Our good friend Erin is renting our house back home. The roommate who signed on with her is moving out and Erin is looking for someone nice to move in and share the costs. Ideally female, clean and quiet-ish. Garrison Woods is obviously a really nice area and very central to Calgary: do you know anyone? If you do, please email me and I will put you in touch with Erin (if, in fact, you don't know her already!)...
And us? We've had a peek at what would be involved in buying a house here. You see, buying is really expensive here, but so too is renting. In fact, one might argue that renting is ridiculously expensive (rather than just really expensive) because you'll never see any of the money again. Oh, it gives me a headache. So, too, does the International Tax Office of the CRA. We're still waiting on a response to questions we asked them in a letter from October last year... We've followed up with 4 more letters but have heard nothing from them. Very frustrating. More of the finer points of moving country for you? Getting a British driver's license is not straight-forward. It seems they'll only exchange a Canadian license for a British one with a limitation of automatic transmission vehicles. We'll probably need to re-test (cripes, that sounds fun after 15 years of driving) to get permission to drive standard transmission vehicles. We're going to appeal. There's some pretty strong logic on our side but I fear bureaucracy will prevail and I will be doddling around Reading with a Driving Instructor, brushing up for a test to drive a vehicle that we have been driving safely for 7 months already.
The nitty-gritty, lingering issues of international relocation can sometimes get you down. But then we're going to London on Sunday to see Stella, Em, Armando and Oma. We'll go for a walk around Tower Bridge and it will all seem pretty damn cool...
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Monday, February 26, 2007
TomTom and Lady Hambleden
Ange, Anna and I have moved from a stumbling pace to a full run into the 21st century. It all started with my swish Sony Ericsson W810i mobile phone. As discussed below, it does more than any phone ever should. Ange is fully equiped with a mobile as well. Anna has a toy phone that sings songs. We have digital TV and broadband internet. The car tells us the temperature outside. Ange and I have set up Facebook accounts (we could both use 'friends'!), though still discuss why exactly we do. Social networking site are all the rage, so we're hip.
However, we took the quantum step on the weekend when we purchased 'sat nav' for the car. Apparently the TomTom software is the cat's ass of sat nav equipment. It's intuitive, it's relatively inexpensive, it's like my phone: pervasive amongst those that care. We set it up tonight. It was very exciting: the machine talks to you, warning you of upcoming directions. It is a serious improvement over Angela with a map. We had to choose the voice we wanted. We had a choice between 3 female and 1 male American voices, 1 male Australian voice, and 1 male and 1 female British voices. The Aussie male reminded me too much of the beep test and after years of misdirection from Ange, I'm not sure I trust female north American. Ange vetoed the north American male voice because she associates directions from that accent with driving control freaks (i.e., me). We went for "Mary": the British female. After all, we live here so we might as well have the right accent and it really won out by elimination anyway.
Speaking of British-ness, Ange had the most ridiculously British day at work on Wednesday last week. She left her office at the all-girl boarding and day school she works at. She walked across the courtyard to the car and drove east through Henley-on-Thames to Marlow, where she went north down a narrow, single lane country road that runs into the heart of the Chilterns. She was going to the Manor house in Hambledon (yes, discussed previously with photos). She had been invited by Lady Hambleden (yes, I'm serious) for lunch after the school had donated funds towards a charitable cause sponsored by Lady Hambleden. The ate their three course lunch which included apple crumble for pudding. Ange sat slightly perplexed with the cutlery at her disposal and quietly waited for the ladies around her to start. Turns out the spoon goes in the right hand and the desert fork is used to break and move the crumble to the spoon. After pudding, they retired to the drawing room for tea. Manor houses in the countryside, aristocracy, tea in the drawing room. It seems an unlikely work experience in Calgary. Chalk it up.
This is doing the rounds on email right now, but it makes me laugh, so I share it:
However, we took the quantum step on the weekend when we purchased 'sat nav' for the car. Apparently the TomTom software is the cat's ass of sat nav equipment. It's intuitive, it's relatively inexpensive, it's like my phone: pervasive amongst those that care. We set it up tonight. It was very exciting: the machine talks to you, warning you of upcoming directions. It is a serious improvement over Angela with a map. We had to choose the voice we wanted. We had a choice between 3 female and 1 male American voices, 1 male Australian voice, and 1 male and 1 female British voices. The Aussie male reminded me too much of the beep test and after years of misdirection from Ange, I'm not sure I trust female north American. Ange vetoed the north American male voice because she associates directions from that accent with driving control freaks (i.e., me). We went for "Mary": the British female. After all, we live here so we might as well have the right accent and it really won out by elimination anyway.
