Athene19's Anecdotes

Snow week

2009-02-06T14:59:00.004Z

It won't stop snowing! Apparently the rain coming upwards from Europe colliding with the cold weather front from Siberia is making it perfect snowing weather in Britain. Not good when I have to drive to work every morning at 7:30am when it's still dark. I haven't seen one snowplough or gritting lorry yet. The only reason the main road is clear is from the sheer amount of traffic on it! I love the snow. I just don't like driving in the dark in it.

It's sleeting again outside. The temperature is struggling to get beyond 1C. It easily hits -3 to -6C every night. I've worn trainers to work every day this week. I've slipped a bit several times but have not yet fallen over (keep fingers crossed). I've skidded twice in my car, both on the way to work on Tuesday. I've managed to keep my car tyres firmly attached to the road since then (keeping fingers crossed here too).

I think we're in for more snow at the weekend. Maybe Monday will be a snow day again.

Snow day

2009-02-02T20:56:00.000Z

We had lots of snow overnight and I woke early this morning to find my car buried under 5 inches of snow. Flakes were still waving about furiously in the wind. I set up my work email and hoped that the day was cancelled. Nope. I emailed my boss saying I wasn't risking the unploughed and ungritted roads. He emailed back an hour later to say it was too dangerous and I should stay at home.

The rest of the day involved building two snowmen and a snowfrog and having snowball fights with other kids from the estate. A couple of them were truly lethal and I had snow thrown in my face and down my neck. It was fun though!

Just seen the weather forecast. A toe-tingling -4C tonight. Better get the hotwater bottles out.

What credit crunch?

2008-12-19T12:43:00.003Z

In response to Mel's comment about empty shops and the such like...

It's completely different here. Every time we go to Brookfield there's at least one person wheeling out a very large flat screen. Crowds all over the place. Trollies and food cages block our way. People push past in a desperate attempt to grab the last box of mince pies (there's plenty to go round!). Clothes shops offer 20-40% off as well as the new reduction in tax.

We always look at each other and say, "What credit crunch?" People are madly spending like never before. You'd think they would actually realise that it's this kind of crazy behaviour that got us into this mess in the first place...!

The end of the novels

2008-12-03T20:49:00.003Z

So, yeah I stopped the novel halfway through. Well, I was just over halfway. I got up to 26,452. But I got bored with it. And I can't expect people to enjoy reading it when I'm not enjoying writing it. Maybe I'll pick it up again at a later date.

I'm glad I had a bash at it though. It made me realise how little I actually knew about everyday life in ancient Greece. I had to keep leaving highlighted sentences all over so I could nip to another tab and Google my half-remembered factoids just to make sure I was right. It was crazy. Deffo more research needed next time!

On the plus side, Omouse has a stonking great novel. Shame I started at chpt 16 though. I had absolutely no idea what was going on...

Uhm, hello...?

2008-11-03T10:19:00.001Z

So Liarbyrd and Omouse are flunking. Well, they have to be! Not a nano-blog in sight. (start whinge) I wanna read people's nanos!!! (end whinge)

And we're off!!

2008-11-01T16:18:00.003Z

I went a bit crazy and did two chapters in one go. Well, I'm out all day tomorrow and won't find time to write.

I also went out today and bought myself a nice new wool coat because the pink one has seen better days. The lining broke between one arm and the back and no matter how many times I dry-clean it, it still has a grey tinge. So it's gone. And I bought a new handbag too. The purple one makes my shoulder hurt. I got a nice teal one with fancy chains and stuff. It's very retro.

One more day to go...

2008-10-31T16:10:00.000Z

Ooh, so excited!!

It's Nano time!

2008-10-09T08:55:00.001Z

I went for the plunge and signed up. Well, it's the 10th anniversary and all so I thought I'd give it another bash. I promise it won't be the awful chick-lit I spat out in 2004! #A-novelling we will go, a-novelling we will go, hey ho hey ho, a-novelling we will go. Oh, a-novelling...# (continues to hum) (at work) (with the new temp staring at her like she is crazy)

Puppetry of the Penis

2008-10-01T23:06:00.000Z

Yep, you read right. Basically an hour of watching two naked men making 'genital origami' as they delicately put it. They then not so delicately say, "Also a chance for you to stare at our willies for 50 mins." Yeah, that's what I thought it was.

I was, understandably, initially horrified but the men's enthusiasm and unabashed exhibitionism soon won us over and we were laughing like mad by the end. I might even get the book...

Late night shopping

2008-09-29T22:46:00.000Z

Anna took me to Lakeside this evening after work. It’s been mutually decided that we’ll all dress up for our grandparents’ 60th wedding anniversary this weekend as they usually look nice and make an effort, so we should too. We hit all the dress shops and finally get purchases from Debenhams – a black and teal paisley dress from Jane Norman for Anna and a beige and black lace dress by Julien Macdonald for me. We are gonna look gorgeous!!

It was quite late and we needed to find a sweet shop that sold ‘rhubarb and custards’ for Chris. We go to the big sweet shop and while Anna is making her choice, I nip over to Millie’s Cookies for hot chocolate and two cookies for Reuben. I walked back and she wasn’t there! What the hell? I sat on a bench and waited. She comes rushing out of the sweet shop.
“I looked for you but you weren’t in there.”
“I was by the beans at the back.”
“Why?”
“The man yelled at me.”
Look of disbelief.
“Yeah, he was talking in some rubbish language and I asked him about the chocolate bars and he was yelling at me, “Oh you people have TIME on your hands, you’re all RUBBISH, can’t do anything” and just having a go.”
“Shit!”
“I know! I was backed up into the corner and he turned and I escaped!”
“Do you want me to have a go at him?”
“No, you’re alright.”

Slightly shocked we go to the small sweet counter just round the corner from the shop. Anna shovels the sweets into a bag and the guy weighs them.
“£6.92” he says.
“Oh,” Anna says, “can I put some back?”
“How much?”
“Well I only wanted a fiver.”
“£5?”
“£5” Anna says, holding up 4 fingers and a thumb.
“£5,” the man repeats.
“You want £5 for that?” Anna asks, a bit bewildered.
“£5” he says again, holding his hand out and opening the till.
“Okay!” Anna says, whipping out a note.
The man takes it, gives her the bag and then passes us two chocolate mint creams as well.
“Cool,” I said. “The man round the corner yelled at us. Definitely coming here again!”
The man grinned. We walked away delighted.
“Do you think he understood what we were saying?” Anna asks.
“I dunno.” Pause. “Do you reckon it’s stealing?”
“Why? I paid for them!”
“Not fully.”
“Oh well.”

No Nano

2008-09-23T13:27:00.000Z

I thought I'd be smart and try to get my creative juices flowing in time for the Nano by writing a mini novella. I got to 2,000 words and had the beginnings of a very graphic sex novel. It was almost porn. If that's the best my imagination can come up with, I'm screwed. And I'm certainly not posting! So Nano is out, unless I can rewire my imagination to not write sex scenes even Mills and Boon wouldn't publish. I'm embarrassed to even admit it! My brain cells must be really dusty and dying for some action... (cough)

More new things

2008-09-09T11:46:00.000Z

‘Tis the week for new things! I went for a regular ear check-up and came out with digital hearing aids. It’s different from my old analogue aid in that my old aid just amplified all noises which could be quite painful for instance if there were sirens or road works. Now the only sounds that are amplified are the ones I can’t naturally hear, so in my case, very low frequency and all high frequency. All mid-range noises are amplified very slightly. Some noises that are usually muffled are now sharper. All in all, it’s a more natural hearing experience, although very strange as I’m used to everything being really loud and muffled!

Its all becoming a bit tinny though. And I can’t hear things behind me anymore. And I can’t hear things I used to. For instance, I can’t hear my car engine anymore. But in a way its good as it doesn’t drown out the radio anymore and I don’t have to have it so loud. However, as soon as I start to sing along to the music, my aids think I’m having a conversation and the music becomes quieter, because they cut out background noise to make talking easier. Oh, I’ll get the hang of it eventually!

New licence

2008-09-08T10:45:00.000Z

I received my new driving licence today. My photo is now black and white and there are a number of security features which are a nit naff – a steering wheel that changes colour, for example. But its nifty and has my new, lovely and very long name on it!

