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.

a good lesson is learned

in

These last few days (or weeks) I can't really tell because time just goes by at light speed has really brought me on a spiritual, growth, psychological, emotional, all over the place roller coaster. From debating my purpose here in Luxembourg to where I want to be in general; all these questions just really started to bog me down. I've noticed myself not dealing with things again. I'm still working but the details of my own life are getting left behind.

On my way to Amsterdam yesterday, I got to drive and just do a lot of thinking. Being with all the crew members and even meeting some cool people at Aero Ground just made me feel better all around. Things were looking up. It was a mess in trying to do my job because of security clearance issues, but I still was able to complete my mission (change out those Jepp bags). I got a room at the Novotel and enjoyed the night hanging out.

Today, I had the oppurtunity to drive with one of our assistant chief pilots back to Luxembourg. We took a rather scenic route back to Luxembourg through Bastogne which provided some good time for conversations. The gist of it though came at the end when I just started to speak about what was going through my head. "Don't let false obligations get in the way of oppurtunities." I needed to quote that because it just made sense. I'm missing my family and that is definitely a reasonable obligation, but the purpose of me being here is to grow and learn. That is an obligation that I owe myself perhaps. I don't know how to reason it out, but its slowly beginning to feel right. I know that I've all the time later on to "hang out" but as long as I'm learning and am able to take something back with me, then its all good. I have to handle my workload and budget what I'm suppose to do and not over work myself because that's where things go a little crazy. I have to give my mind a rest really.

I'm glad that I'm finally coming to my senses. It's taken a lot out of me, but as long as I'm able to *tune* Always think of the bright side of your life *end tune* then my head will remain straight. Thanks for everything guys!

Thanks mom and adelle too. Calling it homesick just gave it a definition but talking about always helps. Sorry for venting Manoj. Things are looking up! Hopefully...