Well sadly the Christmas Holiday's are over and the New Year is fast approaching. Me and the family had a great time. Spent most of it in the house, had Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve. Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy and greens and the rest. Christmas Day we got up at 5am to open gifts, Daughter was stoked. She got plenty of stuff, me and partner got some swank stuff too. Partner and I took a nap while Daughter hung out. Got back up around 10 and made the big English breakfast; bacon, sausage, tomato, mushroom, beans, eggs and toast. Then snacked the rest of the day. Got some Christmas money from my parents which provided the very nice home-made pre-Christmas dinner as well as a rib dinner the night before that.
Boxing Day we went to Staines to see Gulliver's Travels which was enjoyable and took the girls to breakfast and lunch. Got some Christmas money from the in-laws so got an awesome new Nintendo DS game. Also got some new outfit stuff, a handful of nice formal slacks and a few nice button ups. I also got a boss pair of new shoes, it all looks really nice together. The girls picked me out a new sweater vest. Daughter got herself some puzzle games.
The last two days of my holiday were just spent hanging out with the family and enjoying all our wonderful... everything.
Thanks to all my family.
Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Don't ask Don't tell
Is getting repealed, this makes me happy.
Result, since 1993 when the law was put in to place, at least 13,500 American Citizens who wanted to serve their country were booted out of the military by the archaic law. The fact that anyone in the "Nation of the Free" had to sacrifice a part of themselves just to be treated as equals has always been appalling. While people like McCain the "rogue" have stuck close to party lines by trying to claim that the repeal is some kind of liberal agenda, others (Republican and Democrat) have taken just one more step to removing a barrier to all American's being treated as equals.
Others are calling into question how this might affect operations in Iraq or Afghanistan as well as the military in general. I do not see why it would, nor why it would cost anything or why it would take time. All that has to happen is for these countrymen not to be charged and/or booted out if they admitted they were gay, job done. Any of these servicemen/women would already know if the people in their respective units would be welcoming and would obviously act accordingly.
Bascially what I am saying is that this is a good thing. A Christmas gift for all to be sure.
Chris
Result, since 1993 when the law was put in to place, at least 13,500 American Citizens who wanted to serve their country were booted out of the military by the archaic law. The fact that anyone in the "Nation of the Free" had to sacrifice a part of themselves just to be treated as equals has always been appalling. While people like McCain the "rogue" have stuck close to party lines by trying to claim that the repeal is some kind of liberal agenda, others (Republican and Democrat) have taken just one more step to removing a barrier to all American's being treated as equals.
Others are calling into question how this might affect operations in Iraq or Afghanistan as well as the military in general. I do not see why it would, nor why it would cost anything or why it would take time. All that has to happen is for these countrymen not to be charged and/or booted out if they admitted they were gay, job done. Any of these servicemen/women would already know if the people in their respective units would be welcoming and would obviously act accordingly.
Bascially what I am saying is that this is a good thing. A Christmas gift for all to be sure.
Chris
Wednesday, December 15, 2010
Just trying
to make sense of it.
Plenty to keep us busy lately. Daughter has been very poorly lately, this is following my being sick last week. Though she has been hit much harder. She started feeling it Friday night and has been quite rough ever since. She has hardly eaten since saturday and has been running fevers as high as 104 and coughing as well as more. Got her into the doctors but they said to just keep with the meds as it was not bacterial. She seems to be on the mend though. She is upset at being out so much.
Partner has not gotten much work done this month. Between being stuck handling most things last week because of my illness and since then because of daughter being sick. But regardless she was chosen for some pimp leadership class funded by the University of Westminster. While it is not a job, it will look good on a CV.
As I said earlier I spent a chunk of last week home sick and have one more day of anti-biotics to help finish it off. I have been trying to psych myself up for coming back to the states and think I have decided that I want to become a pharmacist.
Love...
Plenty to keep us busy lately. Daughter has been very poorly lately, this is following my being sick last week. Though she has been hit much harder. She started feeling it Friday night and has been quite rough ever since. She has hardly eaten since saturday and has been running fevers as high as 104 and coughing as well as more. Got her into the doctors but they said to just keep with the meds as it was not bacterial. She seems to be on the mend though. She is upset at being out so much.
Partner has not gotten much work done this month. Between being stuck handling most things last week because of my illness and since then because of daughter being sick. But regardless she was chosen for some pimp leadership class funded by the University of Westminster. While it is not a job, it will look good on a CV.
As I said earlier I spent a chunk of last week home sick and have one more day of anti-biotics to help finish it off. I have been trying to psych myself up for coming back to the states and think I have decided that I want to become a pharmacist.
Love...
Monday, December 6, 2010
All at once
the world can overwhelm you.
To any who read my post yesterday, do not think that I have any misconceptions about the return being about me, it is not. At the very most I am a third in the pie but most probably less.
Partners parents miss their grand-daughter terribly and partner feels bad having them so far apart. While partner misses her parents as well. I would be plenty happy to see my parents too. At the end of the day I just want my family to be happy, healthy and cared for. I know it would make them immensely happy to be nearer to their family so that is what it will be.
Peace... One Love
To any who read my post yesterday, do not think that I have any misconceptions about the return being about me, it is not. At the very most I am a third in the pie but most probably less.
Partners parents miss their grand-daughter terribly and partner feels bad having them so far apart. While partner misses her parents as well. I would be plenty happy to see my parents too. At the end of the day I just want my family to be happy, healthy and cared for. I know it would make them immensely happy to be nearer to their family so that is what it will be.