Home again

2008-07-21T11:25:00.000Z

We spent the rest of our holiday doing nothing. just relaxing by the pool, sleeping in our room, and enjoying to variety of cuisine available in the hotel. Every night was a themed night, so we had French, then Mediterranean, then Egyptian, then International… It was really good and better than having the same thing every day like we did on the Orchid.

But we flew home today and upon arriving at Gatwick, found ourselves among all the people we spent time with on the cruise ship! It was like a mini reunion! Then all it took was a short taxi ride to Gatwick Worth Hotel to pick up the car, and then we drove home. As much as I loved our honeymoon, it was nice to be back in our own bed again!!

Luxor Museum

2008-07-17T11:24:00.000Z

We want to see Luxor museum and so, armed with the helpful hints given to us at the beginning of our holiday, we find a taxi driver and order him to go straight to Luxor museum and go nowhere else. Our five minute taxi ride costs us $20 Egyptian - £2! He offers to take us somewhere else after our visit and we agree to meet him again at 12.30. the museum was lovely and cool and practically empty of people. It was so nice to be able to amble around and not worry about holding up the group or having to rush past things you want to see. Reuben feels a bit queasy but not as bad as I was, so he sits down for much of the visit.

To kill some time, we browse in the bookshop and are cornered by the owner. He offers me a mythology book for £20. I know its worth less and say I’m not interested. He then corners Reuben and says he takes cash, cheques, cards and we politely refuse again. But he stills persists, “Okay, £15” and we start to back up further into the shop. It was very intimidating and kinda scary. Reuben, poor thing, knocks over a pile of books on the floor as he steps back and the shopkeeper gets annoyed and says, “Fine, just go then.” We couldn’t wait and ran out as fast as we could. We stood near a tourist police guard for a bit of reassurance and the shopkeeper comes out of the shop again, brandishing the book and says to Reuben, “Fine, £10, but for her, not for you” and we snap it up! Nothing like a little haggling!!

Outside the taxi driver was waiting and said he wanted to go home and sleep. (Egyptians sleep in the middle of the day as its too hot to do anything.) We asked him to take us to MacDonalds and then he can go. Saying “I want MacDonalds” is a good way of saying that you want to see the Luxor marketplace but don’t want to be taken to every person he knows in town! Once at Maccy D’s, you can make your own way around the shops one block away and its supposed to be good. I say ‘supposed to be’ because we seem to have picked the wrong day and there isn’t a shop open anywhere! We stop in MD’s for a long cool drink and find another taxi to take us back to the hotel.

Before we step in, we notice a tourist shop open next door and go inside looking for magnets to take home. We chat to the shopkeeper who reveals that his brother has set up in North Yorkshire. “It’s a lot colder there than Egypt,” I half say to myself. “Yes,” the shopkeeper says, “its bloody freezing!” and we all burst out laughing! I finally chose a small Tutankhamen head for myself and a larger one for Anna, as she’s just moved out and might need something to decorate her flat. Next door to this place was a T-shirt shop and the guy was trying to sell us T-shirts for £20 each. We finally managed to haggle him down to £15 for three. We rock!

Back to Luxor

2008-07-16T11:24:00.000Z

We go back to Luxor later today so spend the morning by the pool. We meet a French couple next to us on the sun beds and Reuben chats away in his semi-fluent French and I catch a few words along the way. The woman doesn’t know a word of English so I have a slight advantage, but not by much!

While waiting for our pink-shirted rep, Reuben and I meet an English couple from… St Albans. Seriously. 20 miles down the road from us! Small world or what? They are going to the same hotel as us and we have a short conversation about the traffic in Cairo!

Our rep finally arrives and we say goodbye to him and our security escort at the airport. Back on a lovely Egypt Air flight to Luxor and then we meet with another minibus to take us to the hotel. Our Newcastle family companions leave us for Le Soffitel and we head on to Le Meridian, which is now owned by the Steigenberger group. Le Meridian hotel gives us a balcony room that overlooks the Nile and you can just make out the highest peak of the West bank where the Valley of the Kings is. Its all very grand!

Pyramids

2008-07-15T11:23:00.000Z

No matter how many times you’ve seen the pyramids on TV it is nothing compared to being right there and staring at them. To be honest I expected them to be a bit bigger… but then I expected the Sphinx to be smaller so it was a happy compromise! We walked around the pyramids, avoiding the locals trying to sell us camel rides. Anyone trying to take a photo of the camels were ordered to pay some money. I managed to sneak in a couple of shots for free! But Becky paid to stroke a camel which was what she really wanted to do so didn’t mind.

The police guard was still with us today and we have been joined by another Egyptologist, Iman. She is very amusing and chatters away about Cairo traffic. I ask if anyone actually takes driving tests in Egypt. Cairo is full of battered cars and we have not yet seen one vehicle without a bump or scratch. Iman laughs and says that even though Egyptians are supposed to take lessons, most get their licence through backhanders. Sneaky! She wouldn’t say if that was how she got her licence though!!

After spending ages walking around the pyramids and the Sphinx, we had a group photo of us all and made our way to the Citadel. It was beautiful and thankfully I was dressed appropriately in my shirt and cropped trousers. The other girls had to wear bright green robes as they wore vest tops and tiny shorts so had their shoulders, chests and upper legs exposed. Iman briefly told us how the Muslims prayed in the Citadel and the customs they observe. It led to an interesting discussion about how Muslims in other countries are usually more strict than those still in their countries of origin.

By now its 2pm and with the heat taking its toll we move to have lunch… at the Hard Rock Café. I know, I know, I’m in Egypt and we go to an American chain! Its sacrilege really… But we got there and found the buffet was not all that appetising anyway. Not so much as a burger! Wish we could have ordered off the menu! I was cheered up by the Harley in the lobby though. That made my day right there and then!

Lastly we went to the Cairo Museum. It has no air conditioning and is incredibly hot inside, almost sauna-like. There are fans dotted all over the walls and we keep trying to move so we can stand in front of them! Despite the heat it was a really cool museum and wished we could have spent more time on our own in there. We were shown all the treasures that Tutankhamen had inside his tomb and we even got to see all three of his sarcophaguses, as well as his jewellery, ankhs and all sorts of adornments. It was truly amazing. Sadly they have a lot of replicas in the museum as the originals are in other countries, mainly Britain, France and Germany. A lot was made about the Rosetta Stone in London and the head of Nefertiti in Berlin…!

By this time I feel terrible and poor Becky is very dehydrated and not well at all. We find the minibus and go back to the hotel. Trying to go by a back route we hit another driver. The minibus driver gets out, says sorry, and then drives off! Apparently this is the way things are done! It seems there are too many cars for all the narrow streets and I keep wincing every time we squeeze past yet another double-parked car!! In Cairo, rush hour is every hour. Almost like London, although you’ll find that going through Central at some times of the early hours its not so bad.

Back at the hotel we chill by the pool and just mooch around. The guy selling perfume in one of the hotel stores tries to sell me a non-alcoholic perfume made from pure lily of the valley. It is the most gorgeous smell in the world but I have no way of transporting it back.

Off to Cairo

2008-07-14T11:23:00.000Z

I managed breakfast this morning and feel a bit better but not yet 100%. I still have stomach cramps and think I might have OCD because I’m washing my hands constantly like a madwoman!! If you touch Egyptian money you have to wash your hands. That means that all you have to do is shake someone’s hands and then you have to wash them, because they might have been touching money. Its just crazy! The water is so dodgy you even have to clean your teeth with bottled water. I might have got some shower water in my mouth. Easily done…!

We left the Orchid this morning and travelled to the airport with a family from Newcastle to go to Cairo for two nights. I have to say the Egypt Air flight was so much nicer than the First Choice one, and if we ever go to Egypt again we’re definitely going to book it with these people. The man behind us wouldn’t get off his mobile phone. He had two flight attendants asking him to switch off and as soon as we started landing he turned it on again and he had another telling off!! Well, that’s what I presumed it was as it involved a lot of angry Egyptian words!!

Cairo is a lot cooler than Luxor. At 35C it is heaven and I actually feel like I can breathe! We meet the rep at the airport, a gangly man looking rather sheepish in his bright Barbie pink First Choice shirt. He should have chosen the multi-coloured one – its far less garish! The rep is travelling with a police escort. The guy is very broad-shouldered and has the biggest handgun you ever saw sticking out his back pocket. Its kinda scary…!

