French Follies

Last night I had a chuckle at a Paris restaurant over one of the translations on the menu. As an appetizer the menu listed old ham, didn't sound very appetising to me. I think aged ham would have been a better description. There are some words or phrases that shouldn't be translated literally.

Today started off as a normal enough day, my alarm clock went off I got out of bed and that's where things got interesting. I had to iron my shirt as it was wrinkled from being in my suitcase for a couple of days. When I plugged in the iron it blew a fuse in my hotel room. I didn't feel like calling down to the front desk so I put on the wrinkled shirt and headed down for breakfast.

I saw a basket of hard boiled eggs at the buffet and grabbed one. When I sat down and cracked the egg open it wasn't hard boiled after all but raw. When I went back to the buffet to get something else to eat I realized that further down the buffet was a basket for you to boil your own egg. I hadn't seen it earlier as there were other items between the basket of eggs and the boiler. I'm not sure I would have realized I had to cook the egg even if it was right next to the basket of eggs.

The flight back from Paris was a little delayed as the flight attendants had to keep coming through the aisle and counting the passengers. An announcement was then made confirming that the flight was going to London and if any passengers were on the wrong plane to please ring the attendant button. When nobody rang the button we were then informed that we all had to take out our boarding pass and they were coming through to confirm that everybody should be going to London Luton airport. While the boarding passes were being checked we were told that there were more passengers on the plane than there should be. When that check confirmed that everybody was destined for London they came through a second time to make sure it was the correct flight number. That check again confirmed that everybody was supposed to be on that flight. A final pass was made through the cabin to count the passengers after which time an announcement was made that there was an administrative error and we could now take off. A 20 minute delay all for the fact the cabin crew was given the wrong count of passengers.

Number of Flights YTD: 23

A touch of America

It seemed like everywhere I turned this weekend there were reminders of home. A co-worker was heading to NY on Friday afternoon. On Saturday, I sat across from a guy on the tube wearing a New England Patriots cap. On the way to the tube I was walking behind a guy wearing a Boston Red Sox cap. As I looked out the train window today I saw the American flag hanging in a window. Finally this afternoon I heard one of my neighbours down the street talking with an American accent.

Since the weather has been warmer I've been wearing a light fleece that says San Francisco. When people see it and hear my accent they automatically ask if I'm from San Francisco. When I see people wearing clothing from US teams or locations I don't automatically assume they're from those locations, it must be my accent.

Entertainment

Don't forget to vote for your favourite British blog. That's mine in case you were wondering. The Metro in the UK is holding a competition for the best British Blog http://www.metro.co.uk/askblogs. I mean what's better than an American blogging about life in Britain.

Today I bought tickets to see my first sporting event in the UK. I'm going to see a football game (that's soccer to you Americans) at the end of the month. Don't know anything about the 2 teams playing that's part of the fun and excitement. I'll let you know if I survive the adventure.

As I write this I am watching some telly. A lot of the shows are aired multiple times over the course of the week. Special programs as well as regular serials are displayed a couple of times in case you miss the first one which can be good, however when you only get a couple of stations seeing the same programs repeatedly can become a bit of a bore. There are a few American programs that air here, although a couple of weeks behind. Recently aired here are Christmas episodes of Ugly Betty and Desperate Housewives, American Idol is only a few days behind. This weeks episodes are airing here tonight, the only difference is the logo on the coca-cola glasses in front of the judges are blurred so you can't see the logo. I guess coca-cola doesn't sponsor American Idol in the UK.

And in summary a quiz for all of you. Explain the difference between England, Great Britain and the UK. The winner gets bragging rights.

Rules and Regulations

I got a nasty letter today from the Television Licensing society stating they've sent me numerous communications and my property is still unlicensed. Keep in mind I've had the television for all of 2 weeks and this is the first time they've contacted me. I receive a bunch of mail for former residents of the flat and maybe one of those letters was regarding the license.

I knew I needed a license and thought I could get it at the post office, however when I went to the post office I found out that you can no longer get licenses there. I swear I had it on my list of things to do this week. After the letter I went on-line and bought my license, hopefully I won't get arrested now.

Next on the list is to find a doctor. I spoke to a co-worker tonight and got information on the nhs website where I can find a local doctor. We'll see if I can get my prescription for my allergies before the season hits. We'll see how long I have to wait to get an appointment.

Weekend Projects

You would think since I didn't have to unpack any boxes that there wouldn't be that much to do. However the hardest part is figuring out where everything goes and assembling the furniture. The excursion to IKEA was a success as evidenced in the pictures below.

In order to put the desk together and get the study set up I first had to take the bed apart. I've called the property management to see if they will take the bed out but I haven't heard back from them yet. I didn't let that stop me disassembling the bed. Since I've always thought I'm a princess I have put 2 mattresses on my bed - however there's no pea under the mattresses.

Lunar Eclipse

Tonight there was a full lunar eclipse. Those of us lucky enough to live in Europe and the Middle East were able to witness this event. The last lunar eclipse I saw was the night the Red Sox won the World Series.

I ran out to snap a few pictures. I'm not quite sure where my tripod is at the moment so I had to create a makeshift system with a cardboard box and a brick wall. It wasn't perfect but it had to do. To further complicate matters the battery on my camera was dying so I was trying to work quicker than usual. Those are all of the excuses I have for why the moon appears 3 times in the photo - or maybe I meant to do that.

My house is becoming a home

The movers arrived this morning at 9 AM with 38 boxes of my belongings to unload and unpack. All I had to do was sit back and check off the inventory as boxes were brought into the house. I directed them to the appropriate room and they unpacked the boxes. It's nice not to have boxes and paper lying around that I need to dispose of. The movers carted all that stuff away with them. I should move like this more often - NOT.

The hard part now is figuring out where everything goes. I think a trip to IKEA is in store for the weekend to get some bookshelves, a desk and a whole host of other things.

Don't you now wish you volunteered to come help me unpack this weekend - nothing to unpack just shopping to do.

Random tidbit of information in two months I have been on 20 planes.