What I did for the holidays 2008

I made it to the States for Christmas and New Year's and was able to enjoy some time to rest and enjoy family and friends. I made it back to the US on the 21st. I went to Indy first to spend some time with my friend, Laura, and shop! It's a lot easier to pack stuff across the Mid-West than it is the Atlantic Ocean. We went to see the movie, "Tale Despereaux" with her kids.

The picture on the right is my niece, Katie.

I had an interesting drive back across the mid-West with some freezing rain and generally gross weather. It was cold in the US when I arrived. ! When I left London, it was 60 degrees. When I landed in Cincy, it was just 12 degrees. It was a shock to my system! I'm not used to the cold.

The picture on the left is my nephew, Sean. All of the Dan clan Looney's and I met at Dave & Buster's one afternoon for some games and fun. The last game I played was a side-by-side video shooting game with Sean. We were in a Jeep running away from giant tarantulas, evil dragon flies, and some kind of leech that jumps after you. Nightmares.

It's amazing how much my nieces and nephews have grown since I was last here in September.

I spent four nights at my brother Mike's house. After a few days surrounded by all of the women in his life, he was desperate for some football [none was on TV] or some testosterone!

I was just excited to have access to broadband, get some serious sleep, and spend some time with Erin and Emily! Christmas morning was fun. The girls were wound up and lovin' life!

This is my movie-star niece, Emily. She looks quite the Hollywood role with her sun glasses and new cell phone.

After easing into the day, the rest of the Looney clan comes to Mike's for Christmas dinner. Not sure how he did it, but Mike's girlfriend Lynn made the meal, and it was awesome.

Erin is the oldest of the little Looney's. She's 13 and always busy.

Right before the New Year, my brother, Dan and his wife, Diana, signed on a house that they built. Diana and the kids to me to the house for a walk through. The kids were out of their heads with excitement and each showed me their new rooms. After months in an apartment, it was getting a littel crowded.

Congratulations Dan & Diana. On the left is my nephew, Brian, with his cool European hair style.

After Christmas, I made my way to Louisville. Just some quick highlights:

• dinner party with the girls at Traci's house [where I am dancing like Traci ... pull the rope ... pull the rope]
• bonfire and smores in the outside fireplace at Carleen and Bud's
• stop by my house to repair a gate [yes, I have a property manager]
• dinner with Jyl
• lunch with Janice
• saw a movie ["The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"]
• dinner with Nick
• New Year's Eve at my friend Sarah's
• New Year's Day at the Gables's
• introduction to the Wii with the Dinga's [my Wii Fit age is 37!]
• and Fat Jimmy's pizza and a movie ["Bedtime Stories"] with Rhonda & Cassidy

I think it's safe to say that I miss a few things while living in the UK [Walgreen's and Target stores]. I definitely miss people [my friends and family that know me]. I miss pizza. I miss having a social life, really. Must work on that. Guess we can call that my New Year's resolution!

Happy New Year, all!

Can't Make This Up Continues ... Sky Broadband

Okay seriously. I know those of you whom would normally connect with me on-line or I might call you [from Skype] think that I am making my inability to be re-connected to the modern world. Thought I would share my weekend with you.


As you may recall from my Sounds of Silence post on 30 November, I have been expecting my phone line to be activated on 12 Dec. This is a line-rental only agreement. I have my [satellite] television, phone, and broadband from Sky. Now I can't get my account transferred from my address in Bristol to London until I have my new telephone number. When I last called BT, they gave me my new phone number. What I should have done was called Sky on the same day, but I knew it wouldn't be easy, so I decided to wait.

Before I continue, there would be no point in me embellishing. Seriously. It would take too much effort.

Okay, I call Sky and connect to the moving house team. Yep, I've already moved and I have a phone number [this is call #1]. Okay, let's change your address. Done. Great. Let's change you phone number. Okay, it's [I'm omitting numbers since I'm on the World Wide Web] 0*00** 46 54 27.
I'm sorry. Could you repeat that?
Sure. 0*00** 46 54 27.
That's one too many numbers.
Oh. Maybe I have too many zeroes. Try this: 0*0** 46 54 27
Yes, that's fine.
Fine, what about my Broadband. Oh, well, we'll have to transfer you to Broadband technical team 'cause they have to do something to transfer this. I am transferred to the tech team ... and promptly disconnected.

Call #2: I call and connect to the Broadband technical team. At the beginning of the call, I plug in all of my personal information, account #, address, secret word, and so on. The techy got on and asked, have you changed your home number.
Yes, it's 0*0** 46 54 27.
Are you calling from that number now.
Yes.
That number is *****44 55 19.
I'm sorry? Can you repeat that?
Yes, the number you are calling from is ***** 44 55 19.
My home number? Can you see it?
Yes. Okay, well then we'll need to change that on my account, but that's not the number BT gave me.
Fine. I'll have to transfer you to the moving house team.
Great. I get transferred and I stay on the phone for 20 more minutes waiting, but there is not music, so I decide I have been lost in the system and I hang up.

