TrüMAG

If you are in Europe, we have a EU label compliant version of Natural Calm called TrüMAG. Click here for more information.

Always Arrive at the Airport 3 Hours Early

Well today is coming home day. I woke up at 4:45am and finished packing a couple of items, did some dishes and was at oval station at 5:30am just in time for the first train. It was uneventful until I got to Paddington station. Where I lost my ticket again. To get on the tube, you have to put your ticket in the turn style and to leave you have to use your ticket to get out. Well I ended up looking at some attendant with a "Puss n Boots" look and told him I really did purchase it. He let me “Out”. Next was to figure out how to get to the next train to Heathrow, after asking 3 attending officials, and trying a defunct machine with no change, I got a ticket to board the slow train. The fast train takes 15 minutes and had a 15 minute wait and the slow train takes 30 minutes and had an 8 minute wait. So the Dutchman in me said buy the slow train (£6.90 v.s £16.90) so we bought it together. Then I heard the train was delayed so I argued with the Dutchman and said let’s go on the fast train. But it shares the same track and was probably further delayed. Finally after a while we got on the slow train.

There are 5 terminals in Heathrow and my ticket said "verify terminal and gate at airport". The train stops at terminal 1,2, and 3 first and then goes to 4. I asked the conductor how often the trains go to terminal 4 and he said every 4 minutes. I decided to get off, check the flight screens and then get back on if need be. Something inside said "Terminal 4" but my logic said, "Play it safe, get off and check" so I got off and didn't find any screens. I walked for about 15 minutes and finally found an information booth that directed me to terminal 4. So another 15 minute walk and I finally found the train going to terminal 4; next train 21 minutes. My flight is at 8:50, I have to check in my luggage at 7:50, and it is now 7:25. So I can just make it. The train takes 4 minutes to get there so I think the original guy who answered my question “How often...” as a “How long will it take”. So I sit there patiently waiting and fortunately the train comes 2 minutes early. Unfortunately it leaves 5 minutes late.

Fortunately, a worker told me to take the elevator and that the KLM (which is on my ticket) booth is right at the top of the elevator and fortunately there is an elevator with the door open. So off I go up the elevator.

When I arrived at Heathrow, I was in the queue with a young man from the USA going to see his girlfriend. We had a nice 20 minute chat. That same guy happened to be on this same elevator.

So I finally make it to the KLM section and there is a long lineup. It is 7:45. I wait about 15 minutes and the sign says "final check in 8:39" so I am safe. After the 15 minutes a helper looks at my ticket and says I am at the wrong end and I have to check into the NWA terminal. So off I race, only to find that they closed 10 minutes prior and I missed my flight. They said there is another flight at 10am and if I go to the KLM booth, I can catch that one.

So off I run and wait again for 15 minutes only to find out that the next flight is at 2:20 to Minneapolis and then another to Detroit which I arrive at 9:42 (in theory). The cost to change the ticket is $250.00 USD but I showed her my ticket and explained it, she said she could do it for $100.00 USD.

So I guess this is my crash day. So I am sitting at Starbucks with 15min left of battery writing this post.

I am now plugged in on the other side of security waiting for my aeroplane and getting caught up with work. Meanwhile I spot a female police officer riding a police bike inside the terminal.

Cheers. At least I am on my way home.

Tuesday was to be a Crash Day

Well it is Tuesday and I slept in until 8am, that is 2 ½ hours later than normal. I was going to have a lazy day today after 2 full 11 hour days getting to and from the show and doing the show itself. I had some goals, which I barely met. I first did some emails and puttering around and then decided to pick up my credit card that was forgotten last Friday. Well now that I am a seasoned Tube traveller, I actually got there in an hour verses the 2+ hours in the adventures of Friday. I thought I saw a women at Oval station that looked like Liz, and my immediate reaction was to duck, but I used reason and kept motoring. I picked up my credit card, put on my glasses and looked through the documentation for a pin number. No pin number, I said my goodbyes and left. While walking down the road, I realized my glasses were still on my face and I couldn’t find the case to put them in. So after a 5 minute delay of “I couldn’t have left them...,” I went back to fetch them.

My account charges me £60/hr which is fine if I only use her for 10 minutes but bookkeeping start up costs have been more than budgeted for. So a few months ago I looked for a UK bookkeeper on eLance.com and found a person that, so far, has fit the bill (pin intended). I decided I wanted to meet her. Looking at the map, it was 2.8 miles and seeing how anywhere you want to go takes an hour I decided to walk. I had two main roads to go down. Seeing how I buy a daily pass for any bus or subway, I had the bright idea to take the bus as far as it would take me down the road. This would save me some time and legs. So I saw a bus coming and waited. When it was close, I realized once again I was waiting on the wrong side of the road, so I snaked across the road (yes dear, I looked to the right first) and made it for the bus. I got on the bus only to witness it turning left at the next intersection. It stopped about a ¼ mile down the road and I figured I saved about 6 steps.

