I don’t know how I did it, but I did. Tuesday morning I unknowingly figured out the art of time travel.

Maybe I’ve become too comfortable with travel. Or bored. I don’t know, but I know I should have planned things better. I had a day’s work to be done in Boston Tuesday and so I scheduled an early flight to get a head start. Thinking that the Boston flight would last as long as my familiar flights to Newark, I saw the arrival time of 8 AM and assumed the flight would leave at 7.

Uh, no.

I woke at 5, showered and dressed, and kissed my sleeping wife goodbye. As I picked up my bag, I fished out my flight details and got a shocker: my flight was leaving at 6:05. I had thirty-five minutes to be on board!

I raced to the kitchen and grabbed two granola bars: my breakfast. I remembered I had promised to leave a picture on the fridge for the kids, so I quickly drew a heart on it. Then I bounded down the front steps and drove away, thinking there would be no way this would work.

The one advantage to being late for an early flight is traffic: there’s usually none. I-540 had few cars and those it did were moving at a nice clip. I behaved myself in traffic, too, getting passed by a dozen cars on my way.

It was about 5:40 when I drove up to the airport. I parked on the fourth parking deck and checked in at the American Airlines ticket counter. Then I hotfooted it to security, where two gates were open and only one passenger was in each line.

As luck would have it, my flight was on an Embrarer jet, so it was parked all the way at the end of Terminal C. Without even tying my shoes, I bounded down the concourse, reaching an empty gate and a closed jetway door.

“Mr. Turner, I presume,” the gate agent said with a smirk. Out of breath, I nodded. “I was waiting to see if you were going to check in,” she said as she turned toward the ticket machine.

I moved to follow her. “No, stay there! Stay there!” she barked. I felt like putting my hands up or something but instead I just stopped in my tracks.

She fetched the ticket from the machine and handed it to me. “Have a good day,” she told me as I raced down the jetway.

I walked into a mostly-full plane and calmly proceeded to the back of the plane. No one even batted an eye.

I casually looked at my watch and my eyes about fell out of my head. It was 5:55. At 5:30 I was kissing Kelly goodbye. I had gone from home to my seat in an astounding twenty-five minutes! We didn’t even pull away for another ten minutes. Amazing!

I still can’t figure out how I walked out of the house, drove to the airport (legally even), parked, checked in at the counter, passed through security, ran from one end of the terminal to the other, and took my seat in only 25 minutes. I should have never made it, but I did.

Maybe I’ve got some luck left in me, after all.

I don’t think I’ve ever posted poetry on my blog before, so here goes. There may be more where this came from.

A cure for parched lips
High-gravity beer in hand
Not just in my mind

Tasty beer is best
When its served while its still fresh
Beer does not age well
Continue reading →

Its after midnight here but I can’t sleep without posting a few more quick hits.

