Tuesday, July 29, 2008
To Know, But Not To Know
I'm in Colombia on business as you read this, for the 4th time. Sadly, that's my record for number of visits to a country without seeing it at all. Intense, two-day business junkets to Bogotá. Though I did see a beer factory on my first visit. And, I expect to see an oil field on this trip. I wanted to see this so badly, that I made the questionable decision to fly home red-eye and coach, when as of Sunday I am not totally recovered...
For those who love statistics, as I do, it's my 116th foreign trip, my 66th to Latin America (69th if you count Dominican Republic), my 38th trip to South America, and my 75th business trip. It will be my 27th trip with an ABN business card, and probably my last, since we should become RBS pretty soon.. Just waiting for Dutch Central Bank sign-off on the number of ATM machines in Winnetka, Illinois, or something like that. : - )
For some Colombian flavor, here's Manizales, a mid-sized mountain city in Colombia and the main center for coffee production. I'm in Bogotá for this trip, nowhere near Manizales.But Manizales also the birthplace of my good friend Paula Puerto Wiske, whose son, also a good friend, is John Puerto Wiske, and is working with me these days... I used to tease Paula by calling her home town 'Saltamontes,' which means 'grasshopper.' Hey, I was a kid then...
Elevation is 7,054 feet - at the foot of an active volcano, alas. Population, according to the Wikiexperts, was 414,349 as of 2005...
Cartoon du Jour:
this entry's permalink
Comments:
Post a Comment
