Archive for the ‘Travel’ Category
Conference begins
Monday, November 13th, 2006Arrived in Salzburg
Sunday, November 12th, 2006Joined a long line of IBMers at Gatwick earlier today taking the Thomson Fly direct flight to Salzburg bound for the WebSphere Technical Conference and WebSphere Transaction and Messaging Technical Conference. It made a nice change that there was nowhere for the senior management to upgrade to! I can’t help feeling that the CICS development area will be looking a little empty next week though.
As Chris predicted it was raining when we arrived but the steep-sided mountains, capped with snow, somehow looked all the more impressive with brooding clouds perched on top. Decided to leave the DSLR at home but hopefully I’ll get a chance to take a few snaps later in the week. I should be in for a relatively easy time as I just have two introductory presentations to give (twice each) although I’m on the hook for a third should it’s presenter not arrive in time tomorrow.
Commuter camaraderie
Wednesday, October 18th, 2006Well, I did find a parking space at the station this morning (just) but getting a space on the train was to prove more difficult. The previous train had broken down at Southampton Central so mine was packed to the rafters. I did just make it in the door but it was standing room only. In the face of such adversity it’s amazing how fellow commuters who must travel together day-in day-out without saying so much as a word to one another, suddenly come alive with jovial conversation. Subject matter ranged from the state of popular TV to eBay experiences and trampolines! Sadly, come the train home this evening, everyone has slipped back in to weary traveller mode with the ability to block out everyone and everything in their vicinity.
Southampton Airport No Way Park
Tuesday, October 17th, 2006Something has obviously possesed the good folk of Southampton to decamp to London for the day as, having arrived at Southampton Airport Parkway at the usual time this morning, the forty or so empty parking spaces I’d usually expect to find were all full. I set off in search of alternatives but the University Playing Fields have their barriers up at that time of the morning, the entrance to Lakeside Country Park now has a time limit of four hours, and the nearest parts of Eastleigh all have permit parking only. Consequently I missed my train and I’m going to have to fork out another £15 or so for the pleasure of parking at the airport. All of which leaves me wondering precisely what the monthly parking ticket I have for the station actually gets me. Where else does buying a ticket not guarantee you a space? Oh yes – on the train!
Cardiff Bay
Sunday, October 15th, 2006Explore IBM Hursley
Monday, October 9th, 2006Planes, trains and blogging
Tuesday, October 3rd, 2006With my usual luck, I received notification from SAS yesterday that I have reached the next tier in their EuroBonus scheme just as I embark on a month long engagement in London. That said, given that I rarely use a check-in desk, the benefits of silver level will be mostly lost on me.
Instead of flying high, I’m joining the rat race for the hour long commute each day from Southampton to Waterloo. This morning we had the pleasure of the company of South-West Trains management. For some reason they didn’t linger long in the buffet car where I was shoe-horned in. It might have had something to do with the passengers forced to sit on the floor.
When I do have space to get out a laptop (and particularly on the odd occasions on the route when my 3G card is working) then I’m actually getting some useful work done. Oh, and writing the occasional blog entry!
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