The walls at this hotel are paper thin and unfortunately we have a family with a baby staying next door to us. Fortunately they eventually went out or managed to quieten the child this morning and we could get back to sleep.

We went for breakfast at Grand Central Station. Grand Central Station is the 24th most visited tourist attraction in NY (according to TripAdvisor). There are numerous shops but also a lot of eating places as well as a fresh produce market (which really was quite impressive). We ended up having breakfast at Junior’s. Helen had Googled where to get the best NY cheesecake and the answer was Junior’s.  Apparently even if you ask a NY cabbie where to go they will take you to Union station and say Junior’s. So not only did we have breakfast at Junior’s but Helen and Chloe got their piece of NY Cheesecake as well (they didn’t eat it until later but both were suitably impressed). Grand Central Station is an impressive building. The ceiling depicts the constellations.

After breakfast we wondered around Union Station, took the now mandatory family selfie and then ended up in the Apple Store.  The store takes up the East Concourse and is quite strange as there is really no door you can see it in the photo on the far side just above the staircase). You can’t really lock anything and so I wondered whether the store is open 24 hours or what they do. Of course you can guess what Helen and Chloe did again!

Michael and I then went down to Pier 83 to catch a Circle Line cruise around Manhatten Island.  Chloe & Helen didn’t ‘feel like’ seeing the Statue of Liberty or the boat ride (#losers #lame). You get a great view of the Manhatten skyline including views of Empire State Building, the new World Trade Centre No 1, Ellis Island, Governors Island and of course Staten Island. It was freezing cold outside though and both Michael and I reckoned we could have been blown off the boat because of the strength of the wind. On the way back the taxi driver stopped over a pedestrian crossing to have an argument with a guy walking across the road with his young son. The guy shouted at the taxi driver for almost running them over. The taxi driver took offense at that and started yelling back at him #NYcabdrivers!

Helen and Chloe meanwhile were touring the shops again. At M&M World (yes – seriously) they got to see their own version of Statue of Liberty. They also ‘ran into’ a Scottish Parade which closed off a whole lot of midtown streets. Apparently they did go into Saks 5th Avenue this time and found a fur coat that they were both amazed about how it felt. Price tag – $36 000!

Dinner tonight was the first time I had visited an American Chain restaurant on this trip. We went to TGI Fridays for our last dinner in the US as tomorrow we start heading home.  We had wanted to go to a steakhouse but the famous ones like Michael Jordan’s Steakhouse, Smith & Wolensky, Mortons etc all cost $50 and upwards for a steak and we just couldn’t bring ourselves to spend that when we could all eat out in Cape Town for the same cost.

I need to blog about some of the American specific things like their TV adverts, patriotism, telephone numbers etc but will do that in one of the next few blogs. Until tomorrow …

P, H, M & C

After all the travel issues yesterday it was decided we would get up late today. We had breakfast at a local deli which cost us a fraction of what it would have cost us for one breakfast in the hotel (breakfast in the hotel costs $42). Semi-final T20 World Cup today and Michael headed off to watch the Indian innings with Daniel (cousin). We came back to the hotel and I watched it streaming from the hotel room. Unfortunately SA weren’t good enough to get through to the final.

We then went out walking. We headed West to the Rockefeller Center.  It covers 19 buildings and 22 acres. It is one of New York’s top tourist sites. There is an ice rink which operates throughout winter. It is still in operation and given how cold it is today I am not surprised. Numerous famous companies have their headoffices in the complex including NewsCorp, Time, McGraw-Hill.  It did also house Lehmann-Brothers – the infamous financial company which went bankrupt in the financial crisis.