Peace... One Love
Sunday, December 5, 2010
times like these
What will be will be. Not a heck of a lot lately. Pretty much finished with my dispensing course, just a couple more items and it needs to be signed off on. We finally got a new manager and hopefully as he gets settled in things will start to smooth out. Been a bit crazy lately so it needs to happen.
Daughter had her first private French lesson Thursday past, and loved it. She did brilliantly as well. If the French goes well we may start her on Spanish at the New Year. She has been doing well in school and choir especially is going well for her. She is doing a bit of caroling over the next few weeks, a couple care homes and the local Proctor and Gamble R/D office. And in January her group is doing some kind of performance at the O2 Arena. That is wicked!
Partner has been working her butt off. Rough finished a couple chapters, started some stuff and planned out a few conferences. She has also reworked her thesis to lessen the work load.
As well I have been practicing my cooking and have been following and even improvising a few recipies, though with my partner and daughters help.
On a more... somber (?) note, we have begun planning to return to the US. While nearly a year away, the likelihood of us being able to stay on is becoming slimmer and slimmer. Regardless of any inherent difficulty in being picked for the necessary grant thanks to usual academic competition, higher rates of joblessness has driven the difficulty up. Add to that the fact that the government here has recently issued massive cuts to higher education just worsens it. So while partner is trying her damnedest, in the end it may just not be meant to be. Staying on has been a major driving reason in me pursuing higher paying employment. While the three of us will be saddened, I will be extremely so... I really like it here. I miss my family and all but do not miss where I lived when in the US. I will deal with it as I have to and will strive to improve myself when I return to the States as I really feel that if I had educated myself years ago, like my partner strongly suggested, it would have increased the chances of us to stay.
I really doubt the fact has settled in for daughter. She has spent the last two years making friends and it will be hard for her. She is really starting to come in to her own and the school she goes to is really good if frustrating sometimes.
Peace... One Love
Daughter had her first private French lesson Thursday past, and loved it. She did brilliantly as well. If the French goes well we may start her on Spanish at the New Year. She has been doing well in school and choir especially is going well for her. She is doing a bit of caroling over the next few weeks, a couple care homes and the local Proctor and Gamble R/D office. And in January her group is doing some kind of performance at the O2 Arena. That is wicked!
Partner has been working her butt off. Rough finished a couple chapters, started some stuff and planned out a few conferences. She has also reworked her thesis to lessen the work load.
As well I have been practicing my cooking and have been following and even improvising a few recipies, though with my partner and daughters help.
On a more... somber (?) note, we have begun planning to return to the US. While nearly a year away, the likelihood of us being able to stay on is becoming slimmer and slimmer. Regardless of any inherent difficulty in being picked for the necessary grant thanks to usual academic competition, higher rates of joblessness has driven the difficulty up. Add to that the fact that the government here has recently issued massive cuts to higher education just worsens it. So while partner is trying her damnedest, in the end it may just not be meant to be. Staying on has been a major driving reason in me pursuing higher paying employment. While the three of us will be saddened, I will be extremely so... I really like it here. I miss my family and all but do not miss where I lived when in the US. I will deal with it as I have to and will strive to improve myself when I return to the States as I really feel that if I had educated myself years ago, like my partner strongly suggested, it would have increased the chances of us to stay.
I really doubt the fact has settled in for daughter. She has spent the last two years making friends and it will be hard for her. She is really starting to come in to her own and the school she goes to is really good if frustrating sometimes.
Peace... One Love
Saturday, October 9, 2010
sooooooooo
not much of a title I know but.... it is what it is
Went to the fair last weekend and spent more money than necessary but daughter and I had a good time, did some bumper cars and the other rides. She won tonnes of stuff and we had a blast. This weekend she decided to come down with the common cold so we are putting off our already rescheduled trip to the Sherlock Holmes museum. We are quite excited about it, however, and will get there sometime this month.
Partner has been hard at work, after an incredibly promising meeting with the professor of another university, and has submitted her part of the paper they are working together on. She has now also started to work on her grant proposal to extend our stay.
I have been working, not much else. Doing my dispenser course as well but with the evening pharmacist who is training me leaving on maternity at the end of the month I may have trouble finishing. The shop is not doing so great either since my manager resigned, she was not happy. We have not only been left managerless but we have been short staffed for awhile as well so....
I will have a few reviews up on my other site as well, a couple GI Joes, a Marvel Universe figure and one of the Transformers on my top five list but first there is going to be another one of my lovely rants.
Peace...
Chris
Friday, September 24, 2010
....
not too much going on as usual, daughter started back at school two weeks ago, she was not pleased but such is the way of things. We have signed her up for two clubs, one of her choice and the other choir so she could actually practice her singing. We are also looking for an active sport, considering horse riding but we are going to check it out first as it is pricey but if she really likes it, could be good. If not it is back to judo. Daughter also had a play date today and quite enjoyed it.
Partner has been out of country/region twice in the last three weeks. Two weeks ago she wet to Glasgow to speak to a micronational leader and just today returned from the Shetland island off the northern coast of Scotland.
I have just been working but have finally started the dispenser course at work so that will be helpful. Been looking at little bits of jewellery for the partner for christmas as well and have my eyes on a couple things.
Peace...
Chris
Partner has been out of country/region twice in the last three weeks. Two weeks ago she wet to Glasgow to speak to a micronational leader and just today returned from the Shetland island off the northern coast of Scotland.
I have just been working but have finally started the dispenser course at work so that will be helpful. Been looking at little bits of jewellery for the partner for christmas as well and have my eyes on a couple things.
