Traveling on vacation Wed, 2007.03.14
Posted by tevirselrahc in airport, ibm, me, rational, systems, travel, vacation.comments closed
I’ve been on vacation for a week now…kinda…
We decided that it was time for the kids to meet my spouse’s extended family, which meant a trip to Turkey (Istanbul to be precise). We have been planning this for close to a year, using airline points to pay for the travel. On the way in, we have experienced, in order, weather delay (Ottawa to Toronto), equipment problems causing a 2 hours delay (Toronto), a kid with air sickness (Toronto to Frankfurt), a missed flight because of earlier delays (Frankfurt), a still sick child (Frankfurt to Istanbul), and one piece of delayed luggage out of four (Istanbul). Of course, with the delays, the youngest’s nap time no longer lined up, so she was very cranky… And finally, we did not manage to reach my father in law in time so he waited for close to five hours at the airport. All in all a good trip…
The other interesting thing was that, as Canadian, I needed to pay a US$60 visa to enter Turkey. I haven’t had to pay for a visa in ages (I think Kuwait was the last one…)! And it is, by far, the most expensive visa to enter Turkey! I wonder, why does Turkey not want Canadian visitors? We are not traditionally dangerous…
I am writing this as I sit in Ankara’s airport. I came here for a day to talk to customers – I get to play evangelist and I get one more day of vacation later. And, most importantly, I get to help our Turkish team with the message that IBM Rational is back in the systems space. However, the account team may not be so sure about my visit, it seems I have brought the bad weather (rain) to Istanbul and that I have done the same to Ankara (snow). I may get a reputation with this…
And that is why I am actually able to create this post: no family obligation and no one to tell me to get off the computer!
I want one of these… Wed, 2007.01.31
Posted by tevirselrahc in me, TV.comments closed
OK. I’ll admit I’m a big Dr. Who fan*. That’s why I think I need this for my computer. It would certainly look better than the one I currently have and the sound would be neat!
* Even though we get the new episodes in Canada two years after they are broadcasts in the UK – if we’re lucky – and don’t get me started on Torchwood…
My family discovered this blog!!! Mon, 2007.01.29
Posted by tevirselrahc in me.comments closed
Of course, I had told them about it. Except that I probably forgot to tell my wife’s sister that I put a link to her web site in my sidebar. So she was googling herself when she noticed my page. So of course, she called my wife who got on my case about not telling her about the blog… I am sure I had done that. But she kept saying that I had only mentioned my internal, IBM blog (which she can’t see, of course).
Well, here I go: a public apology! Sorry dear (and sorry chala!)! Mea culpa and all that stuff.
Now, off to email so I can tell everyone in the family before I get into even more trouble…
Four o’clock, nightime, and the weekend Fri, 2007.01.19
Posted by tevirselrahc in me, travel.comments closed
I am currently in Stockholm, Sweden. And here, at 16:00, it is almost night. Stockholm is much farther North than where I normally live: 60° vs. 45° North. This means much shorter days…
I have to stay in Stockholm over the weekend. I was hoping not to have to travel on weekends this year, so that I can spend time with my family, but my first trip of the year gave me meetings on both sides of a weekend. At least, I like Stockholm. It is a nice city and I look forward to visit it again (I was last here in 1999 – things have changed a bit – especially in the suburbs). I have been told that the renovation of the Vasa has finally been completed. The Vasa is a ship that was raised from the lake in Stockholm and it was still being renovated the last time I saw it, seven years ago, I wonder how it looks now. I may very well go and have another look!
One thing for sure, I will try to bag a few geocaches over the next couple of days!
It’s been a while… Thu, 2006.12.14
Posted by tevirselrahc in me.comments closed
I haven’t posted in a while. Sometimes, work just seems to take over and the rest of the time is spent with family, leaving little time for leisure. On top of that, my father passed away after a long illness. Well, I’m back with a couple of new postings. Good reading!
About me… Thu, 2006.11.23
Posted by tevirselrahc in me.comments closed
I hate talking about myself, being an INTP (at least, the last time I took the test)…
However, as these things are pretty much standard, I have filled in the “About” page of this blog.
I actually like the idea of being able to have some standalone pages. I think it does help highlight certain aspects of the blog, without taking away from the conversational focus of such a communication vehicle. Nice touch for WordPress!
Full Disclosure Wed, 2006.11.22
Posted by tevirselrahc in disclaimer, ibm, me.comments closed
In order not to misrepresent myself to the world at large, I have created a disclosure page to this blog. This will explains things like who I work for (IBM) and my obligation in this regard as well as what I plan for this blog. I would suggest you go and read it. Which reminds me I should probably also have a look at the “About” page…so many new things to look at!
While writing this, I noticed that the content was automagically saved…nice!
Disclosure Mon, 2006.11.06
Posted by tevirselrahc in disclaimer, ibm, me.comments closed
If it’s good enough for Kelly, it’s good enough for me.
Hi. In the spirit of openess and full disclosure, here are a few statements…
I work for IBM as a Solution Architect, although I was a product manager for a while. However, I do not receive any compensation (e.g., money) from IBM for this blog. This is mine. These are my opinions and ideas.
I do make every effort to follow IBM’s blogging guidelines, one of which is transparency, which is the purpose of this post, because…
- I like working for IBM.
- I’d like to continue working for IBM.
- I do NOT want to be “dooced“
(I didn’t even know about this until I read it off Kelly’s blog!)
The purpose of this blog is to:
- open up a conversation about things technical – whether they exist or not;
- talk a bit about the stuff IBM does – but don’t ask me about what IBM will do – I can’t answer that (even if I know!);
- be part of an IBM blogger community – so you can find other IBM’ers out there with different interests;
- talk about how this whole social computing thingamajig could influence software development and governance going forward;
- other things that may cross my mind (or lack thereof).
If you are looking for gossip or anything that IBM may do in the future, this isn’t the place. There are tabloids for gossip and IBM has sales/account teams to talk about futures (with proper mechanisms in place).
IBM DOES encourage and support blogging, internally and externally. In IBM, I have one personal blog. There are things I discuss on that blog that I can’t copy here. There are things that will be posted on both blogs. And there are things that will only be posted here. And no, I will not tell which is which (but you are free to make guesses).
Why blog?
- Because I think it is an interesting discussion medium that fits my introvert personality;
- I think there should be more discussion out there and more point of views (yes, you are free to mine);
- This means that I like comment, be they praise or critique;
- Go ahead! I dare you to tell me I have strange ideas! (Actually, I think that would be a compliment…);
- I hope it will help me think. Putting ideas out there and having them commented (OK, ridiculed) is good.
There is, however, one thing I will not tolerate: disrespect. You can tell me I am wrong and out of my mind, but please do so in an intelligent, well-behaved way.
All opinions expressed in any of these blogging forums is strictly my own, and do NOT represent those of IBM, IBM management, or anyone else. (And sometimes, they may not even be mine…but then I’ll try to let you know!)
All errors in these forums are my own: I can’t type without a spell and syntax checker.