Speaking of British-ness, Ange had the most ridiculously British day at work on Wednesday last week. She left her office at the all-girl boarding and day school she works at. She walked across the courtyard to the car and drove east through Henley-on-Thames to Marlow, where she went north down a narrow, single lane country road that runs into the heart of the Chilterns. She was going to the Manor house in Hambledon (yes, discussed previously with photos). She had been invited by Lady Hambleden (yes, I'm serious) for lunch after the school had donated funds towards a charitable cause sponsored by Lady Hambleden. The ate their three course lunch which included apple crumble for pudding. Ange sat slightly perplexed with the cutlery at her disposal and quietly waited for the ladies around her to start. Turns out the spoon goes in the right hand and the desert fork is used to break and move the crumble to the spoon. After pudding, they retired to the drawing room for tea. Manor houses in the countryside, aristocracy, tea in the drawing room. It seems an unlikely work experience in Calgary. Chalk it up.
This is doing the rounds on email right now, but it makes me laugh, so I share it:
Thursday, February 22, 2007
Miscommunicate
It has come to my attention that I may have appeared a bit put off by all the visitors coming to stay with us. No, no, no!!! Definitely, it is quite the opposite: we're absolutely excited to have everyone and will happily and excitedly take more people who make the trip! Don't, for a moment, second guess our sincere desire to have you stay with us! We did, after all, set a 4553 record of 14 consecutive weeks with guests in the summer of 2005!
I do think that this spring may be getting into the realm of double-booked. But the only consquence of that is possibly some couch time or an inflatable matress in Anna's room for a night or two (we can pull Anna's cot into our bedroom)!
So, let's get that guest house full for the whole summer: come on 15 consecutive weeks!
I do think that this spring may be getting into the realm of double-booked. But the only consquence of that is possibly some couch time or an inflatable matress in Anna's room for a night or two (we can pull Anna's cot into our bedroom)!
So, let's get that guest house full for the whole summer: come on 15 consecutive weeks!
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Rockets
Have you ever eaten so many packets of Rockets that your toungue hurts? I have. Tonight, in fact.
Thank you United Way friends for sending them!
Thank you United Way friends for sending them!
Taking Bookings
Our friend Rachel has been a star over the years. When I first came to Britain in 1999, I arrived in Southampton on a beat-up old motorcycle packed heavily (and, arguably, dangerously) with my bag and camping kit. I stayed with Karen, Catherine and Victoria. They generously put me up for absolutely ages. I probably wore out my welcome 3 times over, but they were too kind to ask me to leave. Amongst the friends I made during that time was Rachel. She's Welsh. Not having ever gone to Wales, she recommended it. In fact, she went a step further and suggested I stay with her parents in Wales. It turns out, her parents' kindness and willingness to take in strangers was akin to Rach, Karen, Catherine and Victoria...
I headed up to Wales, stopping briefly in Bath on the way to see what all the fuss was about. £10 entry to the baths at Bath meant I am still left wondering what all the fuss is about. I must correct that this time around.
Anyway, I showed up in the village of Ebbw Vale. You can't believe how kind Gareth and Sue were to me. Imagine if some 24-year-old guy rolled up on an old motorcycle, covered in oil and soaking wet to your parents' doorstep. They didn't know me. Heck, Rachel hardly knew me. I think back and it strikes me as incredible they had me in. Gareth helped me set various day itineraries around their region of Wales each night and Sue prepared me a pack lunch to take with me each day. It was unreal. Ange and I visited Gareth and Sue later when we were through Wales again. We still exchange post cards.
The point of my digression? Ange and I were quite excited about a planned trip to Wales this coming weekend. Sadly, Rachel has to move house in Southampton and can't get away. We quickly looked at re-booking our trip and I came to the sudden and somewhat distressing realisation: our next free weekend is in May. And we only have two free weekends in May. I need an online event registration system to manage our personal calendar (did anyone at Cambrian House read that?)!
I can't entirely figure out how we have managed to get ourselves so booked. Oma is coming. Grandma and Dziadek are coming. Erika is coming. My cousin Claire and Aunt Lynn are coming. Aunt Val and Uncle George will be here. We have two weddings. I have a stag weekend. We're going to Southampton, Mundesley, Dorset (twice) and Portugal. Ange is going to Exeter for work. I am going to Durham for work. I think we might need a holiday to relax from it all!
Today the sun is out and pouring into our front room. I'm working from home. I think Anna and I might feed the ducks at the river after nursery.