Peace...
Chris
Friday, August 20, 2010
Its been awhile
since my last post and as usual not much to report, still heavily into looking for upward employment. partner helped me go over my CV, giving it a GOOD polish, now I just have to find the jobs I can do so I can send it to them.
Daughter, partner and I went with one of daughters friends family to the London Zoo this past Wednesday which was quite nice. It was daughters first time getting out since we went to the museum at the end of last month. Being in the middle of London, the London Zoo is quite large and we got to see tons of different types of critters. Daughter was most impressed by the cute and cuddly squirrel monkey while partner loved the nocturnal loris. I enjoyed quite a bit but I always love the small primates of any group as they have the cutest little hands. Daughter was also quite excited as her and partner went and did the grocery shopping on Thursday, rather than order it in.
I hope all are well!
Peace...
Daughter, partner and I went with one of daughters friends family to the London Zoo this past Wednesday which was quite nice. It was daughters first time getting out since we went to the museum at the end of last month. Being in the middle of London, the London Zoo is quite large and we got to see tons of different types of critters. Daughter was most impressed by the cute and cuddly squirrel monkey while partner loved the nocturnal loris. I enjoyed quite a bit but I always love the small primates of any group as they have the cutest little hands. Daughter was also quite excited as her and partner went and did the grocery shopping on Thursday, rather than order it in.
I hope all are well!
Peace...
Monday, August 16, 2010
....
Not much to report on, daughter was a bit lazy the past week, having a proper bit of time off. Partner got an article sent off. Going to the zoo on Wednesday for daughters friends sisters birthday party. So I have Wednesday off... woo hoo. Then I have the weekend off, then at the end of the following week I am on holiday for daughters last week of summer holiday.
Peace...
Peace...
Sunday, July 11, 2010
so
Not much to report this week, though we are definitely noticing the two extra weeks tacked onto out wait for a paycheck but no worries.
Daughter has about six and a half days left on her term before she is done with year 3!
see you later
Daughter has about six and a half days left on her term before she is done with year 3!
see you later
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Friday, July 2, 2010
on and on
another few weeks and more things come and go.
I missed a day of work last week (21 June) feeling like utter crap and concerned I had caught a stomach bug going around. Luckily it wasn't a stomach bug but I did discover that the reason I had been feeling crummy over the several weeks prior was that I had developed a bit of a sinus infection that was steadily getting worse. This culminated in me making an appointment at the clinic and getting a course of antibiotics prescribed. That was just the start of one heck of a tough week at work.
One nice thing was my payslip, which was substantially higher than usual for some unknown reason, I plan on going over my diary to figure it out. This did however precipitate an unusual shopping splurge on our part, we went and got daughter some new knickers and shorts (not realising she did not have any shorts), and got me some more summer clothes to wear. We also took the opportunity to have lunch out, Nando's, which was nice; all stuff we do not get to do very often.
Wednesday night we got an even rarer experience in getting to go see Jack Johnson live in concert. For those who do not know who Jack Johnson is, he is only probably the greatest folk artist of my generation and maybe even bigger. Another great bit about it was that it was our daughters first concert experience and I can literally think of no one I would rather her see although I could think of more. Sadly, we did not know there was an opening act, Mojave 3, who to be honest was pretty not good; they really need to fire their sound person as well. This might not sound like a big deal but it meant that Jack Johnson did not get come out till nearly 9pm and with the last Train leaving London at a paltry 11.30, we needed to leave before the artist was finished. Oh well, it was still a wonderful time. We also each got a concert t-shirt.
Daughter is getting closer and closer to being done with year 3, only three weeks to go. She had quite a good day on wednesday at the concert and going out for dessert.
Partner has mostly just been working hard on her work, alternating between her micro-national website and her thesis. She got a new phone on our day out last Saturday, Orange our service provider has a service were when you top up your phone you build up money in your account, and it only cost her one buck! We are hoping on the next payday to be getting her a small, cheap printer for some of her work.
Peace...
Please visit other sites I work on
The Nation of Heliotrope
Exploring London's Olympic Waterscape
I missed a day of work last week (21 June) feeling like utter crap and concerned I had caught a stomach bug going around. Luckily it wasn't a stomach bug but I did discover that the reason I had been feeling crummy over the several weeks prior was that I had developed a bit of a sinus infection that was steadily getting worse. This culminated in me making an appointment at the clinic and getting a course of antibiotics prescribed. That was just the start of one heck of a tough week at work.
One nice thing was my payslip, which was substantially higher than usual for some unknown reason, I plan on going over my diary to figure it out. This did however precipitate an unusual shopping splurge on our part, we went and got daughter some new knickers and shorts (not realising she did not have any shorts), and got me some more summer clothes to wear. We also took the opportunity to have lunch out, Nando's, which was nice; all stuff we do not get to do very often.
Wednesday night we got an even rarer experience in getting to go see Jack Johnson live in concert. For those who do not know who Jack Johnson is, he is only probably the greatest folk artist of my generation and maybe even bigger. Another great bit about it was that it was our daughters first concert experience and I can literally think of no one I would rather her see although I could think of more. Sadly, we did not know there was an opening act, Mojave 3, who to be honest was pretty not good; they really need to fire their sound person as well. This might not sound like a big deal but it meant that Jack Johnson did not get come out till nearly 9pm and with the last Train leaving London at a paltry 11.30, we needed to leave before the artist was finished. Oh well, it was still a wonderful time. We also each got a concert t-shirt.
