Flight Entertainment, pool parties, and hospitals! - 09/05/16
Today, Monday 9th of May, a visit at Thales was scheduled. However this visit was scheduled for the afternoon, so the morning could be used for other activities.
So the morning started, as every morning, with a breakfast. The breakfast of the Laguna Hill Lodge accommodation is quite good, so that’s a good start. Afterward we had some spare time. Because the sky was clouded, the aqua-gym session of this morning was cancelled. However that generated for me some time to do my laundry, which was a nice thing. Others just chilled in their rooms or did some groceries for dinner (one group had the nice idea to try to prepare fresh food in the microwave, it did worked but it wasn’t that tasty). However after I finished the laundry it was time to travel to Thales.
After a small ride, we arrived at Thales. Because we signed a confidentiality agreement (or as the madam said “What happens at Thales, stays at Thales”) I cannot say that much about it but I will try to say something nice about it. It started with just a general introduction and a nice lunch. Thales provided a great lunch for us with some nice warm dishes and vegetables! Vegetables are a rare phenomenon in the States, so I tried to use this opportunity as much as possible to replenish my vitamin stash. Afterward we got a presentation of the Flight Entertainment system Thales develops and builds. Although most of us knows Thales as a radar/defence company, they do much more than only designing and building radar systems. Designing a Flight Entertainment system is much more complex than you would expect. One thing, for example, is that it shouldn’t increase injury when you hit it with your head with 16G (during a crash landing). Besides some general presentations, we had a tour through the factory work floor as well as the innovation lab, or the “man cave” as the hardware director called it due to all kinds of awesome new (third party) technologies available to combine with Flight Entertainment system (to reach the goal of Thales to provide an inflight experience instead of only inflight entertainment). Thereafter we saw some prove-of-concept systems as well as having “desert” (some nice treats while just chatting). That was more or less our awesome visit to Thales.
Because the weather was sunny, we organised a little pool party to compensate for the missed aqua-gym session of that morning. We all enjoyed the swimming pool, hot tube, and sauna a lot. Luuk even enjoyed it that much that he tried to hug the wall of the swimming pool with his forehead. This resulted in a decent cut, which was stitched in the hospital right across the street. It took some time, but it turned out that his injury wasn’t severe.
That evening some people and I went to Laguna Beach to enjoy the views and have some dinner. We arrived somewhat late, just after sunset. Despite the low light conditions, we still enjoyed some nice views of the last fading sunlight. After that we ate some very tasty large pizzas at a local restaurant (with a remarkable amount of vegetables as topping, it almost looked healthy!). Afterward we went back to the lodge/motel/hotel and now everybody is enjoying some beers while I am still writing this piece of art. Have a good day/night!
By: Wendo Beuker