Ten days until we go! Each weekend, I try to take stock of where I am in regard to the trip. And so, here goes---
This week we got our flight itineraries. We will first fly to Houston for orientation at Aramco’s North American headquarters. Then we will fly to Dharhan via Amersterdam.
The actual number of hours in the airplane will be 9 hours and 20 minutes to Amsterdam and then 6 hours to Dharhan. And that’s just the plan! We have a five hour layover in Amsterdam. So now real travel time is 20.5 hours. But – it will be fun- new friends, new adventures. While I am looking forward to going… I am not looking forward to returning. That will 6 hours to Amsterdam, then 15 hours t
o Chicago and then a 5 hour layover before an hour to Madison. Somehow it all computes to a full 24 hours en route. I arrive home (in theory) at 6 p.m. on Tuesday April 10 and am planning to be at work the next morning.The adventures of the camera. As you already know, after much research, I selected a camera and bought it online from a 5 star company. Well… after 2 weeks, a box arrived and it was WAY TOO BIG
for a tiny camera. So I opened it and it was a Nintendo Wii.Now I had never heard of this game before – but apparently it is in short supply and great demand. (Several young people offered to buy it from me) The price, if you can find it, is twice what I paid for the camera. So I called the company and explained the problem. The best they could offer was – you return the Wii and THEN we’ll send the camera. I cancelled the camera p
urchase (and returned the Wii). Then we went to a local camera store to try to buy the camera I wanted. It was out of stock. Two hours later, I had a new camera (made by Samsung - which I didn't know makes cameras) And now I need to learn to use it. Nothing is ever as simple as you would hope. I’ll try to post some pictures before I leave.Several of my fellow travelers have now put up blogs. I have listed them to the right. They also are collecting creative gifts to give to our hosts. I'm afraid I am not up on the gifts - I have 4 small books on Wisconsin and a box of
"motion W" pins from the University of Wisconsin athletic department. Maybe I'll try for some pencils or pens this week. But then maybe I won't. Many of my good intentions are being put by the roadside.More later.... Go Badgers!