Daughter is getting closer and closer to being done with year 3, only three weeks to go. She had quite a good day on wednesday at the concert and going out for dessert.
Partner has mostly just been working hard on her work, alternating between her micro-national website and her thesis. She got a new phone on our day out last Saturday, Orange our service provider has a service were when you top up your phone you build up money in your account, and it only cost her one buck! We are hoping on the next payday to be getting her a small, cheap printer for some of her work.
Peace...
Please visit other sites I work on
The Nation of Heliotrope
Exploring London's Olympic Waterscape
Sunday, June 13, 2010
todays something...
Post removed for personal reasons
Peace...
Please visit other sites I work on
The Nation of Heliotrope
Exploring London's Olympic Waterscape
Peace...
Please visit other sites I work on
The Nation of Heliotrope
Exploring London's Olympic Waterscape
Saturday, June 12, 2010
the WEEK in REVIEW
so, the whole lot of us is sick to varying degrees right now, daughter feels the best while me and partner are neck and neck I think.
Partner's exhibition Sunday past went splendidly with her and her crews EASILY getting the most traffic and lots of kudo's from said spectators. I think they did an amazing job. Since then, partner has just been trying to get back into the groove on her main work. In a spoiler, partner got a small award to do some of her field work... 300GBP. This is great as she has been really concerned how she was going to do it with our general lack of funds, an issue we are trying to address.
Daughter is slowly recovering from yet another cold, man for such an overall tough kid she sure has a puny constitution, bless her little cotton socks. Took her to Royal Holloway's garden party, Sunday past as well, were she got to split some fish and chips with me, buy some cotton candy and play some games. It is not the greatest thing in the world but it is a nice way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. The friend of hers, and the girls family, would like to do another joint trip like we did over the school break and visit another museum.
As for me, just been working and dealing with ridiculous schedule changings just to try and keep on top of my hours. My contract hours have been increased from 18hrs weekly to roughly 28 but my scheduled hours, what my manager puts me on the books for, has dropped from about 35hrs to said 28. Obviously even at 35 we are having trouble with money so 28 was quite untenable, we did lose the other evening person though so I took on 2 of her night shifts (I also have one every other week on my schedule) and those 12 hours put me up to 40. So I will not only be doing more hours that way but 2 hours out of each of those night shifts are "anit-social" hours and are paid at time and a half plus I am doing every other Sunday which essentially puts me at 43 hours every week. Partner does not like that I am working some evenings again and would like me home more but, we agree that we need the money also. I am however home every day for supper, Monday and Wednesday I work double shifts with a three hour split, and have every Saturday daytime off.
The next paycheck is going to have to be handled extremely delicately as it will have to last an extra week when my company switches from paying us on the 20th of the month to the 27th. I also need to keep on my manager about getting in contact with HR or whoever handles payslips as my last two were a little light and I want to go back and check from January, partner accidently left payslips in the US, to be sure I am getting what I am supposed to. I will likely call my debtor and ask for a reprieve just to be sure I have the money and then pay them a little extra from the next payday.
Once we are done paying back our utility company for the winter, I think one or two more and we are caught up, I want to call them about a better utility plan they offer and to ask them to take out a bit more than that so we are ready for the upcoming winter, I really would like to start getting ahead of the ball on some things. The company, who does have the best rates our rate now (not their best :( ) is still better than most other suppliers offer, got us into a low tariff but the monthly debit did not cover our usage and so we are hurting now for it.
That combined with credit card re-payments and recent dental work for myself have been eating up a vast amount of my very modest monthly income, leaving only just enough for groceries. The dental work is done for now, I have a practically new tooth, but it will be supplanted by payments to partners card. I believe some money can be saved through contacting my cable provider and getting a new plan and then more when the utilities are caught up. I am also going to plan out any collecting I do better as well as hold on to the money and buy at the end of the month so as to make sure I have the money if I need it.
Peace... Love
Prowl
Please visit other sites I work on
The Nation of Heliotrope
Exploring London's Olympic Waterscape
Partner's exhibition Sunday past went splendidly with her and her crews EASILY getting the most traffic and lots of kudo's from said spectators. I think they did an amazing job. Since then, partner has just been trying to get back into the groove on her main work. In a spoiler, partner got a small award to do some of her field work... 300GBP. This is great as she has been really concerned how she was going to do it with our general lack of funds, an issue we are trying to address.
Daughter is slowly recovering from yet another cold, man for such an overall tough kid she sure has a puny constitution, bless her little cotton socks. Took her to Royal Holloway's garden party, Sunday past as well, were she got to split some fish and chips with me, buy some cotton candy and play some games. It is not the greatest thing in the world but it is a nice way to spend a lazy Sunday afternoon. The friend of hers, and the girls family, would like to do another joint trip like we did over the school break and visit another museum.
As for me, just been working and dealing with ridiculous schedule changings just to try and keep on top of my hours. My contract hours have been increased from 18hrs weekly to roughly 28 but my scheduled hours, what my manager puts me on the books for, has dropped from about 35hrs to said 28. Obviously even at 35 we are having trouble with money so 28 was quite untenable, we did lose the other evening person though so I took on 2 of her night shifts (I also have one every other week on my schedule) and those 12 hours put me up to 40. So I will not only be doing more hours that way but 2 hours out of each of those night shifts are "anit-social" hours and are paid at time and a half plus I am doing every other Sunday which essentially puts me at 43 hours every week. Partner does not like that I am working some evenings again and would like me home more but, we agree that we need the money also. I am however home every day for supper, Monday and Wednesday I work double shifts with a three hour split, and have every Saturday daytime off.
