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Tuesday, January 26th, 2010

Chicago - Day 1

January 26th, 2010 @ 04:30 | permalink
Filed under: Travelling

The whole airport security thing was a drag. Had my handbag gone through twice - once at passport control and again at the gate. Ditto I had to take my boots (standard male issue with thick soles) off both times and got patted down at the gate. All in the name of being seen to do something. Even the people in the office were surprised at the overkill.

The 9h flight was enlivened - in a mortuary humour way - by the guy two rows up who started having siezures about an hour and a half out. The upshot of this was that we got priority to land at O'Hare so he could be handed over to the paramedics but we had to wait on the aircraft until this had been done. I hope the guy has got some insurance or it is going to be a painful stopover for him in more ways than one.

First day in the office was a bit of a stop-start affair. The head honcho in the department I am visiting didn't show up until almost 10 having forgotten I was coming (thus confirming her scatterbrain rep) and the laptop didn't want to connect to the company wireless. Getting that sorted killed a couple of hours from the day.

I was taken to lunch at a diner that could have come straight out of Happy Days and was reminded that the American idea of cheese (a yellowy-orange wafer thin thing) doesn't correspond with mine. TBH it is probably not all like that but it is enough to remind me to be careful in future. Also I need to remember that tipping is a must out here.

Got down to business during the afternoon as I discussed some general front end coding stuff with the design team - all of whom appear to be eager to learn - and I shall be meeting with them often for the rest of the week for some more detailed talks. Also said hi to the European uber-boss whom I haven't spoken to since the takeover two years back and who it turns out is now carrying triplets. Good luck with that! She also recommended some places to eat in whilst I'm in town.

Dinner this evening was - with a sense of irony - at a 'British' pub. The booze was fine (I'm writing this after three pints of London Pride) but the menu wasn't quite there. Baked beans with steak anyone?

My colleagues - whose choice it was - did recognise the ridiculousness of the situation just before we went in but by that point we couldn't be bothered to go and find anywhere else. :)

Not quite my first time but the previous visits were with the family and the last was back in '92 so I'm a little hazy on things. Hence the sounding like a complete noob at the moment. :)

If I play my cards right I might even manage to make this trip the first of many...