So I'm sitting in the Chennai airport during a 5-hour layover. I had purchased a Michael Chrichton book because it's easy to read one of his books in a leisurely 5-hours, although "Airframe", about an investigation into an airplane disaster, probably wasn't the best choice. Why do they sell air disaster books in airports?

Anyway, I finished it up while watching my gate in the secure area. The gentleman seated a couple of seats down gave me a smile when I set the book down, so I gave him a brief book report and gave him the book. (It was OK, but not good enough to read again).

As we chatted, he said he was a cardiologist from Delhi and had been in town for a conference. We exchanged small talk, and I mentioned I had recently had trouble sleeping. I'd heard that in India, although there are pharmacys everywhere and they're pretty lax about dispensing drugs, sleeping pills were off limits without a prescription. They did however sell "relaxation pills" and I wondered if he knew anything about them. Were they herbal? Were they effective? What kind of side effects?

He asked for a piece of paper. I guessed he was going to recommend a brand of sleep aid, but instead he jotted out a prescription for Zolfresh on the back of a scrap piece of paper and gave it to me with his card! I felt like Elvis.

Thinking that maybe I should [belatedly] share some medical history, I mentioned I ws diabetic. He asked what I was taking for it, and when I told him he asked why I hadn't been prescribed "Statins" or "ACE inhibitors". He also recommended a stress echo or stress thallium test as he was concerned about the effect the Lantus would have on my blood pressure and circulatory system. He said if I was ever in Delhi to stop by his office and he'd set me up.

Very surreal.

The obligatory shot from the hotel room window.

I'm back in Bhubaneswar again after a horrible day of flying yesterday. It took more than 16 hours, three flights, and several luggage transfers. Had I flown straight, it's only about 5 hours flight time between Singapore and here. I need a better travel agent.

Yesterday was tough. I really was ready to pack it up and come home. I got some good sleep last night however, so my attitude is somewhat improved today.

Well, the Singapore show is over now. I think we made some good contacts, but more importantly we made some good sales. I remember being in sales...when my boss would ask if I'd had a good day, if I answered "I made good contacts," he'd say if you don't sell anything it's not a good day no matter how many good contacts you made. I guess at the end of the day all that matters if if the customer's check has cleared.

As for the good contacts, one was the national broadcasting agency of Papua New Guinea. They have our AudioVAULT installed at one of their facilities and like it very much. So much in fact, that as they're preparing to retrofit all 19 of their provincial radio stations, they've decided to install AudiOVAULT everywhere. It may have been foolish, but I worked them pretty hard to put myself in a position to get the assignment when it comes up. Hopefully I can schedule it during summer vacation and Nicole and I can go together.

This booth was near ours at the show in Singapore. Just trying to make conversation, I asked them what kind of software services they provided.

"Well," they said, "it's technical..."

Durian: "The King of Fruits". About the size of a small watermelon and encased in spikes. A special delicacy found here in Southeast Asia, I had heard the stories and being somewhat of a gastronomic explorer, I had always thought I would try it if presented the opportunity.

Brenna and I did some shopping tonight and the opportunity presented itself. Little did I know the extent of the downward spiral events would take over the next thirty minutes.

So...the Durian adventure. Durian is reputed to be "the king of tropical fruits". Here's a typical excerpt from one of the many web sites dedicated to durian:

"Imagine the best, most delicious, and sensuous banana pudding you can imagine, add just a touch of butterscotch, vanilla, peach, pineapple, strawberry, and almond flavors, and a surprising twist of — garlic??!! Like many of life’s greatest experiences, eating durian cannot be adequately described with words. Durian has a characteristic delicious flavor, creamy texture, and tantalizing fragrance that is just... durian! — the king of fruits, Nature’s most magnificent fruit gift."

