Off to Europe

Just as I was about to leave for work, at 9 AM, I got a phone call from my boss, Fred Aabedi. He said I needed to be on a 3PM United Airlines flight for Paris, to do a "proof of concept" (POC) of my Cobol API program for a potentially major customer. This had been looming as a possibility for some time, and I'd gotten a passport so I'd be ready to make trips such as this - but I hadn't expected to be given so little notice. And Fred said that I should pack for two weeks, because after the week in Paris, I might be going to England for a second POC. So I spent the morning in a rush, packing and driving to Monrovia to get my plane ticket and other stuff I needed to take along (manuals, extra batteries for my laptop, etc.), and made it to the airport with little time to spare (half an hour early for an international flight).

But soon after three, I was on my way to Europe for the first time in my life. I had a business class window seat, and passed the time reading and watching our progress on my video map display.