Wilkommen Nach America

Waking up at 4AM is really like not having slept at all. I guess i could go to be at 8 tonight...but whats the fun in that. A better solution would be to just stay up all night..but the 2 hr drive to the airport would be a challenge. The compromise therefore leaves me with around a 2-3 hr nap before 18hrs of flying tomorrow. Who would've thought...we can explore space and conquer the poles...but a simple direct flight to Indy isn't even remotely possible. Nope...Zurich to Amsterdam to Minneapolis to Indy. For those who are directionally challenged...thats north, then west, then east and south. hmmmm. The hub and spoke system, a model of transportation efficiency.

Anyway, i thought i'd brush up on US current events before coming over. Apparently there's quite a bit of dialogue now around immagration. According to the "internet news" there are allot of illegals entering america from Mexico. I suppose it's possible...but after living in Michigan for 4 years i always thought Canada would be grabbing all the headlines. That's OK though...the Daily Show is fighting the good fight and getting the word out about our evil northern neighbors. Michiganders like to joke that the state is shaped like a gloved hand...i like to think it's a hand held up while a collective America yells "Stop".

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8NGEDSP4nk

My Apologies

"Woke up, got outta bed, dragged a comb across my head.
Made my way downstairs and drank a cup, looking up i noticed i was late. "

Most music is about love..finding it, losing it, making it. But theres also allot of decent music about working. Finding jobs, losing jobs, workin for the weekend, how working sucks...those have been my songs lately.

The normal product life cycle for the product I am involved with is 12-24 months from kick off to hand off. 6 weeks ago i was “fortunate” enough to pick up a new project that has a 3 month life cycle. Needless to say, it's been a bit of a scramble. 12 hr days, Saturdays, Sundays...the concept of a five day week is gone. I thought Europeans were ahead of America with their 5 weeks of vacation and 35 hr work weeks. Part of me wants to take it as a compliment.

Manager 1 “We've got to deliver this project in 3 months, who should we give it to?”

Manager 2 “3 months? Wow. I wouldn't wanna wanna do it. How about project manager #1?”

Manager 1 “Naw, he's got a family. What about that American guy?”

Manager 2 “Brilliant!”

The truth is i take it as a compliment. If they gave it to me then it means they have confidence that i can deliver on time. Right? Well, that's what i tell myself anyway. God I'm stupid. But its not all wasted effort. All of my extra hrs are paid 50% as extra vacation 50% as money. I'm working on around 50 days of vacation right now. Was that a tear that just hit your keyboard?

Anyways, the reason i bring this up is that i feel like I've neglected my poor blog as of late. But things should be slowing down soon. I'm heading stateside next Sunday to wrap up another project so things ought to cool off a bit after that. Oh and during my visit i should be able to swing through NY for a few days to drive my cars. I mean see my family.

Cheers!

Happy Mothers Day

I've been working 12 hr days for the last 4 wks or so..so there isn't much to say. But in light of mothers day i thought i'd better get off my arse and wish mine and all mothers a happy mothers day.

So Happy Mothers Day Fool!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7_rBidCkJxo

(In)Famous Corrigans

This one's for the family.

Have any of you ever typed our name into google to see what you get. Some funny stuff comes up, particularly for Jimmie. Here's another one though from a book i'm reading. Its called "Titan" and its about JD Rockefeller and the history of Standard Oil. No it's not for school, yes i'm reading it voluntarily..it's interesting i swear.

Anyway, about half way through the book i run into a brief story about a James Corrigan from Cleveland. I know our family was out that way in Michigan many years ago, but i'm not aware of any James's's's in the family back then. I never know how to puncuate words like that. Jameses, James's...anyway, I'm not sure if the scan will be legible but here's the gist of it.

"The Corrigan" affair, as it is reffered to in the book, paired Corrigan up with Rockefeller's dim-wit brother, Frank. A deal that could've yielded enourmous profits for both wound up further souring the relationship with Frank and JD and causing a lifetime of friction between Corrigan and Rockefeller.

Thats all i've got today...but i thought my fellow Corrigan's might find it intersting.

Cheers!