A couple of photos (just in case you're not actually reading and just want the photographic update)... Anna and Carys enjoy a lively game of pass-the-present, which was more like adventures-with-wrapping-paper:
Warren and Carla Rae stopped by on their way back from India. Anna likes Carla Rae (and Warren too!):
Facebook update? I have 15 friends: 11 non-family!
I headed up to Wales, stopping briefly in Bath on the way to see what all the fuss was about. £10 entry to the baths at Bath meant I am still left wondering what all the fuss is about. I must correct that this time around.
Anyway, I showed up in the village of Ebbw Vale. You can't believe how kind Gareth and Sue were to me. Imagine if some 24-year-old guy rolled up on an old motorcycle, covered in oil and soaking wet to your parents' doorstep. They didn't know me. Heck, Rachel hardly knew me. I think back and it strikes me as incredible they had me in. Gareth helped me set various day itineraries around their region of Wales each night and Sue prepared me a pack lunch to take with me each day. It was unreal. Ange and I visited Gareth and Sue later when we were through Wales again. We still exchange post cards.
The point of my digression? Ange and I were quite excited about a planned trip to Wales this coming weekend. Sadly, Rachel has to move house in Southampton and can't get away. We quickly looked at re-booking our trip and I came to the sudden and somewhat distressing realisation: our next free weekend is in May. And we only have two free weekends in May. I need an online event registration system to manage our personal calendar (did anyone at Cambrian House read that?)!
I can't entirely figure out how we have managed to get ourselves so booked. Oma is coming. Grandma and Dziadek are coming. Erika is coming. My cousin Claire and Aunt Lynn are coming. Aunt Val and Uncle George will be here. We have two weddings. I have a stag weekend. We're going to Southampton, Mundesley, Dorset (twice) and Portugal. Ange is going to Exeter for work. I am going to Durham for work. I think we might need a holiday to relax from it all!
Today the sun is out and pouring into our front room. I'm working from home. I think Anna and I might feed the ducks at the river after nursery.
A couple of photos (just in case you're not actually reading and just want the photographic update)... Anna and Carys enjoy a lively game of pass-the-present, which was more like adventures-with-wrapping-paper:
Warren and Carla Rae stopped by on their way back from India. Anna likes Carla Rae (and Warren too!):
Facebook update? I have 15 friends: 11 non-family!
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
Three days ago I had never heard of 'Facebook.' Of course, one hears about these sort of social networking websites in the news and such. I'd heard of Bebo and MySpace, but never this Facebook thing.
I flicked on the computer and an email came through from my cousin Claire. Claire is cool. I am not. Claire has "invited me to be her friend." Who am I to refuse? So, I diligently clicked on the link in the email. It was all a bit confusing, but I remained committed and eventually filled out my name, where I lived, my relationship status (clearly I'm not the target audience) and I even uploaded a photo (which, of course, included Anna). And then it was over. Claire was my friend. I was Claire's friend. I thought something might happen, but it didn't. Somehow, I just had another little profile up on the world wide web. World wide.
To my genuine surprise, I received another email the next day from a good friend who I haven't spoken with in ages. It really couldn't have been more random for me. She, too, had invited me to be her friend. Suddenly I have two friends! Motivated by the landslide of random affection coming my way, I put in some more information on myself (cue marketing people salivating at my predictable behaviour). Again, having done that, I was struck by the void it left. I went back once or twice to confirm that everything I had put in was, in fact, still as I had left it. It was.
Only hours later, my younger brother Thomas has emailed inviting me to "be his friend." Of course, this offer was too much to turn down... only somehow I managed to mess it up and I couldn't accept his kind offer of e-friendship. So, I clumsily found my way around the site a bit more and clicked on some link that asked Thomas to be my friend. Fingers crossed!
I'm now both suspicious and deeply intrigued. One, what kind of online viral thing is this that I can be asked 3 times in two days to be peoples' friends? And, from such a random assortment of people I know: it was time to do some serious research on what kind of website I was dealing with.
With both Claire and Thomas in the mix, I was suspicious that Facebook was cool (Jen is cool too, but she is more my age!). I needed a group of people who knew cool to see if they were involved. Field Hockey. A quick search revealed that Jenny, Jenn, Jube, Hilary, and Kaitlin (and surely loads more) were all on this Facebook thing. My gut reaction was "Oh God, get off. You don't belong." And I probably should heed this feeling... but I'm now so intrigued by it. Not only that, I only have two friends! Jenny has 136 friends. I surely have 10! As soon as Tom accepts me as his friend, I'm up to 3. But really, Claire and Tom are family, so I am not sure they count. So, let the campaign begin to get Ben 10 non-family friends on Facebook!