We take the minibus to the hotel which is right on the other side of the city. The financial district is very modern looking with tall towers and brand name shops, but the rest of Cairo was quite dilapidated. As far as the eye could see there were ramshackle looking houses and you could tell that most people living in Cairo were pretty poor.

The hotel in contrast is big and shiny. We freshen up and go to the light show being held at The Pyramids. It was absolutely fantastic and Marlon Brando’s (or is it Ben Kiingsley?) voiceover was just incredible! It told the story of how the pyramids were made, why, and also talks about the lesser known smaller pyramids of the queens and children.

Outside some beggar children asked Reuben for ‘baksheesh’. He held out his hand and went ‘baksheesh’ to them, and they started dancing for him. It was quite amusing to see this kid trying to dance among the crowds of people, coaches and a cow lying in the middle of the road!

The West bank

2008-07-13T11:22:00.000Z

It is a scorcher today and I do not feel good. I’m very excited to see the Valley of the Kings and we have an early start as it is very exposed so its important to see it all before the sun gets too high. However, as it is with most tour groups, there are always slow people and it makes the day drag longer than necessary. Today felt like one of those days. Its only 9am and I feel very faint with the heat.

I somehow manage to go into the tombs of Rameses the Great and Rameses IV before feeling so bad I simply have to sit down. My stomach is cramping like mad and the tablets I took earlier are not helping at all. One of the women on the boat with us offered to take me back so we go to the centre for a loo break and then to the coach. We drive on to Hatsheput’s temple and I think I’m going to collapse, even though I’m sitting down in an air-conditioned coach! I stay behind. Reuben feels bad leaving me behind and offers to stay with me, but I tell him to go on without me or I’ll feel bad for making him miss out!

It is turning out to be 47C today and even Reuben is suffering from the heat! Everyone returns from the temple and just before we set off again I throw up. So much for the scarab’s good luck! Only the thing is, the loo is so small that I have to stand outside so I can lean over the bowl so everyone can hear me and the poor couple behind me have to watch the entire thing. Great. I’m sick and incredibly embarrassed. I apologise to the couple behind me.
“As long as you’re okay?” the man says.
I weakly nod, feeling like absolute shit, and try to sleep on Reuben’s shoulder. The coach sets off for the Valley of the Queens. I just want to sleep. Some others stay back on the coach as well as its now too hot for them as well.

By the time we get back to the Orchid everyone is asking if I’m okay, that I seem to look better, and maybe I should have some hot lime juice and sleep. I go straight to my cabin and sleep all day. I get woken up for lunch but refuse to eat. I get woken up for dinner and manage two spoons of soup before feeling sick again. Man I feel soooo shitty.

The East bank

2008-07-12T11:22:00.000Z

We went through the Esna Lock at 10.30am this morning. We watched the engine crew working at the front and edging forwards in the queue of traffic going through the lock. It took a good hour to start queuing and actually get through. The engine crew must be suffering! We think its hot just standing on deck but image if you were working inside with all that steam from the engines around you all the time. Its just unthinkable working conditions.
Here in Luxor you have the East and West banks. The East bank contains Luxor itself and all the temples, shops, hotels etc. The West bank is where all the farmers and alabaster shops are, as well as the Valley of the Kings, Queens and Hatsheput’s Temple.

So it’s the East bank today and we went to Karnak temple and Luxor temple this evening. Both were amazing but unfortunately I feel a bit ‘delicate’ – Egypt is notorious for causing diarrhoea, no matter how careful you are - so didn’t enjoy them as much as I normally would have.

Karnak temple had a sacred lake and scarab statue, and a walk seven times around the scarab anticlockwise brings you good luck. Hope it brings me good luck as being dehydrated through a stomach virus in a very hot country does not make a happy Clare!

Luxor temple was beautiful and has a Coptic church tucked away in the back but it wasn’t in the best of conditions. Most of the decorative paint had come away and the stone looked very worse for wear.

I'm in Egypt...

2008-07-11T11:21:00.000Z

And doing nothing again. Its great! There are some mad people sunbathing in nearly 47C heat of the midday sun but then if they want skin cancer, that’s up to them! I’m staying here in the nice cool air-conditioned bar with my free teas and cakes! Good thing about all-inclusive trips: all drinks and food are free, even the alcoholic drinks, although its so hot you wouldn’t drink much as you’d just dehydrate quicker than ever! Tea is good for heat. I’m liking Egyptian tea.

Some people went to Abu Simbel at 4am this morning. We saw some pictures taken by another tourist and they were excellent. Reuben and I definitely need to go there another time!

The ship started to sail back to Luxor this afternoon after its two day stay in Aswan. We are expected to go through the Esna lock later tonight which should be quite a sight but Egyptian time could mean it won’t happen until early morning…

Aswan

2008-07-10T11:20:00.000Z

We’re in Aswan and its very very hot. And we’re doing nothing! I love my holiday. All the other tourists have gone to the Aswan Dam, Unfinished Obelisk and Philae temple. Some of them are also going on the camel ride to a nearby Nubian village.

Today the kitchen staff serve traditional Egyptian food so we have ful, rice and something very similar to moussaka. It was delicious. For dessert it was baklava which was so good that I simply have to buy some when I get to duty free!

Some of the passengers wanted to go on a felucca, a working boat on the Nile. It was a bit pricey for what it is, so Reuben and I opted out and just waved at everyone from the top deck! The felucca trips look like fun though. Earlier a felucca with a party on board went by. There was dancing and drums and just enough space on the felucca for ten people!

Kom Ombo

2008-07-09T11:20:00.000Z

Kom Ombo temple is dedicated to Sobek so it has a small area of mummified crocodiles. It also contains the only known Egyptian calendar so Islam was translating the seasons and the number of days worship needed for each festival while pointing at the symbols on this calendar. If any tourist went there without a guide, they would have missed it and just thought it another pretty pattern. It was amazing and so good to have that kind of knowledge behind the visits!

This evening we had the option of seeing Philae Island from a boat ride but we opted out. All this heat is beginning to tire us out and we came here to relax!!

Edfu Temple

2008-07-08T11:19:00.000Z

I can’t believe how damn hot it is here! I’m wearing sunblock, sitting in the shade, and I’m still getting a tingly feeling on my arms and legs. I think Reuben is turning a darker shade of brown…

We paid up for our excursions, which we thought were included but it was a misreading of the brochure. We’re going to all the temples except Abu Simbel and Philae and are passing on the day trip to Aswan dam and the Unfinished Obelisk. Maybe another time. Both require a 4am wake up call and a police escort for a 3 hour trip through the burning desert! Uhm, no thanks! We’re on honeymoon and would like some lie-ins please without worrying about being hijacked!!

So first trip is to Edfu Temple. It is gorgeous and our Egyptologist guide, Islam, points out all the interesting carvings and explains the myths and history behind the temple’s origins. He also recites the story of Isis, Osiris, Nephthys and Seth which was a better translation than I remember reading about in my mythology books. It was very hot though, even for 5pm. This area of Egypt is about 40-45C most days, and the lower temperature is while standing in the shade! Oh yes, I was suffering!! Back on the boat we sailed towards Kom Ombo ready for our early morning tour at the temple there.

The Orchid

2008-07-07T11:19:00.000Z

We got to the airport okay but the airline gave us seats ‘together’ which was with an aisle between us. I wonder what word they use when you sit without a large gap between you… The food was nasty. Some undercooked scrambled egg, a sausage that tasted of about 40% meat and some very squidgy mushrooms. My stomach flipped and I nearly threw up from the smell. However when Reuben told me on the plane we were going on a cruise for the first week I nearly had a hernia. I’ve always wanted to go on a cruise, and a cruise in Egypt is just incredible! I can’t wait…

The cruise ship is the Orchid and is fairly average as cruise ships go. It has a good number of staff running the laundry, room service, engine room, bar, restaurant and kitchen, and reception. The waiting staff are hilarious! “Egyptian?” they ask Reuben.
“No, guess where I’m from!” he challenges.
“India? Africa?”
“Mauritius!”
“Where?”
(This was to continue for the rest of the holiday!)

Anyway they teach us some Arabic words. ‘Aalikyum asalam’ means ‘hello’, ‘chokran’ means ‘thank you’, ‘laa’ means ‘no’ and ‘baksheesh’ means ‘money’. Seriously, these are all the words you need!!! When you get hassled by the street traders you just say ‘laa baksheesh’ or just ‘laa laa laa’ (no-no-no!). Easy peasy!