• During breakfast I looked up at the TV to see one of the most bizarre sporting competitions I think I’ve ever seen. A stock car was swerving through a snow-filled, winding, single-lane country road at breakneck speed, narrowly missing trees, farms, fences (and apparently judges) along the way. I expect crazy stuff like this from Japan, but there it was. Then I remembered how stock-car racing comes from the days of running moonshine over mountain roads just like these. Things really do come full circle, don’t they?
• Earlier this week I walked into one of the busiest bookstores I’ve ever seen. Six floors of books, filled with people browsing. The Chinese have a thirst for knowledge.
• Chinese are crazy about their mobile phones. Everywhere I looked someone was either talking or texting. Bored guards at tourists sites would look away from the “ancient relics” they were supposed to be protecting to sneak a little texting in. Even the hotel receptionist had to be chided by her manager when the receptionist eagerly reached for her ringing mobile phone while checking me in.
• My flight from Shanghai was on a Boeing 777-200, one of the few Boeings I’ve seen here. Airbus has this market locked up.
• The seats of a Boeing 777 are far more comfortable than the equivalent Airbus A330. I couldn’t wait to get off the plane I took to Shanghai.
• There is no such thing as boarding groups in Chinese airports. There is no such concept of “lines” or “queues” here, either. Everything is one mad rush after another.
• People really do bound out of their seats as soon as the plane touches down.
• Air China shows video in the cabin of the plane’s takeoff and landing, shot from two cameras on the plane’s nose. It’s fun to watch from this perspective.
• Shanghai is adding parks in an effort to clear the polluted air.
• Shanghai is gonna need a lot of parks.
• There are no open fields in Shanghai or Beijing for ordinary citizens to use. There are no public soccer fields. I saw two basketball courts during my whole visit and they were both in front of army barracks.
• Advertisements are everywhere. At the airport, you’ll find ads covering the jetway, headrests, tray tables, even the baggage carousels. I think airlines wait to put the bags on the carousel to make you look at the ads longer.
• Even the toll booths have ads. For a while I thought we were paying tolls to Sinochem.
• You’re more likely see monuments to the UPS delivery guy than to Chairman Mao, though I did see a bust or two of Mr. Mao in some restaurants.
• His countrymen still hold Mr. Mao in high regard.
• I always pack far more for a trip than I need.
• A tourist map is essential for getting around any city where you don’t speak the language. Pointing at a picture can be a real lifesaver.
• One hears horns here so often that they become background noise. The other day I almost stepped in front of a bus because of this.
• Most taxis I’ve taken have small microphones on both sides of the dashboard. Their purpose is still unclear. No microphones are visible in the back, where customers are most likely to sit.
• People cough a lot here, and for good reason.
• I wonder if the respiratory illnesses caused by China’s air pollution makes the Chinese more vulnerable to catching whatever Respiratory Pandemic Du Jour may be going around at any particular time.
• My eyes were red for over four days when I arrived in Beijing. At first I thought it was due to lack of sleep from my long flight. When it persisted, I was beginning to wonder if I’d contracted hepititis. Now I chalk it up to China’s horrendous air pollution.
• The air here turns your mucous black. Honestly. Like you work in a coal mine or something.
• China’s electricity, like America’s, is primarily generated from coal.
• I’ve seen so many dazzling buildings that they begin to look alike. One building tonight turned my head, however. It was a ten story building that was nothing more than a crumbling shell. With gleaming buildings going up on seemingly every piece of land I was frankly amazed to see a pile of rubble left standing.
• China has an insatiable appetite for concrete and steel.
• There is no such thing in China as too many people on an elevator. Or subway. Or bus.
• The word “license” was always spoken in English during my training, leading me to wonder if there is no Chinese equivalent.
• Shanghai is tall but Beijing is wide.
• Foreigners here don’t seem fully accepted. Though my Chinese colleagues were generally friendly in our business settings, few seemed to want to sit next to us Westerners at lunches or dinners. Partners who didn’t know Gary and I would move to other tables when we sat down. Maybe we’re reading too much into it but I did get a hint of that vibe.

  I can’t fault them if its true. It may be that it will take a little time for the Chinese to be comfortable with non-Chinese. Most Chinese have never traveled outside their borders and some have never left their own village. Diversity takes time.

• As I was wandering today around a popular tourist spot in Shanghai, an adorable little girl – maybe two years old – smiled and cheerfully pointed at me. I took her and her family as being tourists in Shanghai, too. While her mother explained who (or what) I was (and I can only in polite terms), I fished out a photo of my kids. While she studied her American counterparts her mother pointed at the picture and told her “baby … baby.” It was a nice little international sharing moment.
• The only black people I’ve met here were my South African friends at the hotel. The only ones I’ve seen in public are Shaquille O’Neal, Kevin Garnett, Tiger Woods and a few other American athletes who adorn huge ads around town. I got the impression from watching in restaurants that Indians here may not be highly regarded.
• One Chinese I spoke with made note of a Chinese ethnic group’s darker skin when describing another province. He gave no explanation.
• China changes so quickly that any insights I may have gotten right are already wrong.

