Getting Away

Posted on June 1, 2024 by Eric

I absolutely recommend taking whatever chances you can to go someplace new. Travel, see things, meet people and experience what a new place has to offer. I understand the trip my family took isn’t something everyone could afford to do, but this applies to any sort of travel. IF you have the chance, go.

We’ve taken two trips recently – both of them out of the country.

Our first trip was thanks to dear friends who invited us along to Niagara Falls when the eclipse happened. The weather wasn’t great and we didn’t really get to see the eclipse, but the trip itself was worth the effort. We got to see a true natural wonder and spend time with friends. There were very few time commitments and allowed us to just go and enjoy time away.

Our second trip, not long after this journey to Canada took us all the way across the Atlantic to Switzerland and France.

My daughter was an exchange student in France for a year. We took the opportunity to leverage her language capabilities and go to see some of the places she had been. We went to visit people we knew as well – our exchange daughter lives in France, so visiting her was added to the route. We flew to Geneva.

We stayed and toured there, then took the train into France to meet the host family where my daughter lived. Next up was the train across the country to Le Mans to see our exchange daughter and her family. Along the way we got to experience life less like a tourist and more like somebody living there. We didn’t go to any specific tourist destination, but rather took in various places and experiences along the way. We didn’t rent a car, we took the train. We walked and learned some of the public transport systems. We got to tour both the modern aspects of the cities we were in, and the older parts of the cities.

Cathedrals were two stops that were absolutely worth going to see. We went to both the cathedral in Geneva and the cathedral in Le Mans. Standing inside those structures, getting the true sense of scale was wonderful. It’s easy to understand how people would be in awe of these towering places and the beauty they delivered. Not major tourist spots. No planned tours, but absolutely worth the effort to go.

And that’s really the point. IF you have the chance, GO. Get out. See something new. Add weird things to the list of things you’ve done. Now I can say I’ve had McDonald’s on 3 continents – and I can say I’ve eaten actual ratatouille in France. Run the gamut, see all the places, and do all the things. You’ll be glad you did – and maybe, you’ll make some friends along the way.

Big Day

Posted on August 24, 2021 by Eric

Big days are weird things.

It’s Tuesday morning as I write this. The 24^th of August. To a vast majority of the people I know, that’s all it is. It’s Tuesday morning and there’s work and maybe a list of things that need to get done at the end of the day or a show to watch tonight. I know at least one person who has a birthday today, so that might be a little special moment with a dinner or a gift, but generally nothing very exciting.

For us… exciting might not be quite the right word, but it definitely IS a big deal for us. Today is flight day for my daughter. She is leaving the country to study for the next 10 months in France. I’ve written about parts of our journey here before. We’ve done tons of preparation to get to this point, but today is it. Today is the Big Day. Flight day.

Nobody slept well last night. I set an alarm, but was awake two hours before it was scheduled to go off (despite staying up extra late in an attempt to be more tired when heading off to bed). I got up and have been pacing the house for more than an hour. I’ve played all the vapid games on my phone. I listened to the news, checked the weather radar and reloaded the flight status page twice so far. There is this driving urge to do something, do anything and there’s simply nothing left to do. We finished the laundry yesterday for my daughter’s things. The bags are packed. The phone is charged. The friends have been visited. The family has been hugged. We’ve looked at the airports websites. We’ve done as much of a virtual walk as we could to get a feel for how the journey will go. My daughter has been in touch with her host family and they’ve told her who would be meeting her at the other end of her travels.

I’m still pacing.

This is anxiety.