Call #3: I decide to call from my home number to my work mobile so that I can verify the number. It rings. I hang up. I go upstairs to look at my caller ID on the phone.
***** 44 77 19
I call it again.
***** 44 77 19.
Rats!

Call #4: I call the moving house team because they clearly have the wrong phone number for the house which means NOTHING will work, cable, phone and broadband. I tell them that I've moved house and that I gave the wrong number and need to change it.
No problem. **** 44 77 19. Got it.
Now, can you connect me to whomever needs to transfer my Broadband.
Sure. I'll put you in the Que. They have to do something and then you'll be set up.
Fine......................................................... I hung up when my phone said I had been waiting 40 minutes.

At this point, I had a movie in the DVD player. I had a lot of time to kill. Needed something else to do.

Call #5: I call the Broadband technical team. They can't help me. My broadband account is still attached to my home number in Bristol. Did I call to cancel it?
I thought that's what I was trying to do.
We'll have to transfer you to the sales team so that you can cancel your account.
Fine.
The sales person confirms my address, my account number, and my password. Right. We'll just transfer your account to your new phone number. Hold please.
I turned the movie back on.
After 20 minutes, they came back and said that they had transferred the phone number, so now they are going to transfer me to the technical team to move my broadband.
After waiting in the cue for 1 hour, I hung up.

Call #6: I call the Broadband technical team. I was place in a cue. After 35 minutes, the message was cutting out ["thank you for calling Sky. We'll be with you shortly." Every 20 seconds]. I decided that I was not in the Que. The movie was over. I went to bed.

SUNDAY
Call #7: I call the moving house team, and I tell the [Scottish] guy that I made six calls the day before and was in two different cues for hours and I now have two problems:
1 - I changed my account details and now my satellite doesn't work; and
2 - I need to transfer my broadband.
Your TV doesn't work?
No. It worked before I called you yesterday to update my account.
Okay, hold on....and then I walked through a series of steps with him before he transferred me to someone to help me with my broadband.
The very nice Scottish man said he would wait with me in the cues to get my account changed. It now becomes clear to my WHY the cues are so long. The service team are in the cues with you AND they're not advanced to the front of the cue. They have to take their place in line like the rest of us!!!!! After 45 minutes, my broadband account in Bristol was successfully cancelled. I need to give a "quick call back in 10 days to have my new account activated".
I said, I've been on line for 45 minutes already trying to get to you. There is no such thing as a quick call.
Right. Is there anything else?
Yes, I have to call back in 10 days to transfer my broadband account [24 Dec].
Yes.
Why?
Well, that's how long it takes.
So, I've made seven phone calls and been on this one for nearly an hour and I have to call again?
Right. We need to transfer you now to the Sky Talk team [this is my phone line].
She does, and she stays on the line with me. Puts me on hold .... and then comes back. I need to call back in three days to complete the Sky Talk transfer.
Is that three days from when my new line started [15 Dec] or three days from this call [17 Dec].
Three days from this call.
Why?
Why what?
Why will it take three days?
It just does.

Lesson: two days. seven phone calls. three home phone numbers. four hours on the phone. I. MADE. NO. PROGRESS. Except that my satellite TV was interrupted and restarted! Argh!!!!

Christmas Village in Bath

When I came to the UK for the first time in 2001, I visited Bath for a week. Bath is only 40 miles from Bristol. I lived in Bristol for one year, and I managed to get to Bath one afternoon, late, in May when my folks were here. I really didn't do the city justice for their visit. Aside from the Georgian architecture, Roman history, and mineral springs ... it is an amazing city. Absolutely gorgeous. Busy. Easily reached from the likes of London-ers for a day, and thus it is frequently busy with one event or another. My neighbors in Bristol were always amazed that we didn't get the same tourist traffic in Bristol, only 13 minutes further up the train tracks. To me, it is easy. Bath wants visitors. Bristol wanted residents.


So there is a bit of a European tradition to visit Christmas villages whilst getting ready for Christmas. Their origin is Germany, but the villages are a part of getting ready for the holidays.


It's like going to a summer arts or crafts fair. The only difference being that the vendors are in small wooden chalets for their booths. It is interesting how this limits the number of potential customers a booth-minder can manage. If you intend to purchase something, you really need to be patient to catch the attention of the chalet-keeper.


Bath has their Christmas village surrounding the baths and the Cathedral. I think the village surrounding the cathedral is a normal thing. Makes sense that the church would have some role in sponsoring a Christmas sale / fund-raiser, I think.