More China Quick Hits

• VW is the most popular brand of car here. The reason is that VW was the first foreign carmaker to arrive, setting up a jointly-owned factory here as early as 1982.
• It takes time to crack the Chinese market. If a company is willing to invest the time it can be richly rewarded.
• For nearly everything there’s the tourist price and there’s the Chinese price. The final price is usually even lower.
• Recent pics on the Internets show the People’s Congress delagates all snoring in their seats: China’s government at work.
• At my Beijing hotel I met a group of very friendly South African civil engineers here gathering resources and knowledge for building a hydroelectric plant in South Africa. I shall have to visit Cape Town some day.
• I’m confused about how employment works here. I’m told there’s full employment here, yet I saw more than one beggar near the tourist sights of Shanghai (and none in Bejing, I might add). If you’re a firm, are you forced to hire someone simply to give them a job? If they’re incompetent or lazy or not a good fit for the firm, can you fire them? Does the worker have rights?
• Why are Wal-Mart’s Chinese workers the only ones allowed to have labor unions?
• Marco Polo was a blogger.
• There is a curious definition of precision here. Telephone cables are haphazardly strung in some parts of Beijing, while my colleagues freaked out when in the middle of a dull spot of training I suggested we take an impromptu break. I think in general the Chinese value punctuality.
• In an effort to control traffic, Shanghai charges $6,000 USD to license a car. Thus the license alone is often 30% of the car’s cost. One can license a moped here for a mere $1,000. Beijing has free licenses and chokes on the resulting traffic.
• Though cars are becoming more popular here, the horrendous traffic and high license fees make it usually faster to bike, walk, or take the subway.
• Subways are fast and efficient, yet very crowded. Few Westerners appear to take them, though most signs and announcements include English. Fares are 4 RMB in Shanghai and 3 RMB in Beijing, or roughly $0.40 and $0.50 USD, respectively.
• Smoking is allowed everywhere here, leading some Chinese to ignore no-smoking signs. Even so it seems smoking isn’t widespread. Only one of my dozen Chinese colleagues is a smoker.
• I heard a deep Southern accent in my Beijing hotel: a nice Mississippi man was making his third trip to China to adopt a child. Hearing him speak make me think of home. I even slipped some Southern back into my speech for the first time in months.
• My company has long used this atrocious cartoon for marketing our product. I’ve derided it equally as long. To my astonishment I gained some respect for it when I saw how easily it conveyed our product’s features to a non-English-speaking crowd.
• Most Chinese I’ve met love to laugh. They appreciate a good joke, but only as long as its not at the expense of another. The Chinese greatly value ‘face’ and how they’re perceived by their peers. Awkward situations are to be avoided at all times.
• Few Chinese wear jewelry. I never saw one wedding ring the whole time, and during my entire trip only saw two women wearing earrings. I find this ironic considering all the pearl necklaces and jade jewelry made here.
• The show of wealth is discouraged here. Word never got to Hong Kong.
• Some Chinese are not shy about bodily functions. I’ve seen more spitting and nose-picking here than I care to.
• Smiles are multilingual.
• In spite of my feeling very safe here, the Chinese are very protective of their belongings.
• NBA basketball star Yao Ming is China’s biggest celebrity by far, and not just in height. My Chinese friends watch NBA games. Most hold the local CBA teams in low regard.
• Women in many ways are considered equals here, in spite of stories of baby girls being put up for adoption. China has a history of powerful women, being on once ruled by an empress for many years. Some Chinese men will tell you that women are far better equipped than men for success in China.
• Never, ever tangle with a Chinese woman.
• In the past, Chinese couples may have regretted having a boy instead of a girl. This attitude is quickly changing, though. Couples now are happy to raise daughters as well as sons.
• Due to its one-child policy, China’s streets will never be filled with minivans. Nor will baby supply stores and the like catch on.
• Some Chinese looked wistful whenever I mentioned having two kids.
• Though cars are becoming more popular here, the horrendous traffic and high license fees make it frequently better to bike, walk, or take the subway.
• Beijing rush hour traffic was so bad it once took almost an hour to go 10km.
• As cars become more prevalent here, so will overweight Chinese.
• Business in China begins with the relationship. Always. Business grows from that. The Chinese invest heavily on courting their partners. They are not above getting them tanked in order to forge these friendships.
• Virtually no business in China is conducted over the phone. This is an insult to business partners. If it can’t happen face-to-face, it frequently doesn’t happen. Since China is a vast country this can pose some logistical problems.
• Chinese cities, and Shanghai in particular, has many tall buildings. The ones I’ve seen have modern fire-fighting measures like automatic sprinklers and plenty of fire extinguishers. All buildings have clearly-marked exit signs.
• I’ve not seen any fire trucks, or any ladder trucks, though I’m told they exist.
• Satellite dishes are everywhere. Their use makes the “great firewall of China” somewhat moot.
• Some internet sites here resolve to incorrect IP addresses. Wikipedia mirrors and dyndns.org sites seem to do this.
• In China, port forwarding is your friend.
• The horn is as important to taxi drivers as the steering wheel and stick shift. Frequently moreso.
• Taxi rides provide good, frightening entertainment. You must be especially brave to ride in the front seat: the best view to all this chaos.
• In Shanghai, any buildings shorter than 20 stories are endangered species. There are over 3,000 tall buildings here and cranes are everywhere putting up more.

