{"id":623,"date":"2011-04-03T17:16:38","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T00:16:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rayivey.com\/wordpress\/?p=623"},"modified":"2011-04-03T17:16:38","modified_gmt":"2011-04-04T00:16:38","slug":"spring-forward-day-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.rayivey.com\/wordpress\/spring-forward-day-12\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"\"Facebook\"<\/a>\"twitter\"<\/a>\"rss\"<\/a>\"instagram\"<\/a>

Cleveland<\/h2>\n

Last night when I was leaving work I ran into my friend Sara on the elevator.\u00a0 She invited me for a drink.\u00a0 There\u2019s this bar in the basement of the building that a lot of the IT folks from the Client like to hang out in.\u00a0 I almost said no.\u00a0 I mean, I don\u2019t drink.\u00a0 But thank goodness I considered my response before my knee-jerk \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"There<\/a>
There is a very friendly bar hiding deep in this complex.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Reasons to Say No and Go Straight Home to my Empty Hotel Room<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t drink!<\/p>\n

Those World of Warcraft daily quests won\u2019t do themselves!<\/p>\n

That Terry Pratchett book on my Kindle won\u2019t read itself!<\/p>\n

That Mario and Luigi game on my Nintendo DS wouldn\u2019t finish itself!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Yeah.\u00a0 I\u2019m that pathetic.\u00a0 For a brief moment those sad, small-minded reasons nearly scuttled my evening.\u00a0 But fortunately, in the instant I was weighing my answer to Sara, my mind ticked off the next list:<\/p>\n

Reasons to Say Yes, For Heaven\u2019s Sake<\/p>\n

I have NO PLANS (see above list).<\/p>\n

I LOVE Sara!<\/p>\n

I only see Sara when I\u2019m in Cleveland!<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not in Cleveland very often, and I\u2019M IN CLEVELAND NOW.<\/p>\n

What the hell is the matter with me!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Happily the second list won.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d love to, \u201d I said.\u00a0 Thank goodness.\u00a0 Of course I had a wonderful time, club soda or no club soda.\u00a0 Sara is always great company.<\/p>\n

Sara and I met, you may remember, in Beijing.\u00a0 Here\u2019s a photo of us on the Great Wall of China:\u00a0<\/p>\n

\/\/\/<\/p>\n

\"plug<\/a>I\u2019m 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.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s more at stake here than the last time I was in Europe (2006).\u00a0 On that trip, I wasn\u2019t hauling a laptop around.\u00a0 More importantly, I wasn\u2019t hauling a C-PAP machine around.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The C-PAP machine is for my sleep apnea.\u00a0 Getting one changed my life for the better in September 2008.\u00a0 (Blog post:\u00a0 http:\/\/rayivey.com\/wordpress\/?p=137<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\"plug<\/a>I have not slept without it a single night since getting it.\u00a0 I do not intend to have to start sleeping without it just because I am in Estonia.\u00a0 Even in Estonia I will need a good night\u2019s sleep.\u00a0 And, oh yes, a modicum of oxygen to the brain.<\/p>\n

So.\u00a0 I have to evaluate all of my gadgets and determine which ones will run on the European current.\u00a0 Plus, I\u2019ll need to make sure I have a set of adaptor plugs for the outlets.\u00a0 Plus, I will need a power strip, because European hotel rooms are notorious for having scarce wall outlets.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve always been a moron when it comes to electricity.\u00a0 Watts, amps, volts, just kill me now.\u00a0 I know that\u2019s lame, but there you have it.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"transformer\"<\/a>So I\u2019m trying to research on the interwebs and from friends to make sure I\u2019m prepared before I take off for Brussels on the 15th<\/sup> of April<\/p>\n

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