The food is okay. They must think we eat roast beef every day because that’s all they seem to serve. Oh and there are always roasted or boiled potatoes. I’m avoiding raw veg, fruit, salads and dairy. So I can have the grilled veg but not the cheese omelette. My tea and coffee will be black. The only dairy I will have is a smidgen of milk with my cereal!

The travel rep briefs us on Egyptian customs so we don’t offend people, and warns us about the aforementioned street traders. There are also special tourist police in white uniforms at all tourist attractions in case we get in trouble and need help. We were also told about taxi drivers and how unless you are firm and specifically say where you want to go, they will take you to meet their family and will be obliged to buy things from all their shops!

Gatwick Worth Hotel

2008-07-06T11:18:00.000Z

The hotel we stayed in at Gatwick is horrible. All the eateries are shut by the time we get there and it is all very gloomy. The TV reception is bad and the vending machine is extortionate. Need a holiday right now!

The aftermath

2008-07-05T11:18:00.000Z

People are calling me ‘Mrs’ and I hate it already. ‘Mrs’ implies that I’m old. I’m not. I’m 29. so I might be ‘Ms’ for the time being. Reuben and I were second down for breakfast; Pamela and David have beaten us to the top spot! We don’t look too worse for wear in our t-shirts and jeans, but I have popped my tiara back on for a bit of post-bridal glamour! We get the remaining guests to sign our guestbook which we forgot to get out yesterday, and see everyone off with our table decorations clutched in their arms! Amanda and Steve help us pack the car and take it all to our flat, and laugh as Reuben struggles to carry me over the threshold without pulling a back muscle!

After they left we returned the suits and then started to pack for our honeymoon. All I know is that its in Egypt for two weeks, nothing else. I don’t even know where in Egypt so I can’t read up on it beforehand. Its all very exciting though!

The Big Day

2008-07-04T11:18:00.000Z

I got hardly any sleep last night. I was too excited. It was like being a kid and going to Disneyland. We all had breakfast kindly brought, prepared and cooked by Amanda – salmon and scrambled egg on muffins with strawberries and raspberries. After our filling breakfast we all showered/washed, dressed and got ready to move to the hotel.

We arrived in two cars and waited around in the reception for a while until the room was ready. Our hairdressers arrived while we were waiting and we all went up to the room together, laden with dresses, shoes, headpieces, makeup, suitcases… I had one hairdresser while Tara and Amanda had another – my hair took much longer to straighten then curl into place! I then did my makeup and waited around until the last minute to put my dress on. During this time Anna panicked about the buttonholes not arriving yet, Debbie phoned about missing a train and being late, Nanny’s room was not on the ground floor, and several rooms were in a state of not being ready or cleaned in time for people to check in and get changed. Oh, and I worried that the bathroom lights had been left on and could Steve go check? Poor old Tara and Amanda were running up and down the hotel seeing people and fetching things, it was mad!

Finally 2.30pm rolled by and Amanda tied me up into my dress. 3pm on the dot John the photographer arrived and things got rolling. We did a number of poses and Dad was called up for some shots too. John then left to take some photos of people arriving and I started to pace. My stomach tightens a little with nerves and Amanda does a last-minute tightening of the dress! Finally Iain came up to say everyone was ready and we started going downstairs.

Dad is patiently waiting by the doors that lead into the gardens. Yes, we are getting married outside in the gazebo (which is a permanent structure so the marriage is legal!). There are lots of people here. Lots and lots of people. I don’t think I know some of them. The music starts and Tara and Amanda start walking. And then Dad and I start walking. And I start to feel a bit choked up as its all fitting into place and finally (finally!) happening! Only 15 months of planning…!

I reach the gazebo and Reuben is standing there, looking a little nervous himself, and is just gorgeous in his morning suit! I somehow manage to get inside the gazebo and the music stops. Then the ceremony starts. Jenny’s poem was excellent and Sabina’s reading was really well done too. I did sniffle a little bit but only because I couldn’t actually believe that someone as wonderful as Reuben was actually getting married to me!!

Once the ceremony was over and the bans signed, it was drinks and snacks while speaking with everyone who came. John was stalking me so there are lots of photos with me with funny expressions on my face as I’m yakking away. Then the group photos started. And then Reuben and I went out the back to have our own photos done. And then we did mock-cake-cutting and champagne toasting. My face really started to ache from all the smiling involved!

We then went out and started a receiving line into the reception hall for the meal. This way we get to say ‘hello’ to everyone at least once! It was during this time that my dress tore. I’d greeted off the last lot of people and suddenly there was this ripping sound and my train was on the floor with the hook hanging by a single thread. I was mortified!

But no time to waste. I rip the hook off its thread and hold on to it as Reuben and I enter the reception room. We cut the cake for real in front of lots of flashing cameras. It was like being at a film premiere! We then sit down and my dad did his ‘father of the bride’ speech, which was very good. Reuben then made his ‘thank you’ speech and Jeshen did a hilarious ‘best man’ speech. Definitely one of the better ones I’ve heard!

Then finally we eat! Salmon and prawn roulade followed by lamb and veg for the meat eaters, and melon trio followed by celeriac and goats cheese rosti for the veggies. All the food was excellent and people made the most of the table wine! While wedding cake and coffee was being served, Reuben and I visited some tables to chat with people some more. I was then whisked off by Tara and Pete to get my hook sewn back onto my dress so I could have my train up for the dancing. Pete spent a good five minutes concentrating very hard on my buttocks while sewing the hook! No, seriously, he did a fantastic job. Some people trod on the train afterwards and the hook still held! I was very impressed.

Hook sewn and shoes cleaned to the best of anyone’s ability, I rushed back to the reception hall to find Kev’s very impressive disco set-up. Very large speakers were booming out music and powerful purple light beams were shooting around the room. I double check the music order and ask for a nice white spotlight! And then Reuben and I dance to my fave song, Wonderful World by Louis Armstrong. We had Heatwave’s Always and Forever afterwards and our parents and Tara and Pete danced along to that too.

And then the Indian music came on. All of Reuben’s side were jiggling away for ages so I asked for a bit of Western stuff. Suddenly, they all sat down and my side were dancing instead! It was a bit funny actually. But the dancing went on until about 2am so everyone had a good time!! I had a few drinks and got to dance with some people I hadn’t seen in ages.

Admittedly we went to bed about 12:45 because my dress was killing me by that point, but the party was definitely still going strong after we left. We got upstairs and Reuben started to untie me. I had red lines all the way down my torso where the dress had been holding me in all day. I even thought I had some minor bruising at first but it ended up just being heat patches where my skin couldn’t breathe.

But it was a great day. I remember every single second and wanted to do it all over again!!

One more day to go…

2008-07-03T11:17:00.000Z

Reuben is going to work today but I have a day off. The first thing I do is drive to Hoddesdon and pick up my wedding dress. It is a beautiful full-length Amanda Wyatt strapless ivory dress with beading and ruching to one side. It is stunning! At home I hung it up in the spare room to air and straighten any creases. I then texted Reuben to say that if he came home while I was out he was forbidden to enter the spare room!!

I went out again and went to a small nail place in ‘old’ Cheshunt to have a French manicure. The women in there just spoke to each other in their own Oriental language and didn’t say a word to me other than ‘What you want?’ and ‘£8 please’. It was a good job though and was otherwise a pleasant experience.

I rushed home and was just in time to great Melissa and Jenny back from their rambles in York. We had a chat and went through their photos. Reuben came home and had an armful of stuff people at his office had given him – a banner, cards and vouchers. He then went off to deliver the hired suits to everyone and stay at his parents’ for the night. I gave him a mock-stern warning to turn up the next day and then we all got ready for our girly night in. I had pizza, wine and romantic slush. Anna, Amanda and Tara all arrived and Melissa grabs ‘Slipper and the Rose’ and starts to watch it. I don’t think she realised it was a 3hr musical… Halfway through and after lots of fast forwarding we plumped for ‘Love Actually’ instead!

I insist on an early night – don’t want too many eye bags – so beds were inflated and goodnights were said over Jenny’s singing ‘Get Me To The Church On Time’.

Hen night!

2008-06-28T11:16:00.000Z

So I survived my hen night!
Jane, Tara and Amanda arrived at mine and we feasted on very strong Cosmos and champagne with Archers! Fired up and raring to go, we all bundled into Pete’s and Reuben’s cars, as they had offered to drive us there and pick us up afterwards. It took ages to get there, to the point where we were still 45 mins away and the others had already arrived!