Happy 25% to Me

I have a file on my computer where i keep all sorts of little notes, comments, uncompleted blogs and quotes. This afternoon i was skimming through this file and i ran across a blog i started around Christmas time. It was essentially a list of things i missed about the states and couldn't understand about Europe. Here's a few.

Too many coins!

No headbangers ball. No metal mania. No SNL. No Weeds. All great shows.

Roundabouts are good

No shopping for anything on Sunday.

No George foreman grill!

There were a bunch more but i got a kick out of reading it now because if i had to do it again, none of those things would be on there. I've pretty much given up TV. I eat a steady diet of sandwiches and soup. (Sidenote: it's possible to cook soup directly in the can on a stove if you A, remove the top and B, stir regularly. This saves washing a pot, but don't try on gas stoves. Or rather try it, and let me know how that works.) Roundabouts still are good. In fact now i would even go as far as to say excellent.

Today officially marks the completion of 6 months, or 25% of my contract over here. I admit, i have mixed feelings. On the one hand it went by extremely quick which is no doubt an indication of how the rest of the time will be. But on the other hand, it's been a helluva 6 months. The Lichtenstein government felt it a big enough event that they actually closed down the country today, Switzerland too. The “Official” reason is a bank holiday, but between you me and the wall, i know people. I'm kind of a big deal here (sorry to steal your line Mo).

I had a pretty great long weekend. Friday night i went out with some of my new friends here and, well, lets just say tequila is evil and i got home the next day at 2:30PM. Gotta keep things PG, my little cousins may see this. As you can probably guess, Saturday was pretty much a waste of a day consisting of a healthy diet of water and Tylenol. Sunday however, I got a tip that the canton of Appenzell was holding their yearly Landsgemeinde (thanks Ang). It's pretty wild, essentially everyone gathers in the town square to vote on various legislation. It's been going on for hundreds of years but today there are only 2 cantons in Switzerland that still hold these public votes. Naturally there is allot of traditional clothing, songs, etc, but one of the coolest parts were the swords. It used to be that men (not women historically) would vote by raising swords. To this day, many still bring them. Despite my taunting and precision cheese ball throws none were willing to do any sword fighting. Damn neutral Swiss.

To round out the weekend i spent today hiking and riding my bike, and of course writing this. Brace yourselves, it gets a little long winded at times and I'm gonna get a bit introspective here. Consider yourselves warned.

I didn't come here with many expectations mainly because i had no idea what to expect. I came with skis, my guitar, clothes and an open mind. These last 6 months have been full of highs, lows, good times, lonely times, new faces, old faces and a slew of other experiences that i never would have expected but were nonetheless worth every moment. It was tough to leave Michigan, i had a pretty good thing going over there. But i felt like I had stagnated. Before settling in Troy i was on my 11th address in 8 years. Nomadic? I suppose. The year before i left to come here i had nightmarish visions where 20 yrs from now I'd be doing the exact same thing with the exact same people at work. I see those people at work who are coming everyday, just as they've done for the year before this one, and the year before that one, and it depresses me. Makes me think of that guy in Joe vs. the Volcano. An underrated movie by the way. Back on topic..that's just not for me. So this gig couldn't have come at a better time. I try not to talk too much about work, after all i don't wanna get “Dooced” here. Besides I'm technically still with the same company, albeit at a slightly better location and pay scale.

So 18 more months. That seems like a long time now but i guarantee that it will fly by just as fast, if not faster than the previous 6 months. I've got allot of things planned; the LeMans race, a trip to Spain (I promise Jenn), F1 Hokenheim, Vienna, Red Sea diving, maybe Australia and no doubt many few others. There really are too many things to see. Curse this spectacular location.

Well, lets wrap this up. I have no idea what i will do when i get done over here. Stay? Go? Go where? Retirement sounds good. Indications thusfar point to me being able to sign on permanently here, can i really go back to Detroit traffic? I wouldn't mind starting my own business (plan will be ready next week Bri). Who knows, there's plenty of time to figure all this out. Tomorrow AM it's off to Germany for a meeting. I think I'll eat some pork knuckles and maybe drink a Weiss beer for lunch. Yes, that sounds nice. Only in Europe, only in Europe.

I got some good pics over the weekend, but the app to load them is malfunctioning. Ill try again when i get back in town.

