Mobile weather alert Detail from WeatherBug.com

Unbelievable heat-wave in my home state and city.


http://weather-mobile.weatherbug.com/TX/Roanoke-weather/severe-weather/local-alerts.aspx?cid=15&aid=42253001

Time to return to Helsinki after midsummer festivities

Time flies quickly.... I am sitting in a intercity train from Lahti to Helsinki after a couple of days of too much eating and not moving around... The weather was not cooperating this time... It was cold and some rain showers that did not excite people to take full advantage of the midsummer evenings. I have to say that I love the train system in Finland... It really works....

Midsummer in Finland

I am on my way to celebrate midsummer, which is one of the largest celebrations in Finland and statistically we will have around 15-20 people to get killed of different reasons such as drownings, fights and traffic accidents. There was already a major traffic accident in Mantsala (between Helsinki and Lahti) with seven cars involved.

I am sitting in a train to Lahti and from there I will drive to our summer cottage that is close.... I will be returning on Sunday to Helsinki.

Flight from Dallas to New York to Helsinki: expect the bags to be left in New York

I have flown twice this route from and both times I have had to exit Helsinki Airport without bags. Both times I have also had to experience the lower than expected service at Helsinki Airport.... They are arrogant, they do not care about your issue, and frankly, you do not exist to them. This time they did not even care to call me the following day to let me know that my bags arrived.... They just dropped it to the office... Anybody could have received my bag claiming it is his or hers... Huh... There is lots to fix in the company that takes care of the lost bags...

To Finland again... airmiles are accumulating

I am sitting on the plane again... Only one week in Dallas... and a very busy and eventful week with Tornado, damages in our neighbourhood and across Dallas.... We were without electricity for 24 hours and with a heat index of 110 Fahrenheit, that was not fun at all. I am sur Finland will have more moderate temperature. I was also lucky, I was upgraded to first class on the leg from Dallas to New York so I get to work with my laptop.

Palo Alto two nights was fun

I participated as speaker and panelist at IDC Software Channel Executive event in Palo Alto Sheraton this week. The flight from Dallas to San Jose, CA took 3 hours 10 minutes.

I took a chance to test out the Caltrain from Santa Clara to Palo Alto and that was probably the best thing one can do if travelling along Silicon Valley. Take the bus from San Jose airport (number 10) to Santa Clara and then jump on the train and you will see all these nice cities along the way.

Trip back from Finland was uneventful

My trip back from Finland was smooth, the Finnair flight from Helsinki to Frankfurt with continued flight to Dallas was good and business class felt good...

The trip to Finland is over for now

Two weeks went quickly and I am on my way to Dallas, Texas via Frankfurt Germany. During this trip, I experienced again the unbelievable light that I have almost forgotten during the past 11 years. I will have to do a little trip to Palo Alto, CA almost immediately on Tuesday to speak at an IDC event, but after that I will have a chance to stay at least a week in Dallas...

Hard to get used to the light so early

It is 09.00 AM in Helsinki and the sun is very high on the sky.... It is remarkable how light it is already in the morning compared with Dallas, Texas...

The start of the week in Helsinki, Finland

I have had a good start of the week in Finland, however, too many working hours as with the time difference of 8 hours, my days have been more than 16 hours a day. Today, it is a public holiday in Finland (religious), but tomorrow will be open for business again. I have a full day of meetings and this weekend I will work on my upcoming book as well. The weather in Helsinki is cloudy, chilly but perfeect for walking.