Today is also an uneven day. As a parent I’m anxious and pacing, but ultimately my part in this will be over by lunch time today. We’ve got to get the kiddo TO the airport and in line for the security check. That’s it. Then we wander out of the terminal, pay for parking and wonder what the rest of the day brings. My daughter will be boarding a plane here, flying to Chicago and gathering with other kids from the program who will be on the same flight with her. Then after a short layover it’s off to Paris. Long flight, landing and meeting a rep from the exchange student program on the other end of the flight. That person will pack her onto the train and head her off to her host family. When all is said and done she will have been traveling for more than 20 continuous hours. She has snacks. She has a water bottle. She’s got money to grab a meal when she gets a chance ~ and we’re going to be sitting here at home unable to be with her, help her or join her in the experience. There is no doubt that I’ll sleep terribly again tonight. I’m going to be a distracted mess at work tomorrow morning until I get a notification from her that she has landed safely. I’ll only be truly relieved when she lets us know that she has arrived at the train station where her host family has met her and she’s safely headed to their home to start her adventure in France.

It’s also a sign that I have written more here out of anxiety than I’ve written in two weeks on any other subject. I’m not sure how other creative types deal with what feels like the opposite of the muse. Distraction. Inability to sit still.

This is it. As so many others know it… it’s Tuesday. It’s a Big Day.

DC Up and Down

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Eric

For anyone that isn’t in the know for what’s going on with my family, we’re getting ready to send my daughter to study in another country via an exchange student program. I’ve been volunteering with this organization for a number of years and I’m excited for my daughter to participate and learn more about the world we live in.

Part of getting the kiddo ready to go is applying for a long stay student visa. In order to do this we were required to appear in person to make this application. I thought we would be doing this at a consulate office or some place directly connected to the embassy.

The place we needed to be for our appointment was in Washington DC, so we decided it would be great to have along one of my daughter’s friends who had never had the chance to see our nations capitol before. My wife and I have both been there a number of times and were very excited to share this experience with the kids. We woke up early, jammed ourselves into the car and headed to the Metro. We really appreciate being able to use public transportation like that. We don’t have a great bus system and no trains at all around here, so that was treat the first. Navigating the transit system. We hopped on the train (also a first for our friend) and headed to the address.

I was wrong. Where we ended up was an office for the company VFS. It’s not actually a consulate or an embassy. People connected with those places might be in the background, but this was just an office on the second floor of a plain building over a kabob place. Far less dramatic than we thought it might be. They DO still require a security check to get in (metal detector) and they ask questions about Covid. Masks are still required. But in the end – a lot like going to the DMV.

We didn’t wait long as we had an appointment set up. We pulled out all the paperwork and thought we were in great shape… right up until she asked for something that didn’t have the same name as the paperwork we brought. We figured it out, but that was a moment of stomach lurch. We can’t have the visa appointment too far away from the departure date as it will only be good for a year. That also meant we’re cutting it very close if something goes awry. Then it did. The required photos we brought were deemed unacceptable. The agent we were working with was quite nice and very helpful. She pointed us at a store just down the block that would get us a new photo on the spot. Once we were done with the rest of the paperwork and the biometric scanning (photos and fingerprints) we popped over to the shop, got the picture we needed and were able to drop it off again in about 20 minutes time. All in all a good thing as we’ve gotten all the paperwork turned in.

This appointment was a source of anxiety, but once we finished that, the rest of the day was ours to sight see.

And that’s where things got frustrating.

One would think in the post pandemic times that we live in the desire would be to give people distance and extra time to work with things. That is not the case. The few museums that were open at all (and that was far less than we expected) had reduced hours. We thought to spend a couple of hours at the Smithsonian museum of natural history. It’s not a lot of time, but we’d hit a couple of exhibits ~ just take our time and chat while we walked… The lines at each entry were out the doors, down the main stairs and halfway down the block. Not exaggerating. We took one look at that and said, “How about we look at the gardens?”

We wandered about for a while, but it eventually became clear that the very few things that were actually open were jam packed with people. We were getting worn down in the summer heat, so we settled for walking the mall and looking at the capitol, the obelisk and the castle from the outside. Once we’d done that we just hopped the train and headed home again.