But the price of this wonderous bounty is a smell, an aroma, an odor, a stench so foul that it outstinks a Ririe reunion that just served five-alarm bean chili with sides of asparagus, cauliflower, cabbage and sauerkraut. It's so bad, Durian is banned in many public places. On the way back from the market where I purchased my durian segments, the cab driver asked me pointedly not to open the package (which had been wrapped in plastic wrap which was trying to contain the smell but not doing a very good job).

I should have been nervous when the $8 package was offered to me immediately for $2 without any negotiations. According the cab driver, who surprisingly had a lot to say about durian, pre-packaged segments are a way for vendors to clear out fruit on the verge of spoiling, or segments that aren't quite top quality. He said the only way to eat durian was to find "a good one", open it and eat it immediately. He also said that the odor is not only foul, but persistent and would stink up his cab for days after only a few minutes of exposure.

I opened the package in the hotel room and was assaulted by the smell that lept at me like a living thing. Within moments, I was fighting for air, trying to stretch the plastic wrap back around the container and consign back to hell the evil presence that permeated my very soul. It was so bad I could do little more than inspect the pieces before deciding that eating one would be next to impossible.

I took the re-wrapped package downstairs (I thought about setting it outside in the hall near someone else's room, but knew that the smell would find it's way back to me to finish the job it had started) and told the concierge I had made a terrible mistake. I showed him the container and asked if there was a dumpster outside, preferably one several blocks away. Without looking surprised, he relieved my of my burden.

I can still smell it.

What an adventure is Singapore! In many ways, it's a typical Western city. Tall buildings, multi-story apartment complexes, shopping everywhere you look. But there's a distinct feel to the city that reminds you that you are far away from home.

Busy day at the trade show today! Apparently word got out that I was looking for an "evaluation" copy of Vista...a team from Microsoft was working the hall looking for software pirates.

Funny to see Asians dressed up this way. I couldn't help but think of the line "aren't you a little short for a Stormtrooper?" I have no idea why there were guys in Imperial costumes wandering the show, but not much surprises me any more.

Happy Birthday to Me!

My birthday treat. "It's like chocolate milk", and "it's like a Twinkie". I tried substituting a match for a candle, but it kept going out before I could sing all the way through Happy Birthday.

I have much to be thankful for this year. As I look to the future, it seems brighter than I can ever remember. Sure I wish I were home, I wish I could be with my family, I wish I could have a bowl of Apple Jacks and some Hamburger Helper (isn't it odd what you miss and crave on the road?), but I have a family that loves me, I've found a beautiful wonderful woman who makes me deliriously happy and loves me too, so what else could I wish for?

Sarah, Catherine, I hope your birthdays are as happy as mine. I wish only good things for both of you! And Catherine, I look forward to the "Spamalot" review!

In India, when you ask about certain items on a buffet, they say "it's like beef". Which always makes me nervous, because instead of telling what it is, "it's like beef" is far more indicative of what it is not.

For my birthday, all I can say is "it's like a Twinkie".

For lunch, we hit the IT mall's food court. There were several little stores offering local delicacies.

Yeah, it's exactly what it says it is. Choices included spine soup, kidney soup, lung soup... you know, the tastiest bits of the pig.

After unpacking everything at the show, we discovered that a couple of minor items didn't make it in to the shipment: our demo PCs to show our software! After discussing options, we decided to make a run to purchase replacements.

I fought to stay behind, but I was dispatched with Kurt to take on the onerous task of scouring Singapore's computer/ electronics district armed with the corporate AmEx card to find suitable desktop PCs.

To maximize our efforts, we chose a 6 story mall dedicated to computers and other electronic wonders. It was a tough task (especially when we got in to hour 3) but we were able to find a decent deal on a couple of HP desktops.

I was disappointed to find that the deals weren't as good as Asia's reputation led me to believe, and there were no shops offering "evaluation" software. I didn't buy a single thing! Even though I really want to go back and look around some more. There were a number of gadgets that were incredibly innovative that I've never seen in the States, even if they were a little pricey.