The next paycheck is going to have to be handled extremely delicately as it will have to last an extra week when my company switches from paying us on the 20th of the month to the 27th. I also need to keep on my manager about getting in contact with HR or whoever handles payslips as my last two were a little light and I want to go back and check from January, partner accidently left payslips in the US, to be sure I am getting what I am supposed to. I will likely call my debtor and ask for a reprieve just to be sure I have the money and then pay them a little extra from the next payday.
Once we are done paying back our utility company for the winter, I think one or two more and we are caught up, I want to call them about a better utility plan they offer and to ask them to take out a bit more than that so we are ready for the upcoming winter, I really would like to start getting ahead of the ball on some things. The company, who does have the best rates our rate now (not their best :( ) is still better than most other suppliers offer, got us into a low tariff but the monthly debit did not cover our usage and so we are hurting now for it.
That combined with credit card re-payments and recent dental work for myself have been eating up a vast amount of my very modest monthly income, leaving only just enough for groceries. The dental work is done for now, I have a practically new tooth, but it will be supplanted by payments to partners card. I believe some money can be saved through contacting my cable provider and getting a new plan and then more when the utilities are caught up. I am also going to plan out any collecting I do better as well as hold on to the money and buy at the end of the month so as to make sure I have the money if I need it.
Peace... Love
Prowl
Please visit other sites I work on
The Nation of Heliotrope
Exploring London's Olympic Waterscape
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Holiday, in UK, it feels like the third of June
So, third day of my holiday and I am finally taking some time to relax. My break started Tuesday; partner, daughter and I along with the mother and brood of one of daughters friends went to the British Museum, an all day trip. I took a brief side trip to my own personal candy shop Forbidden Planet, a comic shop that could get me in a lot of trouble. I was good though and only grabbed a couple of comics, but I did want to buy a few figures. The museum was decent but ridiculously packed, we were hoping it would be somewhat empty as another museum was having a re-opening. They had a lot of kid friendly activities but the backpack trek we wanted to do was nearly impossible with how packed it was. The kids all still had fun. The weather was crap.
Wednesday we were going to stay in and partner was going to go to a small conference but we decided we all needed a day and went to Staines and the cinema to watch Prince of Persia, an enjoyable experience. We also got some rubbish BBQ and chilled that evening. This weekend will be busy as well with the setup for and exhibition of partners Olympic work. We will probably be helping her with set-up.
Today I am just trying to get some reviews for my blog out of the way and create some other content.
Peace...
Please visit other sites I work on
The Nation of Heliotrope
Exploring London's Olympic Waterscape
Wednesday we were going to stay in and partner was going to go to a small conference but we decided we all needed a day and went to Staines and the cinema to watch Prince of Persia, an enjoyable experience. We also got some rubbish BBQ and chilled that evening. This weekend will be busy as well with the setup for and exhibition of partners Olympic work. We will probably be helping her with set-up.
Today I am just trying to get some reviews for my blog out of the way and create some other content.
Peace...
Please visit other sites I work on
The Nation of Heliotrope
Exploring London's Olympic Waterscape
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Sunday, May 16, 2010
...
As always busy, I ended up working the weekend of Mothers Day, even though I had it off, last minute as the person scheduled to work called out last minute. I also had double shifts on Monday and Tuesday so long days there. Partner has also been in London every day this week so daughter had to be in her after school club every day, except my only day off for a week and a half on Wednesday past. My next day off will be at the weekend, where the family will probably go catch Iron Man 2.
As I said partner was in London all week past, doing filming and talking pictures for the Olympic thing she and some classmates are working on. She also attended some talks and such. Poor girl though is a bit sore from traipsing all over London so she took it easy over the weekend.
Daughter has been very good this past week, what with having long days herself all week, since partner was in London and I usually work 9.30 - 6, she had to attend an after school club which she luckily likes. She, much to her dismay, has testing this week so she is not happy as of writing this.
Peace...
As I said partner was in London all week past, doing filming and talking pictures for the Olympic thing she and some classmates are working on. She also attended some talks and such. Poor girl though is a bit sore from traipsing all over London so she took it easy over the weekend.
Daughter has been very good this past week, what with having long days herself all week, since partner was in London and I usually work 9.30 - 6, she had to attend an after school club which she luckily likes. She, much to her dismay, has testing this week so she is not happy as of writing this.
Peace...
Sunday, May 9, 2010
Monday, May 3, 2010
....
life goes on, well not much going on recently. Daughter has had a busy weekend with her own birthday party as well as two other birthday parties. Daughter has gotten buckets of stuff, mostly arts and crafts or things like puzzle books which is good, from all over. My parents stuff arrived without incident and I believe she still has stuff coming from other venue's.
mostly just working myself, same goes for the partner. I had some dental work done this past friday and it cost a good bit, dental work usually does. :,( I have a tooth that has been a bit wrong for a while so I had them remove the old filling and they have cleared away any bad tooth and I am waiting for payday to have the new filling put in. In all the tooth will cost just shy of 300GBP. Oh well.
Peace...
Please visit other sites I work on
The Nation of Heliotrope
Exploring London's Olympic Waterscape
mostly just working myself, same goes for the partner. I had some dental work done this past friday and it cost a good bit, dental work usually does. :,( I have a tooth that has been a bit wrong for a while so I had them remove the old filling and they have cleared away any bad tooth and I am waiting for payday to have the new filling put in. In all the tooth will cost just shy of 300GBP. Oh well.
