MN

[quk@isham-research.demon.co.uk (Phil Payne)]

In message <D13BD3B69401D211B31000A0C9CE055B0F9551@sjmc0e001.mitsui.com> "Daily,DerekSJMCG" writes:

> At least one of us is wondering if you were able to peek at the Beddor's
> little car collection?  Hope the trip went well...

Nope.  I flew over Wednesday, in time for a restrained dinner shared
with another bunch of European industry analysts (very nice Filet
Mignon) and a whole lot of help-me-sleep-anti-jet-lag liquid flavoured
with Juniper berries.

Thursday morning IBM had me standing in the hotel lobby at 06:20 for
a day starting at the briefing centre at 06:45.  Presentations _SOLID_
from 07:00 to 18:30 with several 5-minute coffee breaks and half an hour
for lunch.  Around ten and a half hours of material.  Since just about
every senior executive from the AS/400 division was there, and it's a
unique annual opportunity to scre^W obtain information from them, _and_
the other analysts were asking very few sensible questions, I had to
pay attention and work fairly hard to get the information I wanted.

An _extremely_ worthwhile session, but also _extremely_ taxing.

Communal dinner took the evening to 23:00 (05:00am body time) and I
retired somewhat shattered for another 07:00am start.  Then another
half-day (IBM's half-days end at 14:00) followed by some time in the
development labs and a half-hour break before an entirely voluntary
baseball game.  Twins vs Toronto Blue Jays - got interesting with
a run home from first base in the sixth, while the whole of the rest
of the party was out getting beer and visiting rest rooms.  A 'night'
of clubbing (nights end at 01:00 in Minneapolis) and a crash.

Then shopping in the Mall of America.  Saw three Audis - a
bronze-coloured 5000 on Wednesday pulling out of a car park as we
entered it at a bar not far from the IBM plant at Rochester, a 5000?
cruising past the Mall of America, and a late 90 in the Mall's car park.
Then the red-eye from Minneapolis to Gatwick - delayed an hour and a
half.  Much gin compliments of North Western, and a comatose flight back
to find my new brake servo sitting on my desk.  Autohaus, having sent me
the wrong one and charged me for it, have now sent the right one
_without_ yet having the wrong one back - I have GBP278-worth of WR
brake servo in my car to go back to them today.

The ur-quattro has been backed up onto ramps and jacked at the front
onto axle stands, ready for the servo replacement this evening.

--
 Phil Payne
 Phone: 0385 302803   Fax: 01536 723021
 (The contents of this post will _NOT_ appear in the UK Newsletter.)