It's funny to see how even small things are different here on the other side of the world. For example, we couldn't use our Asian pallet jack on our crates because the gauge between the forks was too narrow! We had to repeatedly ram the center block to twist it sideways to get the jack under the transmitter! Sheesh...it's always something!

This probably won't mean much to you, but our booth here in Singapore is right across the walkway from the Nautel booth. Chuck Kelly, who you can see in the picture, used to be the Director of International Sales for BE and built up most of the rep network here in Asia.

We've gone through some changes in our Sales department, and soon after the changes were announced, Chuck made the move to a similar position at Nautel.

Even though I guess he's technically a competitor now, we're still friends and it's nice to see him.

Sunday was the first day of setup on the show floor. I had the bright idea of taking pictures of the boxes as we unpacked them so we'd have a better chance of re-packing them efficiently, but I realized the scope of the task when we opened one up. It'll be like some real-life game of Tetris to get everything back in the crates!

These little waving cats were popular items among the open-air market vendors. They must have some significance, but for the life of me I don't know what it might be.

Nicole, I thought maybe I should pick one up for Kara's mantle?

Happy Father's Day!

They say it's the thought that counts (it's not, it's the gift, but that's what "they" say) so Dad, I was thinking of you this Father's Day. I appreciate all you've done for me, and especially the prayers on my behalf over the years. I love you, and thank you.

When we lived in Austin, there were always really hideous ties in the Bishop's office. If one of the Deacons tried to get out of passing the Sacrament by not wearing a tie, one of the Young Men's Presidency would provide one. Some of these in Singapore were worse than those in the dreaded Austin Fourth Ward Emergency Tie collection.

Of all the Hindu Temples I've seen in India, it's odd the one I've been closest too and have the best pictures of is in Singapore.

After checking out the booth, Brenna and I hit the town to do some shopping. It was around 11, but the streets were pretty empty. The stores were pretty empty too. In fact, many hadn't opened yet.

No good shoes yet, but I did pick up this really cool pair of Japanese-style wraparound pants for Nicole.

Just to prove that I'm here in Asia actually working and not just shopping, here's a picture of the beginning stages of our booth for the Broadcast Asia show here in Singapore. It looks a little rough now, but they assure us it will all come together by tomorrow "after lunch". In Asia-speak, that's around 3:00.

I'm in Singapore this week. Quite a nice, modern, Western-ish city. Good hotel... I upgraded to Club level to get "free" Internet, and also got a sea-view room. Wow! What a great view of the sea! And the Singapore shipping yards.

Today Brenna and I plan to go out and do some shopping. She's a petite girl, and excited that there are actually clothes in her size here in Asia! She's glad I'm here... she was a little nervous about going out on the streets of Singapore by herelf. Fortunately, I like to shop, and I'm hoping to find some good shoe stores.

Good advice in the Singapore airport.

Nothing like coming back to the hotel room after a long day at the office, kicking off one's shoes and reclining on the bed, watching movies that were bad in English and even worse overdubbed in Cantonese, and enjoying a refreshing beverage. Mmmmmm...Pocari Sweat.

I'm not sure what Pocaris are, but I'm sure making them sweat on an industrial scale must violate some International animal abuse policies. I imagine Pocaris face the same plight as the poor little mink-like Naugas who are so valuable for their hyde. And don't get me started on the atrocities inflicted on Cheese for the sake of cheese balls. Cheese will be extinct one day, and who will we blame? Probably Nauga ranchers.

Very good demo today at RTHK in Hong Kong. Kurt Lass from our partner company NewsBoss did most of the work and did an excellent job. RTHK is a government-run radio and TV news service that provides services in Cantonese, Mandarin and English. If we land the deal (it's very early in the process) this would be a major project.

And the room was cool, with automatic sliding glass doors, tables that lifted out of the floor, and glowing floor panels.

More shoes I did not buy for Nicole in Hong Kong. Despite the fact that the salesgirl said they very "velly cute and comfoltable."