Friday, March 5, 1999 1:00pm - Paris, France

In the office today.  I've finally gotten a moment to update this page.  I had a system crash in January and lost lots of photos, etc.  I keep my business data backed up, but can't say the same for personal data.  Anyway, I installed an entirely new system - NT 4.0.  It's better in some ways, but hey, it's still Microsoft software.  Things have been busy- of course.  I just returned this past Monday from the US.  I was there for a week.  First I went to Detroit on business, then on to Mountain View, CA for business.  Finally on Friday I stopped over in Washington DC to see my mom for the weekend.

So here's what's been happening.  Iv'e been busy with work.  Exploring the new job - sales is not easy but I've been quite successful in locating some new customers.  My role here is to develop the new electronic commerce business model for Netscape in Europe.  It's fun but much of the time it's a bit of flying in the dark.  Nonetheless, I've been happy with the customers we've located and are prospecting.  I expect to make my quota, and then some.  My fantasy is to retire early.  Well, not actually retire, but enable myself to work less and do more stuff I enjoy without worrying about the income so much.  That seems like such a luxury.  France is much different than the US in this way- theyr'e not so obsessed with money.  It's something I really appreciate.

Let's see - so over New Year's I was in Boston and travelled throughout New England seeing family.  This included New Hampshire, Connecticut and Rhode Island.  Actually I spent New Year's Eve on Nantucket.  It was snowy and very cold, but it was a lot of fun.  Here are a couple pictures of the vacation:

Vanessa at Treehouse Toys Premier Store  New Hampshire 12-28-98	Antique Tombstone Marblehead Massachusetts 12-28-98

In mid-January I travelled a bit - first to Hungary, then to Germany late in the month.  It was my first time to Hungary, and I went to Budapest.  I was only there for one day, but arrived a bit early to check out the place.  It's very very cool there.  Lots of old architecture and the glasswork is amazing.  Everything there is quite inexpensive.  I stayed on the Danube river right in the center of town, and just had enough time waiting for the taxi in front of my hotel to take this photo:

Palace on the Danube, Budapest 1-13-99

In Germany, the festival called Fasching was just getting going.  It's about 3 weeks long and I was there just for the beginning.  I decided to return a couple weeks later for the big bash, in mid-February.  I went with my friend David Sweet, who's an American also staying in Paris.  Fasching is a celebration like carnival, before the lenten season kicks in.  So it's party party party, and people get crazy.  Each town celebrates it with costumes, parades, parties, etc.  I was in Oberkirch, which is in the Black Forest region.  One weekend there they had a parade, with over 100 groups, each having separate and distinct costumes.  These guys get very crazy, frequently plucking young pretty girls from the crowd and taking them away.  Needless to say, our friend Diana was grabbed a few times!

David and his German Marks Oberkirch, Germany 2-7-99	Fasching Parade Oberkirch, Germany 2-8-99
Baby in Costume Fasching Parade Oberkirch, Germany 2-8-99	Cute German Girl - Diana Fasching Parade Oberkirch, Germany 2-8-99

Finally, I was in the States, as I said, and saw my mother.  She lives in Alexandria, Virginia, which is just across the river from Washington DC.  I hadn't been there in some time, so I made an stop there to see her on my way back to Paris.  We had a great time, even though it was only a couple days.  But it was lots of fun.  So here she is, and I tell you, she looks like a million bucks.  Most people don't believe she's got 3 boys (well men, now), one of whom just turned 40!  I can't believe this, but I helped her get on email!!!  She's now got an email address, of course provided by AOL.

Molly Ware (mom) Alexandria, Virginia USA 2-27-99

So that's about it.  I did have one other thing that is new- I started teaching at a local french university, which is a blast.  It's a business course on International Marketing.  For more details, I've posted my syllabus here: http://www.geocities.com/SouthBeach/Lights/7984/IM_Spring_99_Syllabus.html.  Just in case you want to take this course with me, read that and you'll find that you're better off where you are....

See you soon... ciao.