The nice thing about Bath is that it has a "proper shopping district" in the centre of town. This was something that I really missed whilst I lived in Bristol. The high street finally opened a modern facility one month before I moved away. Anyway, it is possible that you could come down to the high street and achieve a major part of your Christmas shopping list.


It had the usual suspects. There were street entertainers looking for spare change for doing odd entertainment things ... like this guy who set up a tight [sort of] rope and balance on it whilst playing the fiddle. [I say "fiddle" because what he was playing would not be considered classical or violin-like.]


Of course, like any fair, there is food. I had a sausage [bratwurst] and a mulled wine [warm red wine with spices, such as allspice and cinnamon]. All very good. And I think you can tell that the weather cooperated. It is so much nicer this year.


2008 was an unprecedented year for rain in the UK. Something like once in a 100 years! I can take the cold and the wind, as long as there is a break from the rain. I realise that I experience the weather here like Seattle, but last year ... Wow! My toes have webs between them! It really was a nice day.

Ugly Car is Expensive!

Okay, so there is this thing called the MOT. It's an acronym for Ministry of Transportation. The Ministry no longer exists, but there is a painful [and expensive] process that your car must go through every year once a vehicle is three years old.

Coincidentally, my car was also due for it's 18,000 mile service. All of this, of course, fell about the same time that I was moving to London. I decided that before I moved, I should take my [very] ugly car to the dealership that I bought it at in Portishead. I dropped the car off at the dealership on 7 Nov when I left for my weekend in Paris.

Two days before I dropped it off, a light on the dash came on that said "service". There is also a countdown on the dash that tells me how many miles left before the car requires service.

So I drop the car off and tell them it needs service and the MOT and that I'll pick it up on Monday. Before I actually left for Paris, the dealership called me three times.

Call #1: in addition to what has been agreed, rear brakes and pads need replacing, plus two new rear tires, oil change & filter.

Fine.

Call #2: they let the engine cool and started it cold and there is a service light on the dash. Did I know that.

Yes...thought it was because service was due.

No...it's a bigger problem.

Call #3: both the driver side and rear window screen arms need replacement. Replacing the blades will only help the car pass the MOT, but doesn't fix the problem. They can order it, but it will be Tuesday when the part arrives. [I return from Paris on Monday and have to be in London on Tuesday for a meeting, but I will be back in Bristol on Wednesday for a meeting and can pick up the car then. I'll need a loaner. More on that in a minute.]

After this, I got on the plane and went to Paris. I had two more calls and subsequent voicemails.

Call #4: service light on the dash. Turns out, fault-to-glow- plug is faulty and needs replacement.
What the heck is that? And on the receipt, it's in French, so I really have no idea what it is, still.

Call #5: brake light is out. They've replaced it.

So on Monday, I arrive back in Bristol / Portishead and head to the dealership to pick up my loaner car. They gave me a 2008 Renault Twingo. Orange.

Oh. My. God. Are you kidding me? I had no idea that there was a car uglier than the one that I owned, and yet, I was proven wrong. Feisty. Practical. Connected. My colleagues seem to believe that this car described me. I plead to have my mustard yellow car returned to me and I'll bring it back on Wednesday. Nope. The wiper arms have to be replaced and the car can't pass the MOT without them and they can't release the car without it passing the MOT. Sigh.

I drive the ugly-er orange car to London on Monday. I drive the orange car back to Portishead and rescue my car for MOT jail for the bargain price of £911.26. Sigh.

Sadly, I am not finished.

And so, I've moved and I'm settling into my new place. And because it's been a year, I have received a notice from the Post Office that my auto insurance is going to automatically renew at the end of November. Great! One less thing I have to do for the ugly car.

And then I receive a notice that the tax disc [which I cannot pronounce] is going to expire on 30 November. Okay, that I can renew on-line. No big deal. Right. You may remember that I don't have a phone / broadband right now, which means my access to managing my life if fairly limited. By the time I am able I try to renew my tax disc on-line, it tells me that I can't because the my insurance hasn't renewed. Good news! I have my insurance through the Post Office. Wait...it will auto-renew on 3 Dec. The disc expires 30 Nov. This means that unless I can get to a Post Office that distributes tax discs, my car is parked...off road. If it's parked on the street, it can be toed and CRUSHED. Argh!

Sounds of Silence

I have another great example British customer service. My phone. Mind you, I have lived in my new place for four weeks and I don't have a phone. Allegedly, the line is on and in somebody else's name, but I can't get it to work. This has me cut off from Broadband, which is all I really care about.

I called on 3 November to transfer my line-rental-only account with British Telephone [BT] to my new address in Wimbledon. The guy that I talked to on the phone said that the line was still active, probably with the previous tenant, could I get them to cancel the account. I said I'd check, but to start the process anyway. He said it would take 5 days to transfer my account if the line was available and 15 days to transfer my account if I couldn't get the previous tenant to cancel the account. There is no new line having to be installed. The number doesn't even change, but this is the way it is. I know perfectly well that I won't have a phone on 18 November, but there doesn't seem to be a way around it.