In the end it was a good day because we accomplished the main goal for the day. Visa paperwork is in. We got to share a trip to the capitol with somebody who had never seen it before. At the very same moment, it was a disappointment of a trip. The food we ended up getting wasn’t great. We missed our chance to have dinner in Chinatown. We couldn’t get into any museums or even the welcome center.

What does it all mean? It means that after our schedules settle down a little more and the world continues to reopen we’ll have to set up another trip to the DC area. We love all the things to see and want to have an excellent trip… So we’ll try again!

Crossover

Posted on December 8, 2020 by Eric

My writing time has been squeezed a lot lately, but I found myself with a little crossover time today. Part of the construction specifier chapter I am involved with is presentations and learning sessions about what’s coming in the construction industry. This evening we were listening to a talk about the future infrastructure needs based on urban air mobility.

Yes, people are still talking about flying cars. Uber has actually had a full design contest involving a scenario involving take off and landing areas for flying vehicles that “everyday” people would have access to (something like 600 people per hour through the ‘vertiport’).

The presentation was from one of the top three firms in that design competition.

I listened, but I’m not buying. I understand the efficiency and practicality of what they’re saying. I do. I love the concept and I really wish this was something we could make work. My personal experience with vehicles that fly in that manner make me believe this will not work.

First – I’ve seen the way people in the U.S. treat public transport. How many people do you know that actually take the bus? Do the bus routes go where you need them to go? Are you willing to wait on that schedule if you have a list of things to get done today? We need to do more in the public transportation arena, but I just don’t see this working the way they envision. So I don’t see it as “public” transport. Could it work like a taxi? Maybe. Uber has crashed into the taxi market and made some significant changes there. IF a “Sky-Uber” was available, some people would take it. This is fantastic for business movements locally, but my first thought was what about the drunks? That won’t end well… unless you’re into riding the vomit comet.

Second – you’re depending on pilots at first. There’s a plan / thought / idea to have automated pilots, but the automated systems are a long way off. We’ve seen that with the self driving car. The self driving cars have loads of problems based on what actually happens in an urban environment. Now take all those issues and multiply them based on the simple fact that they fly. We’ve always had a ‘hub and spoke’ kind of plan with our transport systems – but does having a person going around this wheel and not to the hub really work? A massive cluster of people is still a massive cluster of people. There’s no way to get around that. People don’t move quickly when they’re staggering out of the stadium after the big game (for example).

Third – you’re talking about taking away the individual vehicle use to a certain degree. This may be the part where I’m old, but part of what makes a trip lasting in your memory is the actual journey. The actual ride. YOU are in control of where you go and when you stop. With UAM (urban air mobility) you also have to share a ride. Yes, there are times when you don’t want to spend part of your vacation time sitting stuck on the highway. I’ve been in that situation. It sucks. The highway was at a dead stop for hours. We snuck off an exit and went to a local mall to spend time outside of the car. We would never have had that little ‘side quest’ if we’d just flown around the issue. Sure, it would have meant we got to where we were headed faster, but that mall is now on our radar when we travel and it never would have been if not for our willingness to go someplace else just to get around.

Lastly – these vehicles do not account for people that don’t fit the ‘accepted average’. I’ve gone into flight places and dealt with people flying helicopters. I was charged almost 30% additional ‘fee’ based on the fact that carrying somebody my size simply uses more fuel (and therefore decreases the flight distance) or as much as being asked to purchase 2 seats. I’m not a fan. Ground transport actually eliminates a number of these factors, or perhaps simply accounts for them. I can use any number of these vehicles to go from place to place. A flying Uber does not fill me with the belief that it will work for me.

Is this something that’s coming in the future?

Probably. There is definitely a movement to get away from individual owned vehicles. There are definitely members of certain demographics that are completely willing to use something like this. We’re going to need to plan for this, but I don’t see it happening as quickly as they claim. They’re looking for 2028 as a start point (complete with FAA test sites). I suspect that the current pandemic and the massive move to conducting most business via an online presence will dent that significantly. I have very little need to actually drive anywhere right now, and depending on where a function is and what virtual options are available, I might still not go in person. Kind of depends on what the event is. It’s going to be a tough sell.

