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Location, Location, Location
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| Saturday, January 27, 2007 |
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With our family extending it was inevitable that our living space would have to extend as well (to support nappy storage, visiting mothers-in-law and this kind of thing). The past few weeks have been spent scanning findaproperty.com, talking to estate agents, viewing flats, and waiting for the right place to come up. Today we were finally able to settle on a house in Greenwich, and went down to sign the papers. Greenwich is 10 minutes south on the tube from our current flat.
Although Greenwich is a lovely area, it wasn’t our only option. I read in the paper last week, that a 6'x10' converted broom closet in Chelsea is going for £170,000. Chelsea is an area known more for famous footballers than first time home owners, but hey, if you want to get on the property ladder and live in a posh neighbourhood at the same time, this could be your opportunity. At 6x10 there is plenty of room for the whole family (assuming that your spouse and offspring are plankton)...
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The Demise of Frosty
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| Friday, January 19, 2007 |
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The wind storms lashing the UK for the past two days have caused £1B damage to the capital alone. That’s a big mop-up job. Winds topped 80mph in London and 100mph on the coast. A colleague told of people literally getting blown off their feet walking across London Bridge (contrary to the nursery rhyme, it was the people falling down, not the bridge). As fallen trees blocked the tracks, trains were shut down and delayed across the country and it was a chaotic scene trying to get home last night.
At the height of rush hour, there were 66 overturned vehicles, and on one stretch of motorway, a gust of wind blew three lorries straight over and backed up traffic for hours. Hundreds of properties have been severely damaged, almost 200 flights cancelled, while King’s Cross and London Bridge stations had parts of their roofs blown off. Lord’s cricket ground was also damaged, and the five people who understand the game are sure to be disappointed.
The worst, however, was saved for Frosty...
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Nothing to Declare
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| Monday, January 08, 2007 |
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The flight back to London was pretty uneventful. As we sat awaiting take off I had a snicker as a guy a few rows in front of us jumped to his feet as liquid started to drip out of the overhead area and onto his head. Man, that would really stink, wouldn’t it? You should be settling in for a long, overnight flight, but instead your seat is getting all wet as some unknown substance leaks from the overhead bin. The amusement wore off as soon as the first drip landed on my lap.
My initial instinct was to stem the tide of water (I hope it was water) by pressing my pillow to the ceiling. Well that didn’t work, and soon the liquid was dripping over the sides of the pillow. I became aware that now both me and buddy were the source of amusement for the other passengers. Mel instructed me to run to the toilet and get paper towels. That did work, but against the towel I could see that the substance was yellow, and well, that bothered me a bit...
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Batchin' It
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| Saturday, December 30, 2006 |
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Well, as the best man in Mark’s (Mel’s brother’s) wedding, it came to me to organize the bachelor party. So what does one do in New Brunswick for a fun (and clean) guys’ night out, I wondered. Being across the ocean in London at the time, I turned to Google to get some ideas. I collected a rock solid set of suggestions from the search results and sent them across to the invitees: 1) rent a mechanical bull and have a rodeo, 2) hire a stage hypnotist, 3) rent a set of inflatable moon bounces, 4) go cow-tipping, 5) play outdoor paintball, 6) go to a hockey game.
I was a little bewildered as one-by-one, all my awesome ideas got shot down, except for one…
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A Birthday to Celebrate
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| Monday, December 25, 2006 |
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As you well know, today is my birthday. Every year there is a celebration in my honour and this year the celebration will be repeated. During this time of year there are many people shopping for gifts, there are many radio announcements, TV commercials, and in all parts of the world everyone is talking about my birthday.
It is really very nice to know, that at least once a year, some people think of me. As you know, the celebration of my birthday began many years ago. At first people seemed to understand and be thankful of all that I did for them, but in these times, no one seems to know the reason for the celebration. Family and friends get together and have a lot of fun, but they don't know the meaning of the celebration.
I remember that last year there was a great feast in my honour...
