"I can't believe Stanley is Here"

I have said before Stanley is welcome wherever 2 or more Oracle users come together, so obviously I will be at UKOUG this coming week, more than 2000 excited people in the ICC at Birmingham.

Debra and I arrived today and we are in our hotel getting ready. Debra has many meetings tomorrow before the ACE Dinner which I always look forward to. Last year however I needed a bath after my trip to Finland and Denmark, so although Mogens bought me I was unable to get out of my bag.


But this post is about last night. Debra stayed with her sister in Gloucester and this morning when packing, her brother in law Chris realised that Stanley was in his house. He was so in awe and shouted out"I can't believe Stanley is Here". This is a special fan, Chris is a Finance Manager in a large government department and more importantly an Oracle EBS user.

Chris will be so 'stoked' to appear on my blog, but to be fair I was more interested in their dog, Tilly. I like animals they are more like me.

Vote for my friend

Meet Miss Molly. She is my friend and lives in Denver with John and Peggy King.



Miss Molly and I go way back, and I want you as my friend to vote for Miss Molly in the Hallmark Dog Photo contest – you can check it out at this link she is kinda cute.

Sharing a hotel with the President

When OOW finished, I made my way to the hotel, only to find myself stopped from entering the road by a policeman.The entire street was closed and people were held behind a barrier. Eventually we were told that Obama was staying in our hotel and that we could not get in until he had arrived and was safely inside.


My friend Basheer Khan (who looks after my brother 'Khanley'), was also held behind the barrier and he had a plane to catch but his luggage was in the hotel! Eventually a policeman came to check if we had a valid reason for being in the hotel and then made everyone put their bags on the road and a dog then sniffed them all. I have to thank Debra for leaving me inside her bag, if I had been pulled out and investigated by a dog it would have been the final indignity.




About an hour after we arrived we were allowed back into the hotel, escorted by a policeman one by one. Well it was a little bit of excitment and I dont think there are many world leaders who can say they have stayed in the same hotel as 'Stanley'.

Then the next morning I had a breakfast date with Dan Norris and Robyn Sands but found myself, locked in! We could not leave the hotel until the President have left, Debra stood up against a window to watch the cortege get ready to leave. There were ambulances, a bomb squad, many dark vans with mirrors to match the sunglasses everyone was wearing, blacked out limos, all very impressive and led away by the original guy from CHiPs.

Meeting my Fans

I have a lot of fans and sometimes I simply don't get time to see them all. At OOW I missed seeing Sean Tucker from Team Oracle, this is a man I admire not only is he famous for his flying skills but he takes time out to spend with his fans, he is 'down to earth' .... well when he is not 'up in the air' something I aspire to be.



So when I missed the chance of catching up with him at OOW, I was still feeling poorly after my operation (see previous post) Sean took time out to donate a signed cap to me. Then to make sure he knew how he felt about me he allowed Steve Romeo to make this little video. It is a bit dark but if you turn it up loud you can hear Sean talk about me, The great Stanley.

A Belated Happy Birthday

Before Oracle Open World got going we had the ACE party, it was fantastic and even better we got to celebrate the birthday of our beloved leader Justin Kestelyn . Lillian and Vikky arranged the best birthday cake ever with a fantastic picture of him in icing. But what do I as a simple vest give a man such as this?

My friends Mogens and Dan thought I should do something very special and give him something that means a lot to me. They came up with the idea of making a T Shirt that actually included a bit of me. I love Justin a lot but giving him part of me is possibly a bit too much. The idea was that I would supply the ACE for Justin's T Shirt.

But then I thought about it, people give kidneys to the ones they love and so I could do the same. I went through the 'live donor operation' and was glad that during OOW I could sit on my special chair and take things easy. Debra carried out the operation and was quite gentle, her stitching was very neat and if you and I become special friends I may one day show you my scar.

Big Apology from Stanley

I went to Oracle open World expecting to blog everyday, when I get together with my friends I normally get involved in a few escapades but this time I was so busy. I had to be there for my fans, I had my chair in the OTN lounge and I had stickers and cards to give out. I saw so many people wearing the 'I love Stanley' stickers.

I did have my own unconference session, it was a small crowd but I enjoyed it, the chance to talk about me, the ACE program and OTN.

I got to show off some holiday snaps and reminise about all the places I have been in the last year. Denmark, Finland, Sweden, UK, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Israel etc. I have had such a great time.

STANLEY, you naughty boy

apologies, my session is at 1pm but if you get there early, come by the OTN lounge and drink coffee and hang out with the cool people