<font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2"> <br>L O W L A N D S - L - 19 May 2007 - Volume 03<br><br>=========================================================================<br><br>From: <span id="_user_roger.thijs@euro-support.be" style="color: rgb(0, 104, 28);">
"Roger Thijs, Euro-Support, Inc." <<a href="mailto:roger.thijs@euro-support.be">roger.thijs@euro-support.be</a>></span><br>Subject: LL-L "Anniversary" 2007.05.12 (03) [E]<br><br></font><div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;">
<font size="2">> From: <span style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">Pat
Reynolds</span><span style="font-weight: normal;"> <<a href="mailto:pat@caerlas.demon.co.uk" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">pat@caerlas.demon.co.uk</a>></span><br>> Subject: LL-L "Anniversary"
2007.05.11 (01) [E] <br>> ....
On the idea of doing 'something more' than conversing on an email list, or
contributing to a website: I wonder how you / you all would feel about
irregularly and occassionally meeting? Perhaps at occassions where it is
probable that several members will be present anyway?</font></div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><font size="2">&</font></div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><font size="2">> From: <span style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">R. F.
Hahn</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">
<<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
sassisch@yahoo.com</a>></span><br>Subject: Anniversary<br></font><font size="2">>
.... Hah! And just now -- after I sent off Marcel's message, and
probably because of what he wrote -- it came back to me what Pat had mentioned
to me as a possible feature: <span style="font-style: italic;">a travel
section</span>!<br>> Indeed! Indeed! I think that's a really terrific idea.
Should this ever be realized, I have you all remember it was Pat's
idea.<br>>Here are my immediate thoughts about it. <br>>People will contribute what are
essentially travel tips...</font></div>
<div style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><font size="2"> </font></div>
<font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2">
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>Some
reflections</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>1 -
Conferences</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>I
happen to participate at conferences from time to time, which clearly focus on
networking.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>Basically and formally they contain a bunch of (often
interesting) lectures, combined by networking receptions, starting the evening
before and continuing all along the event.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>Including breakfast and lunch in the program reinforces
the group meeting additionally together. The formula allows getting better
rates, though this happens generally in business hotels, and after all still is
relatively expensive.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>I
generally count on 1000 to 2000 USD per conference day (depending on sponsoring)
plus up to 250 USD + taxes for lodging.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>Basic
advantages of the formula:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>The
events (mostly) are suitable for being counted for business expenses, or, for
people linked to educational institutions, can eventually be
subsidized.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>Second advantage of the
formula:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>If
the networking doesn't bring very much, one has at least had quite some
interesting lectures; if the lectures are not very good, one eventually still
has had some interesting contacts.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>I
encounter this formula quite often in aviation and logistics, usually combined
with a (small) exhibition (by the sponsors
eventually).</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>2 –
Place & Travel.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>I can
imagine this may be an issue for people who do not travel very much. Just to
share some experience from a recent trip from Belgium to the US (May 5 till May
10)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>It was
there for a seminar at MIT (<a href="http://www.mit.edu/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.mit.edu/</a>, an engineering school in the Boston area, with a
business section, called "Sloan" <a href="http://mitsloan.mit.edu/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://mitsloan.mit.edu/</a></span><span>)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>A –
Why selecting events at the MIT?</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>I
studied electronics engineering at Leuven University in the sixties-seventies.
Our manuals on high frequency techniques were written by MIT researchers.
