On the Plane from Houston to Newark...

6:35AM

This morning, at 12:20 am I left Los Angeles for the first of two stops (Houston, TX and Newark, N.J.) on my way to Quebec--and it's the last time I'm doing it willingly! Two stopovers is brutal, even if there are girls in bikinis with flower necklaces waiting for me there--which didn't even happen!!! :(

Here's what I wrote, hastily, on the plane to Newark..

On departure I struggled mightily to open the hatch to my window to check out the view, but was instantly rewarded with a landscape featuring an unfiltered rising sun shinning down on the iceberg-like clouds below our feet.

Fighting laziness once more, I whipped out my new Canon digital camera and took, as usual too many pictures, including the prerequisite one of me taken an arm's length away by me, ha ha.

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On the way to the airport last night, Jean-Marie (my step-dad) confided in me all sorts of advice I at first wanted nothing to do with. He spoke of being 'Americanized' in our ways, specifically in my packing habits, since I brought almost my weight in luggage. Of course, he was right, and halfway to the airport I was totally pumped to pull over and drop half the weight in clothes I had (for the record, which included button down shirts, short sleeve shirts, long-sleeve shirts, sweatshirts, sweaters, heavy jackets, light jackets, pants, hot pants, sleeping pants,..)---which was my French way of over-doing it, this time the other way around.

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Nowadays, of course, you hardly have to talk at all to a ticket-counter person, because these have mostly been replaced by machines. I did however get to speak with the lady who hands you the stickers, to which I confessed my shame at being over packed. She replied, only half-kidding, "Well, we need to bring all of our shoes, don't we?"--which sucks because, well, I nearly HAVE!!!

I remembered this lady from the last time I flew Continental and told her so, to which she replied "Yes! i remember your accent!!" which is pretty funny, since over Christmas I spent time with a French family who where convinced I was "just an American who could speak *really* good French". Hmmm...what gives?

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Back to JM: He reminded me that I had to be successful and energetic there, and be sure of what I was going for (''Are you clear on your goals?"). He also reminded me that I could learn a lot, but that I already knew quite a bit too--JM sorts of laments me going here, because, really, to find success people go from places like Quebec TO Los Angeles; they don't go from Los Angeles to Quebec. I am of course clear on this, and on the fact that the decision to come here was partly based on the mentality of the Quebecan investors, who literally where FARMERS before entrepreneurs, and as such keep a simple farmer's mentality. They are therefore weary of taking too many chances, or going into the unknown of making business across the States.

The second reason of course is that being surrounded by Philippe and some very terrific salesmen will help me grow tremendously, which is true, but then JM was ready to have me 'dive in' to the California business waters. I don't know which is best long-term, but I think both options will end up being worthwhile for me, and if we don't waste time and energy in Canada, then I will be very well set up for the next leg of this operation, in six month's time.