We then headed up 5th Avenue toward Central Park. You walk past every famous store you could imagine including Gucci, Cartier, Versace etc. Fortunately we walked past them all on not into any of them. I was amazed that we even managed to walk past (and not into) Sacs 5th Avenue as well. We passed Trump Tower, the De Beers store and numerous famous buildings and hotels including Park Plaza Hotel (where they filmed Home Alone 2). When we got to the bottom of Central Park Helen got very excited when she saw the Horse carriages and so we had to take one for a ride through Central Park. The driver spoke with a typical NY accent (sounds like Janice from Friends). He pointed out the apartment buildings that are the homes of Lady Gaga; Tony Bennett, Bono, Placido Domingo, Diana Ross, Yoko Ono and others. Diana Ross bought her apartment 35 years ago for $3m and it is now worth $100m #goodinvestment

The ride took us through Central Park, past the ice rink and the zoo where Madagascar was filmed.  We looked out for Gloria, Melman, Alex et al but unfortunately we didn’t see them. I would have preferred spotting them than knowing where Lady Gaga lives! We then walked back down 5th Avenue again and went in to the Apple Store. It has to be the biggest and busiest Apple store I have ever been in. While they had the standard Apple items they also had some other interesting things like a skin for your car which repels bullets. I wonder how many of those they sell! #bizarre Helen and Chloe also very maturely went around setting the alarms on countdowns on all the iPads and turning up the volumes to full #didntstaytohearthenoise

On the way back to hotel we stopped for a Hot Dog at one of the iconic NY hot dog stands. Nice hot dog but probably also the most expensive one I have ever had. Had to be done though when you’re in NY – do as the New Yorkers do. Quick stop also at Starbucks for a coffee to warm up with. In the interim Michael had also made it back safely.

Late afternoon we headed out to Ground Zero. Pretty bad traffic and an even worse taxi driver. I thought we were going to have an accident at least 8 or 9 times. It would have helped if he hadn’t driven with only one hand on the steering wheel and the other on his iPhone (and at some points no hands on the steering wheel). We did get there (amazingly) without an accident. Fortunately because of the weather there were no lines at all to get into the 911 Memorial. Lots of security though to see two fountains and 3000 names engraved around the fountains. Not sure that the security is warranted. They give you tickets to get in and then ask to see them on 4 separate occasions. Not sure what that is all about. Given I was in the air coming into America on 9/11 I have some personal interest in the Memorial and it was nice to see it even though we almost froze to death see it.

We had planned to go from there to Chinatown for dinner. We started walking because taxi’s were in short supply and eventually one came past and it took us the last mile to get there. We ended up eating at one of the local Chinese restaurants. Very authentic and very good. Also quite reasonably priced. It took us another 10 minutes or so of standing in the freezing cold and rain to get a taxi back to the hotel. We hope the weather improves tomorrow so that we can actually see the Statue of Liberty.

Last day of conference. Trying to put that out of my mind. Seriously not a good conference at all. Either I am getting old or seriously was the worst conference I have ever attended. Might be both. Glad that is behind me. Unfortunately not a successful travel day though for us. Helen and Chloe had no trouble though. Flight left late but still arrived 20 minutes early. All the US airlines build in massive margins into their timetables so that they can show they were still on time. Michael and I had an altogether different experience.

We got to Union Station for our 1pm train, bought some lunch and settled in to wait for boarding only to hear it announced that our train was cancelled. We went to ticketing and were reissued with the 2:02pm train and at about 1:45pm they said it was delay to 2:30pm. Massive number of people. No trains arriving or leaving at all. I realised major problem somewhere. We Googled flights to NYC and saw lots of expensive options. At 2:05pm when they changed the departure to unknown time, I figured time to head for the airport.

