Cleveland
Last night when I was leaving work I ran into my friend Sara on the elevator. She invited me for a drink. There’s this bar in the basement of the building that a lot of the IT folks from the Client like to hang out in. I almost said no. I mean, I don’t drink. But thank goodness I considered my response before my knee-jerk “no.”
Reasons to Say No and Go Straight Home to my Empty Hotel Room
I don’t drink!
Those World of Warcraft daily quests won’t do themselves!
That Terry Pratchett book on my Kindle won’t read itself!
That Mario and Luigi game on my Nintendo DS wouldn’t finish itself!
Yeah. I’m that pathetic. For a brief moment those sad, small-minded reasons nearly scuttled my evening. But fortunately, in the instant I was weighing my answer to Sara, my mind ticked off the next list:
Reasons to Say Yes, For Heaven’s Sake
I have NO PLANS (see above list).
I LOVE Sara!
I only see Sara when I’m in Cleveland!
I’m not in Cleveland very often, and I’M IN CLEVELAND NOW.
What the hell is the matter with me!
Happily the second list won.
“I’d love to, ” I said. Thank goodness. Of course I had a wonderful time, club soda or no club soda. Sara is always great company.
Sara and I met, you may remember, in Beijing. Here’s a photo of us on the Great Wall of China:
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I’m finding myself surprisingly intimidated an discombobulated by the spectre of needing to use electrical devices in seven countries without blowing something up, starting a fire, or simply not being able to use one of my devices.
There’s more at stake here than the last time I was in Europe (2006). On that trip, I wasn’t hauling a laptop around. More importantly, I wasn’t hauling a C-PAP machine around.
The C-PAP machine is for my sleep apnea. Getting one changed my life for the better in September 2008. (Blog post: http://rayivey.com/wordpress/?p=137)
I have not slept without it a single night since getting it. I do not intend to have to start sleeping without it just because I am in Estonia. Even in Estonia I will need a good night’s sleep. And, oh yes, a modicum of oxygen to the brain.
So. I have to evaluate all of my gadgets and determine which ones will run on the European current. Plus, I’ll need to make sure I have a set of adaptor plugs for the outlets. Plus, I will need a power strip, because European hotel rooms are notorious for having scarce wall outlets.
I’ve always been a moron when it comes to electricity. Watts, amps, volts, just kill me now. I know that’s lame, but there you have it.
So I’m trying to research on the interwebs and from friends to make sure I’m prepared before I take off for Brussels on the 15th of April