When we finally got there the salsa lesson was just starting so we rushed down the stairs, did some quick introductions, and let the dancing begin! As an obvious hen, wearing sash and flashing tiara (which hurt my head so I took it off), I was pushed onto the stage with another reluctant hen and we did the basic steps for any salsa dance (and back and forth, and back and forth, and to the bar, and forth, and turn turn turn…).

After the lesson we sat down and had wine/beer and nachos, followed by very bland fajitas. I make mine with lots more spice! We were then offered chocolate cake or tequila shots. What a silly question! So we had tequila shots! Well, when I say ‘we’ I mean that Tara, Amanda and myself had one and then I ended up having another two as other people didn’t want theirs. That was followed by another two. And then we ordered strawberry daiquiris – my favourite! A few daiquiris later we were all twirling around on the dance floor. No chance of dancing alone in this place. The guys edged the dance floor, looking for women to dance with and rapidly twirling round and round to the quick tempo of the live band. I was constantly plagued by men wanting to be ‘my last’ (eww!) and one just didn’t quite get the concept that I was about to get married…
“You have boyfriend?” he yells above the band, in an accent.
“Yes,” I yell back, “I’m getting married in six days.”
“No, I be your boyfriend!”
“No,” I say more slowly, “getting married in six days” and hold up fingers to demonstrate ‘six’.
“No,” he says again, “I be your boyfriend.”
“Naff off!”

I managed to escape eventually! And then I felt a bit drunk. And I was pounced on by another man and twirled around so much I thought I was going to fall over. And then he tried to flip me back over his leg and I tumbled into two chairs and a table. Everyone suddenly rushed over and I inspect a large bruise on my arm. I then decide I’ve had enough and want to go home.

I remember my sisters arriving and some of my friends leaving early. I remember crying though I don’t know what the hell about. I don’t remember much between that and waking up the next morning with still enough alcohol inside me to stop me driving for the rest of the day. Yes, a good night!!

Waiting...

2008-06-24T12:15:00.001Z

I'm very excited... 10 days to go!!! And only another 2 before my friends are here!! Can't wait...!!

Hen night

2008-06-07T16:10:00.002Z

My wonderful maid of honour has booked my hen night and I am so very excited. A trip down the Thames on a boat while chugging down a load of Cosmos sounded so very glitzy and glamourous but unfortunately the event organisers cancelled. So instead we've opted for a cool and sexy Salsa night, together with a dance lesson, tapas and hot Latino waiters. What more could a gal want...?!

Beauty trials

2008-06-06T22:00:00.000Z

I booked a hair and makeup trial a few weeks back and no-one turned up. I was kinda mad because I'd dragged Amanda and Tara down to my place fairly early in the morning (for a Saturday anyway). Then I found out that the woman who was meant to come was in a car accident; broken arm, broken leg, etc. I felt awful. But I got a nice compensation package worth £210 so it wasn't all a tragedy... Extra on top of what I booked was an airbrush foundation and false lashes. Jammy!

So I rebooked for today at Tara's to make it easier for everyone involved. 10 minutes early a young girl looking no more than 18 arrived and I was happy that it wasn't an older person who would have a fixed idea of how to dress my hair and stuff. We had a good natter between us and we had our make up sprayed on and our hair tonged, back-combed and pinned. It was a lot of fun and I enjoyed being fussed over! Then Tara and Amanda changed into their outfits with jewellery and shoes and it all looked so pretty and elegant. I'm so very excited!!!!

Reuben arrived later in the evening to add a bit of male company for Pete (!) and we all went out for an Indian which was very good food. I didn't drink (designated driver) but because we ate late everyone else's beer went straight to their heads!!! It was a fun night and we got home absolutely knackered! It's been a long week...

Indy 4

2008-05-22T23:02:00.000Z

Anna emailed me at work today and asked if I wanted to go see the new Indy film. Sure, why not? So 7.30pm Reuben and I arrive at the cinema in the hope that we didn't need pre-booked tickets. Not a soul! We are like the first people there! By the time the film started the cinema was still only half-full. Maybe its just been too long since the last Indy film was made...

Anyway, the film storyline is a bit silly and the ending was a bit cop-out but it was cool nonetheless and I enjoyed it. Harrison Ford hasn't lost any of his charisma and they tackle the age issue fairly early on in the film. And there were blink-and-you-miss-it references to the earlier films which was really cool. I have to admit its kinda helped having all the films repeated on TV in the run-up to the film's release. It was a nice little reminder of how good the films are.

Reuben wants to go again. When he goes I'll go see Sex and the City. :)

Drip, drip, drop little April shower...

2008-04-21T08:39:00.000Z

Yeah, I know April is notorious for rain (yesterday's thunderstorm was awesome) but please! A bit of warmth for 2008 wouldn't go amiss. I'm still wearing my winter 3/4 length coat to work. I even got my boots resoled the other day just because its still too cold to wear my shoes. With all the hype surrounding global warming I would expect temperatures to exceed 15C by now...

Mice for lunch

2008-04-16T08:38:00.000Z

So apparently we have mice in the office and it’s a result of people eating at their desks. So could we please eat elsewhere? Sure, just tell me and I’ll go. Let me just give you a few pointers first:
1. Work is inside an industrial depot in east of Tottenham with no canteen
2. The park at the front is notorious for mugging, pervs and drug dealing
3. The nearest eateries are a 10min walk and have a Burger King, Pizza Hut and KFC (not good for the calorie conscious… or any type of conscious if you eat junk for lunch every working day)
4. The high street is 10min walk in the other direction, notorious for mugging, stabbings, shootings and drug dealing
5. … Well, other than my car there isn’t anywhere else to eat. Guess I’m staying at my desk.

Crafts by Clare

2008-04-03T18:37:00.000Z

I have just spent the last 2 days making wedding invitations. I never want to make another card again! At least they’re pretty. And everything is done and dusted now so all we have to do is wait for the reply cards to come flooding in and we can do a table plan. Then we just wait for the big day!

British Summer Time...?

2008-03-30T20:05:00.000Z

The clocks went forward at 2am this morning for the start of British Summer Time. Summer is officially here! And outside it is snowing. Yep, you read correctly, it is snowing.

Reuben is in Manchester watching Liverpool v Man Utd. My cousin got free tickets for an executive box, someone dropped out, and would Reuben like a 3-course meal and a chance to watch his fave team for free? Well, there’s a no-brainer!

Reuben said, “Man Utd won 3-0. At least the food was good…”

Wanna V?

2008-03-07T08:35:00.000Z

V festival tickets went on sale today. I had 3 browsers all set up ready to buy and when 10am came around, whichever opened first would be the place I bought from. 10.01am and the whole thing crashed. Panicking I open them up again to find two have busy servers and cannot access the page. Nargh! Gigs and Tours has miraculously stayed open but tickets are selling fast. It’s now 10.06 and all weekend and red camping tickets are sold out. I email Anna and ask her if she wants to buy yellow camping tickets (don’t necessarily have to camp!). They sell out before she gets back to me.
I phone Reuben. “How do you fancy Staffordshire?”
Pause. “You really want to go?” Pause. “Yeah it sounds alright...”
I immediately book 3 tickets for Weston Park.

So we’re off to Staffordshire this summer!! Should be good, possibly less crowded and full of nicer people than the Essex chavs we always come across in Hylands Park. Chelmsford is the venue all the radio stations mass book so they can give out tickets during the weeks leading up to the festival. No-one mass books Staffordshire.

Lineup for now: Muse, The Prodigy, Squeeze, Kaiser Chiefs, Kings of Leon, Chemical Brothers, Scouting for Girls, Amy Macdonald, Newton Faulkner, The Hoosiers, Amy Winehouse, The Pigeons, Girls Aloud, Duffy, The Verve…

Florist

2008-03-03T13:33:00.000Z

The florist flunked out. We went to get a quote 3 weeks ago and she still hasn’t sent us the quote. I phoned a few times and we went into the shop twice but she keeps fobbing us off with excuses…“We close early so we’re busy at the moment”… “It’s Mothers Day weekend so we’re on a tight schedule”… I don’t care. I told her so. Details have repeatedly been left. We’ve decided not to go with her. If she’s like this over a simple quotation who knows what she might be like on the day…?