Further study material included the MIT RadLab series, then already outdated but
still used as reference works, which contained the basis of post-war radar
technology.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>When
in Springfield, MA, in the eighties, while working for Monsanto, I learned that
engineers over there were intensively striving for getting their kids admitted
at the MIT (That house had something magic for
them).</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>For
myself, since 2005, I participated at business programs a couple of times a year
at their "Sloan" business school, and I like their scientific (mathematical)
approach of management issues (clearly distinguishing them from the Harvard
Business School, situated just one underground stations to the
West)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>For
the recent event, I count (from the list of
participants):</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>100
participants from the US</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>1
from Japan (but a chief of staff of the US
DOD)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>8
from Canada</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>3
from Mexico</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>1
from Guatemala</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>1
from Brazil</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>1
from Norway</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>1
from Denmark</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>1
from Finland</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>1
from the UK</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>1
from Belgium</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>2
from Switzerland</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>1
from Spain</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>1
from Hungary</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>1
from Nigeria</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>2
from South-Korea</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>1
from Australia</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span><span> </span>(I estimate 40% were ladies; all ages
above 35 were represented. They generally don't "fill-up" with students;
students have been "used" though as part of the infrastructure for supporting
some management games)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>Distance clearly plays for the attendance. Though I think
this is more a psychological barrier. A trans-atlantic economy flight ticket
costs just about one night at the hotel. However, due to travel, one looses
several business days</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>B –
Passing the border went relatively smoothly this
time.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>(I
the autumn last year I missed a flight connection, since border control queuing
toke more than an hour, this is exceptional
though).</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>Since
one is interrogated about one's business in the USA, one feels a bit unhappy.
Since nobody knows what they have about you in their computer, one feels one has
to be prudent at all time. People got in jail for jokes; Ted Kennedy was on the
no-fly list for a couple of days when that thing was launched. I have a reflex
of carefulness just similar to what I had when traveling to the Soviet Union in
the seventies.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>C –
The travel</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>I
continue using Delta (for the frequent flyer points) which gives me a status for
free upgrades. Within the US the latter doesn't mean very much though, just a
seat in the front rows.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>In
the past I had some connection issues with Comair, so I was happy the JFK-BOS
flight was serviced directly by Delta. However we had to sit in the plane for
two hours at the gate, first because of a passenger list reconciliation
issue, after that the ground crew had got their push bar broken at an other
gate, and finally they had to give priority to incoming planes for other gates.
So when I arrived, Boston was already in the
dark.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>After
picking up my car I had problems with the DE-DOT (Delaware Department of
Transportation, my cy is based in DE). For being allowed to fix my EZ-Pass (a
RFID box for passing toll booths on the highways in the North-East, cf. <a href="http://www.ezpassde.com/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.ezpassde.com/</a>) to the windshield
of the rental car, I normally had to phone for them to register the car license
number, but new regulations require this to be communicated by fax. A the Hertz
exit gate one just has to show one's driver license (no faxing facility), so I
trespassed a bit for the Ted Williams tunnel (the EZ-Pass worked
anyhow).</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>On
the way back home I had to pay 25 USD at the Delta booth for excess weight. They
didn't want to say how much overweight it was. I controlled in Brussels: it was
just 2.5 kg excess. This is the new Delta versus the old Delta: A year ago I had
a similar problem in Las Vegas and they advised me to repack a bit into my hand
luggage. New regulations are clearly less customer
friendly.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>D –
The stay</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>I
usually stay for some extra days, for recuperating from jet lag and for getting
week-end rates.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>The
MIT event was in the Marriott, at a special rate of 259 USD. For the other
nights they wanted to charge USD 440, so I took some other hotels the night
