Stephen has been getting annoyed and doing a lot of ranting recently. With the Copenhagen summit on climate change going on there has been an increased focus on climate change...a subject dear to his heart. There was major ranting going on when he found out that all the data comes from one source. The UK Met Office has by far the largest data set on climate change in the world. This is analysed by ONE group at the University of East Anglia, and there has been some controversy recently as they have been "sexing up" the language they have been using.... This is continued by the UK media who are using increasingly emotive terms - for example, the glaciers aren't melting - they are dying. Grrrrr....
There have also been many programmes on what we can do to prevent Global Warming...
We can switch all our light bulbs to the energy saving variety. And whilst energy saving bulbs are environmentally friendly (apart from the mercury they contain, but we won't go there) they take a long while to get up to brightness, not that bright is a word I'd use. Its maybe better to say they take a long while to get to a decent level of dimness... You soon won't even have the choice as to whether you go with the "mole burrow" lighting scheme - and its the lack of choice which annoys me! You can't buy 100w bulbs in the UK any longer and 60w bulbs are set to disappear too.
We can all drive Electric Cars. Erm....I don't want to be the one to point out the flaw in this logic....but where does electricity come from? Surely its generated by enormous power plants which pump out tonnes of nasty pollution (not to mention consume tonnes of fossil fuels) in order to generate the electricity to power these "clean cars"?? In the UK you are looked on as some evil planet murderer if you drive an SUV or a "luxury car" with a big engine. Before we moved to the US Stephen had a BMW with a 4.5l petrol engine and I had a Ford with a 1.6l petrol engine. You would imagine that the 4.5l engine would produce much more CO2 than my little dinky Ford engine right? Wrong! My Ford only produced around 20 CO2s less. So therefore its the millions of Fords which are the problem..! We are both now frowned upon planet murderers...the crops in the fields apparently wither and die as we drive past!
We can stop eating beef. Farting cows produce a lot of methane and we should therefore stop eating beef and switch to eating more environmentally friendly meat such as lamb, or even better, become vegetarian. You can imagine how much the steak-chowing, vegetable-hating one appreciated that suggestion!!
Following this through logically, there is one major item they didn't think to mention, and possibly a serious danger to the environment. They need to ban Indian restaurants. We all went for a curry last night (it was de-lic-ious!) but there are side-effects!!!! I'm pretty sure if scientists look, there will now be a hole in the ozone layer over Leigh Sinton, coz I'm pretty sure we punched a hole in it last night!!
Sunday, 20 December 2009
Sunday, 6 December 2009
A Panda's plea....
I spotted in the paper that Tai Shan, the panda born in Washington DC zoo a few years ago, is to be sent to China. Can you imagine the conversation going on in the panda pen?
"OH. MY. GOD! Are you kidding me? Seriously, are you freakin' kidding me?? China? You're deporting me to China? I'm an American, man... Look at my passport...not the photo, it wasn't my best day - my mascara ran, I've got panda-eyes...Look at it, look at it, it says United States of America on the cover... Call the State Department! In fact, forget Hillary. Call the President! They can't expect me to leave my lovely life here in DC and go to China. Look at all these people out there... they love me... they're here to see ME! You can't disappoint my fans and send me to China! I'M A CELEBRITY! I don't care if it was part of my parents contract. BREAK IT! Get me a lawyer now! Phone Rob. I hear he's excellent... And what happens about the food? I mean, I get tons of the very finest bamboo shoots delivered by room service every day and I'd have to, what, like, FORAGE? in China. I DON'T THINK SO! This is so totally not going to happen. I'm like, totally, not going to go...Where is China anyway?"
O! Christmas Tree..How (huge and) Evergreen your branches...
All trussed up it didn't look very big....
But then we unleashed the branches and stood back!Champagne is essential when tree decorating!
The finished article
The fancy no-flash shot. Stephen, very bravely, did point out when I'd finished that there were more lights on the bottom than the top.Well OF COURSE I couldn't wait until morning to decorate the tree!! We pulled the furniture out the way, dragged the tree in from the garage and wrestled it into the tree stand. Then we cut off the netting and stood back as it filled the sitting room with branches. How come it didn't look that huge when we were looking at it at the Farm?
