I collected my KLM boarding pass at Heathrow, and was told that I could wait for my flight in the HOLODECK lounge. There were DIY free snacks, drinks and net terminals so I figured I could chill out for a bit, have a drink, and read something frivolous like the Financial Times. So mid-way through enjoying a couple of Smirnoff Lemon clubby drinks, I noticed there were a bunch of people looking at me strangely in the airport lounge. I gather club drinks at 8am is, at the very least… unconventional. But hey, airport lounge! Fuckers.
Bumped into Roberto, Jono and Paul at Amsterdam airport. Hello hackers! Flew in to Stuttgart, which was not at all what I expected. Everyone said it was a very boring industrial town. Naturally, I thought it would be like Birmingham. But no, Stuttgart is not like Birmingham. It is nice and small, very pretty and green, and even has vineyards in the centre of the town. Wine is important in this region, both commercially and culturally. I will have to do a wine tasting at some stage, when I get a chance to wander around a bit.
Turned up at the hotel I thought I was staying at. Found Nat, Mikael and Anders hanging out in the foyer. Had the first inevitible taste of GUADEC “future of GNOME” discussions, mentioned a bunch of stuff I’ve been thinking about and examples of existing related work, which Nat neatly shit-stirred in his blog. Found out I wasn’t staying at that hotel after all, so racked off to the right one to clean myself up before dinner.
Did not win a Nokia 770 at dinner. But there was a lot of synchronicity in the air, and I slept well. I should get a synchronicity air filter or something, so I always sleep well.
