By now you must have seen these weird drawings a few times. If you ever wondered what they are, it’s simple: 2D bar codes. If you have a bar code scanner, you can decode the information contained within. The cool thing is that almost any recent phone with a camera (iThings, Android) can be turned into a bar code scanner with a free app. And voilà! Incidentally, this one is my favorite quote.

I you would like to generate your own QR codes, go to http://zxing.appspot.com/generator/. The possibilities …

Then we went sledding this morning. I forgot my phone, but as soon as we get home, we’re going again. Looking forward to sledding down the hill with RATM blaring outta my hat. I must say, the Germans (mine in particular) know how to do the Christmas…

An hour later. No, not yet. too early. Come back in 30 minutes, please. He’s still cheerful. I wish I had a gurney and a fishing knife (obscure G. Carlin reference).

10 minutes later I check in and go through security where I’m randomly checked again. Two out of three. Not bad. I’m at the gate. Aussie dude is there, still. Beth got on the early flight – she will make her interview. Paul is still around, looking like I feel. And a large, fresher batch of customers to disappoint. More wait, more films. You must watch “The shooting of Thomas Hurndale”.

Its 11.40, the board is flashing ” … boarding”, but there still is no plane. The EZJ desk is empty. We don’t know what the fuck. Aussie dude steps to the desk, turns the mic on and goes “Sorry, but the flight is an hour late. EZJ won’t bother telling us ‘cos they suck. So sit back, relax and enjoy your wait”.

An hour later, the plane finally shows up. The boarding starts, and Glasgow (via a bus and a train from Edinburgh) is nearly in sight. That’s when the fire alarm comes on and finishes blowing my mind. In 10 different fuckin’ languages. I dream of two-by-fours …

I made two new friends, Paul, and Beth. The latter has an interview for a position as an air traffic controller. O irony. The board eventually switches our departure time to 1.40. Which seems odd, since if the plane was in the air at 23.40, ad the trip to London is about an hour …. We do the math (o the complete surprise of the EZJ staff) ad are now told that the plane never in fact took off. For lack of staff. WTF?!
The board switches one last time to announce a 2.40 departure time, just before the staff announces that flight is cancelled. Sorry for the inconvenience. No talk of hotel accommodations, rebooking, nothing. Just go get your luggage, and meet us at the desk. Fuck. I ead for the desk as the board behind me still flashes “EZY235 … 2.40 … boarding”.

Back at the EZJ desk the same EZJ b…ch lets us know that:
1. Yes, we’ll be spending the night at the airport. The hotels are all booked out. Tough shit, fuck off.
2. There are 3 flights to Edinburgh the next morning (8.05, 8.45, and 11.30) that are slowly filling up as people trickle forward. The next flight to Glasgow is at 17.45.

I wave a feeble-looking ‘ol lady ahead of me. She takes the last seat on the 8.45 flight. Of course. I am booked on the 11.30 the next morning. I give the EZJ b…ch my dirtiest look, which can be that scary since she gives me her whitest smile. Cunt.
The feeble ‘ol lady is nowhere to be found. Probably sprinted for the nearest open bench to get some shut eye. Said benches are now of course all occupied. The terminal looks like a freaking refugee camp. People sleeping in every position, everywhere. A sit on the ground for a while and fall asleep. Kinda.

Why is it that as soon as it snows, or threatens to snow, the entire United Kingdom is thrown into chaos? I’m talking snow-which-will-melt-the-next-day here. None of that Russian winter stuff. This entire island is north off Montreal. Same latitude as most of … CANADA! It’s supposed to snow here. Yet people act all shocked when it does. And more importantly, all hell breaks loose transport system-wise. Alright then, it’s not a easyjet problem(I hear you say)? Actually it is.

I thought I’d be clever and fly back from London instead of taking the overnight train. You know, to save time. My aforementioned cleverness also led me to buy the cheapest/latest flight out of Stansted. Biiiig mistake. Since I don’t like London at all, I showed up rather early at the airport (about 7 hours early). Everything is going fine so far, even found somewhere to plug-in so I can work. Then around 17.00 I hear the announcement that an Easyjet flight Glasgow has a 2 hrs delay. Not my flight mind you, but I go and check it out anyway. It turns out that due to mechanical issues the 16.45 flight is delayed for 2 hrs. Since there is just ONE plane going back and forth between Stansted and Glasgow (that’s right) it snowballs into delaying EVERYTHING by two hrs. My flight now is supposed to leave at 22.40 instead of 20.45. I then try to get onto one of the earlier easyjet flights and I am told by and incompetent, but otherwise perfectly pleasant bloke, that that is not possible. This is interesting, as you’ll see later.
I go sit back down and wait. The flight is then delayed further (23.50), I don’t really know why. They don’t tell us. They don’t seem to know. Or care.
At around 19.00 I start queuing for my free drink coupon and meet a pleasant family from Glasgow and a loud Australian dude. Very nice. Everyone is trying to get onto the earlier flight. It has now suddenly become possible. Go figure. I try to get onto the Edinburgh flight by going back out through security and racing to the (unmanned) EZJ desk. The girl behind the counter tells me it’s too late. The things is already boarding. Sorry.
I go back through security, and towards my gate. Where a bunch of people are still waiting for their plane to arrive. I check the board. Sure enough it’s the flight to Edinburgh I just tried to get onto. Curses ensue …
A couple of hours and a movie later (“Leaving Las Vegas” is really depressing; bad choice given the situation, I know) the board finally shows “Final Call” for our flight. It is now 23.30 and the end is in sight! I have now been at the airport for 10 hrs.

