License to Chill

Ruminations from Saturday morning…

I feel more alive and, I can’t think of the word, but something along the lines of anticipation/excitement than I have in a long while. Just sitting here on a Saturday morning in my PJ’s, with a cuppa tea, reading a book, listening to music. I feel as if every possibility is in front of me – that I have the freedom of choice to decide what I will do today. I didn’t have to get up, showered and dressed and out the door for a day that was planned with errands, meetings, and events from morning through night, as had been the case since last fall.

There is something so civilized about being able to wake up without alarm, get a cuppa tea, and crawl back into bed to finish a book (Out Stealing Horses). It’s like that quotation that is painted on the wall of the Borders Book Store on Newbury & Bolyston Sts in Boston’s Back Bay "When I'm near the end of a book, I need to sleep in the same room with it." - Joan Didion

Sure, the fact that it is a foggy, drizzly, Saturday morning helps matters and adds to the aura of the morning, but it’s still nice nonetheless. And, it does much to reinforce the fact that those of us who have such luxuries are truly lucky – we do not have to get up to plow fields, tend farms, work machinery, work three jobs, care for others, etc. We have the luxury of being able to relax and enjoy our own lives.

I hope your Saturday morning was equally as enjoyable, whatever you chose to do.

London Sites

Trafalgar Square

A pub near Covent Garden. Notice how people are standing outside drinking, just on the sidewalk. That's what you do here - there are no 'patios' or set aside areas. People just use common sense and stand outside the bar. If a few bars are next to each other, everyone just blends into one large mass.

These next three are of the inside of St. Martin-in-the-Fields -- part of the Church of England, but probably more well known for the fact that there are hundreds of classical music concerts here each year.

Mental Floss

New items added to the sidebar!
(And does anyone who uses blogspot know how to have items on the lefthand side, too?)

Up next – City statistics (population, size, etc.) for Boston, London, Cincinnati, and Paris. If you want to see certain stats, let me know and I’ll try to find. Sorry if your city is not included, but these cities represent: where I just lived, where I am living, where I grew up and where my family is, and where I’ll most likely be living by the end of the year.

If there are other sidebar items you want to see, let me know and I’ll try to oblige.

Shopping and Church

I skipped church yesterday (Sunday) and went to the grocery with Marissa instead. We went east to Beckton (last stop on the DLR line) to Asda. I will complain because it’s part of the Wal-Mart family and I prefer not to shop there out of principle. However, this is easy to get to and the prices are really really good. Buying everything for 1-2 weeks worth of breakfast, lunch and dinner for only 55 GBP is great – especially considering how much more expensive it was when I’d shop with Gwen at Marks & Spencer, or even Sainsbury's. The food is fresh and there is a wide variety. Thank goodness Marissa has lived in this area for nine months, and has family and friends here, so she can show me all this stuff!

We got to the store at ten, only to realize it didn’t open until 11. So, we decided to take a walk. On one of the bus stop maps, it indicated a ‘ski slope’ to our right. We didn’t see anything besides a lot of shrubbery and something which could resemble a slope as it wasn’t even tall enough to be a hill. Bizarre.

When we got back at 10:45, we saw the doors were open. It seems to be popular here for stores to open 30 minutes early “for browsing” but you cannot buy anything until official opening hours. Weird.

As for skipping church, not a big deal today as I was busy all morning, then continued to organize my place (I think it’s all set now). But, few weeks ago I didn’t go and felt out of sorts all day. It was like what Quinn (Old South assistant minister) wrote in the UCC’s daily devotional a few weeks ago. He wrote about Cain settling in the Land of Nod (Gen 4:1-16) and a story about a man not knowing what to do on the weekends, until he started going to church. (Nod means ‘wandering’) That Sunday, it was as if my day never got started and my weekend never had closure. I basically wandered from movie to movie on TV, and from website to website. Granted, I know that sometimes a body needs to sleep in and recuperate, but I wonder to what expense?

A few weeks ago, I met the assistant minister at the American Church in London for lunch. It was a nice get to know each other session and I wonder if they do that with all potential new members? (No, I do not have plans for joining as I want to keep my membership at Old South). At lunch, she asked me what I’m looking for from the church and I was completely caught off guard by that question! What else was there to say besides: meaningful sermons, good music, and fellowship? I mean, really, why else does one go to church?

Capitalism

One really cool thing about where I live is that I am on the other side of Greenwich Mean Line. I don’t know my specific ‘coordinates’, but if you look at a map, I am just East of the line. Cool.

