Bad news .... More bad news .... Great News!

Some people in my family knew that I was going to short 8 day trip to Ireland. The first four days I was actually there for work, I was attending a conference. I was able to establish some good networks and I am hoping that I can continue to meet more people and further my career. The last four days were vacation, I traveled around Ireland a bit. The four days were definitely not enough time but I am just happy I was able to go. I promise there will be some great pictures, movies and many post all about Ireland.

Dublin castle, Dublin Ireland

Bad news - Sept 6th
But I first have to tell you about the Bad news. =(  Only a few people know that I basically live off my ipod touch. It is my calender, my alarm clock and when I am behind on my blog post (like I am now) the notes feature on my ipod becomes my notebook where I write details about my adventures so that I can later put it on my blog.  I love my ipod touch. Well .. during the 'conference tour' I lost my ipod. =(  The coordinators for the conference had people looking everywhere.

During the tour we took two buses to the Ireland research center, then we went to the research fields and then we took a tour of an Irish dairy farm. They looked everywhere on the buses and the research center. They said that they will keep an eye out for the ipod on the research field and the dairy farm. But I knew if they did not find it in the buses or the research center that the ipod was  just gone. I was and still am really frustrated at myself for losing it. And I still feel a little lost without it but I am getting by.

More bad news - Sept 7th
The very next morning I woke up to my apple laptop crashing. *sigh*  My boyfriend (C) and I knew that this NVIDA graphics crash would happen eventually the timing was just awful I just lost my ipod the night before. Since I knew this graphic crash was coming I knew that it would be best to have some proof so I took some pictures and a video. Just in case Apple was going to dispute the problem.

NOTE: Even though the video says 0:00 for time - It DOES work. Just click the play button.

The good thing is that since this NVIDA graphics problem is well known issue Apple will assist in the repair. If you laptop is purchased within 4 years of the graphics crash they will repair the laptop for free. *sigh* My lap top was just over 4 years old when the crash occurred.  Long story short --- Apple will provide the part at no charge I just have to pay for the labor.  I still consider that a win for me because instead of paying $900 to get my laptop fixed I am only paying $200.

Note: When I went to pick up my laptop, there was no charge for the labor. It seems that Apple actually paid for all of it, parts and labor. I was so thrilled. I kept asking the guy behind the counter  "are you sure?" He replied "You really want to pay for this!?" I just wanted to make sure the company that did the labor to get screwed.  But I really did not have to pay for anything, that news made my day.

Great News!! - Sept 12th 11:00 pm Copenhagen, Denmark
You could just imagine how depressed I was -- I lost my ipod and now my laptop but I really tried to enjoy my four vacation days in Ireland. And I did have lots of pictures to show you all. But now that I was back in Denmark I knew that I had a lot of work to do and I was not looking forward to it.

Originally I was supposed to land in Copenhagen at 10 pm, giving me plenty of time to catch the 11:10pm train back to the town where I live. Well the plane left Dublin late so we were behind schedule. I landed in Copenhagen at 10:30pm, I quickly made my way through the almost empty airport, quickly got through passport control and then waited and waited and waited for my luggage to arrive.

While I was waiting I was freaking out, 'What if I miss this train? Is there another one?'. While I was waiting for my luggage to arrive I was using my cellphone to call my boyfriend (C) to ask him to look up if there is another train and when it would be. I called both of his offices he was not at either one, I was pissed. I need someone to help me there while I wait for my luggage. So I called my dad and told him the situation. I told him if I do not call back on 20 minutes I made the train. If I do call back I obviously missed the train. He said 'OK I will stay near the computer so that I can look this up for you'.

At 11:04pm my luggage showed up, I grabbed it and started running to the where the trains are. I went through the final security doors and start quickly making my way through the crowd to get to the train. All of a sudden I hear a voice say 'Miss can you tell me how to get to ________?'  (The blank is the town in Denmark where I live.)  I turn around and look and there is my boyfriend!!! What he was not scheduled to come over and people who know him know that he HATES to fly.  He said "SURPRISE!"  I had to touch him to make sure he was real I just could not believe it for a while. I was hugging him when I realized 'TRAIN' so I grabbed his hand and started running to the train.

We made the train! During the entire train ride I could not stop hugging him I could not believe that my boyfriend who hates to fly came all the way to Denmark to see me.  I was so happy.  I sometimes give (C) crap about how he is not romantic, I can not longer do that. It was so romantic for him to come all the way over here and surprise me.  (C) was able to stay for 12 days and I was able to get 5 more days of vacation while he was here. (C) helped me get my apple laptop sorted out and fixed. I showed (C) around Copenhagen, taking him on a canal tour. Over the weekend we went to a free Jazz concert in NyHavn, went swing dancing in Nørrport and  found this great Italian restaurant. There was one day we just walked around the town where I live, holding hands, talking and just enjoyed each others company.

I was sad to see him get back on a plane on September 23rd, but I really enjoyed my surprise and the time I got with my boyfriend.