before, and 2 nights after.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>People not used to US practices should know that US rates
generally are not all-in, but additional taxes are levied, plus tips are
expected (in some restaurants they announce on the menu they charge 18 percent
on your credit card if you forget to tip).</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>For
giving an idea of the taxes: on the 259 USD for the Marriott, you pay
additionally 14.76 USD State Tax, 10.36 City Tax and 7.12 USD Cnctr tax
(whatever that is, convention center tax?) for each
night.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>For
the night before the seminar I reserved at the Radisson in Plymouth (164 USD +
5.7 perc state tax + 4 perc local tax). Plymouth and Deerfield were my
traditional week-end places when I had to stay in Springfield MA in my Monsanto
time in an earlier life.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>Since
it was dark, I relied on my TomTom 910 for guiding me, but that thing was not
updated yet for the new "Route 44" in the Plymouth area, so I drove into
nothingness for the GPS system, but I could recover at an exit after a dozen of
miles.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>The
restaurant at the Radisson was already closed when I arrived, but I found the
"East Bay Grill" open, a combination of a dancing with a restaurant. The food
was OK, the noise was terrible.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>Next
morning I did a walk in Plymouth (The stone the Pilgrim Fathers have apparently
set foot on is conserved in a kind of temple. Every nation has its symbols,
foreigners do not easily understand). (<a href="http://www.plymouth-ma.gov/Public_Documents/index" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.plymouth-ma.gov/Public_Documents/index</a>
<span>
</span>and <a href="http://www.visit-plymouth.com/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.visit-plymouth.com/</a>)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>At noon I
did some shopping in the Independence Mall (<a href="http://www.independencemall.com/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.independencemall.com/</a>) – I always forget things when traveling, and quite some
shops and malls are fortunately open on Sundays in the
US.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>In the
afternoon I went to the Mayfair at Harvard, a kind of fancy fair organized by
the students, with quite some attractions, bands and little stands for selling
all kind of junk. (<a href="http://www.harvardsquare.com/mayfair/index.php" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.harvardsquare.com/mayfair/index.php</a>). When in Boston I usually pass at the COOP
book shop at Harvard square
(<a href="http://store.thecoop.com/coopstore/estore_home.jsp" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://store.thecoop.com/coopstore/estore_home.jsp</a>), </span><span>one
of the best book shops I know in the US. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>My
traditional place to eat at the site is a little Mexican snack: Felipe's
Taqueria, 83 Mt. Auburn Street: 4 USD + tax for a large
Burrito.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>A
couple of years ago <span> </span>I had problems
of getting a COOP-card at Harvard because they didn't consider me as student, I
could get my card without problems though at the smaller COOP-shop at Kendall,
which is MIT-oriented</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>Curious is that the COOP just services both MIT and
Harvard in Cambridge MA, but there is no connection with the nearby Boston
University, just south of the Carles River.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>After
the seminar I had booked for 2 nights in Salem (<a href="http://www.salem.org/index.asp" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.salem.org/index.asp</a></span><span>)
(159 USD at the Salem Inn + 7.95 USD state tax + 7.47 USD City Tax, this time
including a little continental breakfast)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>I
initially planned to visit some witch houses, but a lady at the MIT conference
recommended the "Peabody-Essex museum and a walk at the Marginal Way in
Ogunquit.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>Salem
("place of peace", replacing since 1628 the original indian name: Naumkeag
"fishing place") is known for the witch trials (in 1692), however most cases
refer to the former Salem-village, which is now incorporated as Danvers
(<a href="http://www.danvers.govoffice.com/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.danvers.govoffice.com/</a>), but Salem-town remains the tourist attraction
point.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>I
found some books at the Salem visitors'
center:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>-
Salem, Cornerstones of a Historic City, commonwealth Editions, Berverly, MA,
1999, ISBN 1-889833-09-6, 138 pp., a well documented historical overview, with
nice pictures, covering all historical aspects of the
town.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>-
Marilynne K. Roach, The Salem Witch Trials, a day-by-day chronicle, 2002, Taylor
Trade Publishing, Lanham, ISBN 1-58979-132-0, xlvii + 689
pp.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>-
Paul Boyer & Stephen Nissenbaum, Salem Possessed, the social origins of
witchcraft, 1974, Harvard University Press, ISBN 0-674-78526-6, xxi + 231 pp.
(situating the witchcraft issue in the context of the political stride between
Salem-town and Salem-village at the time)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>Interesting for this list may also
be:</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>-
John G. Rodgers, Origin of Sea Terms, 1985, The American Maritime Library, vol.