Peace...
Please visit other sites I work on
The Nation of Heliotrope
Exploring London's Olympic Waterscape
Thursday, April 22, 2010
....
not much going on, leaving the house shortly to hopefully meet the girls at the airport.
Going to be starting the dispenser course soon, some staff changes at work mean that I am getting the opportunity at my store. After summer I will take the dispenser position for up to a few months, I may also be able to pick up some extra hours on top of that!! yay
peace
Going to be starting the dispenser course soon, some staff changes at work mean that I am getting the opportunity at my store. After summer I will take the dispenser position for up to a few months, I may also be able to pick up some extra hours on top of that!! yay
peace
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
....
Not much so far this week, kind of slow since my last update... all except THE VOLCANOOOOES. No airplanes and not quite any university students means QUIET around here. Went to a rugby game Saturday past, don't know much about the game (never been a big sports person) but it was fun nonetheless. First time at a sporting event since high school football games. Plus the game was at Wembley Arena which was HUGE, over 47,000 people were at the game. good times good times.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
sooo
Well not much going on this week, house work in the evenings after work. Tuesday I found twenty GBP on the ground which covered the trip I made to Staines to get a new coffee pot, new lunchbox for the daughter and I even found a G.I. Joe figure I was looking for. Tomorrow I am working from 8 am until midnight but I am off the weekend. AND this weekend I am going to see a rugby match.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
todays something...
In England Easter is a bit different from the US. For one they do not paint eggs nor do they have peeps. You get a big branded Easter Egg made of hollow chocolate, I got one from a co-worker by Cadbury, and they often include extras like candy bars, mine came with three Cadbury brand chocolate bars, or cheap toys or even alcohol. They also have hot cross buns which have crosses stamped on the top.
Monday, April 5, 2010
At the movies
On Saturday the 27th of March I took my partner and daughter to see a movie. Running up to the weekend, we had been planning to see Nanny McPhee: The Big Bang but seeing a trailer for How to train your dragon was good enough to convince us to see it. I must say we were not disappointed as How to train your dragon is an incredible movie.
Inspiration for the movie storyline came from a book How to train your dragon written by Cressida Cowell back in 2003. Cressida has written 7 other books in the dragoning realm. How to train your dragon in both the movie story and original book star Hiccup, a Viking and his dragon to be toothless.
In How to train your dragon, Hiccup (voiced by Jay Baruchel) is the son of Viking Chieftain Stoic the Vast (Gerard Butler) a powerful man who has helmed his peoples fight against raiding dragons for years. Sadly for Hiccup though, he is not much like the other Vikings who are all rough and tumble while Hiccup is more the brainy sort inventing things and whatnot. The worst part of daily life however are the constant raids by local dragons, who would swoop in and carry off villagers and livestock. Hiccup's whole life changes when a chance encounter with a rare dragon makes him take a look at his life in a new way.
I do not want to give away too much of the movie but I will say it is an excellent movie that is actually worth the price of admission, considering you do not see it in lame 3D, I did not and it was beautiful.
Friday, April 2, 2010
My Friday
Well, the girls are gone, left without trouble and arrived in the US the same way. It sure does get quiet around here with both the family gone and the university kids all out of town.
Not up to much really, this week I have gone into work at 8am everyday except Wednesday, took the girls to the airport, and today, being a bank holiday we are open shorter hours. So getting some extra duty in here and there try to beef up the next paycheck. My free time is going to be spent either spring cleaning the house or getting pre-emptive content up on my site.
Not sure what I will do for Easter at this point, it will be my first day off all week so I may just chill at home and rent a movie on demand or I might go down to the Easter Kitchen.
A co-worker got me a cool 'easter egg' with a few candy bars, thanks M
Not up to much really, this week I have gone into work at 8am everyday except Wednesday, took the girls to the airport, and today, being a bank holiday we are open shorter hours. So getting some extra duty in here and there try to beef up the next paycheck. My free time is going to be spent either spring cleaning the house or getting pre-emptive content up on my site.
Not sure what I will do for Easter at this point, it will be my first day off all week so I may just chill at home and rent a movie on demand or I might go down to the Easter Kitchen.
A co-worker got me a cool 'easter egg' with a few candy bars, thanks M
Thursday, April 1, 2010
todays something...
different in England
In England the bathroom is often called the bog, and toilet tissue rolls can be called bog rolls.
Something that has no frills or is base line can be called bog standard.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Shorts
The one thing true witches need to maintain their powers are faith in themselves, and a little hot chocolate. The better the hot chocolate the more power it bestows, if you get the crummy stuff from a fast food chain then you get barely any power at all. These are things Willow knows, so she has her father make her a hot mug of cocoa every morning when she wakes up, so she can start her day with plenty of power. Her father, sometimes begrudgingly, complied knowing if nothing else it helped get her out of bed earlier. Willow would undoubt-ably spend the next thirty minutes attempting to cast spells to fix her hair, or do her tie. Willow often the meets up with her friend Allyson and walks casually to school, dad in tow though well behind, which the girls prefer. Allyson would listen intently as Willow described her world, the wizarding school she went to at night (which is of course what made her so hard to wake up in the mornings) and the assignments that were due. Wilma was often farther back, with her father, thinking to herself how silly Willow sounded with her dreamed up stories.