We had to get our US decorations from the garage and our UK decorations down from the loft. Which was something of a minor trauma as I don't do ladders...Stephen climbed up to get the boxes out, then tried to drop them down to me, which meant that I had to climb up the ladder to get them. Okay, so it was only a couple of rungs, but I REALLY don't do ladders, so my knees were knocking! Then, having got everything I needed, I had to untangle the giant ball of fairly lights and put it all on the tree. Three hours and a noticeable denuding of enthusiasm later I was done. It looks lovely!
Saturday, 5 December 2009
O! Christmas Tree...
It was time for the Christmas trees to go up on site this week. With the imminent visit of our CEO and all the preparation that it took, my friend in the building next to mine sent up the distress flares. "I'm running around like a mad thing, they've given me a student to help put the tree up but he hasn't a clue, can you please help?" As I had bought the decorations and the tree back in the day when I was the Ops Manager for that building I am obviously an expert at their tree assembly! Time for the "Creative Director, Christmas Trees" to take charge. I soon got Tom licked into shape and we got the tree assembled and the lights on in record time. I don't think I traumatised him too much (I can apparently be a real stickler when it comes to decoration - but I don't believe I'm that bad!!), but he was pretty quick to disappear when it was time to release him back into the wild!! I left the tree in the ladies hands safe in the knowledge that with the stunning silver colour scheme we had picked out years before, it would look stunning.
I went back to my desk and asked if our building was putting up their tree. I was told that the PA who now has responsibility for putting it up had said that she didn't have time to take it down, no-one offers to help, so she wasn't going to put it up. What?? No tree, because taking it down was a problem? Bloody hell - Bah Humbug indeed!! What was I to do? I volunteered of course!
When I saw the decorations I actually wished I hadn't bothered! There were multicoloured lights and a pitiful handful of red and gold decorations. Unfortunately they were mostly pretty new, so I felt compelled to use them. I discarded the tatty tinsel and the even tattier fairy and Gill and I did our best with what was left. Unfortunately half of the pitifully small amount of decorations were SO naff that they were relegated to the back of the tree. We kept explaining to people that we were "doing our best with what we had". It looked truly pathetic!!!
Stephen and I were laughing this morning...we thought it would be hysterical to go into work this weekend and swap the two trees over!! We could have the gorgeous tree and they could have the eyesore... However, I came up with a simpler solution....I went to Homebase and bought three giant tubs of silver and gold baubles. I am going to strip the tree and begin again with something more tasteful! Unfortunately we're stuck with the multi-coloured lights as it was really expensive to get new ones, and there is no work budget for this. I bought the baubles out of my own pocket as my reputation as an ace tree decorator was going down the toilet!!!
We've just been along to the local Christmas Tree farm to get our tree for home. This is the place that supplied the Downing Street Christmas Tree last year, and is owned by our neighbours family. He actually drove us along in his van to pick it up so we didn't get needles all over the car. What a wee star he is! Its currently sitting in the garage as I need to clear a space in the sitting room to fit it in. I'll be doing decorating magic tomorrow morning...YAY!
I went back to my desk and asked if our building was putting up their tree. I was told that the PA who now has responsibility for putting it up had said that she didn't have time to take it down, no-one offers to help, so she wasn't going to put it up. What?? No tree, because taking it down was a problem? Bloody hell - Bah Humbug indeed!! What was I to do? I volunteered of course!
When I saw the decorations I actually wished I hadn't bothered! There were multicoloured lights and a pitiful handful of red and gold decorations. Unfortunately they were mostly pretty new, so I felt compelled to use them. I discarded the tatty tinsel and the even tattier fairy and Gill and I did our best with what was left. Unfortunately half of the pitifully small amount of decorations were SO naff that they were relegated to the back of the tree. We kept explaining to people that we were "doing our best with what we had". It looked truly pathetic!!!
Stephen and I were laughing this morning...we thought it would be hysterical to go into work this weekend and swap the two trees over!! We could have the gorgeous tree and they could have the eyesore... However, I came up with a simpler solution....I went to Homebase and bought three giant tubs of silver and gold baubles. I am going to strip the tree and begin again with something more tasteful! Unfortunately we're stuck with the multi-coloured lights as it was really expensive to get new ones, and there is no work budget for this. I bought the baubles out of my own pocket as my reputation as an ace tree decorator was going down the toilet!!!
We've just been along to the local Christmas Tree farm to get our tree for home. This is the place that supplied the Downing Street Christmas Tree last year, and is owned by our neighbours family. He actually drove us along in his van to pick it up so we didn't get needles all over the car. What a wee star he is! Its currently sitting in the garage as I need to clear a space in the sitting room to fit it in. I'll be doing decorating magic tomorrow morning...YAY!
