It has been really hot this weekend. It was pretty brutal yesterday when we were walking abouts the arts fest. We were very sweaty by the time we got home! I wasn't overly thrilled by the forecast for today which was predicting a temperature of 97F... those kinds of temperatures mean sweating profusely even if you've not expended any energy! Standing still in the shade and sweating is not something that I particularly look forward to. (Comatose on a sun lounger with a daiquiri in hand is a different matter!) Thankfully, the actual temperature wasn't quite as high as forecast. We had an actual of 93F which felt like (according to the weather channel) 100F. I can testify that it really did!! We walked along to Firehook bakery to get coffee and a muffin, then had a short walk up King to revisit the Arts Fest and by the time we got home my t-shirt was absolutely wringing. I looked like I was just out the shower!!
We turned the a/c up to max and concentrated on some indoor tasks for a while. After months of nagging I finally persuaded Stephen to hang the selection of pictures that have been accumulating over the past few months (I won't embarrass him by telling you exactly HOW long!!). Its all looking rather fabulous now!
I did eventually brave the outdoors again. Our windows at the back needed washed - they were covered in spiders webs into which had flow a high number of little insects. Net result - a diminished view of the woods. I had looked up the internet for local companies to call. All seemed to simply come and power wash the windows. No-one was up for squeegeeing all the panes it seems! I needed a quick fix, so I decided to take the matter into my own hands. Therefore this afternoon I grabbed my hose and pointed it at the windows. I quickly stopped as I was getting soaked by the splash raining down on me. I had only just dried out. I wasn't up for another soaking! It was a temporary halt only as I sent Stephen to find me a brolly. So there I was, brolly in one hand and hose in the other happily squirting the webs off the windows. I am probably now referred to as the Strange Scottish Woman by the neighbours - it certainly looked a little odd! It made a huge difference though. I still need to find someone to come and wash them properly, but at least we can see out now!
We popped out to get a pizza for dinner. We had thought about BBQing, but the thought of standing around in our little heat trap of a back yard, heating the air even further with our 56,000 btu gas grill was not appealing to either of us!! The pizza was good, until I found the additional topping... there was a long dark hair baked into a slice. Eurgh! I was looking askance at it when Stephen whipped it off my plate and dropped it on the floor. Talk about destroying the evidence!!
Sunday, 14 September 2008
Saturday, 13 September 2008
The Mystery of the Headset
Dawn and I both received a mystery packing in the post last week. It was a USB headset - no covering note, no indication of who it came from, just a Farnborough postmark. We were intrigued, so I phoned Dave to find out if he knew what it was about. We joked that it was probably just because some IT geeks probably thought we would look hot in them and sent them over, and I should expect a request to put on the headset and talk phonetic alphabet to them!!
The mystery was solved the next day when we got an e-mail telling us what it was about. We were part of a pilot scheme to trial voice comms using our internal messaging service. Andy B caused chaos for both Dawn and I at various points in the week when he called us - as neither of us had actually bothered to unpack them from the box! So there was a frantic moment of activity on Monday as I struggled to get them out of the box, untie the cables, plug them in, get them on... then deal with the hysterical laughter from Paul when he caught sight of me...in my cube with a headset on. I obviously need to learn how to work the "Call Centre Chic" look!! Its a good idea - the only problem I've had is that I've been glued to my land line all week, so haven't been able to answer when people call me. Will have to try harder!!
The mystery was solved the next day when we got an e-mail telling us what it was about. We were part of a pilot scheme to trial voice comms using our internal messaging service. Andy B caused chaos for both Dawn and I at various points in the week when he called us - as neither of us had actually bothered to unpack them from the box! So there was a frantic moment of activity on Monday as I struggled to get them out of the box, untie the cables, plug them in, get them on... then deal with the hysterical laughter from Paul when he caught sight of me...in my cube with a headset on. I obviously need to learn how to work the "Call Centre Chic" look!! Its a good idea - the only problem I've had is that I've been glued to my land line all week, so haven't been able to answer when people call me. Will have to try harder!!
Arts Fest 08
It's the Arts Festival in Old Town this weekend. King St from Washington St down to the Waterfront is full of tents displaying artwork. The artists come from all over the US to take part. Once again there were credit cards burning a hole in my pocket! We bought a piece from the same artist we had bought from last year. I just love his work! And because we were returning customers he knocked $100 off the price. What a guy!
Given that the place was totally packed with people, I was surprised that there weren't more people carrying pieces home. But there was just us! There were some lovely, lovely pieces on display. I could have bought a couple more! But the price tags weren't quite so friendly, so I was restrained!!
