Hello Megan

Okay, I've got pictures. Last night, after I got home from work, I even got a Skype call to meet her. My Mom kept turning her around to the camera to show me that she has curly black hair. And apparently, she has a healthy set of lungs. I'll take their word for it.

Megan, Beth and Kevin arrived home on Sunday afternoon. Everyone is settling into their new routine.

She was born on Friday afternoon (20 Feb) weighing 6 lbs, 7 oz., 19 inches long.

Since I don't know much yet about who she is, I thought I'd consult the world wide web to see what she might become.

According to the Zodiac calendar, Megan was born a Pisces which is two fish. Past tense or future? Those two

Fish in your symbol swim in contrary directions, and for now, do likewise. People from your back story have an especially supportive role this year, but your 'scope remains oriented on cutting edge ideas and "the shock of the new". Your birthday month blows away the cobwebs from this winter at least.

According to

the Chinese New Year, she was born under the sign of the Ox. The Ox is thought to be the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. They're quite dependable and possess an innate ability to achieve great things. As one might guess, such people are dependable, calm, and modest. Like their animal namesake, the Ox is unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint.

Traditionally, people born under the influence of the Ox are thought to be kind, caring souls, logical, positive, filled with common sense and with their feet firmly planted on the ground. Security is their main preoccupation in life, and they are prepared to toil long and hard in order to provide a warm, comfortable and stable nest for themselves and their families. Strong-minded, stubborn, individualistic, the majority are highly intelligent individuals who don't take kindly to being told what to do.

Well. There you have it!

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Well, today is my Dad's birthday. This time last year, we were in Las Vegas, eating at Spago [Wolfgang Puck's place], watching Bette Midler, and walking our tails off visiting the casinos.

This picture is of Dad when he was visiting me last May. There is a gap between the top of his head and the beam ... which Mike promptly walked into.

And we have another birthday to celebrate this weekend. I have a new niece, Megan Elizabeth. She was born on Friday afternoon (20 Feb) weighing 6 lbs, 7 oz., 19 inches long. She has curly black hair. Of course, she is beautiful. This is the 6th little Looney, born to Kevin and his girlfriend, Beth. I'll post pictures as soon as I get some.

Other than that, I have been enjoying the end of the snow and the return of the sunshine. I can almost take the dogs for a walk or go for a run in the morning and get to work at a reasonable time. The credit crunch has hit us at work and we are looking to eliminate 50% of our workforce in the next month. One of our biggest competitors [MUCH bigger that us] eliminated 35% of theirs in December, we learned. For now, I am still here. Might have to move again [oh joy!].

In the meantime, the dogs and I are enjoying the commons. Next week, they will have been here for a full year. It took me a while to realize why it seemed darker this year, and I've decided that because Misty and Allie weren't here last winter, I wasn't trying to go outside everyday and learned to live with the darkness. So happy it's almost over!

Black Friday

Not being a big fan of Valentine's Day, I thought you might enjoy this humour from the Washington Post.

WASHINGTON POST COMPETITION ASKED FOR A - TWO-LINE RHYME WITH THE MOST ROMANTIC FIRST LINE, BUT THE LEAST ROMANTIC SECOND LINE

This is the winner
My darling, my lover, my beautiful wife:
Marrying you screwed up my life.

I see your face when I am dreaming.
That's why I always wake up screaming.

Kind, intelligent, loving and hot;
This describes everything you are not.

Love may be beautiful, love may be bliss,
But I only slept with you because I was pi**ed [drunk].

I thought that I could love no other --
that is until I met your brother.

Roses are red, violets are blue, sugar is sweet, and so are you.
But the roses are wilting, the violets are dead, the sugar bowl's empty and so is your head.

I want to feel your sweet embrace;
But don't take that paper bag off your face.

I love your smile, your face, and your eyes --
Damn, I'm good at telling lies!

My love, you take my breath away.
What have you stepped in to smell this way?

My feelings for you no words can tell,
Except for maybe 'Go to Hell.'

What inspired this amorous rhyme?
Two parts tequila, one part lime.

Belfast, Northern Ireland

This last weekend, I had the opportunity to go to Belfast, Northern Ireland [UK] for a business meeting, and I decided to stay for the weekend to explore.

Belfast (from the Irish: Béal Feirste meaning "Mouth of the (River) Farset") is the capital city of Northern Ireland. It is the largest urban area in the province of Ulster, and the second largest city on the island of Ireland. The City of Belfast has a population of 376,459.

Historically Belfast has been a centre for the Irish linen industry, tobacco production, rope making and shipbuilding, with the city's main shipbuilders Harland and Wolff propelling Belfast onto the global stage in the early 20th Century as the largest and most productive shipyard in the world. The city suffered greatly during the period of disruption, conflict, and destruction called the Troubles, but latterly has undergone a sustained period of calmness and substantial economic and commercial growth. Belfast city centre has undergone considerable expansion and regeneration in recent years, with the newly developed Victoria Square area attracting international attention.

Belfast has been the capital of Northern Ireland since its establishment in 1921. It has been the centre of conflict between its Roman Catholic and Protestant populations. These opposing groups in this conflict are now often termed republican and loyalist respectively, although they are also referred to as 'nationalist' and 'unionist'. The most recent civil conflict raged from 1969 to the late 1990s. Bombing, assassination and street violence formed a backdrop to life throughout the Troubles.