Fortunately Washington Reagan Airport is right near the city centre and so we headed there.  Called my SA travel agent (8:10pm in SA) and she booked us a flight while we were heading for the airport. Not cheap at $410 per seat but only other option was a 4-hour drive up to NYC and I didn’t really fancy that.  I highly commend the travel agent (Harvey World based at Steenberg) for answering my call at 8:10pm and booking me a flight at that time as well. That’s what I call customer service! Our flight pushed back at exactly 4pm (the scheduled departure time) and we arrived in NYC at 5:10pm. Just checked and our train has still not left Union Station. #reallygooddecision

On the flight up I was reminded again how patriotic Americans are. They announced as we pushed back that there were a number of US military on the plane and everyone burst into applause. Seriously?! I almost felt embarrassed not to be applauding. I had an emergency exit row and they did a separate safety briefing for the people sitting in those rows. The steward waited for us all to be watching him. One guy was on his cellphone and he to him “don’t worry, we will all wait until you are finished, take your time” #sarcasm #whocaresaboutthecustomer

As it turned out half the plane were actually on the train and made the same decision. Person sitting next to Michael, people sitting both sides of me. Who suggested that taking the train was a good idea?! Won’t consider that again. Someone said it was a train accident, another person said an electrical fault, another that the wires had gotten crossed. No communication from Amtrak so there were definitely wires crossed just not sure whose wires.

The approaching into LaGuardia airport was amazing, We flew right around the Manhatten skyline. Unfortunately I was in an aisle seat so I didn’t get to photograph it. Taxi from the airport and we were finally reunited with Helen and Chloe at our midtown hotel (Intercontinental Barclay). Nice hotel. Small rooms but that is what you expect in midtown Manhatten. We met up for dinner with Daniel (my nephew who is studying at NYU) and after dinner we walked to Times Square. Chloe photo-bombed about 20 different pictures/selfies. Some random stranger (#goodlookingyounglady) walked up to Michael and gave him a rose. She said some stranger had given it to her. Michael tried passing it on to two middle aged ladies who rejected him. Rose went into the trash. I love Times Square. People everywhere. Biggest screens you can ever see.

New York is vibrant and always on the go. High rise buildings everywhere. Constant whistling (even now at 10:30pm) from the hotels for taxis. Looking forward to the next few days here.

 

Forget the conference – highlight of the day was going to watch an NBA game.  Long conference day made worthwhile by the end of day entertainment. Day started at 6:30am for me – that after getting to bed well after midnight last night. I don’t feel like I had enough sleep. I had to get up then because I had to read a document before my 7:15am telecon with the UK office. The conference started at 8am today as well so I hardly had time to get to breakfast before the first session. The first session was a CEO Q&A panel and was probably the best session so far of the conference. Some good items to think about and some thoughtful answers from the CEOs on the panel #quiteimpressed

The only other valuable session today was another plenary session on Uncertainty. Clever guy called Paul Embrechts – Maths professor at ETH Zurich. ETH is quite an impressive educational institution as it has produced 21 Nobel prize winners – the most famous being Albert Einstein who was both a student and a professor there. He demonstrated one very clever mathematical concept in about 5 minutes. I won’t bore you with the details but I will impress a certain Maths 1 student with it when I get back to CT.

But let’s be honest, the highlight of the day was the basketball game – Washington Wizards vs Boston Celtics.  I’ve never been to a basketball game before. It was thoroughly entertaining though. The game started at 7pm. 7 of us (6 from Gen Re and Michael) went together. We took the metro which has a stop right next to the Verizon Centre where the game was played. Very convenient and we will in our seats by 6:30pm after leaving the hotel at 6pm. The first challenge was getting some food. There was another whole language on the boards of the food places. It was in English but words in combination that I had no idea what we might end up with. We needed an American with us to translate.

They really do hype up the game, pump up the music before it gets underway. Noise, noise and more noise.  Louder, louder, louder, make some noise comes blaring though the speakers. After the mandatory saluting of the military and singing of the national anthem the game got underway. We had great seats with a good view of the court. Fortunately Michael was with us because the rest of us didn’t know the rules and he at least could explain what was going on. I got a running commentary and all my questions answered. Who knows if what he told me was correct but it seemed to make sense.