Given that the place was totally packed with people, I was surprised that there weren't more people carrying pieces home. But there was just us! There were some lovely, lovely pieces on display. I could have bought a couple more! But the price tags weren't quite so friendly, so I was restrained!!
Slow service - yippeeee!
Stephen and I both had hair appointments yesterday. We hadn't realised that we had almost simultaneous appointments until a couple of days before. Its rather weird having your spouse sitting in the chair next to you!! I approached my appointment with trepidation. My hairdresser is pregnant and had turned into a hormonal butcher during my last visit. My hair was hacked rather than cut and was impossible to style. It had no style! It was just hair, and just there! Thankfully she was back onto form this time and I have a decent cut once again - and no grey hair! Yay! Saying that, I have already made an appointment with my lovely ex-hairdresser Dave for when I'm back in the UK. I still think US stylists are way behind UK ones in cutting techniques and styles.
We went out for dinner last night to 100 King. We were both hungry for steak and its one of the better steak places. They serve prime Hereford beef! They do a dinner menu for 2 for $79 (including a bottle of wine) which seemed like a great idea. We ordered a couple of G&T's (strong enough to down an elephant), ordered the food, ate the bread, started on the wine... we were commenting on what a lovely meal it was - food was very good, and there was a decent time between courses, it was European timing in fact - when we were distracted by the manager making profuse apologies to the table next to us and offering to comp their meal. It seems they were not impressed with the "slow" service and had chosen to complain at length. They seemed to be enjoying the food though, as one guy barely lifted his face out of his plate whilst his girlfriend complained loudly! They had arrived after us, and were pretty much ahead of us in courses so the management must have been worried that they'd be comping two tables. We were enjoying being allowed to savour and taste the food as opposed to having to shovel it down at high speed when you see the waiter approaching with your next course!
We went out for dinner last night to 100 King. We were both hungry for steak and its one of the better steak places. They serve prime Hereford beef! They do a dinner menu for 2 for $79 (including a bottle of wine) which seemed like a great idea. We ordered a couple of G&T's (strong enough to down an elephant), ordered the food, ate the bread, started on the wine... we were commenting on what a lovely meal it was - food was very good, and there was a decent time between courses, it was European timing in fact - when we were distracted by the manager making profuse apologies to the table next to us and offering to comp their meal. It seems they were not impressed with the "slow" service and had chosen to complain at length. They seemed to be enjoying the food though, as one guy barely lifted his face out of his plate whilst his girlfriend complained loudly! They had arrived after us, and were pretty much ahead of us in courses so the management must have been worried that they'd be comping two tables. We were enjoying being allowed to savour and taste the food as opposed to having to shovel it down at high speed when you see the waiter approaching with your next course!
September 11th - Lest We Forget
Thursday was September 11th and the 7th Anniversary of the attacks on the WTC and the Pentagon. The President dedicated the Pentagon Memorial, and there were ceremonies over the country. Arlington was bedecked in Stars and Strips in a moving display of patriotism. The office is located close to the Pentagon, and many of our staff have worked in Crystal City and Arlington for many years. The events of that day are still a highly emotional experience for them. They were literally watching events unfold beneath them as their office buildings overlooked the scene.
There were many programmes showing on the TV this week remembering the events of that terrible day. One of the most moving that I saw was a compilation of videos taken by ordinary people, some out in the street, some in their homes looking over the Twin Towers. There was no additional voice over commentary, just their anguished and panicked voices as the enormity of what they were seeing began to sink in. It had me in tears.
There were many programmes showing on the TV this week remembering the events of that terrible day. One of the most moving that I saw was a compilation of videos taken by ordinary people, some out in the street, some in their homes looking over the Twin Towers. There was no additional voice over commentary, just their anguished and panicked voices as the enormity of what they were seeing began to sink in. It had me in tears.
It has officially been a week and a half!
The hellish week continued right through to Friday. There were some fun times, and I'm pleading to have either a Valium lick or intravenous PG drip installed into my cubicle!
I had sent one of the UK PA's an agenda for a visit around a month ago so she could check with her boss he was happy. The feedback was positive, so we went ahead and lined up appointments with all the companies (some of which were extremely hard to get!). I called her on Thursday to let her know I was going to book the travel and she said everything looked good. Then about 10 seconds later she said "Oh did I mention that he can't travel out until Thursday, but we can slip it by a week". No actually she had failed to mention that minor detail!! And its not just so easy to slip it by a week! Grrrrr....