A particularly notorious group, based on the Shankill Road in the mid 1970s became known as the Shankill Butchers. In all, over one thousand five hundred people were killed in political violence in the city from 1969 until 2001.
As I said before, I was in Belfast for a business meeting. Whilst walking to the meeting in a snow storm, we rounded the corner and saw this picture. Until you know the history, it is a bit alarming, don't you think?

Belfast is broken up between the Catholics and the Protestants and in seven districts. Each district is rich in history. And many of the housing rows are decorated in elaborate murals. this was just a big "welcome" sign to one of the districts.

This one of Oliver Cromwell (born April 25, 1599, died September 3, 1658) provoked particular emotion from our taxi driver. He was an English military and political leader best known for his involvement in making England into a republican Commonwealth and for his later role as Lord Protector of England, Scotland, and Ireland. He was one of the commanders of the New Model Army which defeated the royalists in the English Civil War.

An effective soldier (nicknamed "Old Ironsides") he rose from leading a single cavalry troop to command of the entire army. He was buried in Westminster Abbey, but when the Royalists returned to power in 1660, his corpse was dug up, hung in chains, and beheaded. According to our taxi driver, he never made it as far North as Belfast or Northern Ireland.

The most interesting thing I learned about Belfast was that there are 60 gates that keep the Catholics separated from the Protestants. They work together, side-by-side during the day in the City Centre, but every night at 6:00 pm the British army closes the gates, and re-opens them again at 6:00 am. On the weekends, the gates are closed on Friday night and re-opened on Monday morning. The only one left open allows access to the hospital. It is monitored by a camera where guards can recognise cars and drivers and within 5 seconds, close the gate. It is called "check point Charlie" with the two previous check points being in Viet Nam and then Berlin.

On Saturday, two of my colleagues and I took a Black Cab Tour. It's an escorted tour of Belfast in a traditional London-style black taxi. Much of the tour is comprised of seeing political murals. We went to both Protestant and Catholic neighborhoods.

In this mural on the right, no matter where you walked, the gunman in the middle, the UFF [ultimate freedom fighter] gun followed you. The other two groups are Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF), and Ulster Defence Association (UDA).

We saw Crumlin Road Court House. It's a Victorian building where it convicted, imprisoned and executed many involved in The Troubles for over 160 years. The building was closed in 1998.

City Hall was built 1896-1906, home of the Belfast City Council. It's an Edwardian building that celebrates Belfast's city status by Queen Victoria in 1888.

The Albert Memorial Clock, built in 1865, is 113 feet high. We walked past this on our way to see where the Titanic was built.

Crown Liquor Saloon on Great Victoria Street was built 1839-1840. It has marble, Italian tile work, fine glass engraving, embossed ceiling, gas lamps, and booths. This was probably the coolest pub I had ever been in. There is a crown mosaic outside the front door that our taxi driver said you had to wipe your feet on the crown on your way in [I'll let you interpret]. There is painted glass. Gas lights. Unbelievable, really. We went there twice.

Titanic was built in Belfast. She was designed and built at the Harland and Wolfe shipyard. We took a tour of the Pump House. It is a pretty amazing piece of engineering to have this ship slip that would manage ships the size of Titanic. It had elaborate pumps, hydraulics, and tanks that allowed engineers to lift and drop the ship's frame with extreme accuracy. Or as the tour guide said, "with enough delicacy to place it on an egg without breaking it".

They're building a Titanic museum. It will be open in 2012. Hopefully, they are planning some transportation to go with that. What the Information centre described to be as "not too far a walk" ended up being about a 1.5 mile walk to see a boat slip. We happened across a guy giving a tour of the pump house, which he let us join for 1/2 the price. We saw two movies about Harland and Wolff ship builders. We managed to find a taxi to take us back to city centre, though I have no idea why he was driving through.

Snow falling in London!

Wow. When it snows, it snows BIG!

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20090202/tuk-travel-warning-as-more-snow-falls-45dbed5.html

It started to snow late yesterday afternoon. I was at a co-worker's house last night for a Super Bowl party. The party started at 8:00 pm. The Super Bowl started at 11:30 pm. I was on my way home by 1230 am, via taxi. When I woke up this morning, we had at least 6 inches of snow on the ground. It's still snowing. The news are reporting at least 8 inches across the UK, but 12 in London.

I guess officially we've had a snow day from work, though we don't have process for that exactly. A few folks have made it in. I couldn't. I live 12 miles from the office. The buses, overland trains, and tubes were all shut down this morning. They were hoping to have some up and running by 2 o'clock this afternoon, but I'm not sure what the significance of 2 o'clock is. It hasn't stopped snowing and there isn't any place for the snow to go. This week should be fun!

The girls and I went for a walk on the Commons and took the pictures. As only big furry dogs can, they loved the snow. They ran. Rolled. Wrestled. Dug. Dove. And generally had a good time. Crazy dogs.

I took this opportunity to trek across the golf course. Nobody out playing today and no horses. Only dogs and happy people.