World Sojourner : 3760

I’m not certain if 2006 went quickly or slowly.  All I know is that in around 9 hrs 10 minutes it will officially be over - if of course you’re in the Central Time Zone of the United States.  Considering Alissa and I spent most of our time in London, technically I think we’re already into the New Year but that would make writing checks a little difficult for the next few hours.

So much has happened this year - it would take more hours than I have to outline it all. 

The best parts

• Another great year with Alissa
• The MBA is noticeably easier the second year
• Taking classes that I really enjoyed and see the point in taking
• Working for Infosys and living a few months in India
• (probably) passing Spanish, the forgetting has already began!
• Two words - Job offer
• Seeing my relationships with fellow students deepen and become more meaningful
• No surgery for me
• Alissa is healthy

I almost started a list for all the bad things that happened in 2006 (notably less than 2005) but frankly, what’s the point?  

2007 promises to bring more excitement and another major move.  The location is still undecided, but thanks to actually getting an ‘income’ we’ll be the Jefferson’s somewhere, some way.

As we speak, Alissa and I are getting ready to head out to the Sear’s Tower and then a big New Year’s Eve party courteously of Tim and Tracie (Tim’s a fellow student).  The London Business School Global network in action.

And that’s a wrap - Happy New Year!

We’re not at my home - yet but we did make it out of a fogged in London.

Merry Christmas!!!!

In about an hour and a half, a cab should pick up Alissa and I to shuttle us to Paddington Station, then the Heathrow Express to, uh, Heathrow, and then the fun starts.   Currently, most of England is under a dense fog and it’s wrecking havoc with domestic flights.  Heathrow is at around 50% capacity.

The nice part, at least until we get there and things change, is that domestic flights and European flights are being canceled but long haul flights seem to be okay.  Hopefully we get out at a reasonable hour or we’ll probably sleep in DC thanks to missing our connection into Pittsburgh.  If all goes well, and I can stay awake - we’ll arrive into Pittsburgh at mid-night and Beckley around 4 am.  Sleep till around noon …

This will be my last time in England for a while since after New Years I’ll start my exchange at Stern.  It has been weird to say goodbye to friends at school, knowing that it’ll be May before I’m back.  Kind of a soft preview of July - graduation, a move to the US, and saying goodbye to the MBA, drinks at the Windsor, seeing people you know all the time, etc.  The real world awaits us all, again.  This time I think we’re all a bit more ready for it.

I should finish packing my carry-on and other items before departure.  My next blog should be from America.

From around the age of 18 till today - I have never liked to shop.   This isn’t terribly unique - few men do, but I loath the idea except when I occasionally wish to buy a new piece of electronics. 

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not about the money.  I like to buy presents; hell, I like to buy expensive presents for Alissa and my family.  Even a friend or two if the moment is right. 

What I dislike are the crowds, the out-of-stock heavily advertised products, the ignorant salespeople, the bright-chipper sales people, almost everything that revolves around this process.  Interestingly, I like to grocery shop because it’s a chance to find new foods, new things and it’s normally around an hour process, as opposed to numerous hours of looking for the right present.  Plus I get a buggy as a weapon during the grocery process - 5 extra points for the crying kid …

My family and friends all up-gifted (similar word camp as up-skilled, but not similar to up-yours) when I got married.  A promise of a beer the next time we’re out, a coffee mug from the last open gas station, and bags stapled as wrapping paper were replaced by thoughtful, well-wrapped presents that actually had bows and Christmas cards.

Hell, even my presents got better.  My normal present to myself was a bottle of wine that I used to ‘ply myself with alcohol’ as encouragement to wrap what few presents I did buy.  AC-DC’s Christmas album on the box and four glasses of wine later and they were done (so was I).  Now, I get thoughtful presents that leave less of a headache the next morning.

I guess with marriage (my loving and patient wife Alissa) one would say that my world was almost complete.  Loving wife and presents for most people taken care of and wrapped.  This took care of almost every part of the Christmas experience.  But, there are a few presents that she just can’t buy - like her own and I’ve made a specialty of finding clever gifts for Christian.

Today, I was going to go downtown to look for presents, but a flash of brilliance took me to Amazon and a few other sites - to just look.  But the prices were in dollars, and almost all my credit cards are working. 

Online shopping - oh yes.  An hour later and all my shopping needs were sorted and shipped.  A few presents were wrapped for me but others I left to my own devices.  Alissa deserves the very best. No staples but plenty of tape.

My world is now complete.  Happy Day.  Wife, presents for others, and good presents for her without fighting snotty nosed adults, kids and salespeople.  May have to go get me a glass of wine to celebrate.