Ni Hao! I’m off to see the Great Wall soon. Thought I’d post some Quick Hits about China.

• I’ve seen more VWs on the road than any other car. This is followed by Audis, Hyundais (most taxi fleets are VWs or Hyundai Elantras), Honda Accords, and a few unknown brands. I’ve seen a handful of Chryslers, Jeep Cherokees, Ford Focuses, and one Chevrolet. I’ve seen only one BMW and one large Mercedes-Benz, which seems rare to me.
• Anyone could drive in Beijing if it weren’t for all the other drivers, who are all out to kill you. The roads are fairly wide and neatly laid out in a way that makes sense. Driving is on the right side of the road. The signs include English and are very similar to those of Europe. The real issue, besides the crush of traffic from 30 million people, is that the concept of staying in a lane does not exist here. Drivers frequently make their own lanes, playing a game of chicken with those around them. Who gets a lane usually comes down to who is bravest. Death-defying lane changes not resulting in crunched metal or fatalities are usually met with nothing but a casual honk of the horn.

  During my cab ride to dinner last night we sailed past a police car waiting to cross the intersection. Though he had his lights blazing, even he wasn’t brave to race through this chaos. Driving here right out of a James Bond movie.

• Yesterday’s snow rain and rain seem to be gone today, at least for now. A dusting covers the rooftops and nothing more. The rain also had the welcome benefit of cleaning the air and cars, all of all are covered in soot. Beijing has little visible trash but it is a dirty city thanks to the polluted air (and water). Our tour guide remarked at the economic progress which has occured in his country over the last decade, but said it came at a large cost to the environment. How true.
• There are people in Beijing to do everything! Imagine a task usually accomplished with one or two Americans and you may find twice as many Chinese doing it here. I chalk it up to the incredibly cheap labor. It has the welcome effect of never waiting on anything – the staffs at most places I’ve visited are quick to help you and seem friendly.

  The government-run pearl store seemed to be stocked with bored saleswomen. If there are five people to help a customer that makes four others who stay bored out of their minds.

  More after today’s tour. Time for breakfast!

Saw a news story the other day saying that Middlebury college has banned Wikipedia citations in papers submitted by students. One professor said that the reason is that Wikipedia entries may not have been “fully vetted.” The NY Times article seems to try to frame this as a New-Media-Vs-Old-Media battle, but Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales agrees that Wikipedia shouldn’t be cited,because no encyclopedia should ever be cited in a research paper. Makes sense to me.

Anyone can add to Wikipedia, which I consider one of its strengths. Someone begins by adding information to a subject. Others are then free to mold that information as closely as possible to the truth. Experts often weigh in with factual information that is orders of magnitude more detailed and accurate than any publishing fact-checker could achieve.

