Farewell to Germany

Finished with my meetings in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Hamburg. Had a chance to try out the new golf driver as Martin had arranged two golf games with Kevin Keogh and Per Illian from Dertour and Tilo Krause-Dunow from Canusa. The first game was terrible as I could not get used to the new driver but the second game was much better and I actually kept some of the drives on the fairway.

Am spending the weekend in Kassel with Rita and her parents. Have been practising with the macro lens on my new camera. Above is a shot of one of Rita's parents Dahlias. Had a very nice dinner at another German style restaurant. Oredered a delicious Ribeye with Chanterelle mushrooms (apologes to William and Fiona) . Had to quench my thirst with a couple of glasses of Hefferweisen beer and at the end of the dinner a couple of shots of Poir Williams Schnapps, for medicinal purposes of course.

Its off to London tomorrow for my final week with TBC.

Surprise in Gemany

Arrived in Germany on August 18th and had a great dinner at a traditional German Biere Stube. On Sunday, Martin Walter picked me up to go for a BBQ dinner at his house. He mentioned that he had to go to the office to pick up his BBQ and needed help. We went to the office and I there were a lot of people on his office balcony. I thought that some other office in the building was having a party and wondered how we were going to get his BBQ. As soon as I went through the glass door, I realized that I knew most of the people and when they yelled Surprise, I knew what Martin had done!!!!! I was really surprised as I was totally not expecting anything like this. Several industry colleagues and frieds along wit many of the MSI staff were there. We had a delicious buffet dinner with fresh crepes for dessert.

Martin gave a very nice speach and presented me with a superb Nike "Sasquach" golf driver. What a wonderful way to start my farewell trip to Germany.

Last Day in Vancouver Office

Well this was quite an emotional day for me. Made the 20 minute walk to the office from home for the last time. Had a wonderful lunch with some of my great colleagues and friends and made the rounds saying goodbye before making the last walk from the office to home. Am still working to the end of August as am in Germany and UK offices and then it will be the start of my holidays in Europe. Then the real blog will start. Stay tuned...

August 14th - Minus 17 Days to Go

Well, I am very proud of myself as I was able to download an image without the help of William. Obviously, William has excellent teaching skills and a lot of patience.

Ok, the packing rehersals are over and we are down the real thing. My business case is packed and am now trying to figure out how to pack 3 months worth of clothes around all my accessories (camera, GPS, Ipod, Ipod speaker system and an assortment of travel books). Will be finished tonight as Rita is leaving for Europe tomorrow and she wants to see the holiday bag filled and zipped before she leaves. Rita has been packed for a few days now.

Am signing off now as have got to get back to packing.

Long Weekend

Its going to be a long weekend in more ways than you think. We are getting our final "to do" lists togther for our Europe trip. Rita is even going through a "packing rehersal" to make sure we have enough room for all her outfits and shoes. I told her not to worry, where we are going she will be visiting lots of shops. But she is undeterred. Also getting our reservations finalized for our accommodation in France and Italy. All done except Tuscany and Rome. A lttle over budget on the accommodation, but we have saved money on car hire and interal flights, so we should still be OK.

Have purchased a GPS system for the car as many peopl have told us, if we want to keep our relationship on an even keep we will need to have it. Apparently many arguments are focussed around the driver and navigator when trying to find streets and attractions in France and Italy. We will see if the GPS system will save our marriage. It was going to cost us 700 Euro to add it to our leased car so I bought one instead for $500 that has North America and Europe map systems. Just have to find out how it works now. Its on the to do list.

Going for a walk and coffee now as its making me tired just writing about it.

Cheers...Geoff

Have brought protection for myself as William is teaching me from behind.

Day 3

I am now trying to add my pictures by myself while William relaxes behind me.

Day 2

I am here with william to learn how to get my pictures on the blog site. william is now taking his vallium and we will be strating at any moment. Pass me your plate.