Nick's blog - travel

Response from Gohop

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 01:00:00 +0100

I did eventually get a response from Gohop - my apologies for not posting it sooner. Here's the response:

QUOTE:

Dear Mr. Johnson,

Thank you for your email received, the contents of which have been noted and passed to our IT department for investigation.

Firstly, may I say how disappointing it is for us to be made aware of any aspects of our customers holiday that fail to reach complete satisfaction. Gohop.ie are a privately owned and Irish operated Travel Agency and we rely heavily on goodwill and repeat clients, the comments we receive from our customers are treated with the utmost respect. We pride ourselves in devising good quality and good prices but above all high customer service.

Naturally we are most concerned to learn of your dissatisfaction with the organization of your seat assignments. We always Endeavour to secure the best seating as requested from our clients, despite this however, subject to seat allocation at time of booking, the system in this case booked the next available alternatives, seating you apart. I would like to advise you at this point that this is the first problem of its kind we have come across and are most certainly not aware of airline check-in staff having difficulty with us in the past for this or any other reason.

Rest assured however that any issues brought to our attention which may affect the enjoyment of any flights sold are fully investigated, as a result we are currently removing the seat assignment facility from our website this week until this matter is fully investigated and resolved. It is only through emails such as your containing constructive criticism that enables us to ensure a continued raising of our overall standards.

In conclusion I am sorry that on this occasion you felt that your return journey was not entirely satisfactory and I do hope you will consider affording us the opportunity of attending to your travel needs again in the not too distant future when we are fully confident that all arrangements made on your behalf will meet with your entire satisfaction, allowing us the opportunity to restore your faith in our company.

Assuring you of our very best intentions in this regard.

Your sincerely,

Hilary Dunne
Reservations Manager
Gohop.com

Not entirely to my satisfaction, since they haven't promised to do anything, really - just offered an apology.

Edit: Also worth noting is that she claims that "the system in this case booked the next available alternatives, seating you apart", which contradicts what the arline told us - that our tickets weren't group-coded in the first place, so 'the system' didn't know it should be trying to seat us together at all.

Married!

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 17:22:31 +0100

Just a quick update: Yes, I did get back from Switzerland (with a new passport), eventually.

I also went back to NZ, got married to my (now) wife Hayley, and had a wonderful honeymoon. After a horrid flight back (about which more later), we're now back in Ireland and ready to go back to work.

Photos of the wedding will be forthcoming in a week or two for anyone who cares.

Stuck in Switzerland

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Tue, 01 Jan 2008 20:17:46 +0000

(Though of all the places to be stuck, this isn't a bad one)

I've been on holiday in Switzerland with my SO for the past few days, staying with a friend. Just after christmas, however, we took the train up to Zermatt to spend the night and see the matterhorn. However, on the train from Losanne to Visp, my bag was stolen. The bag containing my Passport and my Work Permit, not to mention my work laptop, the new watch I bought just the day before, and a bunch of other things.

To top it off, it looks like we're not covered by travel insurance (I thought we were).

And now I can't leave until I get a new passport issued and mailed to me. Fortunately, this only takes 3 days (plus postage) if I pay for expedited processing, but the passport office doesn't open until the 3rd.

Also on the plus side, I got some nice photos of the fantastic fireworks show in Zurich for new year, which I hope to post soon, and I'm able to work out of our Zurich office while I wait for my passport.

Leaving NZ, again.

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Sat, 01 Sep 2007 13:22:06 +0100

So, first a quick update on everything I've been leaving out on this blog: Waaaay back in February, I was offered a (phone) job interview with Google. Things proceeded well, and a while ago, I was made an offer of a job as a Site Reliability Engineer in Dublin, which I accepted. I resigned from my position in NZ, sorted out stuff for moving, and hopped on a plane.

I'm writing this entry from a Dublin internet cafe. I arrived here in Ireland mere hours ago, and I'm still exhausted and jetlagged, but I have to do something with the time until I can let myself try and sleep. Hence the sudden update.

First, for those wondering, Hayley, the love if my life, is, alas, still back in NZ for the moment. At the moment it looks like she'll be joining me up here in about 6 weeks.

When I arrived in Dublin, I was met by someone hired by Google, who drove me to my temporary accommodations provided for me for the next 30 days. Light commentary on the city was provided. Upon reaching my accommodation, I was handed off to someone else, who gave me the Grand Tour of my apartment for the next month. This place is... luxurious. Two double bedrooms, full bathroom (w/ shower and bath), ensuite in master bedroom, leather lounge suite and wide-screen plasma TV, fully equipped, new kitchen, etc. I have no idea how I'm supposed to use all that.