I am all settled in to my place now. Saturday, Jane, Joe, Marissa and I went to Tesco to buy all my ‘settling in’ things. Jane rented a car for the weekend and Marissa needed some more things, too. I got all sorts of electronic stuff – George Foreman (yippee!), stereo, clock/radio, landline phone, fans, lamps, etc. We were a “three cart family” going through this giant store. It was a lot of fun just going up and down the aisles and marveling at all the random things there are – a mango slicer? Is that necessary?

Funny with this store – it was east of where I live and in a strip mall. Could’ve been in America. Sure, Londoners might like to claim they like the independent stores, quaint things, etc. But this 24-hour Tesco was packed. People everywhere. You would’ve thought a major storm was coming through!

Joe had the TV of a former employee at his place, so he brought that and hooked up it and the DVD player. Unbelievable that I am now the owner of so much technology! The DVD player is set to play ‘multi-regions’ so my US DVDs will play here – whew! What would I do if not able to watch Star Wars, Fever Pitch, or Pride and Prejudice (BBC version of course!)?

The kitchen, I find, is the most confusing part of moving to any new place. How does the dishwasher work? The washing machine? The stove top? The oven? In the effort to make things ‘universal’ by having just pictures/icons on the knobs and dials, it has become more confusing. Even with the giant binder of user manuals that was left in the flat it is difficult.

And, I think the kitchen is the hardest room to get to fit ones needs. Unless you completely redo your own kitchen, things will never be right. For instance, here, the cabinets are tall so I need a step ladder if I want to reach the back of the second shelf (ok, it might be normal for the rest of the world, but I’m short!). This place doesn’t have any wide drawers, so I have to put my silverware organizer on the counter (taking up space)

But, I think moving around from place to place is good – it helps one to know what one wants / doesn’t want in a future home purchase.

Another oddity I’ve seen here is that there is limited to no closet space. The ‘wardrobe’ is a big hit. I’m not a fan – I want a closet where I can have lots of space and toss things I don’t know what to do with.

Champagne Si, Aqua No

Where to begin??? I think the thing that best sums it up is that it is company policy that pictures are not to be posted online (blogs, facebook, etc.) (Which makes me question the fact that people actually have to be told that pictures of coworkers who have been drinking all day should not be posted online.) That being said, the pictures below are just of scenery and do not show people nor anything related to the party events.

It was at the Manor House, southwest of London. Everyone met there at 11:30 in the morning, and the bar opened at noon and a good bbq lunch was at 12:30. All afternoon was spent sitting around and talking. At one point, a few women got the soccer ball out to kick it around, but soon the men took over and it became a full-on testosterone-filled match. Kind of lost its allure of fun, and certainly meant a lot more people (women) sitting out. It became uber-competitive, to the point of being ridiculous – I mean, it was just a company outing!

I did take a walk in the surrounding fields with Gwen and Valerie which was nice and relaxing. Otherwise, I just sat around all day relaxing (and blowing my nose; stupid cold!). It was typical London weather – chilly, yet warm; sunny yet very cloudy. At least there was no rain!

Dinner was at 7:45; mind you, the bar was open continuously all afternoon and there was no food between lunch and dinner. The food was ok, nothing spectacular, but not horrible. I ended up going back to my room around 9:30 right when dinner was ending and the dancing was starting because something I ate at dinner did NOT agree with me. And, if you know me, you know this was no major disappointment as I (1) don’t like dancing, and (2) like to go to bed early.

Yes, I said I went to my room. This was an ‘overnight optional’ company party! For those people who did not want to take a bus back at 5 p.m., there was the option for spending the night. The people in the London office like to party – some of them stayed up until 3 a.m.! Cripes! Needless to say, a lot of champagne was consumed by the group (it's very popular here, just like in the States you'd order a glass of wine). I only had a few Jameson & Gingers.

Here are some of the scenery pictures.

She Went to Paris

I went to Paris Wednesday night for Thursday meetings with GdF and returned that night. Very fast trip and no sight seeing. It was Geert and myself meeting with one colleague from GdF to discuss future synergies of the combined group.

We stayed at the Waldorf Trocadero (no relation to THE Waldorf). The rooms were tiny, and my view was of a wall, but the hotel was very nice and I would stay there again.

The two best parts of the trip were (1) the food and (2) the commute. I love the typical French breakfast (or what I think is typical as I've really only seen it in France, and in Europe I suppose) of baguette, cheese, meats, and tea. And, at the 'canteen' (aka cafeteria) at GdF, I had an individual pizza that had slices of brie melted on top - wow - that was good! The commute in the taxi from Gare du Nord to the hotel, and from the hotel to GdF, was great because we drove through L'Etoile (aka Arc du Triomphe). That is one big monument. When you're driving up to it, it's size is massive and impressive. And, driving around the ginormous rotary is fascinating. TEN streets come into it. You can see from the map how crazy it is, and why it's called L'Etoile (the star). And, you can see how close the hotel was to it, and the Eiffel Tower (although I didn't see it because we got to the hotel at 10:30 p.m. and left at 8 am.)