Ma and Pa at the overlook near the Lichtenstein castle. thanks for the visit!

Opel Speedster. Built by lotus, it even comes in a turbo version.

What time is it?

The Glockenspiel clock in Munich.

Pop

Me explaining the general theory of relativity. or maybe how to milk a cow, i cant remember.

Pigs knuckles. sounds gross...but damn good.

Center shot from Dachau

Work will set you free (rough translation).

The castle in Balzers, south of Lichtenstein

Another Shot from Pilatus

Great Pics from Mt Pilatus

There Must be Something in the Chocolate

I was looking at myself in the mirror the other morning when it occurred to me that i might be losing my hair. I never noticed this when i was in the states. I might be wrong. In fact, I'm probably wrong. I'm 99% sure I'm wrong.

But that 1% keeps dogging me. I don't see the standard Corrigan thinning top, I'm not missing hair in the back. Rather, it's more of a northerly recession around my temples. Maybe it's all in my head....get it? Sorry, bad joke. Or maybe there's something in the chocolate here.

On the plus side, it hasn't affected my movie career. Despite my location and apparently receding hairline i recently completed yet another feature length film. I know i know, how do i
find the time, right? What can i say, I'm just that good.

http://movies.about.com/od/lonesomejim/a/lonesome040206.htm

Naw...that's not really me. Hard to believe i know, but seriously, not me. I saw an article in the Financial Times (www.ft.com) yesterday that mentioned my name and I realized that there's anther Kevin Corrigan out there. And here i was thinking i was unique. Thanks mom, thanks dad. At least my name is in Wikipedia, even if it isn't really for me. And apparently i have fan clubs too. But shouldn't i get some kind of royalties for this guy capitalizing on my good name? Half of his take from each film sounds like a reasonable starting point to me. I await your call Mr Corrigan, have your people call...me.

Wilkommen Springtime

Still no pics from my trip to Munich...thanks ma. :)

But in the meantime, I can report the weather here is getting quite nice. The snow is receding up the mountains (which is an interesting phenomenon in and of itself), the Rhine is filling up with runoff, the sun is out more and more each day and the temperature is getting much more suitable for outside activities. Over the last 5 yrs the arrival of spring for me meant the arrival of car season. Car shows, racing, cruising Woodward, but more than anything, just driving. No destination, no time schedule, just a full tank of gas and the open road.

There is actually a surprisingly vibrant car culture here in Lichtenstein. This can be attributed mostly to the income level i think. I've seen your standard Porsches and Bimmers all winter long, but now the Ferrari's, Roll's, Lotus's, Aston Martin's, Vette's and other non winter cars are starting to peak out from under their protective covers and test the springtime air. I love it. Just today i saw 2 Ferrari's out cruising. In case there is any doubt, they were the ones doing the passing, not me. I'd love to have my cars here, but the costs are prohibitive. So until i get back home, it's cruising in the Polo for me.

My new toy

Impulse buy? Yes.

Did i pay too much? Probably.

But i love it.

Half healey, half vette...all fun.

My Camaro

10 years and untold dollars later...i still own my first car. It's a labor of love. And besides, Orange never goes out of style.

Coming From America

Despite winter's last gasp of snow, i returned from Zürich last night after successfully delivering my parents to their hotel. They were in town for a short visit which turned into quite the whirlwind tour for them. We kicked things off at the Zürich train station where we immediately boarded a train to Munich. Four days in Munich brought castles, cars, cuckoo clocks, a concentration camp and of course some good German Beer. Following a few days in Munich we rode the trains back down to Lichtenstein where they spent 2 more days enjoying all that the Crown Prince has to offer.

Everyone departed last night with a smile on their face which I think means it was a successful trip. Speaking for myself, i had a great time and it was nice to see my parents. We typically cross paths twice a year, in a good year. So the fact that they were willing to fly 6000 miles to come visit for a week was great, although the location may have had something to do with it too. It was also really nice to hear about life in NY and how all of the friends and extended family are doing.