Roughly, my plans for the next few weeks go like this:
Today, Sunday: Try to recover from jetlag, explore a little of dublin. Spend lots of time in Internet cafes, and pine after Hayley. Curse the lack of connectivity that makes all of this a lot harder than it should be. Eat out a lot.
Monday: First day at Google. Get inducted, get my laptop. Begin training. Hopefully, better connectivity ensues now I have a computer again. Attempt to open a bank account, get a cellphone account, and buy a bike, not neccessarially in that order.
Tuesday: More training.
Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, +3 more weeks: More training. Try and locate more permanent accommodations.

Then, I get shipped down to Mountain View for 4 weeks' training there. Cue pictures of eyes held open with clamps, mass brainwashing, etc. At some point during this period, Hayley flies up to meet me, and we have a joyous reunion the speculative details of which I shall not elaborate on in this family-rated blog.

Then, finally, we both fly back to Dublin, hopefully to our new apartment, and settle in to our new lives here.

Right now, all that seems pretty damn intimidating. I'm sure it's the jetlag and sheer overwhelmingness of it talking at least a little.

PS: This internet cafe rocks. It has Firefox!

Homeward Bound

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Wed, 31 May 2006 02:10:10 +0100

So here I am, sitting in Vancouver airport, wasting time while I wait for my flight back home, via Sydney, via Honolulu (two new airports to get lost in! Oh joy!). And what better way to waste time than by blogging, right?

Checking in was, this time, fairly uneventful. I had to pay extra for my bike and because my suitcase was heavy, but less than I expected - Air Canada charge $50 for a bike, instead of the usual $175 for an extra piece of luggage. Because their system can't handle having both a bike and an overweight luggage item, I had to line up a second time at ticketing to pay for it. Oh well. After that, US immigration, checking my baggage in, and the inevitable x-ray scans and inspections were relatively simple. I'm just ophing I don't have to check my baggage in again at Sydney, since hauling that much baggage around on my own is no fun, but I have a sinking feeling I'll have to.

I'm really not looking forward to the long flight, but at least I have a light at the end of the tunnel. I'll be home soon, Hayley!

Of Canadian Customs

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Fri, 26 May 2006 09:02:55 +0100

Oh, and I forgot: More customs/immigration excitement!

After being questioned by customs, I was, to my not-so-great surprise, directed to the immigration counter for further investigation. I got a rather friendly person, who nevertheless was asking about my work/holiday/movement situation in great detail. I discussed my previous issues, and he asked for the documentation I'd hustled up but never had to use last time. As I did, he recaps:

Him: So, you work for this US company, Haydrian
Me: Used to. I resigned
Him: Oh. Right, in that case don't worry. Just show me your return ticket.
Me: shows ticket
Him: examining ticket Why'd you quit?
I explain.
Him: Off you go, then. And good luck!

So there's the easy way to solve all your issues: resign!

Back in .ca, for now.

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Fri, 26 May 2006 08:58:45 +0100

I just got back into .ca this evening. In some ways, it feels like I never left - my apartment is, of course, exactly as I left it, as is Vancouver, and Hayley and I are back to trying to deal with the inadequacies of text and voice chat. I miss her already.

I wish I'd only gone up for a couple of days to pack. At least this way I have time to catch up with Illiad, KS and Dark before I head back for good.

I'm also thinking I may just stick as close to NZ time as I can. I don't have anything to do in my mornings anyway.

Why I'm back in NZ

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Fri, 19 May 2006 23:29:22 +0100

So. The promised post about just why I'm back in NZ.

Fair warning: For once, this is not a post about XML transforms, or work, or travel, or anything like that. If you're allergic to emotions, stop reading now. Still reading? Good.

Just over a month ago - very shortly after I moved into my Vancouver apartment, I got talking with a good friend of mine - someone I'd known for years, but only ever seen as a friend. Things went from there, and pretty soon I found myself trying to work out how I can get back to NZ to see her. To put it simply, I'm crazy about her.

Thanks to the wise advice of several people I trust (you know who you are), I arranged a 3 week trip back to NZ. Having got here, pretty much from day 1 I knew that I no longer wanted to work away from NZ.

So who is this wonderful person, you ask? Her name is Hayley - #sporks members will know her as Lex (but then, this is all old news to #sporks members anyway) - and she is, without a doubt in my mind, the most wondeful person in the world.

I have never been happier in my life than I have in the last couple of weeks, and even my impending return to Canada on the 25th struggles to cast a shadow over my mood.

This is helped, of course, by the fact that I just got off the phone to my boss, and told him - without doubt or reservation - that I'm no longer in a position to work in the US in the forseeable future. That I intend to spend that time in NZ, and as much of it as possible with Hayley.

Finishing this post, with Hayley sitting here next to me, I seriously feel the best I've ever felt.

Back in NZ, for a while.

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Mon, 08 May 2006 07:13:38 +0100

Well, I'm back in NZ for a few weeks - until the 25th. Something important - really, really important, in the category of 'most important things ever' - has come up in NZ, and I convinced my employer to let me work from NZ for a while for 'personal' reasons.