Then life gets in the way. I don't dare call BT from my house because I would only have my cell phone. It's a charge call from your mobile AND I would likely have to spend half of the day on hold means I had best attack this from a land line. So on Friday of this week [the 28th] a full 25 days since my first attempt, I call BT.

Call #1: I call 0800 800 150 and my phone number. "Our records show that we have sent your recent bill. If you're calling about your bill, press 1; if not, press 2" I found the number on web site about 12 pages into the site. I can't, of course, request the account change on line. I have to call. I got lost in the Options and ended up in some place that wanted me to buy telephone equipments. I hung up.

Call #2: I call 0800 800 150 and my phone number. "Our records show that we have sent your recent bill. If you're calling about your bill, press 1; if not, press 2" ... I followed the options until I got to one that told me I could hold for a customer service rep. I told him that I was trying to follow up on a an order to transfer my account. This did not translate. I told him that I moved recently from Bristol to Wimbledon and I wanted to transfer my account. He told me I needed to speak the moving house team and I should call them at 0800 800 150. I told him I just called that number and that's how I found him. Right. Okay, he'll transfer me. Then he says, "there will be silence then a que, am I okay with that?" I said, "Am I okay with what?" He repeats, "I will transfer you to the moving house team and there will be silence then a que, am I okay with that?" Sure. Whatever, I just want to get this completed.

I was "in the que" [on hold] for nearly two minutes and there were sounds of several transfers in the meantime, and then the line went dead.

Call #3: I call 0800 800 150 and my phone number. "Our records show that we have sent your recent bill. If you're calling about your bill, press 1; if not, press 2" ... and I try to follow options until I get one for a customer service rep. This rep tells me he can't help me and that I need to speak to the Moving House team and their number is 0800 800 150. And I say, "yes, I've called that number now three times and I found you." He says, "Right, well it's the options that are important. You want Opt. 1, then Opt. 2." The line goes dead.

Call #4: I call 0800 800 150 and my phone number. "Our records show that we have sent your recent bill. If you're calling about your bill, press 1; if not, press 2". I follow the instructions as the rep gave me, and I got lost because after Opt. 1 then Opt. 2, you're given another 4 options. I try Opt 1. Wrong. I hang up.

Call #5: I call 0800 800 150 and my phone number. "Our records show that we have sent your recent bill. If you're calling about your bill, press 1; if not, press 2". I follow the instructions as the rep gave me, and I got lost because after Opt. 1 then Opt. 2, you're given another 4 options. I try Opt 2. Wrong. I hang up.

Call #6: I call 0800 800 150 and my phone number. "Our records show that we have sent your recent bill. If you're calling about your bill, press 1; if not, press 2". I follow the instructions as the rep gave me, and I got lost because after Opt. 1 then Opt. 2, you're given another 4 options. I try Opt 3. Wrong. I hang up.

Call #7: I call 0800 800 150 and my phone number. "Our records show that we have sent your recent bill. If you're calling about your bill, press 1; if not, press 2". I decide that the rep did not know what he was talking about, so after Opt. 2, I listened to the next four options:
Opt.1 products
Opt.2 bill
Opt. 3 moving home
Opt.4 help w/service

Hmmm... don't recall being told there was a moving home option anywhere. So I dial 3 and I get a moving home rep. And I have to give my home number, again. And I tell them I want to check on an order to move my account. "Do you have an order number?" No. "Okay, let me check," and I'm put on hold. The rep comes back and tells me the order was never placed. "Okay, well what do I have to do to place the order?"
"Let me check," and I'm put on hold.
"Right. Well the previous tenant still has their name on the account. Can you get them to cancel?"
"No, you told me that on 3 November and I told you that I do not own the property."
"Right. Well, if you can't get the previous occupant to cancel the account, then it will take three weeks before we can transfer the account in your name."
"Yes, you told me that on 3 November, just put the order in so that I can have a phone."
"Right. Please hold."
Then the rep comes back, "Right, well, I've place the order, but I'm afraid it won't be until 12 Dec when you have a phone."
"Okay, tell me, if the phone is currently active and we are just trying to transfer my name to the account, why doesn't the line work?"
"Oh, well that could be for a number of reasons. I could transfer you to submit a work order."
I say, "no".
"Okay. Is there anything else that I can do for you today?"
"Yes, can you please give me the work order number?"

And the rep says [and I am not lying], "do you really think you'll need it?"

Happy Thanksgiving!

I sat across from a woman on the Tube [subway] yesterday that confidently announced as she boarded she "wasn't sure what to do with (her) new walker".