The game is made up of 4 quarters of 12 minutes each. 48 minutes of game time. But it took 2 hours 10 minutes to complete the whole game. The rest of the time is consumed by time outs (called by either side), fouls and quarter breaks. No boredom though as in every break (whether it be a time out or between quarters) there is other entertainment laid on. Cheerleaders (almost as good as the Bulls Babes), fan participation, interviews and my personal favourite – the Dance Cam. Loud music played and people get up and dance and make a general fool of themselves until they settle on one bloke who is making the ultimate fool of himself and declare him to be the Dance Cam winner. Chick-fil-A (a fast food chain) also offered a free chicken sandwich to everyone in the Stadium if the opposing team missed two consecutive free throws during the game. That got the fans booing every free throw the opponents made but unfortunately for us they never missed two consecutively the whole night.

It is another whole sub-culture watching a game like this. I couldn’t possibly describe everything that goes on. If you’re in America and can get to a basketball game I would highly recommend you do.  It was quite an entertaining evening. Oh … I forgot to mention the game itself. Washington Wizards dominated right from the start.  Within 2 minutes they had a lead of about 9 points and they never surrender that for the rest of the game and in fact they stretched the lead considerably in the 3rd quarter to about 30 points. An easy win for Washington Wizards and with the win they qualify for the NBA play-offs for the first time in 7 years. So an important game for them.

We ended the day with another trip to Baskin Robbins for ice creams. Just a half-day of conference left … finally! What did Helen & Chloe do today – maybe some more shopping I would guess.  They did drive back from Johnson City to Knoxville and Helen commented on how easy it was to drive in the US (wide roads) and how much she liked the rental car – Ford Focus (#noappreciationforcars). We should (transportation all going well) meet up again tomorrow.

2 more days of conference to go. Not sure I am going to make it. Someone rescue me. Today started with a session that the first speaker was introduced from Turkey and we were told it was her first ever presentation. Unfortunately I could tell. Then it was followed by a presentation that promised to be interesting but after about 7 minutes she said she was finished and sat down.  I thought she was just doing the introduction still. Then the next session involved three of our competitors talking about nothing for an hour and half. Seriously … someone put me out of my misery!

Fortunately it was only a half day of conference today. The afternoon was off to do some sightseeing and the weather was good as you can see from the sunrise photo from our hotel room. Michael and I did the Old Town Trolley tour.  It takes you past all the sights of Washington (and you can jump on and off at various stops but we didn’t – we just sat and enjoyed the ride).

What strikes me about Washington is there are a lot of monuments, a lot of memorials from the various wars Americans have fought and died in, a lot of museums, a lot of government departments. I reckon no one does anything else here but work in one of those places (or in a hotel or restaurant). I don’t think I have actually seen an office building except the government ones.  All of the museums, monuments, government buildings are very impressive and a lot of thought clearly has gone into the building and positioning of them.  Nothing haphazard. For instance, the statue on top of the Capitol Building is called Lady Freedom. Freedom faces east so that ‘the sun never sets on Freedom’. The WW II memorial has 4000 gold stars which represent the 400 000 Americans who lost their lives in WWII.  The whole city (or at least the Mall) are like that. Quite impressed by the planning of it especially since a lot of this was laid out in the 1800s. The other thing I found out for the first time today was that every 4 years they paint either a blue or red line (representing Democratic or Republican) down the whole of Pennsylvania Avenue from the place where the President is inaugurated (Capitol Hill) to his (there have been no her’s yet) residence (the White House). The blue was wearing thin already even though there are a few more years to go for Obama.

The round trip took just under 2 hours and really gave us a good perspective of the city and it’s layout. But we were reminded about how paranoid (or maybe it is organised) Americans are. While waiting to catch the trolley tour we were standing next to the Department of Agriculture building and on the side of the building was the plaque on the left. Never seen that in any other major city in the world. At least we know where to go if someone drops a nuclear bomb in Washington DC over the next few days (oops .. that’s probably got the FBI/CIA/Department of Homeland Security all watching me electronically now).