Let’s see, since I last posted (a little over a year ago), Steffi has moved back to Berlin (no jobs to be had in Glesga), we’ve gotten engaged (to each other), we’ve planned our wedding (June) and our honeymoon (July), and we are shopping for a flat. I am also now looking for a job in Berlin.

In more recent news, we’re spending Christmas/New year with her parents and mine in Casablanca (or near Casablanca – that’s for a later post). We leave in three days. It’s going to be weird but, hopefully, fun.

Why is it I don’t post more often?

Duke of Wellington

I may have mentionned in the past that I had a lukewarm first reaction to Glasgow. Some might even say I didn’t like it here. I mean with all the people running around drunk by dinner time, the junkies, the prostitutes and other neds©(*), can you really blame the guy who’s lived in Berlin for two years? But under its seemingly ragged exterior Glesga may have hidden qualities. The West-End ain’t half bad, and Ashton lane is just cute. But the neighborhood that’s really started turning things around for me is Partick. Kaska and I went Christmas shopping there a couple of days ago, and there is a live-able atmosphere to the place. It almost had a Berlin on a Saturday morning feel to it. I hear even better things about my future neighborhood of Shawlands. If those rumors pan out, then Glesga and I may turn a corner.

Another redeeming quality of the city is its people. Glaswegians are amongst the funniest people I ever met, and I am from Morocco. Take this picture for example. This statue of the Duke of Wellington is set in Merchant Square, in front of the Gallery of Modern Art. It is a Glasgow institution that, periodically, someone would climb up and place a road cone over the rider’s head. I read somewhere that sometimes you would see it with a cone on the horse’s head as well, but that true Glaswegians consider this a faux-pas. There is something wickedly funny about considering two cones on a statue bad taste, while one cone is juuust right …

(*)ned(s)©: Non-Educated Delinquant. Neds may be easily recognized by their uniform: trainers, track suit, baseball cap. Glasgow claims to be ground-zero of the ned epidemic. I believe it.

Wow! A whole year since my last post. I’ve been in Glasgow since March and it’s starting to really grow on me. At first it was off-putting. Here’s a piece of advice: never, ever live near the main train station of a major metropole. It’s really very depressing. Well, except in Berlin – mmmm! living near Hauptbahnoff! But I digress … Around this time last year, Steffi and I were discussing her coming to live with me after a year of working for her Spanish company. Then, of course, she visited Glesga (In March), and had the funniest reaction (you know, the now famous “these people are so weird!”-reaction …), and decided that the UK was definitely NOT for her. And while it was entertaining but it also made me really sad. I didn’t see how another year of separation would pan out. Then she visited again, and again with her mom. Then I visited in Berlin in June, then there was the Paris trip, and again Berlin last November. At some point in that 8 months period, I’m not quite sure how though I hope I kow why, she changed her mind. Perhaps it was that the Spanish firm made her move from warm and comfy Vigo, to a small and cold village an hour outside of Berlin. Perhapsit was my incessant whinning. But the bottom line is:my girl is coming! I am now looking for flats, while making plans for the christmas break, while simultaneously  driving everyone around me bonkers by asking them repeatedly “Did I tell you Steffi is moving to Glasgow?”.

]]> http://moorishgeek.wordpress.com/2008/12/16/did-i-tell-you-steffi-is-moving-to-glasgow/feed/ 1 hakimmeskine Under the Galician Sun http://moorishgeek.wordpress.com/2008/10/27/and-were-back/ http://moorishgeek.wordpress.com/2008/10/27/and-were-back/#comments Mon, 27 Oct 2008 04:13:21 +0000 Hakim http://moorishgeek.wordpress.com/?p=31 ]]> Damn it! I have insomnia again; too much to do, too little time. Sleeping alone does not agree with me – gives me waaay too much time to think up stupid shit. For example:

Read this op-ed article by Frank Rich, interesting in and of itself. Now (without googling him) answer this: In your opinion, is Frank Rich a liberal?
I your answer is yes, try to find what, if anything, lead you to that conclusion. What does that say about the liberal/conservative divide in America? And do you think I’ve been watching/reading too much news?

In other news, and since it’s been months and months since I posted anything, I’ve discovered the best band to come out of Morocco since Nass El Ghiwane (that’s right, I said it!). Hoba Hoba Spirit are mind-blowing, amazing, and funny. Funnier still if you speak French and Moroccan darija (a bit of tachilhite wouldn’t hurt either I suppose).

And did I mention that last.fm rocks, literally rocks? I mean seriously, you should have heard of it by now. If you don’t feel like constantly downloading music (illegally or otherwise) it’s a great way to enjoy the music YOU like, without the hassle of carrying it around or, for that matter, paying for it. Check it out, it’s worth it.

Over and out. See you next year.