I flicked on the computer and an email came through from my cousin Claire. Claire is cool. I am not. Claire has "invited me to be her friend." Who am I to refuse? So, I diligently clicked on the link in the email. It was all a bit confusing, but I remained committed and eventually filled out my name, where I lived, my relationship status (clearly I'm not the target audience) and I even uploaded a photo (which, of course, included Anna). And then it was over. Claire was my friend. I was Claire's friend. I thought something might happen, but it didn't. Somehow, I just had another little profile up on the world wide web. World wide.
To my genuine surprise, I received another email the next day from a good friend who I haven't spoken with in ages. It really couldn't have been more random for me. She, too, had invited me to be her friend. Suddenly I have two friends! Motivated by the landslide of random affection coming my way, I put in some more information on myself (cue marketing people salivating at my predictable behaviour). Again, having done that, I was struck by the void it left. I went back once or twice to confirm that everything I had put in was, in fact, still as I had left it. It was.
Only hours later, my younger brother Thomas has emailed inviting me to "be his friend." Of course, this offer was too much to turn down... only somehow I managed to mess it up and I couldn't accept his kind offer of e-friendship. So, I clumsily found my way around the site a bit more and clicked on some link that asked Thomas to be my friend. Fingers crossed!
I'm now both suspicious and deeply intrigued. One, what kind of online viral thing is this that I can be asked 3 times in two days to be peoples' friends? And, from such a random assortment of people I know: it was time to do some serious research on what kind of website I was dealing with.
With both Claire and Thomas in the mix, I was suspicious that Facebook was cool (Jen is cool too, but she is more my age!). I needed a group of people who knew cool to see if they were involved. Field Hockey. A quick search revealed that Jenny, Jenn, Jube, Hilary, and Kaitlin (and surely loads more) were all on this Facebook thing. My gut reaction was "Oh God, get off. You don't belong." And I probably should heed this feeling... but I'm now so intrigued by it. Not only that, I only have two friends! Jenny has 136 friends. I surely have 10! As soon as Tom accepts me as his friend, I'm up to 3. But really, Claire and Tom are family, so I am not sure they count. So, let the campaign begin to get Ben 10 non-family friends on Facebook!
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Laying Low
A weekend of nothing just happened. Cripes. It started off on Friday when Anna was turned away from daycare. 14 months old and she's suspended from nursery! In fairness, the nursery has a "48-hour" policy when children can return from a bug and she was nowhere near that threshold...
Anna had been sick on Thursday morning (snow day), so I picked her up and brought her home. We had just got in the front door when I lifted Anna from her buggy. She looked at me in the eye, swallowed once and puked all down the front of me and her. I'm not particularly on squirmish, but the sheer volume of vomit tested my resolve. I smiled weakly at her and pulled her tight. She was clearly distressed and I wanted to minimize the puke hitting the floor. As we bounded up the stairs to the bath, poor Anna nearly squirted out of my arms we were so slimed.
A short bath and a change of clothes and Anna was suddenly herself again. There were no more accidents though the naps were longer than normal, which was good because I was able to get some work done. Being that she was so well, Ange tried to take her into nursery on Friday. They were having none of it and Ange phoned me to give me the update when she returned home. I jumped back in the car and did the return trip to Reading in rush-hour, having successfully avoided rush-hour on the trip in (I leave pretty early). Anna was lovely all day and she started to building on her first steps... almost a walk! It was very, very exciting and there was a lot of cheering. One of those gold medal (or silver medal, eh Alberta--that was just as sweet!) moments. Rightfully, Anna was very proud of herself.
Friday night was quiet. A movie, a nice dinner and some pleasant French wine.
Sadly, the weekend took a turn Saturday morning at about 2:30am. I woke up with a start. "I feel ill," I thought to myself. "How much wine did I drink?" was the immediate second thought. "Not nearly enough to feel this bad." So, it started. The most brutal 20-odd hours of flu that I've endured in a very long time. Field hockey was thankfully cancelled due to snow on the pitch, which was good for me because I wouldn't have been there.
Ange and Anna escaped the house while I lay on the couch. I was very sad that I missed Anna's first haircut, which was on the to-do list for Ange and Anna. Apparently, the novelty of the event was enough to keep Anna seated though she was somewhat perplexed that the cookie she knew to be in her hand couldn't get to her mouth. When, with the help of mum, she was able to work out how to get her hand from under the cape, the cookie was slowly consumed with a healthy dose of hair as well. Hopefully this little trim will help the hair grow in thicker. That is Ange's thought on this matter, though I remain skeptical. Cutting my hair hasn't exactly helped it grow in thicker...