I finally stopped and met with Li and her brother for an hour and then left for back home. It was now 3pm and I had to meet someone at 4pm.


Now that I walked the route and saw the buses going all the way down the other road, I decided to give the bus another try to save time (and legs). I jumped on...but couldn’t find my ticket...and I was slightly embarrassed as he kicked me off. When I got home I finally found it in my top shirt pocket.

On my way home I found a couple of interesting signs. They call a road with 4 lanes a Dual Carriage Way.

I arrived a 4pm and was to meet Tony, my logistic company owner to meet him for the first time. He was fortunately about 15 minutes late which gave me time to check my email and do a few chores outside that I wanted to do to be able to get it off the fridge “to do” list.

I had a good visit with Tony and he offered me a beer or a coffee; I took the coffee. This was my first coffee in over a month. We talked about moving some of our product to Spain and about marketing more of Europe. I really like him and his organisation and am blessed to have them. They warehouse our products and shipped them out for us.

The rest of the evening was finishing the cleanup at the front and catching up on emails. I finally got to be at 11:30pm and set my alarm for 4:45am

Good Night

Preshow and the 1st Day of the Show

Saturday was setup day. I managed to carry a stand in a knapsack and went an hour journey on the transit system and arrived and started to set up our stand. I realized I had a bit of a problem when the large posters I had made up where 42” wide and the panels where 1 meter (39”). I had to get creative. I had 3 different posters and could cut 2 of the 3 down. So I found some large cardboard pieces for 2 of them and cut down the others.

The other problem was that I didn’t have a table. I figured that we got a free table like the Rude Health show. No, you have to rent one. So I bit the bullet and went to rent one. £73 for a table you could buy for $20 back home.
Here it is. The bill said 1-table, 4-legs; like the legs were optional or something. Well I got the show set up and here is a picture of the stand.


Sunday – I woke up at 5:30am and started to get ready.
I arrived a ½ early to do the final set ups. The day went really well but long. I never left the booth from 9pm till 5pm. Not even once, to go to the bathroom. I logged around 65 contacts with ½ of them being legit ones. We ran out of brochures at the end of the day and used up 400 of the 500 samples so I am trying to get more from our warehouse. I ran out of my printed ones to so the guy in the booth next door offered to print me 100 more tonight.

I met a guy from Hong Kong and we seem to hit it off. He is inviting me to Hong Kong and telling me how ripe China and Hong Kong is for this product.

My virgin Cell phone is working great. So far it only cost me £9.88.

Well it is 9:30 and I have to wash out 100 samples cups because I am all out of them too

Cheers

Today was an interesting day. My first adventure was to see my accountant at 10am. The website bus route told me it would take 30 minutes. I prefer the tube as I am getting familiar with it, but Ben and Tanya both insisted the bus was better, besides they piped, I could have one bus that would take me all the way to my destination. So I walk up to a bus stop and realize I need a ticket. My choices are one trip £2.00 or day pass £3.80 coins only. I don’t have £3.80 so I had to put in £2 and get my one way trip. After a few minutes of waiting, I realize that they drive on the “wrong” side of the road and I am waiting on the wrong side for the bus.

I finally get on the bus and find a seat beside this black lady whose name I found out was Liz. I say “Hello” and we have a brief chat. I ask her is this bus is going to “Sussex Gardens”, she stated that it was terminating at Paddington (we were on 436) but the bus in front of us #36 was going where I wanted to and she was going that way herself. I asked her how we were going to get on the bus in front of us and she assured me that there was another “#36” behind us. Then she asked me where I was from and we started a conversation about her cousin in Toronto and how she has visited Canada before. From this point on, I began to wonder. She took out a piece of paper and asked me for my phone number, so I thought, “What the heck humour her” and gave her my Sarnia home number. Then she proceeded to give me her work number and cell number. I found out she was a psychiatrist and helped people, which I told her I helped people to and told her a little bit about pastoring and the homeless shelter. She was starting to get excited. Turns out she was born in Nigeria and I told her I was in Cameroon and she was getting even more excited. She wanted to know that I reached my destination and wanted to call me later on to make sure that everything was okay and noticed my cell number and asked me for the number, so I gave it to her. At this point, I still needed her assistance.

