How much is our time worth?

I just arrived at Munich airport, not on time. The plane was 20 min late because of construction in Heathrow. 20 min… That is nothing. I can give my favorite airport in the world 20 min. After all I am just coming back from a conference with the nice name “I can do it!” where I was asking myself what the IT in I can do it was for me.
One lady had a really good explanation. She saw lots of boxes flying towards her with many ITs depending on where she was and what she was doing.
So I guess my IT for tonight was to give Lufthansa 20min of my time, or to be correct, the airport in London.
So after having landed I was perfectly set to taking the train home since it is about 1/5 of the price of a cab ride to my place. Arriving that late at night though, I am often tempted to just take the more expensive option and enjoy the fast way home.
Parking at the gate, everything got dark inside the plane. “Dear Ladies and Gents, the power unit that is supporting us with energy broke down and so we have to wait until it is being replaced. Please remain calm and stay in your seats. In 10min tops, we will have it fixed and you can leave the aircraft. We apologize for that.”
So another 10 min… Who cares? In my mind it brings up the train vs. cab discussion again and I am now seriously considering spending the 50€ to have a nice conversation about where I was this weekend in the cab as opposed to listening to snoring people on the train. Another 20 min later, my mind has made itself up. We are taking a cab. We just need to get money from the ATM first because the last Euros went to my colleague in London in exchange for some pounds. – Why are the Brits part of the European Union and still keep their Queen money anyway? That is pretty inconvenient for a common European nowadays. – Anyway, there is an ATM right on the way to the taxistand. But when I get out of the security area, I remember I have to buy myself a subway ticket for the next day and so I end up in front of the ticket machine anyway. And guess how much my time is worth now? 40€ less than my mind suggested only a few minutes ago.
Here I am sitting on the train writing this blog entry. I guess my mind knew that I wouldn’t have saved the time by taking a taxi for some more valuable stuff, but I would have spent the gained time in front of the PC anyway, not on the train but sitting upright in bed.
And therefore I have to say, the unconscious mind who tricked me into buying the train ticket although I only wanted the one for tomorrow morning is not that dumb. It knows more than we do.

The train is more interesting for sure. In the few minutes I sat here, I saw a sleeping man fall off his seat and the guy next to me gave himself his insuline shot.
The guy with the furry pearl bookmark isn’t even worth mentioning with all the other excitement in here. Riding the train is becoming my new favorite activity!

This is a Piccadilly Line train with service to Cockfosters

I once read a book about a guy who spent a whole day trying to stop at every tube station in London. This was part of a bet and I am not even sure whether he made it in the end or not. I only remember he almost missed his wedding the next day. Sounds a bit like the movie Hangover :)
Anyway, today I am a little like this guy with a similar mission it seems. But for me it was supposedly more about getting to know the Picadilly line stations between Heathrow and King's Cross.
This is how I spent my day: after a successful meeting with a colleague near Heathrow there was enough time for me to get to Central London - as the city center is called here - and walk around a bit in the rain (of course it's raining, wouldn't be GB without it) :)
at least that was my plan. Then reality hit. Having the kind of rings I like you have to take them off to wash your hands which is what I did in the nice SAP headquarter's "loo". Putting them back on or at least taking them with me seems to be another story on the day after I slept only about 4h for whatever stupid reason.
Anyway, you already know what happened. After getting to the hotel I noticed that I feel a bit naked on my hands. Sh..!
So here I am on my third time through all the stations of this wonderful 1h tube ride and I even met someone I sat next to on the plane.
Sitting on the subway is actually pretty interesting. Maybe I should start watching my suroundings more and not hide in a book so often. Right now for example there is another girl putting on her make-up, but not only what you usually see but the whole deal. She has a big folder eith several brushes,3 different make-up bottles and she is doing a piece of art here. I wonder who is the lucky guy who gets to kiss all these maybelline products.
Before - when I was on the Outbound - I got introduced to a whole family. That was one chatty toddler.
Now we got some rugby fans with us in the cart. Luckily they look too weak and old to actually be hooligans. Maybe in their younger days :)
BTW who ever said Munich is one of the last European metropoles (is it even a metropole?) with no reception in the subway? London - one of the real meropoles and the host of the 2012 Olympics also doesn't have it.
I am about half way back and find it interesting that the subway is equally full both ways and all afternoon. Are people who work in the center going outbound to not be bothered by the city anymore and people who work in the outskirts going inbound to enjoy the night out in the town?

Well, to me the most important part is that I got my ri gs back. This also gave me the opportunity to ride in one of the London taxis and probably make the day of this Indian cabdriver who got to drive me there from the tube station, wait in front of the building and drive me back. Minus the multiple dress changes this was a total Bridget Jones moment.

I am looking forward to staying in the city center for the rest of the weekend. And the rings will stay in the suitcase!