yesterday / today / the day after tomorrow / rollercoaster

[pax_athena]

Yesterday, I spend a good part of the evening/afternoon reading on the balcony, with the Hoellenbecq book and its discussion of art and my RXTE cup with coffee:



I did, at a point get rid of my long-sleeve shirt and the socks and would have, if I weren't too lazy, put on shorts. It wasn't that warm in general, but that particular corner of the balcony, warmed by the sun and protected from the wind was perfect.

And then the neighbor's cat came to visit and did even let me pet it for a bit - it also finally dared to come in and got exploring, particularly my bookshelf:





***

Today, I woke up to this piece of anxiety-inducing news: U.S. May Ban Laptops on All Flights From Europe. I do not have immediate trips lined up (I did have one roughly planned but was anyway likely not to do it this year given the trip in April that I did not originally plan for), but all the US-based people I know who are in Europe right now (J. and L. and D. and finally my dear N. who is to arrive on Saturday in the early morning) and all the people in transatlantic relationships I know (the other J. who is flying over every third week or so and F. who is married to an American but has a job here in Europe) and all the people I was looking forward to seeing at some point this year (M. in Rome, J. and L. and N. in Warsaw, one more J. in France, another M. in Prague ...), all the reviews that you need to be present for in person. This is a catastrophe on both personal and work levels. (And I've just been telling people who plan to organize a certain conference in the USA next year - this year it was in Europe - how they should keep an eye on the overall political situation and whether some people would not be able or willing to travel to the States. Jinxing much? I hate being Cassandra.)

***

The day after tomorrow, eight people will meet for brunch at my place: two Americans, two Germans working in the USA, a Dutch person working in the USA, a Venezuelan/Argentinian working in Germany and USA, a German working in Spain and married to an American woman, an American working in the Netherlands, a Canadian working in Germany a German working in the Netherlands but for an international organization. It is going to be amazing - and sad, because I don't know when I'll see all these people again. Even though some of us had elaborate plans for how and when we would meet.

Comments

[dolorosa_12]

It's not just the laptop ban (although it is the latest in a number of scary, bigoted acts of the new US administration), it's laws all around the world which are completely out of step with the realities of people's lives as they're lived right now. People live and work in a much more international way, hopping back and forth between continents -- your friends and colleagues in academia being a prime example. People no longer live in the countries, let alone the cities, in which they grew up. People form relationships with people from other countries, and couples live in third countries beyond that, and this is becoming increasingly common. I know of families in which parents and children between them hold five or six different nationalities.

And yet laws -- not just immigration and citizenship laws, although these tend to be the ones with the greatest impact -- have failed to keep pace with this new reality. Indeed, sometimes they seem deliberately designed to stifle it. I certainly wasn't planning to travel to the US any time soon, but my life and work don't require it, and I know this is a choice that many people don't have the luxury of making. This laptop ban is ill-informed, destructive, and damaging.

[pax_athena]

You expressed it so much better than I could ...

The sad thing is that I think that moving countries - even if just for a while - is among the best things that can happen to a person. It's terrible and painful and frustrating and so many other things, but in mostly it is also a true change to learn more about oneself and one's priorities and to think hard about the foundations of one's own perception of the world and to learn respect and tolerance and understanding that living, from small to large things, can be so very different and that sometimes very different ways to life are right. The ultimate self-experience trip and the ultimate chance to become a better person (not the only one, of course!) - I wish everyone had a chance to experience it at some point in their life. But yes, the laws and most of the societies (both the new ones and the home ones) are not prepared, neither for the people coming nor for the ones coming home with new experiences.

And my case is a simple one. I know of someone who declined an amazing job because they wanted to stay in a certain country for two more years because it would give them - and most importantly their children - a chance to not be Iranian citizens anymore. How terrible is it to see one's dream in reach, one that one worked so hard and so long for, and have to say "no"? I know those are little tragedies (and I heard so many awful things about the UK right now and you certainly even more) compared to the big ones and still.

(I know both things are not related to the travel ban, but as you say, it's part of the overall big picture ...).