Today was a Friday like any other, Willow was at lunch and sitting beside her best friends Allyson and Violet. Violet was a newer girl to the school whom Willow had taken in when other children were giving her a hard time, with long curly red hair and green eyes. While Violet did not share the interest the other girls had in the realm of magic, she enjoyed the stories. Sitting in the lunch room, Willow was looking through the glass doors and saw what looked like one of the teachers from her 'school.' It appeared to be Mr. Faerrot, with his short stature and mostly bald head (other than the great tufts of hair peeking from behind his ears) and short stubby nose that looked so like a carrot.
Willow was sure it was Mr. Faerrot, hunched over into the window talking with the school receptionist. Suddenly Willow felt something wet dripping in her lap "Sorry, guys" Willow blurted out, having spilled her drink. Willow jumped up and began patting her lap with napkins only to discover, she wasn't wet. "But, I was sure I felt the juice dripping on me," Willow said. "Maybe it hit your knee or something, at least your not wet." replied Violet.
Today was a Friday like any other, Willow was at lunch and sitting beside her best friends Allyson and Violet. Violet was a newer girl to the school whom Willow had taken in when other children were giving her a hard time, with long curly red hair and green eyes. While Violet did not share the interest the other girls had in the realm of magic, she enjoyed the stories. Sitting in the lunch room, Willow was looking through the glass doors and saw what looked like one of the teachers from her 'school.' It appeared to be Mr. Faerrot, with his short stature and mostly bald head (other than the great tufts of hair peeking from behind his ears) and short stubby nose that looked so like a carrot.
Willow was sure it was Mr. Faerrot, hunched over into the window talking with the school receptionist. Suddenly Willow felt something wet dripping in her lap "Sorry, guys" Willow blurted out, having spilled her drink. Willow jumped up and began patting her lap with napkins only to discover, she wasn't wet. "But, I was sure I felt the juice dripping on me," Willow said. "Maybe it hit your knee or something, at least your not wet." replied Violet.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Friday, March 5, 2010
My Friday
Well, as usual a relatively quiet week but that can be good. Partner has been feeling better and better though her sinus infection has left her sense of taste a bit off. According to her the only thing that has tasted good has been the chocolate chip cookies her and daughter baked. LOL.
Daughter has had a good bit of time, last week she went to see some secondary age students (middle to high school) play Badminton and she got to play as well, though she did not care for it. This past week she got to go to her Tuesday after school club called Koosa Kids, she gets to do activities and play games with other kids and such plus they have healthy snacks. It works because on Tuesday's partner often really needs to be out in London and I work until 6 (5.45 on Tues) so i can still work most of my shift AND pick her up. Thursday she got to go to the library in the morning then they had a dress up as your favorite book character. Daughter went as Matilda of Roald Dahl fame. Sunday she has a big play date with a couple friends at one of the friends houses.
As for myself, I have just been working. I did have to call 999 (911) for an elderly gentleman who tripped near the bus stop, he knocked his head pretty good and at 90 it could easily be serious. Darned old man was pretty insistent he was ok, despite hitting the ground pretty good and both a good sized cut on his forehead and a quickly swelling hematoma. When the paramedic arrived, he asked the OAP if he had any health issues and the man said well, my eyes and my hands but that was from back in the war. The paramedic asked what he did in the war and his response was "I got into some trouble in Greece." Poor guy though was still pretty insistent about being ok, even with the paramedic, did not have anyone local to call and lived alone so I definitely did the right thing by calling for the ambulance; if he had had a concussion or something...
Peace.
Thursday, March 4, 2010
this weeks something
between the UK and US
git means idiot or in reference to a child, somewhat mischevious
Monday, March 1, 2010
Friday, February 26, 2010
So
Not much this week, partner has been sick, sinus infection, so she has had a rough time. Daughter has been trying to get back into going to school. I missed a few hours earlier this week to pick up daughter but will make it up this weekend, picked up a few extra hours. Partner has expressed desire in my not continuing looking If I am not picked up for the Sunday job though I really think I will need to, not sure.
How are all of you??
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
The Wednesday short story
Willow was a witch, of this she was sure. Wilma, Willow's sister, just said she was crazy and needed to grow up. Regardless, Willow went about everything a witch would do including going to witch school and practicing spells. Her parents, who were most definitely NOT of the wiccan breed, supported her fully; buying her a beautiful hand crafted wand and spell book. Still, Willow was constantly vexed by her inability to cast even the most basic of spells and, not knowing any other witches, always felt she had nowhere to turn.
At school it was worse, not only did almost no one believe her but some thought she was silly for thinking so. This, however, never deterred Willow as she knew what she was, she just did not know how to get there. "One day" Willow thought "one day I will get it figured out." Willow would watch anything with witchcraft, Bewitched was her favorite, and read anything too.
There was one girl at school though, that believed Willow, or at least said she did. Allyson always said that not only did she believe Willow, but that she fancied the idea of being a witch as well. Willow would often spend her entire 4th year lunch break sitting with Allyson and dreaming of what it would be like; casting spells, riding brooms (though even Willow thought that was silly) and of course showing up all the other people who doubted her. If only Willow knew the truth about Allyson.
this weeks something
thats different between the UK and the US
In the UK when I offer plastic carrier bags at work, I am often turned down with a grumbled "save the planet and all", Citizens in the UK might begrudge something but they do it from a position of compliance
In the US driving is a right, In the UK it is only slowly leaving the mentality of being a privilege.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Friday, February 19, 2010
My Friday
So been busy lately?? I have, though I did luck out and have some time off last week, originally taking time off to make sure I was around for Daughter if partner needed to be in London. Lucky for me I managed to time getting sick with my holiday and was with cold the entire time!! I am on the mend now so I am better thanks. Partner and I discussed my taking a second job, just 6 hours on a Sunday, 1 because I now have a fairly regular and steady schedule and 2 because the job is specifically a trainee position that would help me practice skills I need for moving up. Plus a side bonus would be that if the job paid what I make now, with four shifts a month I would make about an extra hundred GBP, coooooool. I am trying to get on top of my writing so I can get back to blogging properly but sometimes that might not bear fruit. Bear fruit??