Jaysen

2008-02-14T13:30:00.000Z

So Reuben is in Mauritius suddenly because his cousin died over there. Actually his cousin died in The Seychelles but he is from Mauritius and was working in La Digue for a year. Anyways he drowned while swimming in the sea (it is cyclone season so it was maybe a bit foolish to be there in the first place) and Reuben is going over for the funeral.

I feel lonely at home. Everything is too quiet. It is nice to be able to watch the TV without him yakking on the phone though…!

Green Street

2008-01-19T13:29:00.000Z

Reuben’s mum, dad, sister, aunt and I went to East Ham today to go sari shopping. Amanda needs a sari for her wedding in August and I need one as a pressie from my future in-laws. Green St in East Ham is amazing. Every shop is a sari shop, a jewellery shop or a shoe/accessory shop. The colours, embroidery, beading, fabrics… It was dazzling and gorgeous!

Anyway Amanda got a gorgeous cream one with gold embroidery and gold and red beading and I got a baby blue one with silver beads and crystals.

Then we went browsing for shoes. The shoes were far more elegant than regular shoes and have crystals on the straps and engraving on the heels. They are all mostly either flat ballerina shoes or skyscraper high heels. I’m waiting till my sari has been made before I go crazy and buy every shoe in my size…!!

PS Reuben said I couldn’t have any more shoes. Surely another 3-4 pairs wouldn’t hurt…?

V Festival - Day 2

2007-08-19T14:12:00.000Z

Kinda tired from yesterday but nothing too major. Really glad I bought those wellies. The grass was a bit squelchy on the way out last night. And my coat was soaked with drizzle and the hood kept the wind out so I was nice and toasty warm!!

I cooked brekkie for everyone this morning and we left around the same time but, alas, too late to see the Goo Goo Dolls. We heard ‘Iris’ playing as we queued to get in – bother! I was kinda mad for at least an hour. Today we saw Sophie Ellis Bextor then McFly… over most of KT Tunstall which I was also mad about but Anna guilt-tripped us into seeing them – she said we made her see Sophie E-B. “Er, no, I said you should see James Morrison instead,” I reminded her. But she conveniently forgot I said that. And then we needed the loos. So I saw KT Tunstall on the big screen and a glimpse of her on the stage but that was about it. The Fratellis rocked the place and everyone sang every word of ‘Chelsea Dagger’ and ‘Whistle for the Choir’. James sang ‘Sit Down’ and it was electric! Then Kasabian came on. I watched for 20mins and didn’t know one song. I went off to the other stage and watched the Manic Street Preachers who were totally fab and even sang some new stuff. Then I went back to the main stage to see The Killers. Oh my God. They were fan-fucking-tastic! Totally worth my backache and the rain!

Unfortunately our plans to go as soon as the encore started were scuppered. They sang one song as an encore. Everyone left at the same time and it took 1 hr 45 to leave the field! We got home about 1am and I went to bed at 1.30am… Only to wake up the next day at 8am for work! Yippee (!). I’m totally shattered…

V Festival – Day 1

2007-08-18T14:11:00.000Z

Yay! V Fest! I haven’t been since 2005 so hopefully it’ll be a good year. Rain has been promised all weekend so we head off to Harlow town centre first to find raincoats or ponchos of some description. Every Argos in North London is out of £4 ponchos so we hunt around Milletts… which turns out to be very expensive - £35 for a kag. Anna hunts around for a sports shop and we end up buying large boys coats with hoods in the sale at JJBs. £13 each – bargain!! Reuben is content with a fleece and his Indy hat.

So armed with new coats and wellies we head off to Chelmsford. We wait around for Lynne and Ian to find us – we have their camping cooker and some food. Eventually we head into the park and see the The Proclaimers. Of course ‘500 Miles’ was very popular! The Thrills were a cool band and Paolo Nutini was too, but he sang more covers than his own stuff. Kanye West was pretty rubbish – he just yelled over samples of other songs. Everyone thinks he’s great but I was not impressed! ‘Stronger’ was his only decent song. Pink was easily the best performance of the day. She had a brilliant band and a really cool stage set-up. Snow Patrol was excellent and had a cool light show. The Foos played brilliantly in the face of wind and drizzle! Was a bit miffed that I missed their ‘secret’ acoustic gig under the pseudonym 606 on the C4 stage earlier…

We left after the encore started and was out of the park in 10 minutes. We arrived home really tired and suddenly quite peckish. So 11.30pm and we were ordering pizza! It was cool. And I slept like a log. My back hurts from standing up all day. Reuben keeps calling me an old woman…

UKC 2007

2007-06-10T16:17:00.000Z

Oh yeah! This time we're all on our merry way to New England for Road Trip II. I'm already looking forward to going into Boston and retracing the footsteps walked by Ally McBeal who I totally identified with during most of my twenties. The problem is that, other than Boston, I really don't know what else I want to see and do up there so I'm looking at a bit of research between now and then!

I just realised. This year marks a decade since we all met at UKC!! It feels longer... ;) LOL!!

What the Dickens...?

2007-05-25T12:02:00.000Z

A theme park dedicated to Charles Dickens? What a fantasmagorical idea! Take me there!!

Surprise, anyone?

2007-05-14T15:22:00.000Z

How evil are you?

It's Official!

2007-05-03T14:45:00.000Z

Right, now that all the important people have been told, its time to tell the general public... I'm engaged! Yaay!

Reuben proposed to me over a vacuum cleaner. Not the most romantic of situations I have to say. But nonetheless he said it and I had to wait 2 weeks before we could get a ring and tell people properly. I was itching like crazy to yell it out to all. I eventually did yell "I'M ENGAGED!" in a crazy high-pitched squeal down the phone to my brother. All he could say was, "Oh, Clare, wow, oh, wow..." and his g/f was laughing her head off in the background. I rendered him speechless. :)

So we got a ring and it was hot and sticky under all the lights in the jewellers so I thought my ring was a little on the big side but nothing major. By the end of the day it was falling off all the time. So its now sitting in its box waiting till we find a time to go back and get it altered.

Hurrah!

2007-04-30T12:36:00.000Z

I haven't been able to post for ages since Google took over. I keep crashing. Will just have to restrict my posts to the comments on mel and Jen's posts. :(

Quasi-celebrity

2007-01-12T16:42:00.000Z

I went back to work today and felt a bit like a celebrity. Everyone had heard about my ‘incident’ on Tuesday and wanted to know all the gory details and if I was okay now. I didn’t get a scrap of work done because I spent the day chatting to everyone! LOL!!

Sonic Death Monkey

2007-01-11T16:40:00.000Z

I received a parcel from Mel today (which by shrewd deduction means that it was probably Jenny who sent the chocolate treat maker - thanks guys!!). Inside were some lovely smelly lavender bath cubes and a bottle of Lush shower gel called Sonic Death Monkey. The name made me laugh out loud which hurt my stomach. It apparently smells of chocolate and coffee which sounds scrumptious but I decide against sniffing at the bottle just yet. Just smelling toast this morning was enough to make my stomach turn...

Stomach bugs and gremlins

2007-01-10T16:38:00.000Z

I woke up about 6.30am feeling really hot and slightly nauseous. I went to get up but couldn’t; I felt really weak. A few deep breaths and I somehow managed to haul myself up and into the en-suite. I don’t turn on the light because I don’t want to wake up Reuben and I kneel down and await the dreaded moment. Suddenly the light turns on and Reuben is behind me and helping me up. He said he heard a thud and came to see if I was okay. I say I’m fine and need the loo. He leaves me and I’m doing my business. Next thing I know I’m staring at the en-suite ceiling and Reuben is calling an ambulance. I had collapsed and was out for a minute or so. I wasn’t quite sure where I was so I (weakly) ask, “Where am I?” “In the bathroom. You fainted. Sod this, I’m calling an ambulance.”

I can’t move at all. The ambulance crew are there within minutes and bombard me with questions. They help me to my feet and sit me on the bed. One takes a blood sample and the other uses the handheld pump to take my blood pressure after failing to find my pulse anywhere in either of my wrists. I feel like blacking out again. I then throw up and feel marginally better.

Apparently it’s a bad stomach virus going around and I got it bad. Tell me about it! I felt dizzy every time I sit up or stand. Reuben took the day off work just in case I collapsed again and called in to my workplace for me too. By the evening I still felt quite bad so we called NHS Direct who were very helpful and gave us some good advice. They said if I was sick again or had stomach or chest cramps I had to call an ambulance. A rather eventful day in all...