I won't ramble on too much, I'll let the pics do the talking. However I must comment on Dachau. For anyone living underneath a rock, Dachau is one of WWII Nazi Germany's concentration camps, one of the few actually in Germany. Starting out i wasn't really sure what to expect. From history and movies i had a picture in my mind of what i thought it might be like, but my mind is rarely accurate in such matters. Right from the start it felt a bit strange walking to the ticket counter and asking for a ticket to Dachau. You got the feeling that you needed to stress the fact that you wanted a two way ticket.

“Return ticket?”

“YES!!!”

Upon entering the city you realize that Dachau is more than just a concentration camp site, it is a true blue city. Dachau schools, Dachau Car dealerships, Dachau Churches, the Dachau Shriners.....the last one might be a stretch, but you get the point. I couldn't help feeling a bit sorry for these people. No matter how much time passes since this town's gruesome past, it will always be known as a concentration camp first and town second to 99% of the world.

Enter the camp itself and again, it was not at all what i envisioned. It seemed, for lack of a better word, too sanitized. It seemed almost too clean, too new, too much like a prop for a movie set. It's obviously a fine line to walk between reality, history and respect for the victims so i can certainly understand why things are the way they are. But the site itself retains few of the original buildings, nearly all of which are empty of any artifacts. I expected to see offices, desks, uniforms...I think the site loses some of it's impact when you walk in and most of the buildings are empty. The few structures that remain were largely rebuilt or new since the war. As i said, i guess i expected more of a “shot in time”. I hope that doesn't sound morbid or gruesome as i don't intend it this way, but for me some of the potential impact was lost.

That's not to say the site wasn't emotional experience though because the site certainly does leave an impact. The movie shown and the undeniable historical facts will leave anyone shaking their heads. Of all the things to see and take in at this site, the one that made the most impact to me were the words integrated in the gate above the entrance (pics soon). These three words somehow incorporate the mentality of the captors and the brutal reality for the prisoners in one very short but powerful statement. Unfortunately my company has a history with the Nazi's so it also hit home in that regard. Those times are obviously long gone though.

Once again, thanks for the visit M&D! It can get pretty quite over here and it was great to have some family over for a visit. Come back any time!

Pictures do say a thousand words so I'll let the pictures do most of the talking. As soon as my ma sends me all her pictures and i load a few up that is.

Umm....whoops

Well, theres a first time for everything. Despite all of my past legal indiscretions I've never been arrested. I've been face to face with cops quite a few times, even mounties. (If you consider mounties cops that is. Their horses are surprisingly fast). But I'd never been hauled off to jail, I've never been handcuffed, never been fingerprinted..until now that is.

It's funny, the US is so anal about what you bring into the country but they don't seem to care what you take out. So there i am going through security in Detroit. Two perfectly legal radar detectors packed into my carry on. You see folks i had a dilemma right from the start. Do i check them, or do i carry them on. Knowing the security at the airport, i thought it highly likely that one or both would disappear somewhere on my luggage's 6000 mile journey. But if i carried them on, i knew that my bags would be x rayed at least once. In the end, i decided to carry them on. I just dropped over 500 bucks on radar detectors and i didn't want a chance on them getting stolen. I mean worst comes to worse i could always bribe a customer agent.

Back to the story....so there i am in line at Detroit. I approach the x ray machines with some caution toting my contraband safely hidden in my backpack.

“Laptop sir?” Says the guard.

“Yes” i reply.

“Any metal on you?”

“No”, i reply.

“Any metal in your shoes?”, she continues. How many times does she say this per day i wonder.

“No”, i reply. No bombs either i think to myself.

With some hesitation, i place my back pack on the conveyor belt and watch it disappear into the black hole otherwise known as Mr X ray. I hold my breath and continue on through the bomb sniffing machine (what a strange machine that is) and the metal detector. I exit the other side with no beeps declaring i need to be searched. Alles Klar.

From the safe side, acting of course as if i have no particular interest in whether my bag makes it thorough...i wait. And wait.

“Sir we need to rerun this at a different angle.”

“Sure, no problem”. Don't look too close...don't look to close....doesn't that other guy behind me look like Osama Bin Laden i think?

Then without further incident my bag reappears and i quickly gather my things and head for the bar. This calls for a drink! Off to Applebee's for some nachos and a beer. Then off to the gate and onto the plane for my seven and a half hour journey across the big pond. I won't lie, i may have enjoyed a few more beverages on the plane too.

