Well, believe it or not, but after 85 days of sleeping in hotel beds (I would be a Marriott Platinum member by now!) I am finally back in Curacao!

I have left behind Frenchman's Reef and the US Virgin Islands on June 25 after five and a half weeks. I think I can honestly say I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly there. I would especially like to thank Chris and Mark in Finance who took the risk of having me and providing me with food & shelter. I hope I did make your lives a bit easier. I also need to thank Karl Magnusson, a fellow alumni from Cesar Ritz schools in Switzerland for providing all the interesting background information and most of the social element of the trip.

Enough said. 

Being slightly retarded (lots of cheap alcohol, remember?) I managed to book my flight in a way that I would miss Germany's semi-final against Turkey at Euro 2008. Genius! Sometimes I really wonder...

Anyway, let's just say that American Airlines and the airport in St. Thomas provided some entertainment by itself. I would like to use this opportunity to compliment American Airlines on their baggage procedure in St. Thomas. As such, I was slightly scared. I only had one piece of checked luggage but it weighed far more than the allowed 25kgs. However, I had been tipped off so I will do the same to you now. Here is what you need to know about checking in luggage in St. Thomas:

When you check in, they will weigh your luggage. In my case it was 32kgs. They will then invite you to either reduce the weight or pay $50 for the first 10kgs.

What you do is that you take something out and put it in your bag pack or plastic bag or any other reasonably suited receptacle until you reach 25kgs. This will make the check-in person happy and they will put the luggage tag around it. Now the crucial point: They now hand your luggage back to you! You then proceed around the corner in the direction of Immigrations and Customs and obviously put all the stuff you have just taken out back into your bag. Brilliant!

It turned out that I had chosen a "lucky" ticket where they take you aside and do a complete check of everything you have and pat you down completely even though the scanner says you're clean. I'm glad to report that no more "In-Depth" examination was necessary... you know what I mean...

Other than that, the whole trip was pretty uneventful. Well, maybe with the exception of landing in Aruba, where its always a bit windy. The rather attractive young lady in the seat in front of me clearly is no friend of flying and she proceeded to produce all sorts of interesting noises as the little plane was buffeted around on the final approach, very much to everyone's else delight in the cabin... 

Anyway, I had 3 rather uneventful days in Aruba but was back in a very nice room with a BIG TV and a great view. Also, its always good to know that danger is not allowed in Aruba which gives you a good feeling of security.

And so, on Saturday morning, June 28, loaded with donuts (if you don't want to bring the wrath of the Curacao people on you, you better bring donuts!), I boarded a little Beechcraft plane and was back on my way to Curacao...

And so I'm back on the island as the first of the lost bunch. Just in time to see Germany lose the Euro 2008 final against Spain in a decidedly hostile environment. These Dutch folks stood like one man behind Spain and at times I was a bit worried at times with my Germany cap. Obviously Spain deserved to win and there was always Happy Hour on the beach to alleviate the pain.

I'm also back at work, where nothing much has changed. It might even be a bit crazier than before. I have survived the first 2 weeks and will probably survive some more, even though a week ago I have lost my loyal and ever resourceful assistant to another department (sigh)....

Most people I think are glad to have me back, which is nice to know. It's also good to know that there is stuff that they can't do without me...

Other than that, the real life is back as well and I have to do my own laundry and ironing, go shopping and put gas in the car (ouch!).

So, with that I leave you for today. I'm back on the road again in 10 days to go home for a very short trip. Have a good one wherever you are.