You might be asking what H&C are up to.  Only thing I know is that we just kept getting photos of various things that Helen either thinks we should be buying (and we shouldn’t) or she thinks are very funny (like the range of Martha Stewart pet clothes). She seems to be enjoying herself much more than I am at the conference.

Tonight I had a client dinner.  We invited our clients from South Africa and the UK to join us for dinner at a restaurant in DC. It was a very popular restaurant and so we could only get access to the private dining area at 8:30pm and so it was a late dinner.  I only just got back to the hotel at just before midnight (#longday). Our SA marketing people booked the restaurant. It was a Greek/Lebanese restaurant called Zaytinya (www.zayinya.com).  No American items not even the wine.  Only Greek, Lebanese and Israeli wines on the list. I went with Lebanese. The red wine was better than the white but both were quite drinkable. Given it is 12:15am and Michael is already snoring behind me, I reckon it is time for bed!

Another day in Washington. Feels like I have been here forever now. The conference proper started today. Fortunately they serve breakfast as part of the conference because I am getting tired of paying $21 for breakfast. The conference food has actually been quite good.  Nice continental breakfast this morning.  I had a bagel and cream cheese – good All American breakfast.

I spent the day at the conference. Opening session was a plenary and they had some local university band playing during the opening ceremony. Best part was when they played ‘Happy’.  Otherwise underwhelmed. Opening speaker was quite interesting as opening speakers go at actuarial conferences. After that there were elective sessions. I went to listen to two SA speakers and thereafter the conference descended into the abyss for me. Next speaker was from Benin and it reached a low point when he answered a question and went into French for about 5 minutes! In the afternoon session, the first presenter was quite good (hate to admit it as he was from a competitor) but the next two speakers went from bad into terrible.  The last speaker was a Danish academic and his talked involved mathematics terms I have never heard of and double and triple integrals. Seriously – who could possibly have been interested in that?!

My day finished off with dinner with the Europeans including the future president of the International Actuarial Association. We went to local restaurant and definitely the best one that is across the road.  Helen missed out on the best restaurant here.  Excellent food and quite an enjoyable, socialable dinner.  Overall one of those killer conference days which has resulted in me not looking forward to tomorrow!

Michael on the other hand got to experience the Capitol building today and enjoyed probably the best weather we have had so far in DC.  Not only did he get to have Coco Pops for breakfast from the Capitol Building cafeteria but he can now claim to have seen and done something that I have never done. He was suitably impressed by the building and surprised by the lack of security.

Michael is now an old hand on using the DC Metro system and walking around the neighborhood. The beauty of being in a place that you don’t have to worry about safety and you can walk around at 9pm in the evening.

Helen and Chloe drove from Knoxville to Johnson City TN today (from one family member to the other). Helen seems to have mastered driving on the other side of the road. Either that or Chloe has been bribed into silence. Besides knowing they arrived safely in Johnson City the only other thing I know they did today was go shopping. The only reason I know that is because Helen has been sending pictures of strange foodstuffs to us. #keepherselfamused

Here’s to hoping that tomorrow isn’t so boring …

 

We woke this morning to a rainy and cold Washington DC. It was also the day that the family split up. Helen & Chloe headed to visit family in Knoxville and Michael and I stayed in DC. I have another conference (International Congress of Actuaries) which started tonight.

Helen and Chloe took a cab for their flight to Knoxville.  They went early so they could have brunch at the airport. Chloe was so well behaved while going through security she got a TSA sticker.  They now have a system through security that if you are pre-cleared then you don’t have to take off your shoes, take out your laptop etc. Fortunately Helen and Chloe were pre-cleared (we still haven’t figured out why because it is meant to only be open to US citizens) but Helen said it did save significant time and effort. Of course their flight was delayed for about an hour but they did make it safely to Knoxville. Helen picked up a rent-a-car there and drove for the first time in the US (and on the wrong side of the road). They seemed to make it safely to our family.  Chloe did send a message saying ‘Pray for the drivers of Knoxville’!