Daughter is on half term this past week, lucky for her since, like me, she promptly got sick the Friday before half term and has been poorly since. She has been as tough as she could though and has been a star throughout. We have begun to slowly plan her birthday party since she wants to invite friends this time.
Partner got sick shortly after daughter did, so has missed out on a few school type functions of her own because. Still though she is pleased enough with the amount of work she is getting done.
With all the sickness going around; by far the biggest disappointment of the past week was that daughter and I missed Cirque Du Soleil for which we had purchased tickets back before Christmas. Since partner was the healthiest of the three of us at that point I told her to invite a couple of friends in our place and enjoy herself. Daughter was beside herself as we had all been looking forward.
How are all of you out there??
Peace...
Sunday, February 7, 2010
OMG
so I have not posted in a while, totally my fault. I have just been so busy these last few weeks. Well my schedule has changed and now except for two friday's a month I work days, with full time hours. I also ditched that on call job so hopefully the increased hours will make up the difference. I worked about two weeks straight in the lead up to last friday and did about 5 double shifts so I was quite tired for this weekend buuuuuuut I have some time off from today until the 15th. On the 15th, 16th and another day I will be doing double shifts again but all the hours from those (and the last series of double shifts) will be time and a half. On the 14th me and the girls will be going to see another Cirque Du Soleil so that will be fun. Once I get into another schedule I should start having more energy.
Daughter is doing her thing, nothing changing much for her, the week I am doing the double shifts. I am planning on taking her back to the British museum sometime soon, hopefully during that time.
Partner has still just been cramming but is about to be put back on not so cramming...er yeah.
Just doing our thing.
Peace...
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
todays something...
I have learned while in England
the English are very progressive
at the same time England is quite traditional, makes no sense I know
Monday, January 18, 2010
todays something...
I have learned while in the UK
All good programming comes on after 9pm
Good collectables are hard to come by
Thursday, January 14, 2010
todays something...
I have learned while in England
alternate names for the Great British Pound (GBP) can be, quid (the most common), wonga, dosh even bucks
In the United Kindom many local areas like Scotland, Isle of Man and so on can mint their own money
todays something...
I have learned while in England
Pool is called snooker
for some reason some things like snooker and menopause get a the in front, i.e. the menopause or the snooker
to respond to yesterday's comment yes clotted cream is kind of like cream cheese but without the flavor, kind of like a batter flavor pre any other ingredients
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
todays something...
I have learned while in England
The English like clotted cream with their desserts, I have no idea why
all shops close early
Monday, January 11, 2010
todays something...
I have learned while in England
Despite how much the English love England, they think everyone has everything better; grass is always greener mentality
yielding for oncoming cars is pretty common
Saturday, January 9, 2010
todays something...
I have learned while in England
Despite everyone thinking Fish and Chips when they think England, The Brits probably eat at least as much Indian and Chinese takeaway as well as curries and kebabs.
Shovels are spades, no matter the size, a shovel is more associated with powered equipment.
Friday, January 8, 2010
today's something...
I have learned while in England
You do not call people unless you are going to their house, you ring them up
You can not get proper mac and cheese, you know the stuff Kraft and Velveeta makes
Thursday, January 7, 2010
todays something...
I have learned while in England
The view out the back window in the morning is lovely after better than 6 inches of snow
No matter what closes the pub is open
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
it...
snowed from about 8pm Tuesday until about 3pm Wednesday. I would say about 6 inches for the Egham area. We are supposed to get snow starting around 2am tonight where it may continue the rest of the week.
Daughter was quite happy about missing school today though it was a bit of a chore finding out for sure that the school was closed. She has not been happy about returning to school though a two week well pampered holiday will do that.
Peace
todays something...
I have learned while in England
Drivers in my experience, tend to be more cautious in the UK than in the US
When there is inclement weather and things shut down, the English are not happy about it.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
todays something...
I have learned while in England
It is far harder and takes a lot longer to get your license than in the US
Housing is quite expensive in populated areas
Monday, January 4, 2010
todays something...
I have learned while in England
The English have far more options for car purchasing than the Americans
The English have a complete lack of standardization. Possibly stemming from such a long history.
Sunday, January 3, 2010
todays something...
I learned while in England
They say Happy Christmas instead of Merry Christmas, except when they do.
Public transport is slightly more satisfying than driving, at least this close to London.
This chapter of
the adventure is over. We six all had a pretty good time. We went to London a few times, went to a few museums and we shopped till we dropped. Partners parents have gone, left at noon, and left the three of us to fend for ourselves. We all had quite a bit of fun. Partners parents spoiled us all, even themselves. We went to the south bank near the London Eye, the British Museum, the Royal Air Force museum. We went shopping in Reading. We spent a few days at the homestead. It was a real nice time. Partner and I took the opportunity to see a few grown up movies while her parents were here. We saw both Sherlock Holmes and Avatar which were both good movies. Partner and I took daughter to see Alvin and the chipmunks 2 the squeakuel to help her cope with gram and gramp leaving. Sorry for the randomness of this post, I will sort out a better one soon.
Peace
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