After sitting down, she shared that it was new. As we continued our journey, she shared with me that she was 85. She said, "Pretty good, don't you think?" and I couldn't help but agree with her.

Showed me the features of her new walker. It had a compartment for her purse, two cup holders and a seat if she needed a rest. She even opened it up so I could see how well it rolled. After opening it, she declared that she'd better collapse it again or someone might complain. Mind you, she and I were the only two in the car.

She said it's important to keep moving, and I agreed. She was on her way to Morrison's. She wanted to know if I had been there and I said, "No". She said it was a shop with good Scottish food at a good price [Morrison's is one of the largest food chains in the UK; it's hardly a "shop".] Just out of the Tube and off to the right.

And she shared some hard candy with me. She said it was good for when you're mouth is dry. She gave me one for now and one for my pocket.

Loved her spirit. Happy Thanksgiving all!

Crazy lady on the Commons ... and no Wombles in site!

I think this falls under the category: moving to the big city.

I took the dogs for a walk on the Common this mourning. It's cold. It's blustery. The sun is just up. And they are running around like freed prisoners because we didn't walk last night. They've done their thing. I've picked after them. They've played with a few dogs. We've scared all of the birds to the middle of the lake, and we are ready to head back across and home.

A woman is walking towards me. Dogs are way off to the side and as she approaches, she is yelling in a foreign tongue. She is easily 100 yards away. Did I mention it's blustery? As we get closer, I realise she is yelling at me. This peaks Allie's interest and so she happily gallops towards the woman who is now yelling in English, "I will call the police!", and begins spinning in a circle, I think swinging her purse at Allie who has now arrived at her side.

She stomps her foot and shouts again, "I will call the police!" And by now Misty has arrived because clearly, I am playing a game. I call the girls and they happily charge towards me and we turn and give this woman a wide birth.

About 50 steps beyond, I pass a man also crossing the Common and he simply smiles and says, "good mourning". A mourning of two extremes.

I shared my story with my British team and they quickly responded asking me if I had seen any Wombles? What's a Womble? Well!??

The Wombles were created in a series of children's novels from 1968. The characters later became nationally famous in the mid 1970s as a result of a popular BBC children's television show. A number of spin-off novelty songs also became major hits in the British music charts.

Wombles are pointy-nosed furry creatures that live in burrows, where they help the environment by collecting and recycling rubbish in useful and ingenious ways. Their motto is Make Good Use of Bad Rubbish. This "green" message was a reflection of the ecology movement of the 1970s. Although Wombles live in every country in the world, the stories focus on the life of the burrow in Wimbledon Common in London, England.

We've come full circle. Bizzar day to begin with and now I feel like I found a little humour.

Chargers v. Saints at Wembley Stadium ... 26 October

Yes, a month ago, I went to an American football game at Wembley Stadium in London and haven't had time [or Internet access] to publish the post.

The New Orleans Saints were the home team playing the San Diego Chargers. This is the second time the NFL has had a regular season game outside of the U.S. Last year, the Miami Dolphins played the New York Giants. Anyway, the Saints won, 37-32. It was a good game. Crowd was sold out. I cannot believe how expensive the tickets were though!

I went at a guest of an organisation that is looking for folks to put businesses in Northern Ireland. We had a champagne lunch prior to the game, complete with a jazz band from New Orleans, a characature artist and an open bar, then our seats were on the 40th yard line, 4th row. The price of the ticket was £500. Given today's exchange rate, that's about $750!!! Is it that expensive to go to a football game these days? I've only been one other time, so I have no idea, but who could afford it!??

I think the coin toss-er [tosser is not a good word in the UK] was British gold medalist swimmer, Rebecca Adlington.

Wimbledon Common

Yesterday, the girls and I made it to Wimbledon Commons in daylight. We stumbled upon it a few nights ago, but didn't move too far into it. We did, however, see a fox. I moved to the city and the wildlife followed. The Common butts right up against Wimbledon Village. In the village, there are lanes for the cars to drive, sidewalks for the people, and narrow lanes for the horses to pass through town on their way for a ride on the Commons! I saw the lanes the first couple of walks that we took to the Village, but I thought they were bike lanes. Nope!

Anyway, the Commons are just a few blocks away. They have been legally protected since 1871 from being enclosed or built upon. They are for the benefit of local people for informal recreation and the preservation of natural flora and fauna. There is an area of bog, the western slopes, and woodland. The woods are mostly Aspen trees, so it was a lot like walking through a field in Minnesota, only warmer!

A windmill stands near the centre of Wimbledon Common (I didn't find that yet), distinguished by being the place where Robert Baden-Powell wrote parts of Scouting for Boys, which was published in 1908.

We walked for a couple of hours and did not find the end of the Commons. We did find a pond, and the pond had railroad tie sides. I think Misty decided that a wade in the pond would be good, but she soon found out that she couldn't get out. I had to pull her out. Now before she went in, she had rolled in something dead, so I was relieved that she was rinsed off, but as soon as she got out of the water, she rolled in the grass and in something else dead and came home smelling worse!