As I started to turn the corner on the bug, it became clear that Ange was not going to escape it either. She took over the position on the couch only hours after I had been able to get off it. We were unable to go to Dorset to visit "Aunt" Dorothy as had been the plan. It was a shame, but this was a nasty little bug. Aunt Dorothy, at 96, certainly didn't need to catch it and I'm certain the drive down would have been truly unpleasant for Ange had she been able to get out of bed... We'll re-group and look forward to next weekend! It is one of the last we have 'free' until sometime in June. Fast times ahead!
We'll leave you with a photo of Em and Stella. Not surprisingly, Armando is a photographer. So this photo is probably copyrighted or something. Though I have used it without permission, I implore you not to do the same!
Anna had been sick on Thursday morning (snow day), so I picked her up and brought her home. We had just got in the front door when I lifted Anna from her buggy. She looked at me in the eye, swallowed once and puked all down the front of me and her. I'm not particularly on squirmish, but the sheer volume of vomit tested my resolve. I smiled weakly at her and pulled her tight. She was clearly distressed and I wanted to minimize the puke hitting the floor. As we bounded up the stairs to the bath, poor Anna nearly squirted out of my arms we were so slimed.
A short bath and a change of clothes and Anna was suddenly herself again. There were no more accidents though the naps were longer than normal, which was good because I was able to get some work done. Being that she was so well, Ange tried to take her into nursery on Friday. They were having none of it and Ange phoned me to give me the update when she returned home. I jumped back in the car and did the return trip to Reading in rush-hour, having successfully avoided rush-hour on the trip in (I leave pretty early). Anna was lovely all day and she started to building on her first steps... almost a walk! It was very, very exciting and there was a lot of cheering. One of those gold medal (or silver medal, eh Alberta--that was just as sweet!) moments. Rightfully, Anna was very proud of herself.Friday night was quiet. A movie, a nice dinner and some pleasant French wine.
Sadly, the weekend took a turn Saturday morning at about 2:30am. I woke up with a start. "I feel ill," I thought to myself. "How much wine did I drink?" was the immediate second thought. "Not nearly enough to feel this bad." So, it started. The most brutal 20-odd hours of flu that I've endured in a very long time. Field hockey was thankfully cancelled due to snow on the pitch, which was good for me because I wouldn't have been there.
Ange and Anna escaped the house while I lay on the couch. I was very sad that I missed Anna's first haircut, which was on the to-do list for Ange and Anna. Apparently, the novelty of the event was enough to keep Anna seated though she was somewhat perplexed that the cookie she knew to be in her hand couldn't get to her mouth. When, with the help of mum, she was able to work out how to get her hand from under the cape, the cookie was slowly consumed with a healthy dose of hair as well. Hopefully this little trim will help the hair grow in thicker. That is Ange's thought on this matter, though I remain skeptical. Cutting my hair hasn't exactly helped it grow in thicker...
As I started to turn the corner on the bug, it became clear that Ange was not going to escape it either. She took over the position on the couch only hours after I had been able to get off it. We were unable to go to Dorset to visit "Aunt" Dorothy as had been the plan. It was a shame, but this was a nasty little bug. Aunt Dorothy, at 96, certainly didn't need to catch it and I'm certain the drive down would have been truly unpleasant for Ange had she been able to get out of bed... We'll re-group and look forward to next weekend! It is one of the last we have 'free' until sometime in June. Fast times ahead!
We'll leave you with a photo of Em and Stella. Not surprisingly, Armando is a photographer. So this photo is probably copyrighted or something. Though I have used it without permission, I implore you not to do the same!
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Giant Day
February 8, 2007. It was a big day. Emily and Armando had their baby, Stella, this morning. Anna took her first steps. And Britain was blanketed with snow.
Anna took her first couple of steps today. We had just finished a successful potty visit and had put her "Baby" down. Her baby is a large stuffed monkey who is soft though slightly odd looking. "Baby," is one of her few words and monkey is very clearly called "Baby." She loves Baby. I placed her on her feet about half a meter away from Baby and instead of flopping and crawling, she took a step. At that point, momentum was on her side and two more steps followed. There was a lot of cheering from dad.