[sousha]

Cats and books and sun and coffee. That is a wonderful combination. The last two days we finally had much sun again after three weeks of rain, rain and more rain and I spend as much time outside as possible. Unfortunately without cats.

This law, like so many others at the moment, just makes me glad that I don't need to travel to the U.S. But let's face it here is enough stuff that makes me go ARGH!

And I wish you lots of fun during the meet-up.

[pax_athena]

The cat is rather skittish and did not spend too much time with me, alas ...

Yeah. I still hope it does not come, but ugh, I do not have much trust into the future right now.

Thank you. It was. Exhausting, too, but mainly great :)

[echomyst]

Oh no... I didn't see the news until I saw your post, but it's just as I'd feared: that the restrictions will expand instead of ease off :-(

Cats and books and warm drinks to the rescue.

[pax_athena]

Yeah, there goes the hope that the senseless ban on liquids will be lifted, too :(

If the world keeps on like this, I will have to get a cat of my own (which also would mean giving up this job, but it may be worth it soon enough).

[decemberthirty]

Oh, that picture of sitting in the sun with your book and coffee is just too too delicious. It was chilly and grey in Philadelphia today, so I'm jealous! It's lovely.

Your neighbor's cat is quite pretty as well. Love the orange spots!

[pax_athena]

It was the first day that it was warm enough! Today is warm, too, but the extra boost of warmth the balcony gets through direct sunlight, isn't out and without sun it's not yet warm enough to sit outside.

She is! I still like the other neighbor better, but I may be somewhat biased towards very fluffy cats in general :D

[microbie]

The neighbor's cat could be the twin of our Pogo. Pogo even likes to stand the same way as the pose on the bookshelf.

The laptop ban is so silly. I hope that it reduces travel to the U.S. enough that the ban will be removed.

[pax_athena]

Aw, how cool!

It has not happened yet, but I can totally see it coming. That said, I wonder whether less travel isn't part of what is actively wanted, actually :( The less one gets to meet the other, the scarier he becomes and the easier it is to tell lies about them (too many people in the USA believe the most curious things about Europe already because the TV told them including that economics lecturer at a big research university we once met who was deeply believing there were group of refugees rioting in cities all over Germany).

[giallarhorn]

That seems like a pretty great way to start any day, even without the very pretty cat to keep you company. Did it hop over along the balcony or something?

Yeah, I'm kind of hoping that the ban isn't implemented even as a US based person. A lot of people assume that no one needs a laptop while they're flying, but when you have intercontinental flights like that? We're talking about half a day lost in transition, which is a lot of time that people use to prep for talks, answer emails, what have you. It's a weird disconnect between what lawmakers perceive and the reality that we're living in an increasingly electronic world where this stuff is taken for granted by everyone else around the lawmakers.

It's also creeping up on the elephant in the room, which is tighter regulations on who can travel between countries. I mean, a lot of postdocs in various fields are located in Europe, which isn't to say anything about business/academia travel, and what have you.

[pax_athena]

Yes, something along those lines - the balconies are all connected along this side of the buildings and there is more then enough space around the dividers for a cat to pass through.

It's actually more like a full day lost, especially if - and this is likely - you have to put the laptop into luggage, which you are supposed to do max 2 hours before the flights. And don't even let me start at the nightmare of arriving at a conference with either a stolen or a broken laptop. I had mine break once on the way to two weeks in Paris and it was the absolute nightmare (but I now know that the Apple Store below the Louvre is a) the only Mac repair place open in Paris on a Sunday b) amazing).

Yeah, I wonder whether a part of the whole political idea behind it is "the less people know of the other the more they are afraid". Would not be the first time this happened in history :( On the other hand there is still the row about visa free travel with the EU ongoing. So who knows what it really is :(

[giallarhorn]

Yeah, missing/broken laptops are the actual worst nightmare to deal with. I've started to only bring only older laptops I have lying around to conferences with me because of that, and trying to upload as much so I can access it wherever. Which goes to show how far and inconvenient this stuff gets to be, and this doesn't help at all.

With the death knell of net neutrality here stateside, it does seem like a general encroachment on the whole idea of the internet as it is, and a general attempt to be more separatist :|