Wikipedia is Open Source for facts. Everything’s laid out there to be debated. It doesn’t guarantee the information’s accuracy, but it does guarantee exposure to debate that will eventually lead it to accuracy.

I also love that Wikipedia’s entries are constantly evolving. Traditional encyclopedias are frequently out of date as soon as they are printed. Wikipedia is updated constantly.

Our understanding of things evolves as well. A description of electricity from the early 1900’s would look far different than today’s. The same with nuclear theory. Our perspective on historical events changes over time as well. As the saying goes, winners write the history books.

The truth on any matter often varies upon whom you ask. Wikipedia allows any of us to add our knowledge of a topic up for debate – a most democratic means of soliciting truth. The more eyes that can review information for accuracy, the more accurate that information can become.

I’ve got four days before I leave for China. Thursday would ordinarily seem far away and yet I’m already suffering from travel anxiety.

The funny thing is that I’m not at all afraid of flying. I trust when I leave the ground that I’ll return to it safely. Even a long stretch in a plane doesn’t faze me.

I don’t anticipate any trouble in China, either. I can find my way around just about any city. In fact I had to laugh at my New Jersey coworkers when they were befuddled by the PATH train process that I can practically sleepwalk through by now. I’ve gotten used to being put into unfamiliar territory and learning how to quickly fit in.

What really worries me is not the things I’ll see and do when I travel. What worries me is the things I’ll miss while I’m gone. Eleven days is a long time to be away from the wife and kids. Eleven days is a lifetime to a kid, especially. Its hard to hug a family with arms half a world away.

The N&O’s Stump the Geeks columnnist recently took a question regarding free software. Her answer left the impression (though perhaps unintended) that free software was dangeous since it may be filled with viruses and back doors. The answer implied “who ever heard of people writing software for free? And how could any of it be good?”

Never mind that people do write software for free, often because whatever is commercially available doesn’t address their needs. Or it could be that commercial software is too expensive (see Adobe Audition vs. Audacity). Or they do it just because they can. The cooperation of programmers worldwide built much of the infrastructure which runs the Internet, in addition to many other world-class software projects. Free software, and open source software in particular, has been a wonderful blessing, keeping many users from reinventing the wheel, so to speak.

Open source software can also be more secure than proprietary software, in that the source code is available for anyone to inspect. It is difficult if not impossible to hide viruses and worms within open source software (though that does not guarantee it to be bug-free, of course).

I was disappointed the columnist did not make a stronger case for free software. I suppose it shows that the public still equates free software with theft, when in fact the generous, sharing nature of open source software should be embraced.

(Note, the N&O is playing games again with making Internets readers register. The above link may not work. Sigh)

[Update 19 Feb]: Found a link to the Stump The Geeks column in question. Thinking about it now, her “only pay software is safe” answer doesn’t just ignore open source, it’s wrong. Remember last year’s Sony’s rootkit fiasco? Open source software isn’t without its flaws but at least you know exactly what you’re getting.

I was marveling about our modern society the other day. We live a life of leisure compared to our ancestors of a hundred years ago. Our roles are largely of this strange category called “consumers,” which can be defined as “those who consume.” We have built a society where we have insulated ourselves from the source of many of the things we enjoy in our lives.

If I’m hungry for chicken, I don’t have to hunt for one. Someone else raises it, slaughters it, processes it, trucks it to my city, cooks it, and serves it to me, all in exchange for my money. My hands stay clean.

I don’t have to get involved in North Carolina’s death penalty debate. Someone else catches criminals, tries them, convicts them, incarcerates them, and executes them, all in exchange for my money. My hands stay clean.

The same goes for the quest for energy. Someone else digs out the coal from the earth, transports it to the power station, transforms it into electrons through burning, filters the toxins in the air it produces, and delivers it to my house, all in exchange for my money. My hands stay clean.

With such a division of labor, my direct involvement becomes limited to the final product. How does the power company know I prefer clean power? How does the state know I prefer they not kill people to teach others not to kill? How do I accept the hundreds of chickens that died to satisfy my hunger? Instead a wonderful fantasy exists where someone else is responsible.