I worked from home today. I had been warned that snow and British roads is a recipe for spending a long time in the car. I stopped by Ange's school to take a couple of photos of the campus in the snow. It was really very pretty, as you can see:
Stella
Stella Beatriz Ribeiro was born this morning at 1:45am. According to a text from Emily she was born 6 lbs, healthy and very beautiful.
There was a bit of a text frenzy last night. Amrando, Emily, Oma, myself (and who knows whoelse?)... It is pretty neat to get the latest in a few words over your phone! I can't believe they could be bothered, but I am grateful they were...
Photos to follow.
There was a bit of a text frenzy last night. Amrando, Emily, Oma, myself (and who knows whoelse?)... It is pretty neat to get the latest in a few words over your phone! I can't believe they could be bothered, but I am grateful they were...
Photos to follow.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
Baby Night In Britain
So exciting!!! Emily has gone into labour! Well, 'labour' itself might not be so exciting, but the net result is very exciting indeed. Here's today's progression:
2:12: Emily had her inducing drugs at the Royal London Hospital. (Note: 'Royal' in East London might lack the some of the luxury normally associated with the word)
5:30: Light contractions have begun.
6:48: Strong but 'low' contractions. She's on her way!
To make it real for those of you haven't seen my sister since she was in grade 8, a photo of her from her visit two weekends ago.
2:12: Emily had her inducing drugs at the Royal London Hospital. (Note: 'Royal' in East London might lack the some of the luxury normally associated with the word)
5:30: Light contractions have begun.
6:48: Strong but 'low' contractions. She's on her way!
To make it real for those of you haven't seen my sister since she was in grade 8, a photo of her from her visit two weekends ago.
Monday, February 05, 2007
The Wrong Impression
Don't worry, there is little chance of this blog becoming a social commentary. There are far too many amusing and ridiculous things that happen to the three of us for that to ever happen. However, I was just on my yahoo email and was surprised to see that London was jittery and in a state of high security alert. The story (ca.news.yahoo.com/s/afp/britain_attacks_blast) leads one to believe that England or, at least, London has security patrols and police running amuck looking for would-be terrorists and this latest blast has tensions high and people in shock.
I was startled because I hadn't heard about it all day, despite listening to the BBC (albeit Radio 1) on the way into, and the way home, from work. I quickly pulled up the BBC website to read more on the chaos that surrounds me. The incident didn't make any of the lead 10 stories, leaving me to wonder about this chaos that is reported to North America. It's all about Bird Flu today. And the consequence is that 154,000 turkeys have bigger worries than terrorism. The Beatles and Apple have settled their differences over the word "apple." Italian football is in crisis after a policeman was killed in football riots. There will be no more Mars bar ads directed at children (Jamie Oliver can take a bow, in part). And a lady who killed her boyfriend's cat got a suspended sentence. Oh the turmoil.
I was startled because I hadn't heard about it all day, despite listening to the BBC (albeit Radio 1) on the way into, and the way home, from work. I quickly pulled up the BBC website to read more on the chaos that surrounds me. The incident didn't make any of the lead 10 stories, leaving me to wonder about this chaos that is reported to North America. It's all about Bird Flu today. And the consequence is that 154,000 turkeys have bigger worries than terrorism. The Beatles and Apple have settled their differences over the word "apple." Italian football is in crisis after a policeman was killed in football riots. There will be no more Mars bar ads directed at children (Jamie Oliver can take a bow, in part). And a lady who killed her boyfriend's cat got a suspended sentence. Oh the turmoil.
Weekend in Caversham (on Thames)
Back when I was not working... and roaming the coffee shops of Caversham (you may recall from earlier posts this was as much for escaping the cold of our initial flat as to explore the town), Anna and I met Joyti and her daughter Calis (who is about 6 weeks younger than Anna; her name is Welsh and I'm certainly spelling it wrong...). With work and travel, we hadn't been in touch in some time. On Wednesday, I was home by 4:30 with Anna when Joyti spotted me letting us into our house as she packed up from a visit to the Waitrose. She came over and we had a good, albeit brief chat. It was really nice to run into friends just being on your street. It was all very Sesame Street.
Not wanting to put off getting together, we decided to meet on Friday at the Griffon Pub. Taking 12-month-olds to the pub is less Sesame Street, but very Caversham. I think I have gone on about this pub before, so I won't bother with the whole schpiel. But, Ange, Anna and I arrived to meet Joyti, her husband Allain, her husband's son (from before) Michael and, of course, Calis. They had managed to get the large table in front of the wood-burning fire. The atmosphere was great. We had a really nice evening. Allain is from the Caversham area and knew of loads of great walks and historical 'oddities' and points of interest. Indeed, had we been more flexible, we would have gone out walking with them on Sunday too! In the end, it was a good pub dinner, a nice pint and good conversation about all sorts of things. Anna like Calis' books most. Second was either Calis herself or the mashed potatoes.