Well we reached Paddington station and she asked me about my bus pass of which I explained the single pass, only £2 pound problem. She gave me a mini dissertation on how to always buy the day pass and took me to bowls of Paddington, where the tube is to purchase a £5.60 tube/bus day pass. On the way to the station, I saw a sign “Humped Zebra crossing” which I immediately scanned the terrain for immoral zebras doing potential luwd acts. Then I thought, she is black and I am white “mon” and maybe this was a warning but I dismissed it as coincidence and comic relief. We then proceeded to ascend out of the bowls, past all the crowds and go back to the bus which she took me to the opposite side where we got off. Very strange, I am now heading back. The next bus stopped and she asked the driver if this bus stopped at Sussex Gardens. The driver had this distracted look, like she was noticing some “humped zebras” or something and said “sure”. So this is where Liz and I parted company. She said to keep in touch and call her how I made out. So now going the wrong direction, I boarded the bus without Liz and headed south. I asked another passenger who said yes, this could take me to Sussex Gardens. After we rounded the corner, they pointed to a parallel street and said, “That was Sussex Gardens”. I wanted the “bus stop” Sussex Gardens and they pointed to the “street” Sussex Gardens. At this point I decided that Ben didn’t know what he was talking about with the “buses are better thing” and I was going with my original gut feeling, “take the tube” and proceeded to jump off the bus.

By this time I am late by 15 minutes and still have to get to my first appointment. I make a mad dash for the Bakerloo line and as luck had it, the train was waiting there for me so I jumped on. I waited...and waited and waited. Apparently they blew a fuse. Twenty minutes later the train starts up. So we are on our way and I can’t remember the exit to get off on. I remembered the last time, when I was with Janet not to take the Marylebone exit so I took the one before. In hindsight, I should have taken the one after. Oh well, I love to walk and I finally arrived an hour late.

My goal was to chat, pick up my new UK credit card and products for the show. I ended up arguing with the VAT inspector (equivalent to GST) on the phone and having a rushed chat with Melanie. I brought a small backpack and had to pack 15 bottles of calm, 100 brochures, and 500 samples. I forgot about the 500 samples, so they gave me an extra bag and I put the extra mail, some samples and my prized Arcteryx Theta mountain climbing hard shell (i.e. glorified rain coat) in the bag. My thought was, “You better not put that bag done somewhere”. Actually it wasn’t my thought but my wife’s voice I heard. Then I started dreaming about her and the night before we left...never mind. So off I go the “right” tube station...only to find out I was at the wrong tube. Up and out, down the road, down the four more flights of stairs to the wrong deck. Up, over and down, I am now on the right deck heading for Charing Cross. So I go for a 15 minute relaxing ride. Then a mad dash up and out the tube for my next appointment. I am now only 15 minutes late.


My next appointment is with my banker Tom. I come rushing in, slightly panting from taking 2 steps at a time, up 4 flights, with a 30 lb back pack. I definitely didn’t look like I was a business man type. The bank is right in front of Trafalgar Square, one of the areas where they had G12 demonstrations. Just the day before, they smashed the windows of the RBS bank down the road. Am I am in, you guessed it, an RBS bank, and what do I see...a policeman dressed in riot gear with some gadget in his hands. He walked past me back and forth several times giving me the “Don’t you dare” look. So there I am, in the bank getting entertained by a Bobby waiting for my banker who seems more late than I was.

We finally leave the bank for lunch and go to a back alley swank Italian joint where I ended up ordering smoked salmon on a blue cheese type pasta dish that was very good. The only problem was that the salmon looked more like a garnish than the main meal. But hey, RBS paid for my lunch so the Dutchman in me didn’t want to complain. In the mean time, I receive a phone call from my accountant. She forgot to give me my new credit card and drove back to her other office 2 hours away.

Tom is an interesting guy. We met him last August for the first time and I gave him some samples of Natural Calm. He is a marathon runner and very active. He is a card carrying sceptic but did believe enough in the samples that he decided to purchase a large bottle. A month after he received his bottle, he severed the end of his finger almost complete off. It healed so quickly that the doctors were amazed and the only thing he could attribute it to was the Natural Calm. The large bottle he purchased about 6 months ago and still has about ¼ of the bottle left. He graciously gave me the okay for a video testimony. So after lunch, we went to this quiet court yard and he gave us rave reviews, okay, it really wasn’t exactly raving, it was more like confessions of a sceptic, but it was raw and authentic and that is what I am after. So we left and I went to drop him off back at the bank and I snapped a picture of him with Trafalgar square in the background when I all of a sudden thought...where is my white bag? I won’t tell you what Janet said in my head...well it wasn’t really bad but I think I deserved to hear her words. So we bolted for the restaurant, only to hear the waitress say “I didn’t take it honest”. Then I had a flash, it is in the courtyard and sure enough, there it lies, all lone, rejected and hurt. Did you know it is not good to have thoughts like “Don’t leave your bag and lose your coat. “The Secret” people say you are speaking that into existence. I don’t believe it because I still have my bag and my coat.

