Good writers write for their audience and not themselves. I hesitate being introspective because it's inconsequential to anyone else. Then again, there's nothing else to do except being introspective in the dead of night.

I always arrive the night before working or teaching at another city: it affords me a good night's rest before I meet the customer on the following day. As usual, I'm always unable to sleep the first night. It's not hard to guess that the person in the next room can't sleep either. All I could hear are unconvincing female moans from his TV, separated by a thin wall and the headboard.

Fine, there is something else you can do in the dead of night.

Another good reason to bring industrial-strength earplugs when you travel.

My mind is sharper when I'm on the road. There's less distractions when life is put on hold for a week. The schedule's pretty good if you have a one-track mind; without having to cook, clean or even commute to work, all that there's left to do is work. Perhaps it's the promise of moving on to another city next week with yet another challenge. Whether this is a good or bad practice in the long run remains to be seen.

This week's an exception: I'm neither working (at a customer site) or teaching. For once, I'm a student taking part in a workshop. I also skimmed over a computer textbook on the flight over, in case I'm asked to do any analytical work. Sometimes I wonder whether it would be better just to study this material and get a Master's degree in the process. I doubt I have the patience or nerdiness to be an academic though. I like to work for a living.

Perhaps the answer will come to me in the morning. I'll do the third thing that most people do in this hour. Good night.

If you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all. That's my excuse for falling silent at the keyboard and I'm sticking to it.

I haven't felt this lethargic in a long time. The XBox 360 collects dust along with 1.5 unfinished games. Stacks of bills cover every inch of the desk, unopened. E-mails, unread. Meals, conveniently forgotten. Even driving the whole three minutes to the video store becomes a chore.

If you asked me if anything happen last week, I wouldn't know how respond. Or perhaps I don't want to recall. It's like some odd Groundhog day that never ceases to repeat itself.

With travel, life is measured one customer, one week at a time. No matter how much you care about your work and the people you meet, you know that they will forget your name and your efforts as soon as you leave. Their appreciation is genuine and sincere, but most likely you will never cross paths again. In the end, I've done my job and they're satisfied with the result. Asking for anything more would simply be selfish.

Even still, I will still teach the fortieth class with as much commitment and enthusiasm as the first class. Stubbornness? Obsessive-compulsiveness? Eternal hope? Who knows, who cares. I work for a living and I don't have time for philosophical daydreams.

Not everyone in this profession sees the job in the same bleak light, however.

I've taught half a dozen classes with another instructor that's just five years older than me. He's got motivation: his own consulting and training company just past the five year mark, where 90% of startup companies fail. He's got an anchor: his wife and his two young children provide a reason for working week after week. He's got an escape plan: he wants to take a few months off to study cooking in Italy and he plans to open his own small restaurant one day.

I can't explain my motivation, I have no anchor and I have no escape plan.

It's best not to think too much. This way, at least you don't realize that the same things are repeating themselves over again.

By this third week of January, I've already traveled 5600 miles (9000 kilometres) from New York City to Stuttgart, Germany. This is not counting the 4000 miles (6440 kilometres) for New Year's in Las Vegas. Mostly laziness and a bit of jet lag kept me away from this blog.

I've debated whether to write about my experience in Germany. First of all, let me state that everyone I work with treats me with respect and courtesy. Most of the folks I encounter are enthusiastic and even possess a deft sense of humor. They most certainly do not speak like Governor Schwarzenegger; the people that work in this multinational firm are exceptionally fluent in English.

The other people I have encountered however, is a much different story.

From the moment that I set foot onto the airport in Frankfurt, I get the sense that foreigners are not welcome. Passengers rudely responded to a South Asian woman who asked about the seat numbers on the plane: "No! It's not here. It's back there, ja." The staff at the metal detectors roll their eyes at the simplest request: "Ja, ja, ja, ja!" was the response when I politely asked for a plastic tray to hold my laptop.

I can't tell whether they despise me because I'm non-European (frankly, not white in complexion) or because speaking in English is a hassle for them. I loathe to jump to conclusions but it's hard not to think that way when it's thrown at your face every day.

Restaurants are also a hassle. Except for cafeteria and buffet lunches, meals tend to take one or two hours. I've waited 40 minutes for someone to take my order for a 10 Euro burger at a large hotel. Honestly, it's next to impossible to wave down a waiter once you are seated at a table.