Uber does have some fascinating stuff out there that’s worth paying attention to. I would suggest checking them out and dare I say it? Watch the Skies!

Vegas Baby!

Posted on November 29, 2019 by Eric

The thing about going to Las Vegas is the show. It’s very flashy. It’s very showy. It’s a massive glittering facade. Once you’ve passed the point of being overwhelmed by the shear magnitude of it all… how you perceive the place largely depends on your interests and cash flow.

Right after Philcon I headed to Las Vegas for a week for a convention. The convention was all work related – and significantly larger that most science fiction conventions I attend. There were somewhere in the range of eleven thousand people at this convention. Much like any other convention, there are good aspects and bad aspects. There are great panels and there are clunkers. There was a massive party along the way too.

I attended this convention alone. Nobody from my office was there. I knew less than a handful of people at the con and failed to connect with an old friend that lives in the area. Thing is, under those circumstances Vegas can be quite a different place.

I didn’t have any time to book shows or do most of the “tourist” stuff. I was also lucky enough to have traveled to Vegas with my wife earlier this year. We did a couple of shows and a lot more of the “tourist” stuff when we were there together. Being there alone, without those things going on, gave me some time to just sit and watch. There is certainly a lot to see while you’re there. Most of what I saw was people being overwhelmed by the scale of the place. They were all in for the show.

I’m not saying that there aren’t still things for me to see or do in Las Vegas, but sitting and just watching gave me the chance to be more objective about it. It’s huge and showy but it’s a vast facade. It’s a massive, glittering object in the middle of nowhere. It was definitely a more depressing view. When you sit and watch you notice things. I saw more than one person there that was busy purging alcohol from their system. This happens when you drink too much – but this was a Tuesday afternoon. I saw a lot more of the people working and keeping the facade running. I saw at least 2 ankle monitors for folks working at various places. It had the surreal aspects of the old movie version of the Time Machine. The happy people didn’t notice who was getting eaten.

Looking the other way from the high roller

I don’t know when I’ll get the chance to get back to Vegas again, but I do know that I’ll be looking at things a lot differently the next time I go.

Philcon 2017 Review

Posted on November 22, 2017 by Eric

Taking off for another convention within about 18 hours of departing Philcon this year has delayed my normal post con review. Traveling for about a week straight was tiring and it is taking me a while to recover and get all my things back in order.

I was really happy with Philcon this year. The team managed to get a great guest line up and some really interesting panels. Above and beyond the normal comings and goings of the convention, it was fantastic to be able to reconnect with friends and colleagues that I don’t get to see as often as I’d like.

I got to be the moderator on one of the most entertaining and exciting panels I’ve seen in a while. The future of sports. More than one person looked at me with skepticism when I told them this was a topic for a science fiction convention panel. You shouldn’t be shocked, there are numerous references in movies and other media that tie directly to science fiction. There’s also a ton of actual science behind all this too. It was one of the best panels I’ve had in a long time. I’m actually going to recommend snatching the idea for another con in the spring – I think it’s worth running again.

Next, and most importantly to me, Don Maitz was the artist guest of honor this year. I first encountered his artwork during my very first convention. Balticon 27 he was the artist guest of honor. He’d hung the picture 40 Thieves right in the entry. I walked in and was blown away. That was 25 years ago and this convention was the first time since then that I’ve been a part of the same con where he was attending again. I grabbed my copy of his book and practically ran to meet him. I was NOT disappointed. He brought amazing art, fun stories (jogging with a steer?) and tips on creating artwork! I went to a drawing demonstration he lead in the art show area and got to sit next to him as he created and doled out little things he’s picked up over all the time he’s been working. Words don’t really do it justice. I just sat there and took it all in, desperate to remember as much as I could.

