World of Good: Does Fun Matter?

Denia, SPAIN
Dec.27, 2014 - Jan.3, 2015

Sometimes, the signs and label designs in other countries make me giggle.

What could this be:

Answer at bottom.

I began the first day of 2015 - and of the rest of my life - with the worst hangover I have had in years... I did not drink loads either. I blame the champagne (which was actually quite tasty). I dragged my sorry carcass out of bed in the morning and took the long walk from our hotel into town slowly, looking for my credit card. It had disappeared last night sometime after we found the little blues bar in which to warm up, once the street party and live music (and champagne) were done with.

Dinner with Colin's friends at the only restaurant left in town with room
for New Year's Eve - best Indian meal I'd had in ages

Michelle and Colin, band in the background

This is how they do it Spanish style.

I got to the bar, and it was closed. Of course it was closed - it had probably just closed a few hours ago! After paying 8,00 Euros for a tiny pile of egg with mushrooms, surrounded by teeny weeny toasts - but a fantastic cafe con leche - we rescued the car from the excellent parking job Colin had accomplished the night before.

It's not touching, honest

Not being good for much else besides walking and driving, we drove over the mountain to the town on the other side, Jevea. Or Xevia. Or Xabia. Depending which sign you happened to catch (there are a few language variations in the area). There, I actually did "likes long walks on the beach" - very good for relaxation.

Here is my beach study on "What Is Perspective" - is the photo below:
a) a landscape of majestic volcanoes among lakes, violently spewing volcanic steam, or
b) waves on rocks.

While I ambled amblingly over cratered rocks and big rounded pebbles, I saw the sign: AAR IQ is global!

The Official IQ Logo - bottom sign!

The actual beginning of The Vacation occurred, in my mind, during my last trip to Cary, North Carolina in November - headquarters of Railinc, the IT arm of the AAR (American Association of Railroads) - to meet with the Inspection Quality (IQ) Task Force. In English: meeting with my counterparts from other North American railroads. We went out for a highly recommended local southern meal of fried green tomatoes, funny round cornmeal things, catfish, collard greens, creamy grits, chess pie, and a taste of sweet potato pie. The first of many a culinary travel adventure indeed.

The IQ logo (bottom): the overcomable bump

I looked forward to these trips to "meet with the industry". As representatives of the other major railroads in N.America, along with the AAR and their IT and R&D arms, we discussed, debated, circled, spaghettied and eventually progressed ideas into the beginnings of tangible systems, processes and outcomes. This is not easy when you each represent different factions of work in a general area of expertise, different companies, and different entities. But there is no question every person in the room, or on the many conference calls, wished to progress the overall idea of what we wanted to do, and brought to the table the best of their skills in order to do so. That is probably what I miss the most.

Besides the calm day along the beach, Spain was about fun - days at the rocks with Colin's university friend Neil and wife Debbie, making meals and drinking wine in the mansion where Neil and Debbie were staying (after their original rental suffered sewer back-up)... Fun, it let's the mind go.