Once I reach the check-in desk I hear someone telling the agent that the boxes and bags have been abandoned. The agent gets on the phone. I tell her they belong to a guy who went outside because his car was being towed. She replies “and now airport security is going to seize his luggage.” Not a good day for this guy.
I then get called, “next. Where are you headed?” I reply, “Johannesburg.” The agent then asks me, “Did you know South Africa is under attack? The Russians invaded this morning.” The first thing that came to my mind is, “I hope Robyn doesn’t see that news story.” The agent goes online and sees that it is South Ossetia, not South Africa. Got my heart racing for a moment there.
I slept pretty well on the lengthy flights. I arrive early evening so it will be interesting to see how well I sleep tonight. I used the world time watch that Grandpa Staples gave me. It has a stop watch on it. I started the stop watch as I locked the front door and headed to the airport. I stopped it as I unlocked my hotel room door. All total….27 hours, 42 minutes, 56 seconds.
I love you and miss you. I hope Stephanie, Jeremy, and Madison are getting settled into the land of the sun; that Robyn and MeKenzi have fun helping them get moved in; that Alyssa stays awake during any night shifts and finds an apartment; and that Matt, Jordan, and Paige all have a productive last week and travel safely home. Bye for now.
Is it day one or day one and two? I’m still in the air with a little over an hour to go until we land in Johannesburg. Pretty uneventful travel with a couple of minor exceptions. I got to the airport in plenty of time. After taking the shuttle from the parking lot I get in the check in line. The guy in line behind me has four large boxes and a huge duffle bag. As we weave our way through the line waiting our turn I see him open the duffle bag, mess with the contents and then work to zip it closed again. The bag is filled with zip lock bags filled with some kind of powder substance (weird, but not the point of the story). As we are waiting, the guy suddenly blurts out “*@##%” and runs for the door. I’m thinking, “He must have forgotten something. But then through the window I watch him chase the tow truck that is towing his car. I don’t see him again for the next five minutes. Once I reach the check-in desk I hear someone telling the agent that the boxes and bags have been abandoned. The agent gets on the phone. I tell her they belong to a guy who went outside because his car was being towed. She replies “and now airport security is going to seize his luggage.” Not a good day for this guy.
I then get called, “next. Where are you headed?” I reply, “Johannesburg.” The agent then asks me, “Did you know South Africa is under attack? The Russians invaded this morning.” The first thing that came to my mind is, “I hope Robyn doesn’t see that news story.” The agent goes online and sees that it is South Ossetia, not South Africa. Got my heart racing for a moment there.
I slept pretty well on the lengthy flights. I arrive early evening so it will be interesting to see how well I sleep tonight. I used the world time watch that Grandpa Staples gave me. It has a stop watch on it. I started the stop watch as I locked the front door and headed to the airport. I stopped it as I unlocked my hotel room door. All total….27 hours, 42 minutes, 56 seconds.
I love you and miss you. I hope Stephanie, Jeremy, and Madison are getting settled into the land of the sun; that Robyn and MeKenzi have fun helping them get moved in; that Alyssa stays awake during any night shifts and finds an apartment; and that Matt, Jordan, and Paige all have a productive last week and travel safely home. Bye for now.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Madison and Grandpa Joe...
Maybe as the decades pass, the story will evolve -- "The year Grandpa won the Masters in a one-hole shoot out on number 18:-)" I love these pics! Thanks Steph.
Off to South Africa
Family...watch my blog for the next couple of week to see the adventures in South Africa. Most of the stuff will be boring business stuff, but on August 16th I get to do a photo safari. Low bandwidth means you might have to wait until I get home to see the pictures! I love you all!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