We found the golf course. This is another example of the UK combining uses for land. Walkers and dogs and players [all wearing red] criss-crossed the golf course. I think this is the first time that the dogs have been on a golf course, at least as much as I can remember. They are not very good at staying on one single trail [so as not to distract the golfers] and they certainly didn't like waiting for the golfers to play through when we were crossing the fairways.

Anyway, it is a really nice green space. We'll be out some more to explore.

Bonjour!

Alright, after an unbelievable week, I made it to Paris! And thank God! It is nice to have something fun to focus on! I am in Paris this weekend visiting with my friend, Bill. He has been in France for the last month visiting his daughter and her family in the South of France.

I arrived at Charles du Gaul airport around 915pm Paris-time on Friday night. I am staying at the Le Dokhan's Sofitel Hotel, http://www.dokhans-sofitel-paris.com/, and I can highly recommend it. Bill says that the hotel has the oldest champagne bar in Paris. I did a little Google-ing to see if I could get that verified. No such luck, but I have no reason to doubt it. You get to choose your glass, and of course, your champagne. The environment is really cool. Quiet. Restful. Just a place to enjoy your champagne and company.

The elevator / lift / acsenseur is VERY small. It says that has room for four. Bill calls it a torture chamber. I think it looks like the inside of a Louis Vuitton travelers trunk!

We have spent our time doing a lot of walking! I am wearing my pedometer, and we have done more than 18,000 steps per day! Yesterday, we walked to the Arc de Triomphe and down the Avenue des Champs. Two things struck me. First, the streets are so wide. It's really nice. I wonder if they seem so wide to me because everything seems so narrow in the UK?

The second thing is that it is not so crowded that you can't make your way down the boulevard. Again, I think it has to do with my experience in London. Our office is in Mayfair, a busy shopping destination. It is constantly wall-to-wall people!

We made our way down Avenue des Champs to the Musee du Lourve. We didn't go in, but of course, had discussions about reading the book and watching the movie, "The Da Vinci Code"!

We continued down the Seine [river] to Notre Dame. There was a great [and very entertaining] band playing out in front of the church, entertaining the long lines of people that we waiting to get inside.

We had lunch at Cafe' de Flore. http://www.flickr.com/photos/44548980@N00/176809296/

Café de Flore sits on the corner of the Boulevard Saint-Germain and the Rue St. Benoit, in the VIe arrondissement of Paris, France. Historically, it has been famed for its intellectual clientele. Classic Art Deco interior of all red seating, mahogany and mirrors has changed little since World War II. Like its main rival, Les Deux Magots, it has hosted most of the French intellectuals during the post-war years. It is said that Jean-Paul Sartre and Simone de Beauvoir would meet here and discuss their philosophy of existentialism over a drink.

It was very good and very local French and frequented by the whose-who, I guess. After lunch, we headed down Boulevard Saint-Germain, back across the Seine and down the Avenue des Champs. We stopped along the way for a Coke / glass of wine. Then back on the street, back to our hotel for a much needed REST!

We had dinner just down the street from the hotel at again, another local place, patronised mostly by local French. Always a good sign. This restaurant had a pigs leg mounted on the bar. The leg / flesh had been cured or smoked and it was sitting on two pedestals, like something that would hold a wine bottle on its side. The leg still had the hoof, and where the leg had not yet carved, the flesh still had fur. I'm not sure what you had to order [I'm really good I didn't figure it out!], but the bartender would take a large carving knife and shave off a plateful of bacon [?] and send it to the table.

This mourning, after breakfast, we headed out to find the Tour Eiffel. A funny thing happened to us on the way to the Eiffel Tower ... we turned the wrong way and got lost. It's only a 10-minute walk to the Tower from our hotel, so one would think that you could see it within five minutes. Or 30! We ended heading North, instead of South and finding large park after crossing the outer loop [motorway]. There were lots of runners, folks walking dogs, and men playing boccie ball in the park, but not where we wanted to be! We turned around and headed back from where we came and stopped for lunch at Scossa, another great place for local French. I'm going to gain 10 pounds before I leave here this weekend!

After lunch, we went passed our hotel and walked the 10 minutes to Tour Eiffel. Very cool. More people around, but still not overwhelming. I'm planning to walk back tonight to see the tower light up like my two nieces showed me when they were here last May.

Moving House, take 2 & Guy Fawkes Night

Seriously. This falls into another chapter of You Can't Make This Up! This was all yesterday, mind you.

Packers
Showed up an hour late. Truck is broken. The truck place sent a guy to run dignostics on truck to confirm it's broken.
Yep.
One packer had to leave to take it back. Now why didn't the guy sent to run the diagnostics come in an alternative truck, just in case?