IX, Mystic Seaport, Mystic CT, ISBN 0-913372-31-5, xv + 215
pp.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>The
Peabody-Essex Museum in Salem (<a href="http://www.pem.org/homepage/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://www.pem.org/homepage/</a>) claims to be the oldest museum in the US, with a
heritage from the "East India Marine Society". It has Marine sections, Native
American Sections, Chinese, Japanese and Korean art sections etc. Really
worthwhile. (Entrance USD 13 + USD 4 for the Chinese
house)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>In the
afternoon I had a short drive to Ogunquit in Maine (<a href="http://ogunquit.govoffice.com/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">http://ogunquit.govoffice.com/</a>). (My TomTom GPS steared me to Main Street in Wells
i.s.o. Main Street in Ogunquit, fortunately the distance between the two is a
bit less than 10 miles). The Marginal Way is a very nice walkway along the
shore, with sight at first at the Ogunquit sand beach, but ending in the more
rocky Perkins Cove. I had difficulty in finding the access to this walkway
(poorly indicated), but it is really worthwhile. I learned Ogunquit is a
preferred site for gay and lesbian events, but on the walkway I encountered
mostly families and elderly people, many of them speaking a kind of Acadian
French.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span> </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>When
traveling in the US one sees a lot of stars-and-stripes flags at private homes.
I think we hardly know this kind of expressive patriotism in Europe. Maybe we
lost it after the nationalistic excesses in WWII. I also think TV-networks, like
Fox, while appealing to conservative Americans, would rather well do for pepping
up European hooligans.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>A
lesson from Salem I think is that Americans are strongly driven by their
beliefs, ready for action, easy to motivate and to influence, but often driven
too far in their enthusiasm and difficult to stop (as in the witch
cases)</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span><span> </span></span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>A few things about
tipping,</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>Since in most countries of Europe rates are all
in (except for a small free rounding-off incidentally), tipping in the US is a
difficult issue for Europeans.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>In restaurants I tip when I get "some" table
service, be it just some ice water, while the rest is on the self-service buffet
table. In an earlier life I learned in Springfield MA one does not tip when the
owner of the business is servicing himself (but that is difficult to find out).
Restaurant tipping is expected between 15 and 20 percent. </span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>In the eighties just a dollar note was often
left on breakfast tables, but, since breakfast rates go up to 20 USD in major
hotels, it is a bit under expectance level.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>I leave 1 USD to 1.5 USD / night for room
cleaning in the hotel room at the end of my stay.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>When getting some help with luggage (e.g. from
shuttle car drivers, I usually give USD 1 / bag at the end of the
trip.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span>I guess I'm not too far from
expected.</span></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;"><span></span></p>
</font><p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><font size="2"><span>So
far my reflections after my trip to New-England.</span></font></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><font size="2"><span></span> </font></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><font size="2"><span>Regards,</span></font></p>
<p style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; font-family: arial,sans-serif;"><font size="2"><span>Roger<br><br>----------<br><br></span></font>From: <span style="color: rgb(121, 6, 25);">R. F.
Hahn</span><span style="font-weight: normal;">
<<a href="mailto:sassisch@yahoo.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)">
sassisch@yahoo.com</a>></span><br>Subject: Travels<br><br>Thanks bunches, Roger!<br><br>Judging by your quotes at the beginning, it looks as though this is meant to be a (the first) contribution to our travel section. Is this correct? In any case thanks and kudos to you.
<br><br>Folks, I really do think this travel section thing is a great idea, especially if it contained rarely mentioned destinations, even little blurbs about single places, or just a tip to stop at a certain spot in town to take a look at a remarkable building from the outside, or what places to visit to hear people talk in the old lingos. What do you think? Wouldn't you be able to at least write single paragraphs (as brief as two or three lines each) about places you find worthwhile or remarkable? Anonymous contributions would be fine.
<br><br>I really favor the title "Lowlands Trekker" for the feature. What does everyone else think about that? Any better idea? "Lowlands Rover"? "Lowlands Voyager"? "Lowlands Paths"? "Lowlands Pathfinder"? "Lowlands Scout"? "Trek" is after all an old Lowlandic word, isn't it?
<br><br>Hey! Let's promote the Lowlands (in the widest) sense, especially put those parts on the map that tourism has been neglecting so far!<br><br>Reinhard?Ron<br></p><font style="font-family: arial,sans-serif;" size="2">
<br></font>