Well I left Tom and went back home, via the tube this time and made sure I got off at Oval station. When I got out of the tube, I was disoriented and started heading in the wrong direction. I finally got out my little map and asked for directions (like a man) and figured out where I was.

I got home and started to do some cleaning up and my phone rang. You guessed it, it was Liz and she wanted to know how I made out with everything. I am not sure if she was genuinely interested in my welfare or in me as some psychiatric case study. I told her everything went well and thanked her for her help. She said, Keep in “touch” and then we ended the call.


I went back out on the system to get to my final destination, the Olympia where my show is going to be Saturday and Sunday. I didn’t want to be running around with my whole booth in my backpack. It took me 55 minutes to get there and 60 minutes to get home.

Later on that night, Ben decided he was going to meet some old hiking friends at a bar. He apparently belongs to this hiking club and hasn’t seen these people since the Halloween party. It didn’t sound like he was into hiking much but liked their parties. So we head out, trying to get there before 10pm to beat the cover charge.

We arrive in a major touristic night life section of town that reminded me of Time Square in New York City. It had one corner building all lit up like it was daytime, with lots of jumbo-tron adverts and a TKTS building selling Broadway type tickets. We walked around for about 20 minutes trying to find a bar that Ben was not sure the name was. He called a friend there but it was so noisy that the friend couldn’t talk. 10 minutes later we find the bar which was named On Anon and yep, they wanted a £10 note from each of us for a cover charge. We walked into this place and the decibel level is about 100db. And if that wasn’t loud enough, when you attempted any meaningful conversation, they shouting in your ear raised it another 10 db. This place was crazy; it has 3 floors, 9 bars and 3 different DJs. It also holds 1,500 people and probably had around 1,300 there that night.

All the girls came swooning over to me (...well okay...not all the girls, only about 6 or so) and we trying to communicate about nothing. Then this chic comes up to me and wants me to buy a shot off her. I politely decline. Then she persists, and persists, and gives me those “Puss n Boots” eyes and says, “Why not?” ‘Cause I don’t drink alcohol...why not...because I don’t...why not...because I don’t want to...please just for me...no...how come...because I work with alcoholics and run a shelter and I do it to support them. “Oh...will you buy me a shot then?” Sure, so out comes a £5 note in which I received £2 back. We toast my cranberry juice to her “shot”.

I left Ben with his friends for a while and cased the joint. It was pretty loud with a lot of dancing going on. I came back and we eventually left with our ears and livers still in tack. I think Ben was pleased that he could show me a night on the town, but I think he would have rather shown Denise the town than me. I like Ben but I would have rather been with Denise too.

So that was enough adventure for a Friday.

Arrived in London England UK

I arrived in England today at 7am. I ended up being the last person through customs as the custom’s officer was giving me a hard time. I didn’t have my itinerate on paper to show him (it was on my laptop) and he said my passport had no history (just obtained a new one last December) and I didn’t have a return ticket to show him. So I got a bit of a lecture and he said he wrote a warning in my passport.

I finally got out and there was only one bag left on the carousal; my backpack. So I grabbed it and went to purchase a train ticket. The high speed train is like £24.50 and takes 15 minutes to Paddington station. Well the tube is only £5.60 so the Dutch in me took the obvious route. I also learned I had to take the tube to the next station. The tube took 35 minutes and the express took 15 minutes.

The problem was my friend Ben Corrie was waiting for me and he had to go and teach a class to a group of high tuition paying corporate students. He ended up being 10 minutes late. He had to meet me to give me the keys to his flat. Another Dutch decision; stay with a friend. Ben stayed with us last Christmas for 10 days, so it’s not like I am imposing.

So now I have my keys and I figure out how to take the tube close to his place. Well I was close but had to walk. I looked like a touristic zombie with a huge 80 litre Bora 80 Arcteryx back pack and a laptop in my hand, open trying to see the map on a sun washed screen. I eventually found the flat and figured out how to use the skeleton key and deadbolt in the right order.


Here is a picture of the complex Ben's flat is in and his street. That is his Land Rover out front.



Here is a picture of Ben’s flat.


Here is his Kitchen




Here is where I am staying (the living room)

Well it is time for bed now.