The last few days of my trip were a whirlwind. We continued to deal with the major issues in Pittsburgh with several around the clock efforts by the involved teams. I was involved to facilitate coordination between the global and local teams while also providing information to several levels of the organization. It allowed me to show my German colleagues what I was capable of which was great.
On Wednesday, Joachim, Manas and I went to BayArena for a private tour. Bayer founded the Bayer 04 Leverkusen Football Club in 1904 and hold ownership of the team and the stadium to this day.
The owner's suite features a cool video display that spans the ceiling and also the side of the table.
After our tour we went to Wacht am Rhein where I had a great pork roast. We then took a short driving tour of the ChemPark and stopped at Bayer HQ for some photos.
Thursday the problems in Pittsburgh continued. Mike was up overnight dealing with a serious issue with our monitoring capabilities. When I arrived at 8am Germany time I joined the effort and we resolved everything around 10am. I sent Mike home and told him I would handle any new issues and run the Operations Meeting at 3pm. He was very thankful.
Joachim took us to the 11th floor of B151 and pointed out some locations of interest in the ChemPark. The view from that high was spectacular even though it was a cloudy day. The ChemPark really is a mini-city.
Looking north from B151. The low water tower on the right is a couple blocks past the northern edge of the ChemPark. The two towers next to the water town hold the individual light-bulb Bayer sign (on my list to see next time).
Looking south you can see Cologne on the right way off in the distance. The low brick building on the left is the cafeteria. The southern edge of the ChemPark is just past the high building beyond the cafeteria.
Looking west into the ChemPark. Several blocks to the west is the Rhine where raw materials are delivered.
I wrapped up my day on time and did some last minute souvenir shopping (which ended with me being soaked from the knees down due to a Niagara Falls-esque downpour). I enjoyed steak for dinner and considered my trip complete when I witnessed fire apparatus responding to an alarm in the hotel attached to the train station.
My hotel, the Hilton Cologne, which was my home away from home for 3 weeks.
I tried to change my flight home to Friday instead of Saturday, but Delta requested a 3000 Euro change fee(!). While it would have been nice to get home a day early and surprise the family, it wasn't worth losing my job. Instead my colleague Stefan invited me over to his house again for a farewell BBQ. He invited some of our colleagues over and we spent the evening enjoying sausage and beer on his patio.
When the festivities wrapped up I walked the 3km to the train station with Joachim. They were all surprised I wanted to walk there rather than order a cab. Apparently I am very un-American in that regard. I returned to my hotel and finished jam-packing my suitcases for the morning.
I woke up at 5:30 to leave for my ICE train to the airport by 6:30. I had a slow check-out because the guy in front of me was paying with vouchers and argued about several items on his bill. I made it to the train with 3 minutes to spare and setup near one of the exit doors. Several seats were taken by luggage and people sleeping, but I didn't mind standing for the 50 minute ride. Standing by the exit doors allowed me to move from one side of the train to the other and take in the sights as we breezed past as several hundred kilometers per hour.
I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. It was a very long walk from the train station to the Delta check-in counter but the line, for Sky Priority passengers, was relatively short and I was headed to security quickly. Once through security I made my way to my gate and started sending texts that I had made it to the airport successfully and would be starting my flight home soon.
The flight from Frankfurt to JFK was uneventful. Most of the business class cabin slept after the lunch was served. I read my book, took and nap, and watched some TV to pass the time. We landed at JFK on-time and I had a 2 hour layover.
Appetizer - Asian Beef and Heirloom Tomato Salad
Lunch - Grilled Beef Fillet with Port Wine and Thyme Butter
Dessert - Chocolate and Vanilla Mousse
We exited the aircraft into a bare hallway with only one way to go...towards customs. As I approached the line entry for customs I saw the estimated wait board start to climb. We went from 25 minutes all the way to 65 minutes before starting back down again. The line moved forward in fits and spurts. All tolled I spent about 35 minutes in line...a stark contrast to my 5 minute experience entering Germany as a guest. The EU has their citizen entry down...less than 2 minutes and you're permitted into the country.
After customs I had to retrieve my luggage and re-check it to travel on from JFK to PIT...why? I'm not really sure. I didn't have to take my luggage through customs or anything. Thankfully Delta has a baggage drop point just past the customs baggage retrieval area. Then it was back through security, again why I can't travel from my arrival gate right into the "secure" area of the airport doesn't make sense to me. After all of this craziness I was left with a whopping 30 minutes to get to my gate, at the other end of the terminal. I made my way there, rather than the Sky Club for some relaxation like I had planned, and arrived 3 minutes before they started boarding the flight home.
The skies to the west were black as the boarding process started. As we pushed back from the gate the rain started. By the time they had us positioned on the tarmac the thunderstorm rolled in with high winds. I knew we weren't going anywhere until the storm was done. We taxied out and lined up with several other aircraft and the storm ended about 45 minutes later. Then we waited, and taxied around the block (literally) to line up behind a JetBlue aircraft that was originally behind us in line.
Two hours after I was supposed to leave JFK they finally slotted us into a departure spot and we took off (20 minutes after we were supposed to land in Pittsburgh). I landed in Pittsburgh around 7:30 and met Peggy and the boys at baggage claim. They were all very happy to see me and I was very happy to be home.