Satuday was hockey day for Ben. The team I coach put in a solid effort but they continue to make too many simple mistakes. Despite being deadlocked 2-2 at half time and well into the second half, a series of simple, simple errors led to three counter-attack goals and a 5-2 loss. The score-line was not reflective of the play, but we would have done well to get points against a top team in our league. I played half a game with the 3s afterwards. They let me flick on short-corners. I really need to practice. I managed a goal, but mainly I was hitting the runner out. I felt kind of badly for him. In addition to running out about 10 times, he got hit in the feet or shins about 7 times. The 1s rebounded on Sunday in a Cup game where the team played through some shocking umpiring (which hurt both teams at different times: i.e., it wasn't biased, just really poor) and displayed some lovely finish. The final was a convincing 4-2 win and we move onto the next (5th) round. It was fun to get into the game myself at our club's top level. The taste for playing at a good level gets in your mouth and you want to really get into it again... but it is simply too much time from Ange and Anna. Next year some tough decisions need to be made about hockey commitments.
Pete Charles Turner and his lovely girlfriend, Lottie, came to the game. It was good to have PCT watch as he is playing in the league above us and they're looking at promotion in the National League. His perspective was excellent. It was also just good to seem him and Lottie. They came back 'round ours and we had tea and ate a whole package of chocolate rich tea biscuits. Is there a better way to end a weekend than cleaning off 40 chocolate rich tea biscuits between 4 people?
Not wanting to put off getting together, we decided to meet on Friday at the Griffon Pub. Taking 12-month-olds to the pub is less Sesame Street, but very Caversham. I think I have gone on about this pub before, so I won't bother with the whole schpiel. But, Ange, Anna and I arrived to meet Joyti, her husband Allain, her husband's son (from before) Michael and, of course, Calis. They had managed to get the large table in front of the wood-burning fire. The atmosphere was great. We had a really nice evening. Allain is from the Caversham area and knew of loads of great walks and historical 'oddities' and points of interest. Indeed, had we been more flexible, we would have gone out walking with them on Sunday too! In the end, it was a good pub dinner, a nice pint and good conversation about all sorts of things. Anna like Calis' books most. Second was either Calis herself or the mashed potatoes.
Satuday was hockey day for Ben. The team I coach put in a solid effort but they continue to make too many simple mistakes. Despite being deadlocked 2-2 at half time and well into the second half, a series of simple, simple errors led to three counter-attack goals and a 5-2 loss. The score-line was not reflective of the play, but we would have done well to get points against a top team in our league. I played half a game with the 3s afterwards. They let me flick on short-corners. I really need to practice. I managed a goal, but mainly I was hitting the runner out. I felt kind of badly for him. In addition to running out about 10 times, he got hit in the feet or shins about 7 times. The 1s rebounded on Sunday in a Cup game where the team played through some shocking umpiring (which hurt both teams at different times: i.e., it wasn't biased, just really poor) and displayed some lovely finish. The final was a convincing 4-2 win and we move onto the next (5th) round. It was fun to get into the game myself at our club's top level. The taste for playing at a good level gets in your mouth and you want to really get into it again... but it is simply too much time from Ange and Anna. Next year some tough decisions need to be made about hockey commitments.
Pete Charles Turner and his lovely girlfriend, Lottie, came to the game. It was good to have PCT watch as he is playing in the league above us and they're looking at promotion in the National League. His perspective was excellent. It was also just good to seem him and Lottie. They came back 'round ours and we had tea and ate a whole package of chocolate rich tea biscuits. Is there a better way to end a weekend than cleaning off 40 chocolate rich tea biscuits between 4 people?
Friday, February 02, 2007
The New Office
There has been a office shuffle at my office. A group has moved into another building as one department expands and takes on more offices in our building. As part of the move, our little department has shuffled some people about. The net result for me is a new office. Like the last one, it was probably--at one time--a bedroom in the old mansion where we work. In this instance, however, I don't have a fireplace. It is strange how I am vaguely disappointed by that. It isn't like the last one worked. In fact, the other office was probably colder, so a non-working fireplace was more of an irony than anything. Nevertheless, it is just kind of cool to have a fireplace in one's office. Especially for a colonist back in the old country.
