|
WEDNESDAY, JULY 25TH:
Checked out of the hotel at 7 am and Iris drove me to the Zurich Airport. Now,
she has as great of a sense of direction as I do – NONE! She was going to take
a short cut but thought she missed it and then somehow got back on the right
road, we think. We only had to circle the airport 3 times before finding the
“departure” area.
J
She has
the cutest little dog but he is 12 years old, “fixed” at a very young age, and
is not friendly – to the point where he bites if you try to rub him. I’ve been
around him many times and know to keep my distance. I told her before our
little mini-vacation was over, that “Cheyenne” and I were going to be buddies.
I’ve made a point NOT to try and rub him but have talked to him. I’ve also
given him food and water a couple of times and the other day, he laid down on
top of my feet, which was a major accomplishment. Today he wanted to sit in
Iris’s lap as she was driving to the airport and she wouldn’t let him. He kept
looking up at me and I patted my legs. He hopped right up in my lap. I didn’t
touch him. Just let him lay there. But the van was swaying with the turns and
I was afraid he would roll off. I carefully put one hand on him and then a few
minutes later the other. By the time we got to the airport, I was rubbing him
and he was sleeping. Iris wanted to take a picture!
I checked in at SAS and had the nicest young man helping me. He said that he
liked country music but didn’t know the names of the singers. He said he knew
the song, “The Devil Went Down to Georgia”. When I told him that was Charlie
Daniels and that I knew him, he was very impressed. We started talking about
our jobs and he said that he “has fun at his job”. That is a welcome change
from the unhappy airline employees in the U.S. I told him about the Bellamy
Brothers coming back to Switzerland in September. He managed to sing me a
little of “Let Your Love Flow” and is going to try and come to the festival.
While we were standing there, this lady came up to check in next to me. She had
so much collagen injected in her lips, she looked like a duckbill platypus. I
cannot believe she thinks that is attractive! We couldn’t stop ourselves from
staring at her.
Easy flight to Oslo but the plane was small. I was in the second row and the
engines were right outside my window. Very strange. Both my bags arrived and I
walked over to the Radisson Hotel connected to the airport where I’ll be
spending the night. Have stayed here many times. GREAT hotel for business
travelers. Nice gym. Free wireless internet. Beautiful rooms. 20 minute
train ride into Oslo. Tomorrow morning I meet Carlene’s group to drive with
them 4 hours to Seljord for the festival on Saturday night.
Have spent all afternoon working, as usual.
Jude
THURSDAY, JULY 26TH:
Woke up with a sore lip and a bruise on it! Remembered that I had set a wake-up
call in the Switzerland hotel yesterday. I’ve been in so many different hotel
rooms these past 5 weeks, that I get disoriented. I remember scrambling to find
the phone and then hitting myself in the mouth with it. Very attractive.
Went to the gym in the Radisson and it was very nice. Love these hotels that
are geared towards the business traveler. Even had a coffee maker in my room.
Showered and walked over to the terminal to meet Carlene Carter’s group. I
located our van driver but quickly realized there was only one small van with a
trailer and no separate car for Carlene. I always make sure there are at least
two seats per person in the vans/buses because it’s a 4 hour drive and after
they have flown for 12 hours, they need some “space”! Called the buyer and he
was able to send another car for Carlene before she ever got her bags picked
up. All of their luggage and equipment made the flights. They landed about 40
minutes late but that’s not too bad.
Carlene, her husband and manager rode in the car and the rest of us piled into
the van. I told them it was a 4 hour drive and they should use the restroom
and bring their own water/snacks if they needed too. A couple of them went back
into the terminal to do as I suggested but Carlene’s driver took off. I really
wanted to arrive at the hotel before they did so I could get them checked in.
But, we waited and waited and one of the guys (the road manager who is supposed
to be the “leader”!) never came back out. I finally had to send someone in to
get him. We left the airport and about 40 minutes later, the driver stopped.
Said he was stopping for a “restroom” break. Got back in and we drove about 30
more minutes and he stopped again. This time I wouldn’t let him get out of the
van. Told him we did not need to stop and we needed to get to the hotel. He
drove about 15 more minutes and stopped again! By this time, I was getting
pretty mad. I figured out that he is a chain smoker (did I mention I hate
smoking?) and was stopping so he and his girlfriend/wife/whoever it was with us,
could have a cigarette. I was on to him and told him we wanted to drive
straight through with no more stops. About 45 minutes later, he said he had to
stop to “check the tires” before starting up the mountain. Of course, I got
out, too, and walked around the back of the trailer to find him smoking!
Finally, made it to the hotel and Carlene was already in her room asleep. The
guys and I had a really late lunch. I had an omelet, so I guess that counted as
breakfast for me. I’ve stayed at this hotel many times but this is the first
year they have had wireless internet service. Before, it was dial-up service!
It started raining about half-way to the hotel today and has not stopped since.
It’s not after 11 pm at night and the sun is just going down. We all had a
“buffet” dinner at around 8 pm and then Carlene and the boys rehearsed. She has
a new drummer for this trip and they needed to run through the show.
I’ve been working on email for hours but also managed to call some of my friends
on Skype. Hope to go to bed soon and get up and go for a long run tomorrow.