If that were the end, then that would be a boring story. But sadly, that wasn't the end.

Paris, Sunday morning. Worse friggin airport ever designed my man. Or maybe it was designed by a woman..ha!

Exit the plane...a bit tired, a bit drunk, ready to deal with the French. For some reason it was decided that all passengers needed to re-clear security. What's this? This wasn't required last time? Did they catch wind of my new toys on the plane somehow?

Once again, i approach the security lines with reservation. Although it's 8AM, it feels like 1AM to me and I'm in no mood to deal with some jackass security agent.

“Excuse moi...sir...you are next!” Projects the snotty Frenchman.

I move forward without a sound. Trying to blend in with the crowd.

“Laptop?” He squeels

“Yes” I reply

Off comes my coat, out comes my wallet, change, and laptop to once again travel through the best safety tool the world can come up with..the x ray machine.

“Next” He says

I approach the metal detector and shuffle through. No beeps...step 1, done. Then my heart sinks.

“Sir, we're going to need to check your bag” says guard number two. An equally French looking and French sounding Frenchman. Why don't you go home and riot some more you wanker.

“Sir, whats this?” He inquires.

Laser gun...hard drive....guitar tuner...my mind races.

“A radar detector” i reply.

“A radar detector?!” He barks, with emphasis on the second a in radar.

“Yes sir”

“Do you know these are illegal here in France?” He smiles as he asks.

“No sir, i didn't. But I'm going on to Zürich, here's my boarding pass.”

I hate you. I hate you.

“But you're in France now. And you have two of these, are you planning on selling them?” Must be a slow morning, he is enjoying this way too much.

“No, one is for me, one is a gift” i lied. I must be projecting hate like a heat lamp.

“Well I'm sorry sir, but you cant continue to travel with these”.

“But I'm not staying in France, I'm not even leaving the airport” I reply, moving closer.

“As i said sir, it doesn't matter. You are in France now, and i can't let you travel with these.” The crowd must be loving this. I wish i had an Uzi. Just kidding. No I'm not.

“Well, they are mine. If I can't travel with them then either pay me for them or mail them back to me in the states”. I demand.

“I'm sorry sir, I'm not authorized to do that”. He takes a step towards me. The gap is now the distance over the conveyor belt. The other guards are taking interest now too.

“Well I'm not leaving without them, or without you compensating me for them. You can't just take them, that's theft. Nowhere does it state that i can't bring them into the country” I yell, now pointing.

Well, you can imagine what happened next. My finger had just started pointing at him, inches from his face, when he grabbed my arm and pulled the universal cop move, twist and down. I was face down on the conveyor belt watching bags slowly moving towards my face at 1 mile per hour.

“Sir, you're under arrest.”

“Wait...how about 100 bucks!” i pleaded...

Now that's what i call a sticky situation..... And their we'll pause like a commercial break in a Dukes of Hazard episode.

I'm just kidding, i made all that up. The truth is i got in and out of the country with no problems, radar detectors in hand. Well, I'd already seen the movies on the plane which sucked, but that was the worst part of the week. Truth is i had a very long, somewhat fun trip to the states. Work was, well, work. But over the course of the week i got to see some friends and catch up, i even met up with my cousin Dan and his girlfriend Jess in Indy. I had some Thai food at my favorite place, went to Hooters one night, i even managed to get in a little American TV. The Simpson's just aren't the same dubbed in German. I'd missed quite allot over the last 5 months but that's life. Everybody was doing well and had some great stories to tell. The 'rents are in town Wednesday and we're off to Munich for a long weekend. Munich is where they have the big Oktoberfest tents..but it's March new. Why are we going again?

America....F#ck Yeah, Revisited

My little brother Mike got back from Iraq a few nights ago and i wanted to take a moment and say welcome back. so, uh, welcome back! Maybe little isn't the right word, ever since uncle sam got ahold of him i'm pretty sure he could kill me in at least 100 different ways now.

After many long months in the sandy oven that is Iraq, i can imagine that it's a little overwhelming to be back stateside. You've got a few weeks off, so what are you gonna do? What's first on the agenda? Well mike, you need to go out get drunk, find a chick, take her hom..wait... mom might read this.

