By Bill Needle
OK so we left off CorelWorld '01 Part I with the goings-on at the conference and what do do (and say) while in Boston but there is another part of the story we'd like to tell you about. It's a bit about how some U.S. foreigners (two Canadians and one Dutch) fared in their journey home. Due to the Logan lockdown as a result of the 9-11 terrorist attack, the trio of conference presenters Tom, Allan Shearer, and Bob van Duuren decided to take Allan's offer (he did offer, didn't he?) and drive Allan's car from Boston to Ottawa. Tom and Allan live in Ottawa while Bob wanted to get the heck out of Boston even if it meant a visit to the land of high taxes, expensive beer, and British-like humour...oops, that should read “humor”.
Take three people and a Volvo station wagon.
No problem, right?! Well, add a ton o' luggage including two Titanic replica mahogany
deck chairs, Tom's golf mummy bag (which way to the driving range?), conference
signage memorabilia, and two beer-loving bodies (notice I didn't say three...). Packing
the wagon was similar to 
playing a live rendition of Tetris. The blocks
came in the form of the luggage, the time limit was in the form of a no-parking zone.
Should we split the back seat 60-40? Suitcases in first or last? Deck chairs with or
without the packaging? Leave Bob to thumb back to the Netherlands?
How many foreigners does it take to pack a station wagon anyway?
Miraculously we were able to fit in all components into the Volvo without leaving any humanoids behind. Good thing Tom ran 20 kilometers during the conference as he was able to wedge his way into the back seat. “Hey, let's put the dark-skinned guy in the back in preparation for the border crossing.” Whosaidthat? If this was two decades ago, we'd surely hear the chant “Road trip!” but this was no trip, this was a destined to be an inclusion to TV's The Amazing Race reality show. The prize? Cross the border without enduring:
a full body cavity search (for their sake really)
a Dutch Mafia interrogation
confiscation of liquid refreshments bought in New Hampshire
the attention of male custom officers due to Duty Free perfume that was “tested”
Our strategy was to drive through a small, not-well-known border crossing south of Montréal, Quebec. The drive took us through scenic Lake Champlain and its islands where we had a chance to take a deep breath before reaching the white line separating US from THEM. Good plan right? Well how come they were shakin' in our booties then?!
The trio looking mighty tense heading
towards the U.S.-Canada border crossing.
Next time, make sure the flash doesn't go off
when you photograph these guys. They no like it.
Either they're cheering 'cause they made it
across the border, or they can't wait to slurp
some of what they're advertising behind them.
Daddy's home! Andrea, Kenton, Emily, and Trevor Anzai hold
up the historic CorelWorld 2001 signage from the Boston conference.
Before we end this article, we have to pay homage to the antics of fellow CorelWorld presenter Paul Huntington who has a knack of getting into the middle of things, for better or worse. It so happened that the Ferncroft hotel is also the hotel of choice for the Virgin Airline's flight crew during stop-overs. Since Logan airport was in shutdown mode for over a week, the crew had no choice but hang out in their airline suite. Mr. Huntington decided to strengthen ties with these U.K. twenty-somethings and take them on in a game of Twister. Good thing the game is rated for ages 6 & up. “Right hand on red.” “Left foot on yellow.”
Paul Huntington gives International
Twister the thumb's up.
Guess which two crashed the party?
And why are they smiling?
Well, that wraps up another conference with its ups and downs. It was an emotional week but as one attendee put it, “I'd rather experience the 9-11 tragedy with the CorelWorld family then deal with it alone.” For those that left the conference early to those that stuck it out for the week, it was one helluva experience that we won't forget in our lifetime. We hope to see you whenever, wherever...soon!
“The Ups and Downs of CorelWorld '01”
“At the Top of the Ventura 2002 Summit”
Other Articles and Step-by-step Tutorials
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