When I got the chance to chat with him later he was at his sale table. I explained about Balticon 27 and just what an impact his art had – and he pulled out one of the samples of that exact painting, signed it and gave it to me. Then, as if that wasn’t nearly enough he graciously signed my copy of his book AND added a sketch. It was awesome.

A sketch and a signature!

For those who recall a little thing that happened a few years ago where a bridesmaid was defending a pizza… sadly there were no shenanigans of that level. I suspect it will be a long time before we see something like that again, but given that brides do show up from time to time…

there’s always the chance there will be another brawl.

Interesting panel topics, great guests and the chance to get up close and chat with folks in the industry – if you’re not signing up to go to your local convention you are missing out. I’m already looking forward to the next Philcon!

Last Full Day

Posted on July 17, 2016 by Eric

During any normal week at home Friday is a day of celebration. Ready for the weekend and fun. Friday for us was our last full day in London so we weren’t nearly as excited about it as we normally would be. Saturday meant we’d be back on the plane and headed home. What to do on our last full day?

The Tower of London of course.

We got there early but decided not to race to see the crown jewels. We instead turned up Mint Street and got away from the early crowd. There were lots of educational displays that we had all to ourselves. Really interesting stuff. Once we’d been there for a bit we turned and headed back into the moat area to join up with a Yeoman Tour. If you’re there – take the Yeoman Tour. These guys are fascinating. While we were on the tour our guide told us that one of the former prisoners at the tower was a certain William Penn. I raised a little cheer (Pennsylvania and all that). The guide noticed me and called me out on it. “Just remember, that famous Pennsylvania man was English… and a criminal!” Everyone had a good laugh. Then he continued, “Where are my Australians?” A few folks raised there hands. He pointed one out and yelled to him, “You sir! Go and give that poor American some counseling on what it means to have a criminal background!” It was a really funny bit in the middle of a tour packed with crazy amounts of information.

The crown jewels had a massive line. We worked our way in and got to shuffle past the display. It was impressive. When we got out the line was massive. It was really good to go right from the tour to the jewels. Then it was off to see the famous ravens. The ravens have gotten quite used to being close to people.

We got some great pictures here. It was a really good tour. Totally necessary to see if you’re in London. That took about half of our day. We grabbed some lunch at a Pret and then headed for a lot more photos. It was time to ride the London Eye.

What a massive wheel. The supports were crazy big.

It was a long wait in line… to get tickets so we could go wait in line. That was the most difficult part of the whole thing – it was very crowded. It took a long time to get on. It was also a bit odd that they didn’t stop the wheel when it was time for you to get on. It just keeps slowly turning and you have to hop on as it goes past. That’s one of those little details I somehow doubt would ever work here in the states. It was a great view as expected. The whole ride was smooth and stable.

And somehow, suddenly it was Friday night. We’d had an entire week.

We cleaned up and packed up our room Friday night. We were up and out the door at 5 am on Saturday and headed back home. It was a grueling travel day, but nothing went wrong and I was thankful for that.

Going on this trip was just fantastic. We built memories that will last a lifetime. We saw things and did things together. We took a ton of pictures – despite only being able to post a handful of them here. I can only hope we can scrape together our pennies and save up for another grand adventure.

This must be Thursday…

Posted on July 16, 2016 by Eric

Thursday of the big London trip we had plans for smaller, off the beaten path type things. We were planning on heading to the Royal College of Physicians to see a special exhibit on John Dee. After we’d finished with that we were headed off to the Silver Vaults. We decided that since one particular wizard was the origin of this trip idea that we’d stop along the way at King’s Cross rail station to see a particular platform where one might head off to a wizard’s school.

The “platform” isn’t really a platform anymore. They’ve moved it up to the concourse area next to a gift shop. There’s a line and a professional photographer. You can still snap your own picture for free – but you’ve got to wait through the line. I’m glad we got to stop here, but it was disappointing to see what the “magical platform” had become.

Not even an arch.

We decided it would be easier to grab a taxi to the exhibit. We didn’t have a clear understanding of what that meant from King’s Cross station. There was of course a line to get a taxi. There’s a line for everything.