This morning I had to do a filming of a congratulatory message for one of the American Actuarial societies.  It is there 100th year and they wanted actuarial leaders from all over the world to be filmed to show at their annual Congress.  After I had been powdered up and was prepped, I answered their questions and gave my congratulations. Only one or two double takes.

Michael and I were also moving hotels to the Congress hotel. It is just across the road and was where the filming took place. I decided to try and check-in early. First problem, they said they had no reservation for me. They said it was from last Tuesday and they cancelled it when I didn’t show up. Unfortunately I didn’t have my confirmation with me but I knew that I did have a proper confirmation for the right dates and told them so. They eventually gave me a room and when we came back later with our luggage I showed them the proof and they were apologetic.  Not sure how they messed it up because we had an electronic confirmation. Moving over from the one hotel to the other seemed simple but given it was pelting down with rain it turned out not to be so easy.

Second problem arose when we try to find the in-room safe. Neither Michael nor I could find it. Eventually we called and they said it was in the drawer. We had looked there and it wasn’t. They sent up maintenance to come and sort it out. The maintenance guy opened the drawer and was very surprised to see no safe. He asked whether we had just come in – like we had stolen it. Someone certainly seemed to have taken it though as you could see the holes were it was meant to be mounted. They switched our room so that we could have a safe. Third issue arose when we bought two Pepsi’s from the vending machine and got Diet Pepsi’s. They bought us replacements but gave us cans instead of bottles (about half the volume). #notimpressedwithMarriot! Only upside is that it should be a nice view from the room when it clears up.

Michael and I went to watch a movie this afternoon. We watched Sabotage (new Arnie movie). Basically everyone kills everyone. Not much of a plot but entertaining. We bought a small popcorn and Sprite. Their small Sprite was about 750ml. I would hate to think what a large looks like. When we came out of the movie it was snowing outside. This is meant to be spring!

This evening we had the opening function of the Congress that was held at the National Museum of American History (one of the Smithsonian Museums). It is the same museum Helen and kids went to earlier in the week. It was ok but not a great museum. I have seen better. And the dinner was also ok – nothing spectacular. Nice to catch up with numerous people I hadn’t seen in awhile though. Conference proper starts tomorrow. I am not overly excited. I feel like I am already conferenced out.

Even though it is Saturday I was still involved in meetings today.  Fortunately it was only from lunchtime so at least I could enjoy the morning with the family. We had breakfast at a local restaurant and then headed into the centre of Washington DC by Metro. It was my first time on the Metro since we have arrived but the rest of them are skilled Metro travelers already. I just followed them around.

The Metro station near the hotel has one of the longest escalators I have ever seen. They have timed it and it takes 2 minutes 20 seconds. Looking down it you get quite a strange disorientated feeling. Fortunately I didn’t have the urge to throw myself down (some people apparently do have that feeling) but when walking down it you do get a sense that you might topple over (and no I had not been drinking alcoholic beverages).

We went to see the Library of Congress. You can’t get into the area which houses the 150 million books and papers (they must have a great cataloging and retrieval system to find anything) but you can view the reading room from above. It did remind me of the movie National Treasure where they go to look for the President’s Secret book that is stored in the Library.

The Library was originally built by Congress funding to house Thomas Jefferson’s book collection which was bought by Congress in 1815 for $23 950. It is a collection of over 6000 books.  Jefferson (at the time) owned the largest private collection of books in the US. The books are on display in the Library but no photo’s are allowed. If one was to take a photo I am sure it would look something like the image included here. Unfortunately some of the books were destroyed in fires over the years and so they don’t have the full collection anymore but they mark the missing books with empty boxes and they are trying to procure the missing ones to complete the original collection again. Jefferson was a great reader and said “I cannot live without books”.  He read a diverse range of subjects from politics to science, religion to astronomy, fiction to history. He was selective about what he read though and understood the effect reading had on people. In that regard he once said “The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers.”  Wise words.