Not everyone is so hostile to visitors. I was at a fantastic traditional Swabian restaurant yesterday where the waitress even asked about the novel that I was reading. The family-run hotel remembers my name and room number as I ask for the keys to my room. Then again, these places serve the many North American visitors that work at the HP and IBM offices and the massive DaimlerChrysler factory and headquarters in the area.

I did meet one or two non-Europeans working in the office. One of the students in my class appears to be of Cantonese descent, although she mostly spoke German to her co-workers. I'd be curious to ask how visible minorities are treated in this country. Perhaps my experiences were unique.

Yes Ozair, I caved.



I've finished holiday shopping and donations to charity, so I might as well get my own present.

If you're still hoping to buy an XBox 360 as a holiday gift, skip the stores and avoid eBay. I picked one up from one of a dozen sellers on RedFlagDeals.com in the local Toronto area. Even at $600 CND for the premium system, it's only $25 more than the retail price after taxes. Twenty-five dollars is well worth the convenience of not lining up in the freezing cold morning in front of the local Best Buy.

I won't repeat the reviews out on the web. Needless to say, if you have an HDTV, you owe it to yourself to buy this system. Just watching high definition movie trailers makes you appreciate your home theatre setup that much more. I'm still amazed that Microsoft, the same company that makes some of the buggiest software in the world, can pull off such an amazing machine.



Ironically, I'm addicted to a $5 game that I downloaded off XBox Live Arcade: Geometry Wars. The graphics look like an acid trip and it's as addictive as crack. I only managed 100,000 points on my first few tries; this guy got 2.1 million points.

If you're lucky enough to have one, here's a few tips to get you started:

• Take the protective plastic tape off the DVD drive right away. Otherwise, the drive will not open when you hit Eject.
• For some reason, the system is set to 480p (regular television) by default. Make sure that the resolution is set to either 720p or 1080i for an HDTV.
  
• Click the Ring of Light (the half dome in the middle on your controller) to activate the XBox Guide. You can send messages and play music saved onto the hard drive.
• In the XBox Guide, the Personal Options option allows you to change the theme as well; this took me hours to figure out.
• Plug in an iPod to copy music over to the 360.
  
• Plug in a regular USB keyboard instead of typing one letter at a time with your controller.

Seasons greetings to everyone! Hope you'll get a nice present for yourself as well.

On a cheerier note, I’ve managed to get one more holiday present. No, no, it’s not for me. One of my co-workers has taken upon herself to gather a few gifts as a donation to the local women’s shelter. My part was to track down this over-marketed red muppet. Wal-Mart didn’t have a single one in stock, whereas Toys R Us had half a dozen different types of the critter in stock.

What’s the deal with Elmo anyways? Any kid would be traumatized if they saw a dozen Elmos leaping at them from the shelves.

Another family asked for an XBOX game, but I thought it would be best if I didn’t donate one of my older games. To all the parents out there, not all video games are kids’ toys, just as not all cartoons are meant for children. Case in point, the following games have a mature rating clearly labeled on the box:

• Behead monsters in Prince of Persia.
• Slaughter waves of aliens in Halo and Halo 2.
• Eviscerate Middle-Eastern insurgents with automatic weapons in Full Spectrum Warrior.
• Pummel beasts into a bloody pulp with fists of fury in Jade Empire.
• Slit terrorists’ throats as a covert agent in Splinter Cell.

Almost forgot Grand Theft Auto. Off the top of my head, it includes: vicious beating, stabbing, shooting, arson, wanton destruction of property, robbery, carjacking, pimping, prostitution, police corruption, drug dealing, drug use, racketeering, assassination, murder, vehicular homicide and explicit language use in every second word. There was also the uproar over the hot coffee scandal that got the game pulled out of stores for a while.

I can’t imagine any responsible parent not reading the game rating before buying a game for their child. Yet I can also imagine how hard it is for a parent to say no. While I was buying the Elmo, I heard one kid stammer out I’ll buy the game with my own money as he threw a tantrum.

Sorry, kid. You'll need a decent full-time job before you can afford a video game library. My Xbox, PS2 and 25 store-bought games cost me roughly two thousand dollars.

So, consider donating a gift to a charity if you can afford it along with the rest of your holiday purchases. For kids gifts, try reading up on the toy council suggestions.