May 2006 Archives

Sometimes, the journey is not the reward. Take, for instance, the 30-or-40-odd hour trek that Azure and I endured getting from Indianapolis to L.A. and London (respectively). We woke up at 5am (Chicago time) only to leave at 1am - Az and Em flew off a couple of hours before I did, but only after enduring a 3-hour wait on the Tarmac. I can only imagine.

As for me, I landed at LHR around 2pm local time, and am just now catching the 7:45 train home. Very. Long. Day.

Cutest bit was this: right after limping into work, I discovered that I was scheduled to interview a job candidate that very minute. I managed to run into the restroom to brush my teeth, at least, but I can still only imagine what the poor fellow thought of my employer after his interview. (My god, they’re all zombies! Catatonic! Crazy!)

Anyways, if the journey wasn’t so rewarding this time ‘round, the destination certainly was: our Memorial Day weekend turned out to be a great chance to meet extended family and glimpse parts of the country I’d never before visited. Indianapolis was unexpectedly verdant and green, and the local’s friendliness a contrast to the British reserve. I also managed to take in (A) a White Castle, (B) a live-bait vending machine, and (C) a sunny morning in a local laundromat that offered the best people-watching that side of the Atlantic.

Better still, we did stuff with Emelyn that we’ve never had a chance to do in the UK, like go to a big coffee shop for early-morning breakfast. (Naugahyde booths are one of the things about America that I miss most dearly; I don’t care if it’s a Denny’s or Cocos or a Bob Evan’s, a real-deal coffee-shop is one thing Euros just can’t seem to duplicate.)

Oh, and we can now tick one very minor item off the “not-a-real-American-baby-til-you-do-this” list: Emelyn finally got to try Cheerios, pawing them off the table into her mouth in her not-even-slightly-dextrous way.

It was never going to be easy, but the last couple days featured less sleep and more contingency planning than I’d ever expected. Our flight from Heathrow to O’Hare wasn’t much fun, but at least it got off the ground, which is more than can be said for the (canceled) jump from O’Hare to Indianapolis. And yet that’s still more than could be said for the ‘free shuttle’ that was supposed to drive us to a Chicago airport hotel but never showed, supposedly being “en route” for hours…

Anyhow, we’re here now, having rolled into Indianapolis in a rental Hyundai, a mere 24 hours behind schedule. Lots of family present to greet us on arrival.

Plus, I should note that traveler’s luck can go both ways: Yesterday, Em started shrieking like crazy in the backseat, obviously in need of an immediate diaper change, and what should Dad discover but, lo! - the ‘World’s Largest Fireworks Superstore’ sitting at the next offramp.

For the record — holding a happy, babbling baby in one arm, and clutching a pack of bottle rockets in the other is a mighty fine feeling.

Happy Memorial Day!

I graduated from Cambridge last weekend. It’s a little after the fact, now — I’ve been back at work for nine months, along with the rest of my class, so the whole affair wound up feeling more like a reunion than a mortarboard-tossing end-of-school finalé. Still fun, though.

Sure, I have my small grumbles about JBS and Cambridge, but one thing I can’t begrudge the University is its absolute lock on pomp and circumstance — with nearly 800 years of graduation ceremonies under its belt, Cambridge gets away with some wacky stuff in the name of tradition.

Like, the graduation ceremony is still entirely in Latin. Which is a good thing, since it precludes the usual guest-celebrity commencement speech. (Boooring.) Instead, they get right down to the business of conferring degrees. (Actually, there’s one weird bit, first, where the praelector introduces the college, bowing low and doffing his hat at unpredictable intervals. Hadn’t seen anything like that before…)

And this, then, is how the actual degree is conferred: first, the praelector stretches out his fingers, and four students each grab a digit. Then, he gives a bit of a spiel about the degree, which in our case was rather funny, inasmuch the praelector couldn’t remember how to say ‘MBA’ in Latin. After an awkward pause, he mentioned something about Maestrum Negozium et Powerpointium which sounded convincing, and then in turn, we each kneeled on a small pillow in front of Magdalene’s Master, who would clasp our raised hands while giving us his own little benediction.

By the time I was down on the pillow, I half-expected somebody would pull out a sword and tap my shoulders, too, but in truth, you just get up, make a little bow, and head on out of the Senate House. I was actually quite joyous in the moment — but that had mostly to do with the fact that I didn’t trip over my gown when kneeling or getting up. It’s a small but real risk, apparently, and they warn you about it.

Anyhow, I did fine. Can’t entirely say the same thing about Emelyn — though I will proudly say she did an admirable job of keeping quiet for the first 30 students or so. She sat stately on Azure’s lap, flipping the pages of a board books, but after 15 minutes or so, she obviously felt it was time for a little dialogue with her book, instead. Now, it’s gravely quiet in the Senate House — far quieter than we’d anticipated — so Az made the call and had our babbling baby whisked outside by Tante Hannelore, in the nick of time. So it was all good.

In short: a fine weekend. We took Mom & Dad and the Hearsts over to Ely, too, where there’s a nice cathedral and some good chippies. Looking back, we took fewer photos than we should’ve, but hey, we were having a good time.

Last week, for the record, was one I never quite got the hang of.

First, Monday was a holiday in Europe, which sounds dandy, but then I was fool enough to peek at my Blackberry the night before; that unwise move kicked off a firedrill featuring poorly-translated press releases and a Spanish telecoms operator (my former employer, natch). Tuesday was no better; it was a 5:45 wake-up to get to Heathrow, to spend the day in Munich, where I visited the airport, a freeway, and an office building.

Sure, there was some travel excitement — I came within 5 minutes of missing the last plane out, and this after (and I do not exaggerate, here, swear) our Taxi-fahrer clocked 190kph/118mph getting us to the airport. Got home right before midnight, so it was cold Wheetabix for din-din.

No time for shopping, obviously, but I brought home a wonderful souvenir, regardless: my left ear has been plugged for six days now. [Aargh.]

Anyhow, that’s just the start of things. But much as I just enjoyed venting, right there, I’ve got no right to complain — Azure and Emelyn were both down with fevers over the weekend. Emelyn’s fought one virus or another since Easter, it seems, and I’m sure nothing’s easier than taking care of a sick baby than when you’re sick and alone, yourself. So a rough week all ‘round.

Better, then, to truncate this post, and point to some videos instead. Here’s our triumvirate two weeks ago, outside the Rupert Brooke pub in Grantchester. It’s Emmie’s first time on grass, not to mention her first attempts at describing her own height… ah, good times.