The Library obviously houses numerous famous books but probably the most famous of what it includes is the Gutenberg Bible. It was the first books printed using moveable type and was printed in the 1450s.  There are only 42 of these Bibles still in existance and they are considered the most valuable book in the world.  None have been sold since 1978 and that one went for $2.2m.  In 1987 a copy of the Old Testament Gutenberg Bible sold for $5.4m and that was (and is) the highest price ever paid for a book.  They reckon if one were sold today it would fetch $100m. The real value of God’s Word is priceless though.

The Library is magnificent building in it’s own right and photos can’t really do it justice. Marble abounds, stained glass windows, pressed ceiling panels, marble statues.  It doesn’t take long to visit the Library of Congress and I would recommend it for anyone visiting Washington DC.  It is worth the hour or so that you spend. Entrance is free.

As I had to be back for a lunch time meeting with the Germans (appropriate I guess after seeing the Gutenberg Bible), I headed back and fortunately Metro Guide Michael accompanied me so that I didn’t have to worry about when to change and where. Helen and Chloe stayed on and visited the National Gallery and came back to the hotel after lunch complaining about their sore feet. It was also raining the whole day so not only did they have sore feet but also wet feet.

My meetings went on until 6pm this evening and then we went out for dinner. As it was still raining we just went across the road to Mr Chen’s. It was one of the top rated Chinese restaurants in Washington DC. The food was pretty good and I particularly enjoyed eating some vegetables.  When you travel you seem to eat a lot of meat and starch and not enough vegetables. With the rain still falling it is off to bed.

It has warmed up considerably in DC. That after yesterday broke the all-time record for the coldest temperature ever recorded on 27 March in Washington – 15 F – the previous record was 17 F.  Today though it rose to 60 F (or around 20 C).  Might more pleasant even though it was overcast. Not that it mattered to me because I had meetings starting at 8am through to 5:30pm. It started with breakfast with the Dutch followed by a 4-hour meeting on professionalism, lunch with the Americans and then another 3.5 hours of presentations/discussions.  Not my idea of a fun day.

Michael decided to go to Pentagon City because that was where the Bose store he wanted to go to was located.  Helen and Chloe had breakfast with one of the other wives from SA who is also here and then also headed to Pentagon City for some shopping. I got the updates via cellphone messages from the credit card purchases.  Michael managed to get himself renamed at Starbucks (see photo). You get the SA accent thrown in there if you say it phonetically. Michael also managed to have the a-typical American conversation with a random lady that went like this:
“Where you from?”
“South Africa”
“Oh – Africa – I have a friend who lives in Botswana – do you know her”
I have had that sort of conversation in the past as well and I reply:
“No, but I have a friend who lives in Canada, surely you must know them”

They got back after lunch and I guess they just loafed in the hotel room this afternoon. On the other hand we were listening to the Commissioner of Social Security talking to us.  The Social Security Administration pays out over $700bn a year (yes you read that correctly). To put that in perspective, the GDP of South Africa is $400bn so this means their Social Security system is almost double the size of the SA economy! That makes the Commissioner a lot more important to the world economy than anyone in SA.  I understand who the photographer seemed so much in awe of her.  The French guy who was fast asleep while she was talking didn’t seem very impressed though.

We decided to just have dinner locally (read across the road) this evening. Nothing special.  But I was impressed with the beer that I ordered though. It was called Pabst Blue Ribbon but what was really impressive was that it was selected as ‘America’s finest in 1863’ (see photo, bottom line). It hasn’t won anything since then.