On Wednesday, Joachim, Manas and I went to BayArena for a private tour. Bayer founded the Bayer 04 Leverkusen Football Club in 1904 and hold ownership of the team and the stadium to this day.
The owner's suite features a cool video display that spans the ceiling and also the side of the table.
After our tour we went to Wacht am Rhein where I had a great pork roast. We then took a short driving tour of the ChemPark and stopped at Bayer HQ for some photos.
Thursday the problems in Pittsburgh continued. Mike was up overnight dealing with a serious issue with our monitoring capabilities. When I arrived at 8am Germany time I joined the effort and we resolved everything around 10am. I sent Mike home and told him I would handle any new issues and run the Operations Meeting at 3pm. He was very thankful.
Joachim took us to the 11th floor of B151 and pointed out some locations of interest in the ChemPark. The view from that high was spectacular even though it was a cloudy day. The ChemPark really is a mini-city.
Looking north from B151. The low water tower on the right is a couple blocks past the northern edge of the ChemPark. The two towers next to the water town hold the individual light-bulb Bayer sign (on my list to see next time).
Looking south you can see Cologne on the right way off in the distance. The low brick building on the left is the cafeteria. The southern edge of the ChemPark is just past the high building beyond the cafeteria.
Looking west into the ChemPark. Several blocks to the west is the Rhine where raw materials are delivered.
I wrapped up my day on time and did some last minute souvenir shopping (which ended with me being soaked from the knees down due to a Niagara Falls-esque downpour). I enjoyed steak for dinner and considered my trip complete when I witnessed fire apparatus responding to an alarm in the hotel attached to the train station.
My hotel, the Hilton Cologne, which was my home away from home for 3 weeks.
I tried to change my flight home to Friday instead of Saturday, but Delta requested a 3000 Euro change fee(!). While it would have been nice to get home a day early and surprise the family, it wasn't worth losing my job. Instead my colleague Stefan invited me over to his house again for a farewell BBQ. He invited some of our colleagues over and we spent the evening enjoying sausage and beer on his patio.
When the festivities wrapped up I walked the 3km to the train station with Joachim. They were all surprised I wanted to walk there rather than order a cab. Apparently I am very un-American in that regard. I returned to my hotel and finished jam-packing my suitcases for the morning.
I woke up at 5:30 to leave for my ICE train to the airport by 6:30. I had a slow check-out because the guy in front of me was paying with vouchers and argued about several items on his bill. I made it to the train with 3 minutes to spare and setup near one of the exit doors. Several seats were taken by luggage and people sleeping, but I didn't mind standing for the 50 minute ride. Standing by the exit doors allowed me to move from one side of the train to the other and take in the sights as we breezed past as several hundred kilometers per hour.
I arrived at the airport with plenty of time to spare. It was a very long walk from the train station to the Delta check-in counter but the line, for Sky Priority passengers, was relatively short and I was headed to security quickly. Once through security I made my way to my gate and started sending texts that I had made it to the airport successfully and would be starting my flight home soon.
The flight from Frankfurt to JFK was uneventful. Most of the business class cabin slept after the lunch was served. I read my book, took and nap, and watched some TV to pass the time. We landed at JFK on-time and I had a 2 hour layover.
Appetizer - Asian Beef and Heirloom Tomato Salad
Lunch - Grilled Beef Fillet with Port Wine and Thyme Butter
Dessert - Chocolate and Vanilla Mousse
We exited the aircraft into a bare hallway with only one way to go...towards customs. As I approached the line entry for customs I saw the estimated wait board start to climb. We went from 25 minutes all the way to 65 minutes before starting back down again. The line moved forward in fits and spurts. All tolled I spent about 35 minutes in line...a stark contrast to my 5 minute experience entering Germany as a guest. The EU has their citizen entry down...less than 2 minutes and you're permitted into the country.
After customs I had to retrieve my luggage and re-check it to travel on from JFK to PIT...why? I'm not really sure. I didn't have to take my luggage through customs or anything. Thankfully Delta has a baggage drop point just past the customs baggage retrieval area. Then it was back through security, again why I can't travel from my arrival gate right into the "secure" area of the airport doesn't make sense to me. After all of this craziness I was left with a whopping 30 minutes to get to my gate, at the other end of the terminal. I made my way there, rather than the Sky Club for some relaxation like I had planned, and arrived 3 minutes before they started boarding the flight home.
The skies to the west were black as the boarding process started. As we pushed back from the gate the rain started. By the time they had us positioned on the tarmac the thunderstorm rolled in with high winds. I knew we weren't going anywhere until the storm was done. We taxied out and lined up with several other aircraft and the storm ended about 45 minutes later. Then we waited, and taxied around the block (literally) to line up behind a JetBlue aircraft that was originally behind us in line.
Two hours after I was supposed to leave JFK they finally slotted us into a departure spot and we took off (20 minutes after we were supposed to land in Pittsburgh). I landed in Pittsburgh around 7:30 and met Peggy and the boys at baggage claim. They were all very happy to see me and I was very happy to be home.
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