Sunday, so obviously yet another airport. LHR en route for a marathon business trip around the US of A, taking in NYC, Baltimore, Boston, Atlanta, San Fran, LA and Miami. I'm exhausted already, and I haven't set off yet. Just hoping US Immigration let me in, otherwise my marathon business trip is going to be back to Berlin...
So how come the little (and I mean little) guy at the check-in desk responded to my suggestion that, as I was 6'4", a window seat in an exit row would be ideal for me, and he promptly put me in a middle-of-the-middle seat, on the basis that 'there were no window seats left'. I arrive at the gate, and speak to a guy who obviously doesn't have a Napoleon complex, due to being slightly more normal-height, and he promptly puts me in a window seat in an exit row... Gah! Human nature!
OK, so I say this with the best will in the world, since one of the people I'm closest to (my littlest big sister) is a copper...
I was 'kettled' once before. For those who don't know, this is the process by which the police keep 'rogue elements' contained in the same space until they basically get bored. It sometimes works...
My last occasion was in Shoreditch, and I was walking Henry, and I fortunately got let out on the basis that I obviously wouldn't bring a 9 month old Golden Retriever pup (who was NOT on a string) to an ecological sandal-wearing muesli-knitting protest wearing a pinstripe suit on purpose...
Tonight, I ended up leaving a delightful sushi restaurant in mittel Berlin at exactly the same time as a Turkish anti-Israel protest decided to walk past...
Say what you like about the police anywhere and everywhere else in the world (the French have their moments, as do the Americans), but German - specifically Berliner - polizei have a whole different level of attitude. As in 'bad' attitude. I was downright scared! And my lack of ID (despite looking as Turkish (despite the current tan) as, umm, Turkish delight) other than a driving licence (who carries their passport, I ask you?) didn't appear to help matters. So I just spent 45 minutes walking at a safe distance from a Turkish protest until it finally dispersed enough that they started letting us out of side-streets!
Ah, all in a day's fun! A better-deserved glass of Gruner I have never experienced...
And so exhausted after all this travel that I stumbled into my hotel room from the office at 8pm, and fell asleep until now (3am local time), and now I can't sleep, so I'm catching up on some work email :(
My plans have changed this week, on the basis that I'm obviously the last romantic on the planet, and it's difficult to persuade someone who barely believes in love to believe that it can conquer all, especially 'in Summer', for some reason. Seasonal dating, it's the new black. I'll be interesting again when the sun disappears.
So no Rome. Paris instead, and then back to London to squeeze in a few more meetings before going trans-Atlantic again.
with little Josh, proving what a sweetie he is (Henry that is!)
(albeit briefly)
Missed my big bear, and counting down the months now till I get him over :)
And a fab time with Martine: oysters, champers and lobster at J.Sheeky, followed by yet more cocktails and then a bizarre interaction with a lovely salt-of-the-earth couple who felt out of place at St. Martin's Lane Hotel. The bar was a bit wanky tonight - Friday night n'all... a little modelesque again...
An hour of peace in my hotel room's garden (yes, really) before some agency drinks and a drinks engagement this evening. I'm imbibing caffeine at a rate of knots to keep me going through this week - hectic is an understatement.
Breakfast with Neil Norman, through a fog of night-before vanilla martini haze, who had barely changed a jot in 20 years, and a really good catch-up and realization that maybe being expelled from school together turned us into very similar people in the end! Now if I can just think of an idea to use his funding...
Lunch with Mairi, which was a blast, and laughs were had (I think I had blocked out the phrase "it's a flan, not a cake" from my memory!) - if only all relationships with exs could be so relaxed and non-threatening!
Business aplenty, including a brief but delightful catch-up with Rob J., an idealab/Scan alum now running InMobi in EMEA.
...and relax.
A busy, productive, and vastly more positive week than I could have hoped for. Pleased with the new role, feeling uplifted and optimistic about the strategy, and a good vibe from a great and hugely supportive young team, who have all suffered magnificently to strain the limits of their English.
More busy-ness and business to come next week in London, and feeling much more like I'm a useful part of the commercial world again.
Following a very German feast in my honour, a night out on the tiles with the Madvertise crew was remarkably unmessy, all things considered, though I do pray Moritz won't be publishing the pictures that prove it...
The end-of-evening private party courtesy of Jana (centre of pic), mit drag queen singer and a thoroughly Berlinesque/modelesque 'scene' definitely added to life's rich tapestry somehow. I'm just not quite sure how. And restraint was shown. So unlike me :)
So, I get paid in Euros. Between negotiating my deal in December, and today's 4-year low rate against the $, I'm down 20%. AKA a 20% pay cut :(
But then today appears to have created a new role. VP, Global Accounts, with a fun, and challenging (relatively short) list of targets. Tokyo, California and elsewhere look like they all beckon, and I am finally able to plan to spend my birthday actually having a proper holiday for the first time in years (last September didn't count, too short, and too stressful a situation, given the outcome).
Despite lack of sunshine, I'm thinking a road trip to Nantucket or Maine (since I'll be able to hire a car, yay!), given a love of lobster and sauvage coastlines, especially since home base will remain NYC, due to my stubborn inability to give up on things, and my desperate desire to settle down and start growing roots. Might have to borrow a dog, though, given that the chances of getting Henry over in time are slim.
Weather's lousy again, but it's time to mull the new longer-term strategy for Madvertise USA, that was agreed today, over flammkuchen unt bier.
Two observations about Berlin: Crikey, it's cheap here (ok, so anywhere other than Tokyo would be after NYC), and how obediently everybody obeys the ampelmann. I'm a jaywalking fiend!
Meanwhile, grateful of certain Facebook group removals... Just in case you should be reading this :)
I just met my first German Golden Retriever. Thankfully, his owner spoke great English. Made me realise how much I miss my Henry, and how he's the only love of my life that has ever contributed to my sanity, rather than pummelled it!
Against the predictions, the weather was gorgeous today. And I just worked out why my feet hurt - my walking tour of most everything I wanted to see in Berlin has just taken me 6 hours. Most of the museums and those few galleries that were open, plus the Wall and the Brandenburg Gate, and even located my next hotel (MUCH better!) and the office.
One too many currywurst, though, and a beer (with a Swedish backpacker, naturally) by the canal on the grass in the sun, and now I'm back, exploring done.
So down to some preparation for work tomorrow, and to start planning. The best revenge, they say, is to get on and have a good life.
Where the weather is absolutely miserable, putting paid to several of my sightseeing excursions :(
And my temporary accommodation for the weekend (due to everywhere being booked out) is above a biker bar! But hey, it's a bed, a better place beckons on Monday :)
So everyone keeps reassuring me that this is the beginning of a new era of prosperity, stability and the universe putting good things my way.
I wish it'd hurry up! The worst cab journey to JFK, ever, took me an hour and forty minutes (yes, honestly) in the worst traffic I've ever encountered on the highways there, followed by the single worst trans-Atlantic flight ever (combo of 21-stone next door neighbour and seat 34G on an A330. The one between the two toilets that also doesn't recline because it's against a bulkhead.) Oh yes, and you had to pay for drinks, and they didn't take cards. All class. All the way.
Dusseldorf airport now for a two hour stopover. It's, umm, small, and nothing is open yet. Sigh!
All packed, and ready to resume the life of a nomad. Flight to Berlin leaves this time tomorrow. Should, insh'allah, be back on the 31st May. Although that depends on the visa, and whether 7 empty pages are to be filled or not in June.
Meanwhile, talking of empty pages, I have several slots left for meetings while in London (w/c 24th May), if anyone is interested!
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