I spent the day phoning all the companies finding out if it would be possible to move the meeting dates. The next morning I woke to an e-mail saying he could now travel on Tuesday. Great! This meant that 2 of the meetings could stand (luckily the two most difficult to obtain!) and we could easily re-arrange the others for the following week. It meant that Paul wouldn't be able to a long-arranged meeting, and also meant that Stephen and I would not be going on a California holiday which we were going to tag onto the end of the trip - but that was okay - we could work things out! So, having re-done the schedule and lined up the meetings for the following week I get a phone call (only 3 hours after the e-mail)....saying that he now couldn't stay over the weekend - so the meetings for the following week were now off!!! Aaaarrrrggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!! On the down side, I must look like some kind of useless, disorganised incompetent to these people with whom I've had off-on again-off again-on again conversations. On the plus side, we get our holiday and POQI gets to make his long-standing meeting!!
This was in addition to all the other things that were going on! I'll need to do catch up next week as I was having to park the urgent stuff in order to deal with the super urgent, sky-falling-in stuff!! Where is my fireman's uniform? It was so bad I had to break open the emergency Dairy Milk!!
I had sent one of the UK PA's an agenda for a visit around a month ago so she could check with her boss he was happy. The feedback was positive, so we went ahead and lined up appointments with all the companies (some of which were extremely hard to get!). I called her on Thursday to let her know I was going to book the travel and she said everything looked good. Then about 10 seconds later she said "Oh did I mention that he can't travel out until Thursday, but we can slip it by a week". No actually she had failed to mention that minor detail!! And its not just so easy to slip it by a week! Grrrrr....
I spent the day phoning all the companies finding out if it would be possible to move the meeting dates. The next morning I woke to an e-mail saying he could now travel on Tuesday. Great! This meant that 2 of the meetings could stand (luckily the two most difficult to obtain!) and we could easily re-arrange the others for the following week. It meant that Paul wouldn't be able to a long-arranged meeting, and also meant that Stephen and I would not be going on a California holiday which we were going to tag onto the end of the trip - but that was okay - we could work things out! So, having re-done the schedule and lined up the meetings for the following week I get a phone call (only 3 hours after the e-mail)....saying that he now couldn't stay over the weekend - so the meetings for the following week were now off!!! Aaaarrrrggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!! On the down side, I must look like some kind of useless, disorganised incompetent to these people with whom I've had off-on again-off again-on again conversations. On the plus side, we get our holiday and POQI gets to make his long-standing meeting!!
This was in addition to all the other things that were going on! I'll need to do catch up next week as I was having to park the urgent stuff in order to deal with the super urgent, sky-falling-in stuff!! Where is my fireman's uniform? It was so bad I had to break open the emergency Dairy Milk!!
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Lance pedals towards the finish line
Paul B is nearing the end of his charity cycle ride. He's riding, along with a number of others, 350 miles Coast to Coast from Biarritz to Narbonne in aid of the Hope foundation for cancer research. He's been in training for a while, both whilst he was here and when he returned to the UK. Training has seemed to involve cycling great distances and then hitting the pub for the well deserved treat afterwards!
I've been keeping an eye on their blog - posted each day after the gruelling ride. I have to admire Lycra Lance - I would get tired driving some of the distances they are cycling! Stage 3 was 80 miles most of which seemed to be uphill. Tiring huh! But then imagine getting back on your bike the next morning and cycling another 80 miles... No. I couldn't do it either! So I tip my chapeau to him...
I was quickly skipping through the photos, but couldn't see any of Paul on first glance. Hils pointed me to Day 3 where he can be seen having a spot of lunch and sitting on a bench. I have to admit to being distracted by a cyclist who appeared in a fetching blue number a few photos before. I was worried for the welfare of the armadillo he appeared to have stuffed down his shorts!
To follow their progress, and maybe donate a quid or two, click the link...
http://www.hfcr.org/coast-to-coast/day-1/?new=y
I've been keeping an eye on their blog - posted each day after the gruelling ride. I have to admire Lycra Lance - I would get tired driving some of the distances they are cycling! Stage 3 was 80 miles most of which seemed to be uphill. Tiring huh! But then imagine getting back on your bike the next morning and cycling another 80 miles... No. I couldn't do it either! So I tip my chapeau to him...
I was quickly skipping through the photos, but couldn't see any of Paul on first glance. Hils pointed me to Day 3 where he can be seen having a spot of lunch and sitting on a bench. I have to admit to being distracted by a cyclist who appeared in a fetching blue number a few photos before. I was worried for the welfare of the armadillo he appeared to have stuffed down his shorts!
To follow their progress, and maybe donate a quid or two, click the link...
http://www.hfcr.org/coast-to-coast/day-1/?new=y
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