April 3, 2009: Today is the first day of the rest of your life....

Today it was my turn for Belfast meetings.

I had been in contact with some folks off and on, and decided that I needed to meet with them face to face. I arranged that Friday, April 3 was going to be set aside to blitz the whole meeting thing, get them all out of the way. Problem is, I had to get to Belfast at holy-smokes-it's-early, which wasn't going to work for the kids and wife. So, I rode the bus!

Ulsterbus is really nice. Seriously.

The ulsterbus of my youth was plastic seats on aluminium frames that kids banged "the sash" on when they sat in the back row. This ulsterbus was all reclining seats, individual vents and lights, seatbelts, in a word, posh (by bus standards anyway).

As we drove and I looked out over the sun coming up on the fields, the dense patchy mist, and the sheep waking up, I got to thinking about perceptions (as you would, really).

When we first went to the US, we fielded a volley of questions "Do they have this?", "Do they have that in Northern Ireland?", etc. One guy (this is true) asked me if we had electricity in Northern Ireland. in 1994. I told him that we had heard rumors of it, but only because someone had gone to england and strung an extension cable across to Belfast. Going to the city to look at the magic light was a treat.

Idiot.

No matter where you go, there is a perception that says where you are is all there is, and that other places aren't as developed, Truth is, there is a lot more that Northern ireland has that often has me thinking "Why hasn't this caught on in the US?"

Example 1: Electric showers. You turn it on, it heats only the water you need to wash yourself, and you're done. A brilliant idea, a simple idea, they've been here for yonks, and yet I've yet to see them in the US.

Example 2: GSM cellphones. Give it up, America, CDMA is a steaming turd compared to GSM. (anyone who's not a geek will think I've gone off the deep end now). Yeah I know about the differences between them, but I like the whole idea of being able to simply move from phone to phone via a small card with an even smaller chip on it.

As we rode along the motorway (yup, Northern Ireland has those too), I took in all sorts of sights that reminded me that yes, technology exists outside the US, and yes, in lots of cases, it's much better. It's good to be reminded of the world outside my world.......

Anyway, meetings are now done, and I'm sitting in a starbucks looking over what used to be Cornmarket but is now a construction site. Not all progress can be a good thing. Belfast has a ferris wheel now, it has been slapped right beside the City Hall, and robs the city center of some of it's charm, I think. In fact, it's current location (constructed around one of the existing statues) makes it appear haphazard. I'm not against the wheel, just stick it with all the other modern stuff (like the Oddessy center).

Waiting for Elaine and the kids to make their way down to Belfast so they can do a wee bit of shopping, and then it's off to Ravenhill for the Ulster v Ospreys rugby match!!

Later that day.....

When Elaine and the kids got to Belfast, we went to Delaney's for lunch. Delaney's was on the way home when I went to University, and many's a lunch/dinner I had there with fellow classmates. That was in the late eighties. you would think they would at least slap a fresh coat of paint on the place! The same old black and white photos, the same old stuffed animals, I would hazard a guess that the same old quiche lurked somewhere in the recesses of the same old hot trays.

Shopping consisted of wandering through the new Victoria Center (another modern lurch forward for Belfast), before heading off for the Ulster match.

Conor and I learned a new song tonight!

In the eighties, there was a song by the Village People/Pet Shop Boys called "Go West". The tune is now the basis for "Stand up, for the Ulster men". Elaine just shook her head and said "That's just wrong....."

A steady drizzle had settled in which made for perfect rugby weather. Unfortunately, it was perfect for the other side. Bad luck Ulster, but at least you've got a snazzy tune.....