Day 5 - Friday

On Fridays Keith and Andy typically go to the Australian High Commission, which is a simply bar just outside of the Australian embassy. They invited Friedrich and I to join them tonight.

I had a bit of a scare just before leaving work today. Keith and Andy had a meeting at another location, so Friedrich and I were going to share a car. I was told that the director of the project wanted to get a status update from several of us working for Jacobs Consulting, and that the meeting would happen around 4:00. Friedrich and I had decided to leave around 6:30 or 7:00.

Well our meeting didn't start until 6:00 and we didn't get out until 7:00. I immediately went downstairs and Friedrich was not in his office. I also didn't see his computer or any other personal belongings (later I found out his briefcase was stashed just inside the door). I didn't think too much about this until I had made a loop around both floors of the building and couldn't find him. I thought for sure I had been left. It was only after going back up to my office to gather my things and figure out what to do that I noticed he was in meeting with someone and they had the door closed. Crisis averted.

Traffic was bad going to the embassy, and we arrived later than we both had hoped since it closes at 11:00. In the pictures you can see what it looks like. This shot seems to be the best one of the group. The group is, from left to right: Gerry, Glenda, Andy, Andrew, and Keith (taking the shot). I had not met Gerry, Glenda, or Andrew up until tonight, but everyone was very nice and we had a good time playing pool and arguing over the rules. Evidently the rules for 8 ball are slightly different in England, Germany, and the US. Before every shot it seemed we were asking for clarifications to make sure someone didn't protest the shot.

We left at closing time and waded through heavy traffic. Again I rode with Friedrich, who is very nice and has a tendancy to talk a lot. I could barely keep my eyes open since I was still suffering from a lack of sleep and a couple of drinks. (The next day Andy asked me if I had fallen asleep listening to Friedrich talk. He had no idea how right he was).