We're lost!
We were invited round to Steve and Graham's for dinner last week as they wanted to show off their new pad as well as their culinary skills. I'd asked for directions and was told that google map directions got you there with no problems. If only that were the case! They might if it was daylight, but it was dark, it was pouring with rain and the car kept misting up. Oh, and did I mention that their house is down little country lanes with precious few road signs? Consequently we couldn't find it! After a few miles of driving about with no sign of it we called them. Stephen and Steve came up with the quite brilliant idea of using the GPS feature on our blackberries to find them. Stephen duly typed in the postcode and we set off...
After a couple of passes through Dymock (which I knew wasn't right), with Stephen getting grumpier and grumpier we tried again. It told us to take a right which we did...at this point I was getting worried for the suspension as we bounced down a farm track. Stephen was convinced it had to be right...until the GPS said we had to take a left...through the electric fence and into a field! This was definitely wrong! Of course there was no place to turn around until we got to the farm house. I was fully expecting a farmer to appear with a shotgun and tell us to "Get orf my laand"!!! We trundled slowly back down the track to the main road, pulled over at the Dymock Golf Club and fired off the distress flare!! I was practically hysterical with laughter when I called and said "come find us!".
Thankfully it didn't take Speedy Steve to find us and lead us back home and we were soon tucking into glasses of fizz. Just as well they hadn't made anything that would spoil as we were nearly an hour late at this point!!! Their new house is lovely! It has beams and everything, plus a kitchen to envy and a huge conservatory. I approve! Dinner was superb. I need to raise my game when they come to us...beans on toast won't cut it!!
We played a couple of games of Buzz on the playstation which was absolutely THE best fun! Stephen is now allowed to buy one!! I got to be Vampira and we could give the opposition a "virtual" cream pie in the face...or as I managed, you could give yourself a cream pie in the face... I have the reflexes of a sloth!!
Graham sparked out relatively early on, so it was just the three of us sitting watching music videos and chatting to the wee small hours. We took up residence in the spare room in the West Wing and soon collapsed into unconsciousness. I woke a couple of hours later needing a wee. The bed was against the wall and I was at the back. Stephen didn't respond well to my pleas to at least sit up so I could crawl out.."Climb over zzzzzzzzz". I was muttering nasty words as I was left with no choice but to do that. When I got back he was lying in the middle of the bed with the duvet tightly wrapped around him. More nasty words were muttered!!! I ended up sleeping under a towel clinging to the edge of the bed whilst he snored away oblivious to my discomfort. He was entirely oblivious actually! The young kitty was mewing and pawing the door at about 7:30, then coz I can't have closed the door properly on the catch, a few seconds later there was a thump as the cat landed on the bed and walked up and all over Stephen's chest. He didn't stir! As he's allergic to some cats (but not this one as it turns out!) I got up and shooed the little kitty out the door. Kitty was SO not speaking to me at breakfast!!! I think he was hoping I would feed him!
On the way home, with directions this time, it turned out we were within 100 yards of the house before we detoured to Dymock. D'oh!
After a couple of passes through Dymock (which I knew wasn't right), with Stephen getting grumpier and grumpier we tried again. It told us to take a right which we did...at this point I was getting worried for the suspension as we bounced down a farm track. Stephen was convinced it had to be right...until the GPS said we had to take a left...through the electric fence and into a field! This was definitely wrong! Of course there was no place to turn around until we got to the farm house. I was fully expecting a farmer to appear with a shotgun and tell us to "Get orf my laand"!!! We trundled slowly back down the track to the main road, pulled over at the Dymock Golf Club and fired off the distress flare!! I was practically hysterical with laughter when I called and said "come find us!".
Thankfully it didn't take Speedy Steve to find us and lead us back home and we were soon tucking into glasses of fizz. Just as well they hadn't made anything that would spoil as we were nearly an hour late at this point!!! Their new house is lovely! It has beams and everything, plus a kitchen to envy and a huge conservatory. I approve! Dinner was superb. I need to raise my game when they come to us...beans on toast won't cut it!!
We played a couple of games of Buzz on the playstation which was absolutely THE best fun! Stephen is now allowed to buy one!! I got to be Vampira and we could give the opposition a "virtual" cream pie in the face...or as I managed, you could give yourself a cream pie in the face... I have the reflexes of a sloth!!