I know we have to go back to Paris early July, but am not sure if we'll go before then.

Growing Older But Not Up

What is it about me? Do I really look like I’m under 25? Ok, I know I commute with a back pack and in my sneakers (“trainers” to Brits (which are only worn at the gym) and “gym shoes” to you Mid-Westerners), but certainly, I look over 21, right?

At the grocery check-out counters, whenever I have a bottle of wine, the check-out person gives me about a quintuple take at which point I just respond with my age.

Then again, I went to “Cards Galore” (aka Hallmark – they use Hallmark bags, but it’s not the name of the store?) after church a few weeks ago and bought a new Snoopy (not full-size, but medium) and a Snoopy tea mug. The woman at the checkout asked if I wanted gift wrap or box and I said no, they were for me. Then the other store clerk came up and said those make great gifts for kids, asked if I wanted gift wrap, and again I said, no, they’re for me. What, adults don't buy stuffed animals and coffee mugs for themselves?

I guess I shouldn’t complain, but really, still be carded ten years later?

I Have Found Me A Home

WooHoo! The movers from Rossway Transport delivered my stuff yesterday and tonight will be my first night in my new place. Only two guys came to unload everything, but it still went relatively quickly. At least this time there was an elevator to use. (They poor men from Bolliger who moved me out of Boston had to deal with the 4th floor walk-up I was in!) I was very impressed with the Bolliger service – nothing broke and everything made it; but, my carbon footprint increased three-fold in size from moving due to the amount of packing material, boxes and tape they used.

It will be nice to be in my own place and space, even though staying at Gwen’s has been great. However, I think I have watched more TV the past five weeks than I have in the past five years! Gwen’s has the super cable package so we’d watch Simpsons reruns, CSI reruns (my choice), Extreme Makeover Home Edition (Gwen’s choice), and movies. I only have a phone line activated right now (but no phone) and I need to get the full TV/broadband/phone setup done. Yes, I will actually have a TV since my colleagues got me one; plus, it’s cheaper to get the trifecta of services, and I need the phone to call the States, and the broadband for, well, connection to the world, so it makes sense to have TV. Besides, if I watch British TV, it’s a cultural study, not entertainment, right?

Everything is unpacked and just tossed everywhere. I have some semblance of order (i.e. kitchen stuff is in kitchen area), but that’s about it. Most importantly, I got my bed made and my Snoopy’s unpacked (only 2 of them came with me). Now, if I could just figure out how to get the hot water turned on…

Take Another Road

At lunch yesterday, talking about ‘what would your dream job be’ – or rather, your dream way to spend your days. Of course, we all said something like sitting in a field reading a book. To which point Kevin said, well you could become a book editor and then you could sit in a field and read. To which I commented that having such a job would actually then mean attending meetings, having deadlines, etc.

But, as I was thinking about it, my dream job does not involve looking at Excel all day, does not really involve sitting at a desk all day, and doesn’t really need to focus on LNG. I think I’m so disgruntled with the whole intercompany fights (Suez London vs Suez North America) that it has taken the fun out of the business.

For my top three dream jobs, I came up with: Something along the lines of (1) Vulcanologist / Geologist / Storm Chaser / etc.; (2) builder / construction / electrician / etc.; and rounding out the third choice, something to do with teaching / university administration / etc. The problem with the first choice is that it involves degrees in mathematics, physics, etc. The second would involve some of the same, plus years of apprenticeship; and the third is appealing because it involves helping people learn and grow, but the politics, parents and paperwork is too much.

So, if you could name your top three dream jobs, what would they be? And what could you do now to start achieving one of them?

Commuting

Do I have some sort of sign above my head or aura that asks for either overweight or people with BO or people with bad breath to sit by me on the bus or subway (or any combination thereof)? Granted, I know I’m not the skinniest of people, but I do take care to contain my body within the confines of the seat.

And why is it always men that seem to take up the most room? Why must men sprawl in their bus seats? Really, how difficult is it to sit with your legs together and cross your arms instead of invading my space?

Do I look like I want your smelly clothes rubbing against my clean ones? Or your bad breath polluting the air I’m breathing at 7 a.m.? Just in case you are unsure, no, I do not.