BBM Europe Trip: Day 3

BBM and I had a very busy day. Up and out by 8AM for show setup. When we arrived, I found that our equipment was not shipped to the show floor as I thought, but rather to the hotel of the rest of the team. Fortunately, one of my team members was in transit from their hotel with the gear, which gave BBM and I time to stroll and grab a coffee.

Unfortunately, not all of the kit arrived as our friends at FedEx promised and as such, I did not have client devices to configure. FedEx when it absolutely, positively has to be there "around" the time you need. By 9:30AM, we were unpacking and getting the items we had received arranged and things were moving smoothly.... and then Mr. Murphy made another call on us. I had a firmware issue with some of the kit from HQ that took me about an hour and a half to work thru. Combined with some power and sawdust issues in the booth, I finally got to completing the software config at about 1PM.

By 6PM, a member of the team had made the round trip back to their hotel with the balance of the missing gear courtesy of FedEx's late afternoon delivery and we finalized plans for the gear to be shown at the show. I still have some cleanup and config work to do tomorow before the Solutions Exchange (VMware Parlance for Trade Show Exibit) at 10AM, but we should be ready.

All of that work and I did not stop to eat all day. By the time they ran us out of the building at 8:30PM, I was operating on one cup of said coffee, one Coke, and two bottles of water -- pretty famished. Not to blog too much about food, but much ribbing I have taken about how I might find nourishment in the land of pate, fois gras and veal kidneys (I swear to god I saw that one on a menu here). Well I have the answer to that -- I have been in France for 36 hours and have had 3 meals -- all Italian :) At left, the French take on the classic cheeze and onion pizza. BBM and I enjoyed it thuroughly, but after today, it could have been veal kidneys and I might have eaten it -- not really.

A shout out to my oldest little one who is laid up at home with the worst fever of his young life and my wife who is taking care of business - solo.

One last thing, I have a few pics you all might enjoy from today. Check them out.