Praying it won’t be raining because the only other exercise I can do (unless I
work out with rubber bands in my room) is swim. They have a huge Olympic-sized
indoor pool. I hate swimming though.
Jude
FRIDAY, JULY 27TH:
Have lost all concept of “date and time” I’ve been over here for so long. I can
tell by how many packets of “vitamins” I have left, that I’m in the “home
stretch” though. Only a couple more weeks before I get to go home for a couple
of weeks!
I was thinking I would get in bed by 1 am this morning and actually get 5-6
hours of sleep instead of 3-4. By the time I finally got in bed though, it was
after 2 am. I set the alarm clock for 8 am knowing I probably wouldn’t sleep
that long. Then at 7:00 am, it sounded like a huge diesel truck was driving
through my window! I jumped up and opened the curtains and there was a man
standing right in front of me – about 4 feet away – looking at me. A big truck
was pulled up to the “loading dock”. There was this high-pitched whining sound
as the ramp was lowered. Then the metal ramp slammed down on the dock.
Evidently a “cart” was brought out to roll the items off the truck and into the
hotel. But, it was a cart like I always get – one with a bad wheel. After
several trips with the squeaky cart, I hear the “whining” start again followed
by the ramp slamming back into place on the truck. Then the sound of the diesel
truck exiting my bedroom. That process lasted about a total of 30 minutes.
Then there was about 20 minutes of “quiet” until the next truck arrived with a
delivery! Gave up, got up and started answering emails that had come in since
2:30 am. When I went to breakfast, Bob (who has the room right above mine)
confirmed the story as it woke him up, too. I would ask to move to another
room but I’d probably get one where the internet doesn’t work. Dare I hope that
no deliveries are made on Saturday?
Had to wait until around 1 pm to go running because it was raining too hard.
Finally decided that there was a break in the rain and took off for a 5 miler.
Got about 1 ˝ miles from the hotel and it started pouring rain. There was no
where to get out of the rain, so I just continued on. It was cold and not fun
to be “wet” as well. But, I felt so much better after getting in some cardio!
I jogged this “country road” and at one point there was a guy standing beside
the road peeing! Usually they turn their backs to the traffic. But this guy was
facing the traffic which meant he had his back to me, thank goodness.
Carlene rehearsed most of the day and I worked on email. We had a nice
buffet-style dinner again. The strange thing is, they don’t use “steam” trays
to keep the food warm. This morning at breakfast, the scrambled eggs were cold
and inedible. Oh well, I needed to lose 5 pounds anyway.
J
Hoping
emails will slow down tomorrow and Sunday. I answered 311 yesterday – all
business.
Have a great weekend.
Jude
SATURDAY, JULY 28, 2007:
No early morning deliveries! Got in a good 6 mile jog. The sun is coming out
sporadically and I’m hoping for a nice day. Have acclimated to two things this
year in Europe: I can jog (not run) mountains (not hills) without passing out
and I’ve finally figured out the most comfortable way to sleep with the down
comforters and pillows!
We had sound check this afternoon and it was sunny most of the time. When the
sun is out, it’s really warm. Even with the rain last night, there were
approximately 8,000 people at the festival. Someone had a photo of the crowd on
their cell phone and showed it to me. It was just a “sea” of faces. I’ve been
at this festival many times and love working with the people here. Our drivers,
the backstage crew, the sound company, the promoter, the buyer – everyone is
just “good people”. The stage in the past has been a “built-in” stage in the
front of the building where the nice dressing rooms and green room are located.
This year they built a much larger stage in front of the permanent stage.
We took the merch out to the man who will sell it at the festival booth for us.
I picked up the festival t-shirts for everyone and they are a bit different this
year. The front is a photo of a beautiful girl with no clothes on except for a
cowboy hat. Her arms are strategically placed so that you don’t see the
“important” parts. The back has the names of the festival participants on it.
They also have a pink shirt for the girls with an incredibly gorgeous man on the
front wearing nothing but some chaps. Again, strategic placing of a “saddle”
hide the front of him. I asked if the guy was around to autograph my shirt for
me. J
We came
back to the hotel and everyone was ready for dinner since we missed lunch.
Packing up my room and getting ready to go to the show now. Carlene comes off
stage at 1 am, then signs autographs. Then we drive for 4 hours to the hotel at
the Oslo airport. Have to be at the airport at noon tomorrow for a 2 pm 55
minute flight to Sweden. We’ll be staying at a different hotel in Sweden this
year and it looks really, really nice --- of course it would be since we’ll only
have a few hours in it!
The rain stopped before Carlene went on stage. There were about 10,000 people in
the audience – not “too” drunk that they couldn’t stand up and sing every song
with her. It was a great show. She was supposed to sign autographs afterwards
but it was so late and she had not been feeling good that day, so she decided
not to sign. Of course, when the artist doesn’t sign, then not very merch is
sold. Carlene came off stage at around 1:30 am and she headed back to the hotel
to take a shower. Me and the band got in the van (same driver who stopped every
30 minutes on the way up) to drive to the Radisson at the Oslo airport. Nothing
like a good 4 hour drive through the “wilds” of Norway at 2 am.
L
Jude
|