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Kristkindlmarkt, Munchen
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| Tuesday, December 12, 2006 |
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This past weekend we did a day-trip to see a German Christmas market. We visited Kristkindlemarkt (“Christ Child Market”) in Munich, which is the second biggest Christmas market in Germany after Nuremburg. The market is located right outside Marienplatz, the main square and centre of Munich since 1158.
We caught the two hour flight Friday after work and took the train into central Munich to find our hotel. Upon arriving at the hotel, we were informed that it was fully occupied, but with great apology they gave us the executive suite! It was a huge suite with a bedroom, two bathrooms, living area with couches, dining table and a work space. About three times as big as our flat in London. So far we liked Germany!
Our hotel was one stop on the metro from Marienplatz, so we decided to stay dry and skip the walk (it rained and snowed all day during our stay). We had a brief run-in with the automated ticket dispenser ...
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The Arrival of Father Christmas
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| Saturday, November 25, 2006 |
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Today was the long-awaited arrival of Father Christmas at Canary Wharf. Every child living in Docklands has likely been looking forward to this day for weeks. They’ve seen the sleigh display in the mall, and the only thing missing has been Father Christmas himself. The reason we were there was to see the fake snow, and I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one fascinated by how snow is produced at +10C.
The reindeer sleigh was due to arrive at 12:00 sharp. The scene was packed. All the little elves were there handing out chocolate and other goodies. There was face painting, there were balloon-tied animals, it was quite the show. At just before the hour, the excitement was building, and then it happened. Right on cue at 12:00 – the heavens opened...
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Small World Moment
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| Thursday, November 23, 2006 |
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Had an extremely weird “small world” moment this week. Our friend Mike from Bermondsey is in India to attend a wedding and do some trekking in the Himalayas. At the same time, Rachel (Vance) from Ontario is also in India doing some mission work. I got an email from Mike this week saying that he was in a remote village in northern India, and that he had met “your friend Stephen’s” sister Rachel! Is that weird or what?? In a country of a billion people and who knows how many thousands of churches and assemblies, and in some remote little village you bump into a friend of a friend!
I don’t know how many times I’ve met someone in another part of the world, and they’ve said, “Oh, Toronto! I know someone from Toronto! Do you know so-and-so?” You walk away thinking how silly it is that they’d even ask, and that they likely think Toronto is some small hick town. Well, I promise I won’t roll my eyes next time.
So, have you ever had a “small world” moment? Please share!
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Doodle 4 Google – My Britain
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| Tuesday, November 14, 2006 |
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You may have noticed that at certain times of the year, Google’s logo on their homepage gets “doodled” to reflect different people, events or special dates around the world. Until now, all of these have been designed by Google’s original doodler, 28-year-old Dennis Hwang.
'Doodle 4 Google - My Britain' was a recent nationwide design competition which was open to the UK's 10 million school children. Young people were invited to design a Google doodle representing what it means to them to be British today. The public voted on which doodles were the best in each age group, and Dennis chose the final winner. The winning doodle was displayed on the Google UK homepage for a day, being seen by around 18 million people. Check out the winning doodles! The winner will also be flown to Google’s “Googleplex” HQ in California to help Dennis design a doodle.
What is most interesting, though, is how the thousands of submitted doodles give insight into what kids today think of Britain. A full analysis was done of the doodles to look at the emerging themes, as well as to see how different regions, age groups and sexes view Britain.
Most people would think that kids today are obsessed with brand and image, but not one doodle featured Posh and Becks (they’ll be glad to know). Instead, “kids focussed on Britain’s rich history and heritage, ...
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Always Remember...
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| Saturday, November 11, 2006 |
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Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
-John 15:13
It is not the critic who counts, not the one who points out how the strong man stumbled or how the doer of deeds might have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred with sweat and dust and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; who knows the great enthusiasms, the great devotions, and spends himself in a worthy cause; who, if he wins, knows the triumph of high achievement; and who, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls, who know neither victory nor defeat.
-Theodore Roosevelt
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