Graham sparked out relatively early on, so it was just the three of us sitting watching music videos and chatting to the wee small hours. We took up residence in the spare room in the West Wing and soon collapsed into unconsciousness. I woke a couple of hours later needing a wee. The bed was against the wall and I was at the back. Stephen didn't respond well to my pleas to at least sit up so I could crawl out.."Climb over zzzzzzzzz". I was muttering nasty words as I was left with no choice but to do that. When I got back he was lying in the middle of the bed with the duvet tightly wrapped around him. More nasty words were muttered!!! I ended up sleeping under a towel clinging to the edge of the bed whilst he snored away oblivious to my discomfort. He was entirely oblivious actually! The young kitty was mewing and pawing the door at about 7:30, then coz I can't have closed the door properly on the catch, a few seconds later there was a thump as the cat landed on the bed and walked up and all over Stephen's chest. He didn't stir! As he's allergic to some cats (but not this one as it turns out!) I got up and shooed the little kitty out the door. Kitty was SO not speaking to me at breakfast!!! I think he was hoping I would feed him!
On the way home, with directions this time, it turned out we were within 100 yards of the house before we detoured to Dymock. D'oh!
Sleep deprivation
Our new CEO was visiting our site on Wednesday and Stephen was invited to a breakfast meeting with him, along with some of the other Fellows and graduates. It began at 08:30 sharp (our new CEO cannot abide unpunctuality and who wants to be the person to test that?!) so we were planning to be in at 8am. This meant a re-setting our our alarm clocks the night before....
S: "Right. We need to be up by 7:30 so I'll set mine for 7:20"
K: Thinks - no way! It takes me an hour to get ready. I'll set mine for 7:00...
S: "Hmm - maybe 7:20 is too late. I'll set mine for 7:00"
K: "Better allow some snooze time. I'll set mine for 6:45"
S: "You're right, I'll set mine for ..."
And so this went on until we were practically setting our alarms to go off 2 hours before we went to sleep!!! I think this had a knock-on effect...
I read my book for a bit as I wasn't particularly tired and switched the light out at 11:30. I woke up - wide awake, feeling refreshed and convinced that it was morning. I checked the clock. It said 12:35. I didn't believe it. I checked my watch and was convinced that it said 7am. I checked the clock on the blackberry. It also said 12:35 and I still didn't believe it!! It was only when Stephen grumped at me to stop fidgeting and go back to sleep that I began to realise that it really was only 12:35 and I'd only been asleep for an hour!!!
S: "Right. We need to be up by 7:30 so I'll set mine for 7:20"
K: Thinks - no way! It takes me an hour to get ready. I'll set mine for 7:00...
S: "Hmm - maybe 7:20 is too late. I'll set mine for 7:00"
K: "Better allow some snooze time. I'll set mine for 6:45"
S: "You're right, I'll set mine for ..."
And so this went on until we were practically setting our alarms to go off 2 hours before we went to sleep!!! I think this had a knock-on effect...
I read my book for a bit as I wasn't particularly tired and switched the light out at 11:30. I woke up - wide awake, feeling refreshed and convinced that it was morning. I checked the clock. It said 12:35. I didn't believe it. I checked my watch and was convinced that it said 7am. I checked the clock on the blackberry. It also said 12:35 and I still didn't believe it!! It was only when Stephen grumped at me to stop fidgeting and go back to sleep that I began to realise that it really was only 12:35 and I'd only been asleep for an hour!!!
Fantastico!
We have watched it avidly for the past three weeks and finally its at an end. Gino has been crowned King of the Jungle in "I'm a Celebrity, Get me out of here". His final Bushtucker trial was genuinely retch-inducing, so he's a deserved winner!
I'm just glad that we can finally get on with having a life!! We've had little choice but to watch it recently...we've been getting home late and by the time we have dinner and clear up its just coming on the telly, so we're pretty much forced to watch it! Then its time for bed. So...our weekday lives consist of work, dinner, I'm a Celebrity and sleep.... no wonder we're dull boys and girls right now!!
I'm just glad that we can finally get on with having a life!! We've had little choice but to watch it recently...we've been getting home late and by the time we have dinner and clear up its just coming on the telly, so we're pretty much forced to watch it! Then its time for bed. So...our weekday lives consist of work, dinner, I'm a Celebrity and sleep.... no wonder we're dull boys and girls right now!!
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