We made it to the college and headed in. The exhibit itself was neat and quiet. There was a lot of cool stuff on display. There was a short film that we got to sit and watch. We found out they have a Twitter. I had to check it out despite doing my best to stay away from Twitter. You should check out some of the cool things there too.

One of the neat things the folks at the college did was set up a doodle contest (of sorts). One of the things Dee was known for was writing notes, annotating and doodling in his library collection. There were postcards out that one could doodle on and submit to their monthly contest. The kiddo and I both whipped one up to enter.

I particularly enjoyed the painting. It’s significantly larger than I thought it would be. I love that they’ve discovered part of the painting had been painted over to cover up certain aspects due to the offended sensibilities of the Victorians.

Once we’ve had our fill of the exhibit we headed off to the underground again and found our way over to the Silver Vaults. We stopped along the way in a little sandwich shop for a fantastic lunch. I know I sound like a bit of a broken record, but once we got away from the main tourist stuff we just had such an amazing time. It’s the little things – quiet lunches, finding our way along a new street – that really made this trip so excellent. We passed through private security to get in and headed down to the vault level. NO pictures were allowed. We spent a great deal of time wandering and staring at really expensive silver. A lot of it. One of the shop keepers said it was the world’s largest collection of silver under a single roof. We talked to a handful of the shop keepers. There’s all sorts of history and interesting stuff going on down there. We even got recommendations for other ‘out of the way’ places we should go and visit.

Unfortunately we were all but done in again. Lots of walking, constantly being on the go was starting to take its toll on us. We made every effort to avoid rush hour on the subway and headed back to the hotel. It was difficult to believe we were down to our last day already!

British Museum and Forbidden Planet

Posted on July 14, 2016 by Eric

Our day in Cardiff was going to be a tough act to follow. We only had 2 items on the agenda for our Wednesday – going to the British Museum and stopping by Forbidden Planet.

Camera decided to auto-correct and I thought the result was cool.

The British Museum is a lot like the Smithsonian – all piled into one huge building. We headed in around opening time (ten-ish) and wandered around. There are some amazing things on display at the museum. I got to see THE Rosetta Stone, live and in person.

There were so many things I really lost track of it all. We did be sure to have a little fun along the way

Historic Fist Bump

but the sheer number of people there made for a less than perfect experience. I suspect if we hadn’t just had such a magnificent day in Cardiff I might have been more forgiving. I got very, very tired of people bumping into me, people crowding what I was trying to read, people swinging their selfie-stick around with wild abandon. IF we lived closer I suspect we’d go there in much the same way we return to Washington and the Smithsonian here in the states. It was impressive to be sure, but we all struggled with the crowd.

We actually stayed in the museum almost until closing time. When we did come out we wandered a few streets over and found our way to Forbidden Planet! A huge comic shop right in the middle of London. I had this odd notion that I’d be able to wander and chat with staffers and all the kinds of cool things I’d do at any shop like that here at home. I suppose if I were a local I’d probably have had more success – but it was super busy. There were tons and tons of things to see both upstairs and downstairs. I did manage to wander for a while. I even found some works I recognized – and I was sure to face out the books. I also took one moment in there to “hand sell” a friend’s title when I saw a couple of local guys looking for something to read.

I could have spent a lot of time (and likely a lot of money) in there, but it was late in the day and we were all worn out from so many hours of walking. We headed back to the underground and back to the hotel.

For those of you that have seen a certain movie – we hit a point not unlike that of a certain Wade Wilson hit with health care when considering what to eat for dinner. We said something like the same thing he did and headed to the Subway that was across the street….

They had apparently hit the same point. It looked like a trash bomb had gone off in there. They were out of about half of everything. Really one of the two worst dining experiences we had in London. We grabbed our sad and disappointing sandwiches and called it a night.

Thursday had more cool stuff in store!

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Fan, Author, Artist – Eric Hardenbrook

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