Back to normal

2007-01-04T16:37:00.000Z

I went back to work today and made the classic mistake of signing a works order with 04/01/06. Oh well, at least its done now! And I know I’m missed from the office though I’m not sure it’s for the right reasons. I walked in and my colleague said, “Oh I’m so glad you’re here! The photocopier hasn’t been working for a week!”
I put my bag down on my desk and said, “And a very happy new year to you too!”

It turns out that three of the four drum cartridges went out and nobody knew what to do. It’s a big thing when the drums go because no-one can print, photocopy, email or fax from the machine. Anyhow it turns out I only have two spares so I phoned the company and ordered some more supplies. I then had to sort out three problems with emailing and one problem with spreadsheet page margins. By 10.30am I actually managed to have time to make a cup of coffee. Considering I start work at 8:30am that was a long time to function without caffeine!!

2007

2007-01-01T17:34:00.000Z

Another year rolls by... Happy new year everyone!!

A.T.H.E.N.E.

2006-12-30T17:31:00.000Z

Get Your Cyborg Name

"Not for now..."

2006-11-26T17:45:00.000Z

Reuben asks me if I want any biscuits.
"Yeah, go on," I said, "I like the butter crunch."
"We finished the butter crunch!"
"How come? I only had one!"
"Out of the whole packet? No..."

This is the thing. I can't eat lots of biscuits (or anything) at once. I have to take my time. Reuben is the opposite. He also doesn't understand the phrase, "Not for now." When asked if I want another biscuit and I answer, "Not for now", this obviously means that I don't want another now but may have one later. He thinks it means I don't want another ever and gives him free reign to eat all of the packet.

So now I'm munching shortbread, kind of annoyed that I only got to eat one biscuit out of the packet I picked out and bought myself...

"Please, see my film..."

2006-11-25T16:36:00.000Z

“Or I will be execute.” Borat has spoken so we obey his call and go see the latest film by Sasha Baron Cohen. It was incredibly offensive and hysterically funny. I will have that unpleasant image of male nakedness in my mind for days to come…

Bond... 21

2006-11-17T16:35:00.000Z

Reuben and I took his parents to see Casino Royale today with his cousin in tow. His cousin’s sister and mum went to an Indian film instead. Strange people… How can you pass up the opportunity of seeing a Bond film?!

Anyhow the film was brilliant, the way James Bond should be. Everyone is saying Daniel Craig is the best since Sean Connery (of course) but everyone always conveniently forgets that Timothy Dalton approached Bond in the exact same way. Must be a Welsh thing… It was a fantastic film!! See it!!

Cadbury's

2006-11-11T17:39:00.000Z

Anne arranged a trip to Cadbury's World in Birmingham for a tour around the chocolate factory there. As the minibus pick-up was at 8am, we decided to skip the bus and travel there ourselves, being faster and obviously more sleep-loving than minibus travellers!

The factory was enormous and smelt of warm chocolate all the way through. There was a little history on the start of Cadbury's and how Quaker Mr Cadbury founded his shop next to his father's drapery. As he made money out of his chocolate business, he and his sons built the village of Bournville as a community for its factory workers and their families. We then saw how chocolate is made and I particularly liked the way they make Creme Eggs. Mmm... yummy!!

We had free chocolate given out during the tour and I ate most of it on the move. The activity room didn't work very well so we had fun in the shop instead, buying some gifts for people and purchasing the new product, Purple Planet. I was in chocolate heaven all day. Funnily enough though, by the time we got to Amanda's, I couldn't face any more and I'll probably stay off chocolate for about a week!!

Moving in

2006-11-04T17:25:00.000Z

Reuben and I moved into our new flat about 6 weeks ago and we've spent the time between then and now buying stuff for the flat and generally trying to make it look as homely as a new build can be!

We painted before we moved in so that was okay. Not too many discrepancies about colours thank goodness. I think Reuben really just wanted to avoid any tantrums from me and I used my "I have an A level in art" argument to generally win anything decorating-related. :)

First we wanted to get curtains for the patio doors. It took all of our day off work to find any that would have fitted. I measured (correctly!) from the holes left by the previous owners to the ground nad it seems the doors are just not the standard size for drop-curtains. Everything was too short or too long. In the end we bought the longest pair we could find and refitted the curtain pole almost against the ceiling. The curtains slightly brush the floor now. And we have to fill the holes left by the previous tenants because they are just unsightly!

The blinds were another hassle. Our parents gave us money so we decided to buy 'designer' and get them fitted. The guy came round with a tape measure and a catalogue of slats in different widths, fabrics and colours. He casually quoted us £350 for two blinds. Reuben and I smiled politely and said we'd call him. We then drove to IKEA and bought the same blinds for £30.

So its been fun...!

Wedding no 3

2006-11-04T16:33:00.000Z

Dad and Pam got married today. All the family were involved in one way of another except for me. I guess this is what comes of trying to be independent. Anyway, Reuben and I had to sit separately for the ceremony which lasted about 10 minutes. My mother’s parents and sister were invited and looked as if they’d rather be somewhere else. I know the feeling…

After the ceremony everyone gathered for drinks in the bar. I however had to go and have my photo taken but the photographer didn’t seem particularly interested in having the family in the picture. He took loads of time getting bridesmaids Rosemary and Lynne into place and taking pictures of Dad and Pam on their own. When it came to all of us the shots were rushed. He took three with me almost completely obscured by my dad’s shoulder and Anna’s elaborate hairdo. Ho hum…

Dinner was weird too. It was a buffet table so everyone had a plate and went and helped themselves. However, being on the head table (away from Reuben) (again) we had our plates given to us with everything from the buffet in a big pile. It looked very unappetising and I don’t think anyone on the table ate much of it at all.

As people started to move around after coffee had been served the party started… If that’s what you could call it. It was a so-so pub band singing 80’s songs and they only performed for 15mins before going off for an hour’s break! Some finger food arrived onto the tables and we ate a bit and chatted to Chris and Cem but it wasn’t all that. We decided to call it a day and left about 10pm.

Hoorah!

2006-09-20T22:09:00.000Z

I know its taken a while but I have been busy - honest! Reuben and I have been looking for places to buy and we finally found a flat we love. It's just like the one we live in now, except the lounge and bedrooms are bigger, its on the top floor instead of the ground floor, we have v nice large patio doors and we have loft space. Yeah! We just have the little matter of paying a large deposit and solicitors fees before we get our completion date...

Turning 30...

2006-08-22T22:08:00.000Z

A mate of mine emailed me to tell me that he couldn’t bear the thought of turning 30 in the UK so spent a week in Havana and Cancun instead. It would appear that, despite trying to run away from the truth, the fact is that it catches up with you wherever you run off to. Home sweet home and reality sets in… having to tick the next box over on a form asking for your age is when the truth really hits you. Heheheh!!

I told you it would have been cheaper and more fun to have a bash! :)

Superman Returns

2006-08-15T22:07:00.000Z

Superman Returns is a great film! Bryan Singer kept the original music without jazzing it up and the original titles, although they were admittedly altered to have cleaner lines for more effectiveness. They even found an actor who looked and spoke like Christopher Reeve! It was all pretty fantasmagorical. Not a fan of Margot Kidder, I found Lois Lane was more likable in this film and a bit more feisty; none of this “Superman, save me!” crap. She helped herself thank you very much! My only complaint was Kevin Spacey, usually a brilliant actor I rarely fault. He was just too nasty as Lex Luthor. Luthor had a bit of class to his nastiness - Gene Hackman would have never ordered his henchmen to beat a Kryptonite-weakened Superman to a pulp. He would have just left him to suffer and die a slow death.

Reuben complained that the older series was better. Yeah, I know, I thought so too. You can never beat the originals, although the first Mission:Impossible film was an exception. He then went on to complain about how he could see where the film had been cut up and edited. (sigh) Never content with just saying that original is best, he always has to deconstruct the film. And yet he complains to me when I say anything negative about his gung-ho films, like when I was just commenting that Rambo II was stupid, story-less and just an excuse for muscle-flexing…

Go Button baby!

2006-08-06T20:29:00.000Z

Jenson came pole position!!

I couldn't believe it! I even had to watch the highlights just to make sure!! I thought I'd never see the day. Only took him 113 races... Maybe he took Jeremy Clarkson's advice and got rid of the bendy windscreen...?