Redirection at Post Office (Forwarding mail):
I filled out the form on-line before disassembling my home office, but couldn't submit on line because I have been a resident for less than a year. I took it to the Post Office. Post Mistress doesn't like the Net forms because the print is too small.
She announces [felt like it anyway], I didn't sign the form.
I need one form of identification from box A (passport) and two from box B (utility bills....which are all paperless).

I left to get two proofs of address (from list B) with fingers crossed that I had printed something within the last six months and that they hadn't been packed (in luck! Broken truck has stalled actually packing process!).
I signed the form.

Returned to Post Office:
Right. Well, you've signed in blue and they like black for scanning purposes. This will delay the process.
Form is out of date.
I ask, Should we start with a new form?
Her answer, well, they should have right form on the Net. [I guess we're going to use the form and continue to complain about it.]

I paid £37.40 to forward mail for a year. I wonder if it's a year from when requested, or when they finally start?

British Telephone (BT):
I have a rental line only. The last tenant (actually, it is the landlord, not the last tenant) never cancelled the account in their name. If I can get them to cancel, it will take 5 days to transfer the line. If not,15. Mind you, there is no new number assigned or anything. The number stays with the address.

Sky Satellite / telephone / broadband:
Waiting for BT. I am officially, once again, cut off!

Also accomplished:
Hired houise cleaners for house (one less thing to do!).
Booked service and MOT [some tri-annual check-up] for (ugly) Renault.
Booked annual check up for dogs.

Returned to Wimbledon:
Truck arrived 530. Dogs locked in master whilst guys unlaoded truck. Upset a neighbour by breaking culdesac parking rules. Dogs further stressed by neighbours shooting fireworks in honour of Guy Fawkes Night. Ashes falling on balcony!

Guy Fawkes Night (also known as Bonfire Night, Cracker Night, Fireworks Night):
Annual celebration on the evening of the 5th of November, celebrating the foiling of the Gunpowder Plot of the 5th of November 1605 in which a number of Catholic conspirators, including Guy Fawkes, attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament in London. It was compulsory [required], by Royal Decree, to celebrate the deliverance of the King until 1859, but also in former British colonies including New Zealand, parts of Canada, and parts of the British Caribbean. It is also celebrated in the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. Festivities are centred on the use of fireworks and the lighting of bonfires.

Still moving ...

It was an unbelievably draining week last week, and it seems to be spilling over into this week. More of the same. I dropped the dogs at the kennel on Wednesday. I left Thursday morning [530am from my house] for a train to London [that's South from Bristol] to meet my boss and a colleague to catch a train to Derbyshire [that's North from London]. We got to the station to find that our PA's [personal assistants] had purchased tickets for the wrong date. A quick run to the ticket machine, and then a dash to catch the train.

We had a three-hour journey followed by a 2-hour meeting followed by a 2-hour dinner and finished with a three-hour journey back to London, arriving sometime after Midnight. On the way back to London, we missed the last train out of Derbyshire for London, so we caught a train to Birmingham [that's headed further North], only to have to switch trains [we had seven minutes] which involved RUNNING from one train, under ground, up stairs, over tracks, down stairs and onto the platform ... to catch the train to London. When I arrived at the station, the taxi driver told me my hotel was close ... as to suggest that I walk. Whatever, dude!

On Friday, I was supposed to make a journey to West Kent [South of London] for an all-day meeting. I also needed to be in London for a budget meeting. The budget meeting began at 900am and was to end at Noon. At 1100, I sent a note that I was not likely to make it to the meeting at all and we were pushing on through lunch ... and then through dinner! I left the office at 845pm and headed for Paddington. I caught a 915pm train to Bristol Parkway and then took a taxi to Bristol Temple Meads where my car was parked, and back to my house, arriving around 1130pm.

At 730am Saturday, the packers were to arrive. I was up and moving about. They showed up with a junior moving van and no wardrobe boxes. They improvised by removing my hanging clothes from the two [Ikea] wardrobes I had, moving the wardrobes onto the van and then replacing the clothes. Once the truck was full [hanging clothes, dresser, two beds, most of the kitchen, couch and kitchen table/chairs], I raced them to London ... and beat them by nearly 3 hours. I was ready for a nap! Of course it was raining. In all, I got about 1/3 of my stuff moved to my new place in Wimbledon Village.

Sunday morning, I travelled back to Bristol, rescued the dogs from the kennel, and packed up some essentials, like bath towels, toiletries, my TV, and dog food and the girls and I journeyed back to London.

I'm at work today. Monday's are big sales pipeline days. Tomorrow, I am heading back to Bristol to meet the packers, take 2, that are bringing a truck twice the size of Saturday's to hopefully finish the move, once-and-for-all. I haven't even started the stories about transferring the phone, cable, broadband ... it should all be sorted about Christmas. And this, I am not making up!

