Arriving in the States

Originally written on Monday, 14 november 2011:

Just a quick note to let you all know that all has been well so far. It's 5.30 in the morning now and I'm all ready to go.

Flight went without a hitch, had very pleasant conversations with my fellow passenger next to me. So pleasant, in fact, that I may have accidentally divulged many company secrets. So I killed him in the pre-customs restrooms to be sure. Nice guy. Worked for Philips.

Car hire also went without a hitch, from an organizational perspective, that is. My own gaffe was that I accidentally checked out the wrong car from the carpark, because the very nice lady at the desk wrote down the parking number a little illegible (and that's the story I stick by). Anyway, on checkout, this was pointed out to me and I had to reverse and put all my stuff in the very nice car that was actually assigned to me. Pity though, would have been nice to drive a BMW.

The drive to Concord went fine, except for the minor detail that someone who shall remain nameless for now set the instruction voice to 'Snoop Dog' on my otherwise exemplary prepared navigation device, the annoyance of which only became clear as I was negotiating the complex roads leading off the airport and into the city of Boston. I had to endure him until I was well out of the thick of it before I could pull over and change it to someone whose statements actually contributed to my navigation. I literally had no idea what he was saying half the time.