I would really, really love to go into details here, but it's probably not wise. More later, including all the juicy details. This assumes that there is actually anyone who reads this that doesn't already know exactly what I'm talking about, anyway. Which I doubt.

Photos of my new apartment

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Tue, 11 Apr 2006 04:03:24 +0100

A bunch of photos of my new apartment. Please forgive the poor compositing on the two of my work area, I didn't have a tripod, and it wasn't possible to get the whole thing with a single frame (too much dynamic range).

Edit: Added a picture of how it looks at sunset:

Somewhere to stay!

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Sat, 08 Apr 2006 20:45:08 +0100

As much as I like sleeping in Dark's lounge, eating his breakfast cereal, and working from his dinner table, I have been desperately searching for a furnished apartment I can stay in while I'm here. All at once, on Thursday, my search paid off - with two seperate apartments. I took the slightly more expensive and slightly larger one, paying $100 less than Too Much for it. It's still a studio apartment, but it has a murphy bed, placed such that I can fold it up when I have people around, but I don't have to if I don't. It has a nice little enclosed balcony/conservatory area with a computer workstation. I can work whilst looking out over the city from my dizzyingly high 32nd floor perspective.

Photos will be forthcoming once I'm moved in, later today.

Back in Canada

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Tue, 04 Apr 2006 04:00:00 +0100

So, I made it back into Canada. After all the extensive, lawyer-assisted preparations so I would be able to explain myself in sufficient and excrutiating detail to the customs officers, I was simply waved through with nary a glance.

Then, as I pull away, suitcase in tow, the officer goes "Hold on a moment". "Uh oh", I think, "now I get the half hour of going over all my documentation 5 times before they're satisfied". I return to the desk, and give him back my passport. The passport scanner is flashing "NZ Passport Alert!!!" on and off. The screen has a single line entry " Personal Marajuana Posession". I have no idea what it's talking about - I presume a name collision. He puts the passport back on the scanner, waits a couple of seconds, takes it off, hands it back, and tells me I can go. I do.

How Canadian Immigration helps Amtrak compete with airlines for user-unfriendliness.

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Sun, 26 Mar 2006 08:35:53 +0100

Today was the day I was scheduled to go back up to Canada, after 3 weeks down here in Seattle training at the offices of the company I contract for. In an ideal world, I would have headed back to Vancouver, whereupon I would have located a furnished apartment to stay in until the end of June, or, with an application to Canadian immigration, possibly as late as October.

Instead, I spent 4 hours getting down there, 3/4 of an hour being interrogated by Canadian Immigration personnell, 6 hours sitting in a stationary train being watched over by a security guard, and another 4 hours back to Seattle.

Basically, the Canadian customs officer decided my reasons for wanting to (re)enter Canada weren't wholesome enough. The fact that I was contracting for a Seattle company, and planning on staying in Vancouver with trips down to Seattle at intervals, apparrently indicated to him that:
1) I was doing this to avoid US visa requirements, which prohibit me from working for the Seattle company as an employee in Seattle, by tele-commuting from the conveniently-nearby Vancouver.
2) He had no proof that my company was even applying for an H1B VISA, and that they weren't just bullshitting me, or that I wasn't intending to just stay in Canada indefinitely.

So, here I am back in Seattle. In a different hotel, since my old one had already cleaned and re-rented my old room.

Oh, and someone remind me to tell you all about the least competent security guard I've ever met, when I'm less tired and pissed off.

Edited: More paranoia - removed the name of the company I work for. Sorry.

Here I am

nospam@example.com (Arachnid) — Wed, 22 Feb 2006 07:43:55 +0000

Well, here I am in Canada. The trip was, as expected, exhausting, and hard on my legs.

The flight out of Christchurch was on one of the old, unrefurbished 747s, which was rather annoying - the in-flight entertainment systems on the refurbished ones are really good at banishing boredom. Instead, mixed with mostly failed attempts to get some sleep, I read Jennifer Government cover-to-cover (good book), with enough time left over to watch the few remaining episodes of QI that I hadn't seen yet.

Then I transferred through LAX, where I had to pick up all my baggage to check it in at the transferring baggage desk. Thankfully, a helpful TSA(!) person told me I should take it all upstairs and get it checked in there, because the bike was too large and would have to go up there anyway. After a wait of about 1/2 an hour to get into the lift, my bag, box and bike were accepted almost immediately.

The service from Air Canada wasn't nearly as bad as I'd been led to expect - the flight attendants were friendly to a fault, and I have no complaints. Maybe it was an exception.

On arriving at Vancouver, there was a long delay before the bags were emitted from the luggage turnstile. My bike box had developed, since LAX, a rather worrying hole in it, with the front wheel hub poking through. On inspection, the front wheel is significantly out of true. :/

A long day, anyway. I'm glad I'm not travelling anymore.