Samhain ... Sah-ween ... Halloween

The pictures in this issue are of Ashton Court Estate in Bristol. I'll share more about that in a minute, but first, I have a few other updates.

Firstly, I am moving on Saturday, 1 November. Not sure how I am going to work out all of the details to be ready for a move, but I guess I'll figure it out! "Packers" [not the Green Bay type; they pack meat, not clothes] are showing up at 730 am on Saturday, and yes, I will be South of London all day Friday making a trek back to Bristol on Friday night a necessity. This will be fun!

Also on Friday, it's Halloween. Halloween is not nearly as big here in the UK as it is in the US. I have picked up a few things. Firstly, 99% of pumpkins in the UK will be turned into Jack O Lanterns for Halloween. By the way, this photo is not exactly Halloween, but a friend of mine sent it to me and I thought it was hilarious!

Secondly, Halloween is believed to be rooted with Samhain (pronounced Sah-ween), a Celtic celebration that marked the doorway into the second season of the year, the dark [the light season, Beltane, is on May 1st]. The date marked the beginning of winter. Since they were pastoral people, it was a time when cattle and sheep had to be moved to closer pastures and all livestock had to be secured for the winter months. Crops were harvested and stored.

The Celtic day began at night, in dark silence comes whisperings of new beginnings, the stirring of the seed below the ground. The most magically potent time of this festival is November Eve, the night of October 31st, known today of course, as Halloween.

Okay, back to Ashton Court Estate in Bristol. It is the UKs third busiest country park. It's 850 acres of woodland and grassland and a mansion, of course. Once the gracious home of the Smyth family designed by Humphrey Repton just two miles from the centre of Bristol. Look at the size of the oak tree I had the girls sit under so you could see the "scale" of how big it was.

On the estate's higher ground there are two 18 hole golf courses with views across the city. Orienteering, mountain biking and lots of other sports and outdoor activities are catered for with special trails, and there is plenty of open space for family games and picnics, walking and wildlife watching. The estate is a venue for large scale, keynote annual events such as the Balloon Festival, Community Festival and Kite Festival. I missed the Balloon Festival in August of this year because it rained ... the ... whole ... weekend. I couldn't face standing in the wet grass to watch the balloons not take off.

There are a lot of kids on the ground with these skate boards with big wheels that they ride down the hills, through the grass. It looked like fun.

There is a deer park on the grounds that has been there for over 600 years. There are Red and Fallow deer. We were able to get up close and personal with some Fallow deer that have beautiful racks!

The dogs and I spent a Sunday there a couple of weeks ago on [probably] the last fall day of the year. It was beautiful! Lots of open space. A little bit of forrest. A bunch of dogs. And a bunch of kids. There was a group of six-year old girls playing by the mansion as we came down the hill that were taken by Misty. They thought Allie looked weird with her blue and brown eyes, but they liked Misty, "she looks like a wolf". I know that they were six because they asked how old the dogs were and when I told them Allie was six, they all chimed in, "I'm six!".

Playing Skittles

Btw, clocks changed last night and the UK fell back an hour. Now 4+ from EST and 5+ from CST time. We are closer together....

Last night, my neighbors, Kathy and Lawrence, took me as their guest to play Skittles. Skittles is an old European target sport, a variety of bowling, from which Ten-pin bowling, Duckpin bowling, and Candlepin bowling in the United States, and Five-pin bowling in Canada are descended. In the United Kingdom the game remains a very popular pub sport in England and Wales, though it tends to be found in particular regions, not nationwide. It is perhaps most common in the south west, which is where I live.

We played in a place called The Clarence House. It's just off of the High Street in Portishead. It's a members-only club that used to be a club for utility workers in Portishead. Portishead used to have to power plants, I guess. They have been gone since the 80's and Portishead continues to turn itself into a residence and recreational community instead of an industrial. This my neighbor, Kathy, in the green top.

The group that got together are the individuals that belong to their community allotment. Apparently, the allotment has a new governance structure in place where they are holding members accountable to use their plots or move them on as they have a waiting list to join. In some areas of the country, the wait lists for an allotment are 10 years, or more. It's viewed as a privilege.

Okay, back to Skittles. You get to throw three rubber balls. I guess in some places, the balls are wood. Imagine the noise of a wooden ball hitting a wooden alley! This is my neighbor Lawrence to the left.

Anyway, there are nine pins at the end of the alley. The pins are set up by fellow players who take managing the end of the alley. You bowl a total of six frames. At the end of the fifth frame, you total your score and bowl the last frame. It is simple match, no additional points, so the highest possible score is 54.

I scored a 37, which was the highest score for the ladies and one short of tying for the overall highest score! I won a five pound gift certificate to a garden centre!