My Week

It's been a hectic week and I'm still in a bit of recovery mode from it.

Monday afternoon I went to the wonderful metropolis of Croydon for some in-house training. The company arranged for cabs to take us (there were 5 from the Glasgow office) to the airport and my goodness we had a chatty and enthusiastic driver. I had trouble keeping up with him.

We flew British Airways and were given a 'snack' on the flight
I was OK with the chicken salad half, but the pastrami with egg mayo was a bit much. And then they ask if you want wine with it !?! I still don't understand this countries cuisine.

We flew into Gatwick and that was my first time in that airport. We needed to find the trains which were at the other terminal but between the 5 of us we managed OK. The train to Croydon was about 20 minutes and the hotel was just 2 blocks from the station so we managed NOT to get lost. But by the time we checked into the hotel and up to our room it was close to 9PM and we hadn't had dinner yet. Thanks to all the added security checks and lengthened minimum check in times what should be a quick trip can easily stretch into 5 or 6 hours.

Sat down for dinner in the hotel restaurant and ran into some people from the Bristol office as well. It's always a bit awkward being thrown together with people that you have never met before. Unless there is a real extrovert in the bunch the meal time can be quite quiet. But we managed OK.

The hotel we were staying at was the Croydon Park Hotel . Apparently it's a 4 star 'luxury' hotel but I didn't think it was anything special. The rooms were pretty generic and cold. But who can argue when you don't have to pay the bill.



The 2nd night after dinner there was a football match on the TV in the hotel pub so everyone crowded in there to watch the game. I keep forgetting that England hasn't brought in the non-smoking legislation that Scotland and Ireland has. So it was a bit of an adjustment dealing with the smoke again.

I don't think I've ever watched a full football game before so Joe from the Bristol office was kind enough to talk me through the whole game. It was Liverpool vs Arsenol and it was a very high scoring match with Arsenol winning 6 - 3.




The trip home was a bit sad as you just start to get to know people and then you have to leave. The 5 'boys' I was travelling with were all very sweet and they were quite shy to start but finally started to open up a bit on the trip home.

Thursday and Friday it was back to work. I ended up developing a migraine Friday afternoon but managed to get through the day and even join the gang for a pint after work but needed to go home at 7:30.

I took some heavy duty drugs when I got home but that night I didn't sleep well. I thought I was over the worst of it when I woke up Saturday and did my grocery shopping and had a shower. But as I was fixing dinner that night the migraine crept back again. I had a friend over for dinner that night and I think I faked it OK but by the time he left I was in really bad shape. I thought I was going to be sick, but got my drugs and went to bed right away so I think I nicked it just in time.

Unfortunately the flat across the street and up the block decided to have a rip roaring party that lasted until 4AM so again not a great nights sleep. But today (Sunday) I'm happy to say my migraine is completely gone.

Next week is also going to be a hectic week as well. Monday I have my interview for my National Insurance number and Thursday & Friday I'm in Chichester for meetings. Brenda's parents and sister are also in town for a visit so it's nice having people from home around.

Happy Hogmanay

It's 4:08AM as I write this and I'm completely wired.

The big Hogmanay plans in George Square got cancelled on account of the 70 mph winds and driving rain that decided to kick up in the late afternoon. But that didn't affect Brenda and I as we were invited to a house party at Charlie & Dot's.

It was a good evening spent with some new friends.

I warned you I'd post the picture ;>)


The festivities revolved around good food, wine, a table football (Foosball) tournament with the kids (I played very badly)

a whisky at midnight and I think I had a few too many shortbread cookies - but they were so yummy. Later on, a few of us sat in the lounge by the Christmas tree and Charlie & Simon pulled out the guitars.

They played a few Canadian tunes that I should have known the lyrics to but just couldn't (I'm embarrassed to admit that). But still, I did so enjoy listening to the boys play.

The evening was brought to a close with my getting my butt whipped in a one on one Foosball match with Simon before finally calling it a night.

Happy New Year to you all.

The Living Room Tour

Why have I not heard of this concept before?

A group of musicians books tours in peoples living rooms and plays a live acoustic set to a small group of 20 - 40 people (depending on the size of the living room). Tickets are 10 pounds at the door and bring your own booze. It's an intimate venue, with lots of anecdotes and the band is actually able to connect with the audience rather than being seperated by a stage and blinded by lights. There's no overhead so 100% of ticket sales (and any CD sales as well) goes directly to the band.

So give up on doing the coffee house or brew house circuit, book your living rooms now!

The group we saw this evening is Lies Damn Lies, 2 guys on guitar and a girl on keys.

Pops this tidbit is for you: - the guy on lead guitar plays a Martin HD28V You will be proud of the fact that from the first finger-pattern he played, my ears recognized that it was a Martin and I guess correctly that it was a D28. You've raised me well.

Flat to Let

Christmas is coming, in fact it's coming soon, really soon. I really want to be in what will be my home by then. We had a conversation about this today at dinner so we decided we really need to start thinking about rentals now.

Brenda had seen an internet post last week that seemed in our price range and the location looked right. We went to view it tonight and it's in a great area - still within walking distance of the office/city centre, a 7 minute walk to Andrew & Jen's flat for Brenda, St Silas is a block and a half away and the Biblio Cafe is on the corner.

As we were going up the stairs one of tenants in the building was speaking to someone in the hall. Just as I was passing the door I happened to catch her eye and we recognized each other. Her name is Heather and she's one of the 3 people that we've gotten to know this last month. How weird is that? So I quickly said hi and that we were viewing the flat right above her. So I said we'd pop down for a quick visit when we were done.

We walked into this flat and all I can say is that when I had visions of what our place was going to look like - this was it. Very Boho Chic, 3 original fireplaces, original cornicing and hardwood floors. A very large flat with good sized rooms and an eat in kitchen (very rare). The girl that is renting is going to be travelling around the world for a year. She seemed very nice and I think we connected with her. The sad part is we were not the first people to express an interest. There is one guy ahead of us that is coming back on Sunday. So everyone out there - pray hard that he doesn't want it.

As promised we popped into Heather's flat for a quick visit. Well it ended up not being quick. It was so nice to just hang out with the girls and yak for an evening. Heather has Thursday off so we are going to get together for lunch and then go to a gallery after. In the evening we are getting together with another friend Simon and go to the GFT for another movie from the Italian Film Festival (culture, culture, culture).

This just seems right, and everything seems to fit. I really hope it works out. Sorry, never got around to taking out the camera today.

3 Guys - all size 11 shoes

3 Guys - all size 11 shoes
Originally uploaded by sasseymills.

The South Garden Society of Lansdowne Cres held a BBQ tonight to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day (or Bonfire Night). Brenda and I went as representatives of Andrew & Jen's flat. It wasn't raining but the wind picked up and it was a bit chilly. So the warmest place to stand was right in front of the BBQ. The man in charge of the hot coals was Andrew from Australia. When the BBQ coals were not up to snuff he stepped in and took over and got everything going again so that the sausages could cook properly. In chatting with Andrew it was discovered that he doesn't live on Lansdowne Cres, but is just here visiting & staying with friend Lewis and his flat mate Dave.

In standing over the warm coals we started chatting with the boys and discovered that Lewis & Dave live across the hall from Andrew & Jen. Once the coals started to die down we moved over to the Lansdowne pub to continue the conversations and we ended up closing the place down. I think this is the first time I've actually been kicked out of a pub - but they were ever so nice about it.

In the course of the evening it came up that all 3 guys all had size 11 feet (size 12 North American). So that just begged a picture. You know what they say about guys with big feet.........



Big Shoes