We went for a walk after dinner but Helen turned back due to sore feet from other walking. Michael, Chloe and I did a tour of the neighboring suburb though.  Some really nice houses. Michael googled and we discovered the prices started at about $4m. Not particularly big properties (maybe a quarter of an acre) but really nice looking houses. What was surprising was that most of them only had a single garage and the cars parked out of front were Toyota, Kia, Chrysler etc – no luxury cars or only very few. I guess all the money went into the house.

On the way back we stopped in at Baskin Robbin’s for a quick ice cream and then back to the hotel (yes we got one for Helen too). Early to bed so that we can wake up early again …

Another work day for me.  Another sightseeing day for Helen and co.  My day started at 7am with breakfast with the Brits.  First time I have ever seen anyone from the UK up at 7am. Fortunately I was hungry at 7am because I had woken up at 5:30am.  At least it is getting slightly later each day. After breakfast I had a task force meeting on Ethics (for 2 hours), then another 1 hour 30 minute telecon with the UK office (#bigphonebill) followed by lunch and more networking.

H, M & C though went off sightseeing again. They covered off the American History Museum (which includes Abe’s hat though Helen said she didn’t see it … #missedthebigattraction), Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument (which is closed still from the 2011 Earthquake damage) and the Vietnam Memorial.  As you can see it was another clear day though still quite cold. Nothing in Washington is close by and so it involves a lot of walking between sights.  For instance, it is 1.1 miles from the Washington to Lincoln Memorials. When they got back after lunch (which they had at the all American must-have-at-least-once-while-in-America MacDonalds), they were all tired and ready for an afternoon nap. I was ready to get out of the hotel given that I had spent the whole day inside.

I eventually gave up and woke Helen up at 4:15pm and we headed out to Georgetown which is a short taxi trip away from the hotel. Chloe wanted to go to Georgetown Cupcakes (https://www.georgetowncupcake.com).  It has apparently famous because it has it’s own TV show. There is a perpetual queue (or as American’s say – line) outside the store. Michael and Chloe lined up to get the famous cupcakes while Helen and I went to Dean & Deluca (a food and home store).

Georgetown is very quaint.  Most of the buildings are brown brick. It is definitely an upmarket area. There are also very few overweight people. Usually I wouldn’t remark on that sort of thing but when I come to America I expect to see many obese people and so when you don’t, it is noticeable. We did some more shopping at the other-must-go-to-store – Apple. Helen bought herself a new phone because her current iPhone is pretty battered and abused and it was 30% cheaper buying an iPhone in the US than at home. They even setup the phone for her (including transferring her contacts and other info) in about 10 minutes. Hopefully she won’t lose the Yellow Submarine iPhone she now owns.

We headed for dinner and ended up at Clyde’s – same place we ate in Georgetown when we were here last as a family (with my parents – @Mom&Dad – do you remember the restaurant?). Big portions as usual, free refills of softdrinks, beer in the bottle – no glass offered. Good service, nice atmosphere, good food and excellent beer (Samuel Adams Lager – another one of my must-dos when in the US).

After dinner some more shopping. I bought a pair of jeans from Urban Outfitters. Helen was impressed because she said it is a very hip store. Not sure why she was impressed because clearly I am hip. She’s been married to me for over 20 years now and she is surprised I am hip – seriously I don’t understand women!

Cab back to the hotel so that they could enjoy their cupcakes for desert. Apparently they were amazing (I don’t eat cupcakes because I am a healthy eater) but then at R175 ($16) for 6 cupcakes they had better be the best cupcakes they have ever eaten.

Now Helen is channel flipping on the TV. Helen should not be allowed access to the remote when we travel in the US.  Her first choice is to watch the Weather channel. Failing that it is the food channel (which she is on now). If I am lucky we get CNN for a short time. American TV is worth a whole blog in itself. Actually American TV adverts are worth a blog by themselves. But I will keep that for another day. I’m just glad that the Protea’s didn’t lose to Netherlands today in their World T20 Cricket match. We have breakfast with the Dutch tomorrow and that would have been embarrassing.