The new office appears to have been a dumping ground for past publications, merchandise and office 'stuff.' I have a box of black bookmarks made from recycled tires with brightly coloured writing all over them. There are 4 computer keyboards in here--all slightly grimey. There's a safe that no one seems to know how to open. There is an ancient laptop computer that is locked to the desk with no key to unlock it (at least, I haven't found it yet). There are publications ranging from 2000 to last year, though the bulk of them appear to be a Spring 2003 newsletter to parents and families of students. Random.
Still, there is a very large desk and nice window that allows light to pour into the room. The window itself is a bit odd by Canadian standards. It has an after-market double glazing. To explain: there is the old loosely-fitted single pane window made up of two sections of six little panels. It sits as it has for probably the last 100 years. You can see that the frame has been painted dozens of times. The rope that works the mechanism for opening and closing the window appears worn and is caked in layers of old paint. Then, affixed to the inside of the window frame is... another window. It's kind of modern and of no particular quality. You might see one like it on an ATCO trailer or at your summer-only, 1970s-built cabin in Invemere. It is just two sheets of glass that can slide up and down in its little metal frame, which is mounted on the old wooden one. It is just odd. Mind you, it is perhaps no more odd than the fact that I just spent a paragraph describing it.
The view is largely of the car park, though if I stand right up against the window and crane my neck a little, I can see many of the spires of the Oxford churches. When the trees fill in, I will lose that view, but it will be very lush and green. It is all very pleasant. And quiet. In fact, I declare it a good place to work. And, should anyone want to know what was new in the spring of 2003 at Brookes, I have that knowledge at my fingertips.
The new office appears to have been a dumping ground for past publications, merchandise and office 'stuff.' I have a box of black bookmarks made from recycled tires with brightly coloured writing all over them. There are 4 computer keyboards in here--all slightly grimey. There's a safe that no one seems to know how to open. There is an ancient laptop computer that is locked to the desk with no key to unlock it (at least, I haven't found it yet). There are publications ranging from 2000 to last year, though the bulk of them appear to be a Spring 2003 newsletter to parents and families of students. Random.
Still, there is a very large desk and nice window that allows light to pour into the room. The window itself is a bit odd by Canadian standards. It has an after-market double glazing. To explain: there is the old loosely-fitted single pane window made up of two sections of six little panels. It sits as it has for probably the last 100 years. You can see that the frame has been painted dozens of times. The rope that works the mechanism for opening and closing the window appears worn and is caked in layers of old paint. Then, affixed to the inside of the window frame is... another window. It's kind of modern and of no particular quality. You might see one like it on an ATCO trailer or at your summer-only, 1970s-built cabin in Invemere. It is just two sheets of glass that can slide up and down in its little metal frame, which is mounted on the old wooden one. It is just odd. Mind you, it is perhaps no more odd than the fact that I just spent a paragraph describing it.
The view is largely of the car park, though if I stand right up against the window and crane my neck a little, I can see many of the spires of the Oxford churches. When the trees fill in, I will lose that view, but it will be very lush and green. It is all very pleasant. And quiet. In fact, I declare it a good place to work. And, should anyone want to know what was new in the spring of 2003 at Brookes, I have that knowledge at my fingertips.
Poorly
It seems most of the UK has a bug these days. It has even affected BBC's Radio 1 as a range of different DJs have hosted shows to cover for regulars off sick. Our office has been no exception and I was forced to take a day off on Wednesday. I slept most of the day and then went to get Anna out of the daycare early. It was an amazing day. Warm, bright, sunny. The flowers are starting to come out, the trees are budding and the birds seemed to be everywhere. Anna and I went for a little walk through the park and then down a road of old Victorian mansions (which are now mostly renovated and split into duplexes or flats) on the way home and it really felt like spring. Had it not been for the headache and sore throat, I reckon it had the potential to be the perfect spring day... in January.
Ange, who has taken about 3 sick days in her life and didn't miss one when she was pregnant left early twice this week to go to sleep and try and fight off the bug. Our North American immunity just isn't up to the task. Little Anna has been fighting off the same bug (I think) for a few days now but remains in good spirits 99% of the time regardless. She clearly as her mum's genes on that one, as I am miserable to be around when I'm sick.
Ange, who has taken about 3 sick days in her life and didn't miss one when she was pregnant left early twice this week to go to sleep and try and fight off the bug. Our North American immunity just isn't up to the task. Little Anna has been fighting off the same bug (I think) for a few days now but remains in good spirits 99% of the time regardless. She clearly as her mum's genes on that one, as I am miserable to be around when I'm sick.
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