Back from Ireland, where the grass is greener
by Volker Weber
We had a wonderful trip and are back home safe. A few remarks:
- Choosing Lufthansa over Air Lingus and RyanAir (cough) was a good move. Sorry, Ireland.
- Pembroke Townhouse was even better than last year. We had a nice quiet room to the back with an excellent (hard) bed. The breakfast buffet is kind of simple, but the kitchen serves a great omelette.
- ILUG* was as well organized as it can possibly be. Trust me, you need six short people to pull that off: an AV bloke, THE mad Scotsman, a token American, two dominant ladies, and, Paul.
- I have used up all of my luck for May. I forgot my bag in a taxi, and I got it back after finding the taxi only 30 minutes later in the middle of the night. One in twelve thousand. Without knowing anything about it but the make of the car. This would have been THE disaster.
- Dublin has the worst Chinese restaurant I have ever been to: Imperial on Wicklow. "Rice not included." - "We don't have (fill in your wish here)." - "No starters?" - "Tiger, mumble, and Heineken".
- A Nikon with a 50 mm lens goes a long way taking pictures.
- Lesson learned: Don't take a boat to a bird island with no cover, leaving a rain coat behind, if said boat does not return for two hours to pick you up. It may start raining. Make that "pouring". No, that was not me. :-)
- The Nokia E61i is all you need to keep up with things while travelling. Web sites, RSS feeds, mail, instant messaging, and all. Excellent tool.
- Cider tastes better than beer. A lot.
- Paul finally has a Mac. Lotus, we will surround you with Mac users, until you finally make some decent tooling. At the same time, and on par.
*) This event puts everything else to shame. Everything. You get two days of excellent presentations from the best Lotusphere speakers, a conference bag, a 1 GB memory key with all the presentations on it, a hat, a t-shirt, a USB mug warmer. You get the chance to win a gift from the conference sponsors, free lunch — yes, there is a free lunch — and to top if off, a free drinks reception. In Ireland! What do you pay for it? Nothing.
Alright, that is not entirely true. Without some money we would not have been able to buy serious presents. Thank you all for making this possible. And if you feel you have not done enough yet, or if you haven't done anything, I suggest you donate something towards Eileen's charity.
Comments
Bulmers cider ROCKS!
Cider... ewwww :) I like point #10: a Mac flashmob at LS08 anyone??
Still reeling after the few days Volker. As usual, you are a good mother and the silent strength of the team.
P.
I should try to turn this into a business. I am pretty good at hanging out and pretending that I know what I am doing. :-)
Fantastic event !
For the USB Mug warmer.....Both Ute's AND mine have been stolen out of our suitcases at the airport. Baggage security check really sucks !
Thanks for the comments, the support and the presents. It was hard work , but geat fun, loved working with the team and meeting 'The Community', great bunch of people and glad to be a part of it.
Jens, I have 2 here left over. Also I noticed your excellent donation on Eileen's charity site. Please mail me with a postal address. I will get them to you.
It's the first time I've heard of the mug warmer, my conference bag didn't have one.
Hopefully Paul will give me a discount on next year's conference fee ;-)
Did you take the picture on Dublin castle grounds?
Always been a fan of cider drinks, even before chumbawumba. Believe I was hassled for this at ilug2006.
Can't wait to be part of next year. Thanks for all you did to make this one successful.
Volker, you actually admit to having chosen not to enjoy the a la carte catering on Aer Lingus? ;-)
@Volker - #5: after you left we have discovered, that somebody stole my umbrella - I've got a 'replacement' from the lost and found bag - a very used and small colapsible with a hole in it.
I think, I never been in such a place before. As for tiger beer - it is ok for a lager.