Take Two

What's first on the agenda? Well mike, you need to go out and catch up with all the family, take a few days off and rest, maybe see a priest. Have some good wholesome fun.

See you in 2007

America.....F#ck Yeah

It's been over four months since i stepped foot on my native soil, but this saturday i'm heading home, well Detroit anyway. Detroit Rock City here i come. The trip is mostly for work but by pure coincidence, i swear, it jives with some good doin's going on back in the motor city.

I think the first thing i'll do when i get off the plane is take a deep breath and enjoy the sweet smell of capitalism. Actually, detroit kind of smells like a toilet, but whatever. In my head...it'll be bliss.

Second item on the list is to clean up at the hotel then head to Hober's st paddy's party and partake in large amounts of Guiness. The band formerly known as the best band in the world, i.e. shutup robert, will be playing. I say formerly because ever since they lost their second guitarist, i'm told they get no radio play anymore. I'm just saying.

Third on the agenda (after sobering up) is to hit Best Buy and get some radar detectors. The damn swiss 5-0 isn't getting anymore of my hard earned money and i promised to bring a few back for friends since they are illegal to buy here. The swiss and lichtenstein fuzz has taken quite a liking to these unmanned radar boxes, they're hidden everywhere. I think its bullshit. If you want people to stop speeding, tell people where they are and people won't speed (near thebox anyway). If you want people to stop speeding everywhere, get rid of the boxes and hire more cops that will move around. But neither is really the goal....it's good revenue!

Friggin extortion.

But enough about that. Aside from those three things, the trip really is for work. Meetings in Troy, Auburn Hills and Plymouth then to Danville Illinois, then back to Detroit, finally back across the pond. If nothing else i'm looking forward to some actual English conversations. There's 1 brit here who claims to speak english. We're heading to the UK on wednsday to visit a new customer, i told him i'd be the judge of his language skills. I take great pleasure in correcting his "english".

"Hey kevin, that was a big lunch, let's take the lift".

"The what?".

"The lift. "

"Do you mean the elevator? "

"Yes, the lift".

"Brilliant!!"

I've been taking German classes since the beginning of the year and my conversational German is getting alright...Nicht Schlect. But at work, what a different story. The German's like to take multiple words and just put them all together. For fun, here are a few...one is fake the rest are real. Can you tell? Hell, just try to sound them out and you'll get a feel for what 90% of my day is like.

entwicklungsfakturen

kostenrechnungskreis

druckseitenformatierung

prototypenherstellung

summierungsstufen

entwicklungsjostenüberwachung

nockenverbindung

maschinenbelegungskosten

komponentenherstellung

urgstadtenherung

Needless to say.....when people try to speak technical German to me i usually just sort of nod my head allot and think about other things.

Anways, enough rambling...Card, if you read this, i have a special bottle of blue (it's not green) liquor coming your way. I tried some and despite waking up in my neighbors yard i don't see what the big deal is. Maybe i'll even smuggle a few cubans home. Cigars that is.

Oh, and the last word was fake. i just closed my eyes and hit some keys. maybe my german isn't so bad after all!

Cars today just can't compete with curves like this.

EEEbay

I love ebay. It's like pure capitalism at work. So i'm browsing the ferrari pages and there, spending money i don't have and there, at the bottom of the page, for sale is my dream car. These rarely come up for sale, so i just had to post the link and a few pics. the pics don't do this car justice. The car is only a few hrs south, maybe i'll go down and see if he wants to trade is MM for a VW Polo. It could happen.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/FERRARI-340-MM-BARCHETTA-1953_W0QQitemZ4619653122QQcategoryZ6212QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The blue car below is for sale too....no price listed though.

http://www.mariobernardi.de/mario-bernardi/english/cars-for-sale/ferrari/1951-212-export-touring-barchetta-detail/index.htm

12 cylinders, 3 carbs...nice.

Nice ass.

Some random humor...

This dude is hilarious. Got forwarded one of the videos and i had to share with the world.

http://www.thekidfrombrooklyn.com/

Two of my favorites...

http://www.mikecaracciolo.com/movies/WhereAreYou.WMV

mms://68.178.174.134/BigMan/sStarbucks_01_06.wmv