Ewan's Musings
The day to day ramblings and thoughts of a Scotsman in England.
Yes, I'm back from the Series 60 Community Awards (where AAS didn't win) but the whole event was definitly somehting that Rafe and I had to go to. Just being able to meet face to face a lot of the companies and people we've been emailing will help AAS in the long run. But for now, here's my Diary of the travelling out to Nice and the evening reception. Part two tomorrow.
Monday 27th, 11.00 am
Here's the big problem with the UK. Public Transport. The nice and easy 40 minute train to Stanstead, which I should be able to get from Tottenham Hale (one tube stop from home, very easy), is in actual fact replaced by a bus from Liverpool Street - which is a 30 minutre train journey away from home into Central London. To make matters worse, it's not just a bus, it a combined train (to Chingford) and then a Bus to the Airport.
And the train makes a stop at Walthamstow Station, which I can get to from home in no time! So I could have had another hour or two at home with Vikki and Eilidh playing peek-a-boo.
Monday 27th, 12.15pm, Stanstead Departure Lounge.
Anyone lookng through my bag at the 'tech' I've brought with me would probably raise an eyebrow. FDor the first time in who knows how many trips, I don't have the netBook with me. I've got a modified Psion Revo Plus instead. One reason is for battery charge - I've a lot of writing I an do, and I don'lt think one charge would be suufficient for the three days. I've a European Charger for the revo, and not the netBook. Simple as that really.
The Revo has a minimal software suite on it, the only things of note would be NConvert (Psion Word to RTF or HTML to mention one of 21 filters) so I can email documents to people. C2I (Connect 2 Internet) allows me to set up and manage a GPRS connection on the Revo through my 7650.
Finally, PsiMind is a 'Mind Mapper' aplication which is great for gettings ideas down in paper and giving them some semblance of order. When Rafe and I worked out our goals for the event last night, PsiMind took down all the info, making it easy for me to look back and make sense of it all.
Monday 27th, 2pm, Somewhere Over France
Neep! The easyJet Cabin Crew are rasing money for breat cancer awarenes month by shaking their collecting tins aggresivly at me from 35,000 feet. Even though I'm by the emergency exit, there is no escape. Why didn't I think of that for ESCA's Rag Week?
Hmm, it's a plastic bag, and not a sealed tin. No jaunty slogan, no silly hats. Call themselves collectors...
Anyway, yet again I pay attention through the safety briefing, while everyone else around reads their papers, or are having a giggle with the other members of the Cabin Staff ("Oh dearie me!"). Maybe it's because pre-flight checks and their seriousness were drilled nto me when I was going for my Glider pilot's licence, but I think peple need to be scared into watching and listening. If the plane does go down, it's going to be violent, and fast, and you need to know what you are going to do get out.
"Welcome to easyJet. If you do not listen to this demonstration, then you will die when there is an accident." That should make the passengers mannng the exit doors waken up.
Monday 27th, 4.30pm, Nice Airport
And thus end a nice flight. Just in front of me was a family woth a girl (who was abut 3) and her sister of five months who didn't like the decent to Nice at all (and it made me really miss Eilidh, but I'll be hom in two nights, as Vikki reminded me).
The descent itself finally made it feel like I was in a real airplane. A radar let down through rain clouds, lots of buffeting and juming around and bumps on the way down. Half the cabin nicely relaxed, the other half staring straight ahead and gripping the seat rests like that episode of The A-Team where BA gets stuck in a 747.
What they don't tell you about the final aproach to Nice irport is that it the plane is flying over the sea, witht the Cote D'Azur just off the port wing. You don't cross land till you cross the runway threshold.
Definitly not the flight for the faint of heart. Yes, it was brilliant.
Monday 27th, 6pm, Hotel Come De Nice.
Well I was told the weather would be wonderful, that it would be like a hoiday. Well I packed my kilt, and guess what I got? Drizzle that's wet, but not rain. An overcast sky. A lazy wind that blows through you, not bothering to go around you... it's just like a Summer's day in Edinburgh!
The Hotel room is pokey. It's an apartment, which means a partition wall sepertaes a dou le bed and the two single beds, and there's a kitchennete (which looks like it could belong in a VW Camper Van) for self-catering. But a 60€ a night, it'll do the job of somwhere to sleep and dump our bags.
Monday 11pm, Back at Hotel Come De Nice
It was worth the extra night over here. The Hotel Negreso is very posh, very expensive (even with the reduced Conference rates they offer) and reasonably easy to get to. The reception haad about a third of the conference guests there, s spent a good amount of time talking to Opera, FastMobile and PsiLocbout Series 60 stuff and Symbian in general.
Oz for Siemens was there with the mythial SX1 (yes it still exists, yes I still want one, no you can't buy it yet), and the good news (for Rick if no-one else) is that OPL Series 60 v0.26 works on all the Series 60 (OS 6.1) devices I could find and beam it to.
Nice itself feels a lot like Glasgow after you've been kicked out the Student Union at 2 in the morning, Wide streets, High Buildings and a complete absence of life apart from fast food stands.
Got a nice SMS from Vikki when I got back into coverage. Still feel a bit weird being so far away from her and Eilidh. I don't see nice as a family tourist resort though. Seen nothing but hotels, bars, and a Virgin Megastore here. Just wish I had found somewhere that I could have bought a can of juice from, though.