Simeon Pilgrim

Well I have not posted for a while, and that has mostly been because I have been getting ready for, traveling, or just being in the States.

So far I have had a grill (NZ BBQ) in Livermore (San Francisco), CA

Visited a mine site (but not gone out into the actual Mine) in Gillette, WY

Visited Caterpillar’s massive proving grounds in Peoria, IL

Gotten bored in Las Vegas, NV (where I currently am)

After a couple of Hotels with free Wifi/Internet, free breakfast and free local calls, Las Vegas is to be a huge disappointment of what it deliveries and a huge just pay more at each step.

However, MinExpo 2008 is fantastic, and I’ll take my camera tomorrow and capture many great big machines close-up.

The first leg home, Canada to Chicago is delayed 1h 40m, so we have missed your first connection. Lets see if we still make the L.A. - Auckland flight…..

After getting to Chicago, it turns out we had 10 minutes to make our Chicago - LA flight. So after sprinting across O-Hare airport, it turned out that that flight, was our original flight, but it was also delayed.

We then made it to L.A. with enough time to eat dinner and relax. The L.A. flight (NZ1) was delayed. The US now have this really good idea that all people in transit via the US should be checked through customers (thus get eye scanned and finger scanned) so they can then checkout of customs, to get back on the plane. This took over an hour, so delayed our departure.

We made it home to our connecting Auckland -> Christchurch flight also.

So we are back now. Now to catch up on sleep…

Written on the 11th, in the middle of Flight NZ6 enroute to Montreal.

It’s 3:06am NST and I have “slept” for as long as I’m likely on this flight. I was comfortable, but I’d get leg twitches from the planes movement, and it would jolt me. Maybe next time drugs might be good.

My inmates on this flight are Roger (left) and Bec (right). I talked to Roger for a bit at the beginning of the flight, but things have been in “sleep” mode for a while.

Channel 6 of the Air New Zealand radio, is “The Blue Room” and it’s playing a great mix of disco, funk and house. This is partly why I’ve started the lappy up, because to use my in seat screen turns the music off, and it’s just too funky.

I’m on a Boeing 747-400. It sure carries a lot of people. Matt is somewhere near the front. He sweet talked the check-in lady (a fellow British) and he got a emergency exit seat with extra leg room. I don’t want extra leg room, it’s my elbows and shoulders that are out of space.

Talking of Roger, he was a former Cat employee, small world. He came to NZ to do a motor bike tour. Got a bunch of bad weather, so had to ride in wet leathers, not the nicest way to spend a trip.

Don’t know a thing about Bec, other than she is gluten intolerant. I saw the hostesses bring out the special meals first, and noticed her put the food tray down. Thought she’s keen, but I didn’t dawn on me she maybe one of the early feeders.

What would be cool is to have some form of in flight network, where the current playing music is displayed. Then I would have an idea what to look out for. What with iTunes now been in NZ and me also now having a CC.

hmm. Cant thinking of much more to write about, other than the 3 fl. oz. rules are stupid. I sort of raised my “it’s going to far” thought to Roger but he went quite, so I dropped it quick. Didn’t need my seat buddy pissed with me after the first 30 minutes, of a 12 hour trip.

4:02am Oh dear, the music is just a loop. My eyes are tired, I agree the Liquid People - Son of Dragon is a great song. I’m just not going to stick around to hear the name of the also really good song just before it,….

Next Monday I’m off with co-worker Matt, to Montreal (45°30′17.95″N, 73°34′8.40″W) to discuss some shared development opportunities, with one of our half brother companies. We are looking to upgrade some of our back-end tools, that do the same stuff as their back-end, and upper management would like to reduce double work. So off we go to learn how/where/what they do, and see if the common ground is closer than the gap of incompatibility. There is lots to learn from them even if we re-rolling our own, so I’m keen to see what they have.

So other than the business/technical side of it. I’m excited, as I have only left New Zealand once before to play sports. That was only to Australia, which feels to close to call international travel. Sure they love to treat us like the annoying little brother, and we like to try beat them at every step. But they still feel like family.

One thing that took me a few minutes to name when inspecting the itinerary was, the air time of the return trip was 2 hours longer. It then took a few more minutes for the why to click. Spinning earth, relativity. Not something I would have thought of as a factor, until there was a difference that needed an answering.

Current Montreal weather: -2°C Overcast. Light snow. I wonder if I’ll be be able to wear shorts and t-shirt inside?

Pity I’ll not be doing any snow activities. Or site seeing or anything of the likes. A co-worker was noting that a around the world ticket might be cheaper than a straight return trip (it was 20% cheaper for one of his US trips). If I had Mic & Co with me, that would be cool, or if my brother & sister had not returned from London seeing them over there would be also be cool. But alas.