Author Archives: JJD
Memorial Day Weekend at Whistler
Memorial Day weekend! I’ve always thought of this weekend as the first weekend of summer, when the days are warm and long, and you have an extra day to get out and enjoy the weather before it gets hot. Memorial Day is not quite so summery here in the Pacific Northwest (that won’t really come until July), but with […]
Amsterdam
After finishing meetings in Berlin on Wednesday, my colleague and I flew to Amsterdam for another series of meetings there. These meetings could not have been more different! The Berlin meetings were formal (in a conference room), highly contentious and underscored by deep distrust between the two parties, but the Amsterdam meetings were casual (in […]
Meetings in Berlin (Day 2)
The downside of being in Berlin for business meetings is that I have to spend all day sitting in those meetings instead of running around experiencing the city. But the upside is that after those meetings, the counterparty takes us out for dinner at a fancy rooftop restaurant with terrific views . . . . […]
Meetings in Berlin (Day 1)
I’m in Berlin for work this week. It’s a tough job, but someone’s got to do it! I got in yesterday and discovered that my hotel (which was booked by my colleague) is located right in the heart of the old historical center. That meant I could go on an evening walk after dinner and […]
Amsterdam does airports right
For example, they’ve got lovely outdoor seating areas that are perfect on a warm spring day after you’ve sat on a plane for nine hours and your connecting flight has been delayed. Also, not only do they sell Spa water (a delicious Belgian spring water), they sell Spa Marie-Henriette, which is only “lightly bubbly” and, […]
Gritti in SEA
It has been so much fun having Grit stay with me this week. During the days I’ve gone to work while she explored the city. At night we’d meet up back at the house to make dinner and talk and talk and talk. As Friday approached, and with it the end of Grit’s stay, […]
I should fly from Canada more often
Vancouver is a fun and pretty city (more on that later), and it’s airport now ranks near the top in term of painless/efficient security experience. See you in Berlin!
The House: Not boring (part 2)
My new blue walls are done! Here’s how the room looks without the plastic and drop cloths. Now I need to figure out lamps and artwork . . . .
The House: Not boring
Remember how I took three months to select paint colors for my house? Well, you’d think that in that time I’d have come up with the perfect palette and chosen colors that I loved and would never want to change. Turns out, not so much. From the beginning I’d been toying with the idea of […]
Gritti in PDX
One of my best friends from my days studying in France is a German girl named Grit. She lives in Berlin, works as a freelance journalist for the Deutsche Welle, and is one of those special souls who, if I didn’t already have a twin sister, I might have suspected of being my twin separated at birth. About […]
A More Gentlemanlike Manner 