Wedding no 2

2006-08-03T20:17:00.000Z

Reuben's mate Vish married Anupa today.

We turn up at Vish's place to follow his car to the temple in a convoy. We eat a small dish which was pretty much rice and semolina and drink almonds in milk, both of which are taken for good luck. We drive to the temple in Potters Bar and hang about in the car park for everyone to arrive. After a while, the men followed Vish's car down to the entrance and I walked with the women afterwards. We entered the temple through different doors but we sat together with Reuben's mates from Bolton and Vish's cousin.

It turns out its a Hindu wedding but not a religious ceremony (which would take about 3 hours). Instead a registrar performed the ceremony which lasted 10mins tops. Indian music played and the audience was a sea of colours with women decked out in some really gorgeous saris and eleaborate hairdos. Afterwards the lengthy ordeal of photo taking started and Reuben and I slipped out to pick up his parents for the evening 'do'.

An hour later we arrived and dinner had started. We picked up platters and ate a number of small Indian delicaces including samosas, spicy potatoes and yogurt cake. The nut crush was the best although really sweet and I could feel my teeth loosening from my gums...!!!

Sometime later the bride and groom were back upstairs having photos taken with everyone and guests congratulating them. There were about 100 people at the ceremony but about 400 afterwards! Everytime I looked towards the door more and more people were coming in. It was amazing!! At 9pm they were still coming in and it was a case of queuing to see the bride and groom and then leaving for home! Reuben managed to slip off to the pub with his mates sometime during the 2nd photo session... I was a bit miffed I wasn't invited!

The wedding was super. Now I just have to wait for wedding no 3...

My latest claim to fame

2006-07-31T22:06:00.000Z

I like Doctor Who a lot. So you can imagine my jealousy when I find out that an ex-classmate (who I was friends with for a bit) is the new leading lady in the new series next year! I only found out because I was trawling the Middlesex University website for postgraduate housing courses and her name sprang up as an ex-graduate hitting the big time.

Ten minutes later, I find that Tara has actually posted on Melissa’s blog about it. Damn! Yeah, I know, always the last to know etc etc.

Hi ho hi ho...

2006-07-29T22:05:00.000Z

Reuben’s parents have damp coming through the external-side wall of their hallway due to the exterior paint holding in moisture and not allowing the brickwork to ‘breathe’. As a result, the paint in the hallway is blown and the plaster is crumbling away. So while a contractor works on the exterior paint, Reuben, his mum and myself have to strip the internal wall so it can be replastered.

The idea was that we start on the top of the stairs and work our way down, slowly slowly. Reuben sits at the top, dust mask in place, and starts scraping at the wall with a small wallpaper scraper. Reuben’s mum, in the hallway by the door, smashes the paint and plaster away with one sweep of her trowel. So much for the ‘slowly’ idea! Reuben did away with his little scraper and wielded a hammer and chisel.

So we each work on a section, dust everywhere, and having a whale of a time smashing up the wall all the way through to the brickwork. In the end, we were hot and very dusty. My hair was grey and rigid from the plaster dust. It was gross. But at least the wall is now clear for the fresh plaster.

Paris in the summertime?

2006-07-21T20:14:00.000Z

Today we go home. Nicely tanned from the heat and just itching with anticipation of getting back to a cooler climate. And we're only 3 hours from London. How silly is that?! There are lessons to be learnt - Paris is best seen during Spring or Autumn. Trust me.

le Lafayette

2006-07-20T20:06:00.000Z

We our spending our last full day in Paris trawling le Galleria de Lafayette because we have 10% vouchers and because its supposed to be a beautiful shopping experience - complete with air con! Wahey! So we take a 20min walk down le Boulevard de Lafayette and reach the junction where le printemps is in full swing! We wander about with me stroking all the designer bags and shoes and Reuben admiring the watches and keeping me from going completely gaga. I mean there was this really nice pair of Chloe sandals and then I saw these gorgeous Gina slingbacks... (sigh)

And that was our day. A lazy walk into shopping central, wander around the shops, and a lazy walk back. I did buy a cut-price T-shirt in H&M because all my T-s are soaked in sweat (eww!) and we did have a fun time walking around a proper French market but that was the day really. Just walking and window-shopping. Perfect.

Le Louvre et le Basilique de Sacre-Coeur

2006-07-19T19:52:00.000Z

Another hot hot day in Paris and shortly after breakfast we head out to the Open Tour Bus again to go to the Louvre... again! A short queue and we were inside the lovely air conditioning!!

No-one had to tell us where the Mona Lisa was - it was where the whole crowd was surging. Everyone was walking in one direction, right past the Etruscan and Greek antiquities and through the Italian paintings to get to Da Vinci's piece de la resistance. Even then it was behind a thick sheet of glass and flanked by two security guards. We saw it just so we could say we did, but we weren't particularly interested and certainly didn't queue so we could reach the front of the painting and take a good gander. It just wasn't worth it. And there's a good replica in the science corridor of Our Lady's.

I was more interested in the Egyptian sarcophaguses and Greek statues (surprise, surprise!) and I had my picture taken with Minerva. Reuben had his picture taken with a bust of a Roman emperor, possibly Hadrian but I can't remember right now. He looked super cool in his shades next to this head though!!

Reluctantly after a couple of hours we head out again and find ourselves outside the Musee d'Orsay but we are finding this trip a bit pricey and decide to skip seeing anymore galleries. I was a little disappointed but this was supposed to be a cheap break... We can always just come over again when its a bit cooler!

We make our way back to the buses and head up to Montmartre so we can climb up to Le Basilique de Sacre-Coeur. This place was absolutely gorgeous and much better than Notre Dame, even though I thought I would never think that. It was well worth the hill climb in 30C heat! We stood at the top of the hill for ages, able to see for miles across France. We then sat by the fountain at the base of the Sacre-Coeur and dipped our feet in the water. It was ironic - I had just seen possibly the most beautiful building in France and the best part of my day is sitting with my feet in not-very-clean water next to a noisy family from Holland!

Open Tour Buses

2006-07-18T16:44:00.000Z

We wake up sweating like mad. There's no air conditioning in the hotel room and it's 30C outside. We shower and make our way down to breakfast on the basement level. A little woman looking a bit like Madame Tussaud asks for our room number and we sign our names on her list. She points to a table and we pick up our bowls and plates to see what's on offer. There are three Perspex bowls on a carousel full of cardboard corn flakes. A wicker stand holds bread rolls, croissants and sliced baguettes. Some ham and cheese are inside more Perspex bowls. Orange juice, grapefruit juice and milk stand in jugs by the coffee machine. Bienvenue a la petit déjuner pour quatre jours! All I can say is that the croissants are lovely although it'd be nice if the jam wasn't so watery. The corn flakes are cardboardy (as previously mentioned) and the milk is that longlife shit. However the coffee is the best in the world!

Open Tour Buses are great. For 28€ you get two days unlimited bus rides on Open Tour buses around Paris. Four lines stop at or near all the attractions and you even get personal earphones so you can listen to the commentary in 8 languages during the rides. So we grab our first bus outside le Gare du Nord and make our way to le Madeleine so we can switch lines and go to the Musée du Louvre. Of course, no one told us that all museums are shut on Tuesdays. Bother. We wander around the glass pyramid anyway and then decide that we will walk it to Notre Dame.

Bad idea. It's now 10.30am and the sun is in full swing. We ramble along the bank of the Seine, pitying the people sweltering under the glass on a barge trip and fanning themselves frantically. We arrive at some shade and gasp for breath. Reuben purchases bottles of water and we gulp it down with relish. We pass le Palais de Justice and finally spot le Cathédrale Notre-Dame de Paris surrounded by tourists in groups and taking pictures from all angles. We are herded into Notre Dame with the crowds speaking all different languages and manage to grab a seat near the pulpit so we can admire the windows. Having cooled down sufficiently we tour the cathedral and head back out into the heat and to catch another bus.

We pass le Institut de France and le Musée d'Orsay before getting off the bus at le Place de la Concorde so we can walk down the Avenue des Champs-Elysées. The shops were brilliant and we popped in and out again to appreciate the air conditioning. I now feel quite weak from the heat and am grateful each time a feel a slight breeze of air. We arrived at le Arc de Triomphe and took pictures before taking our third bus pass the Trocadéro and arriving at le Tour Eiffel.

It is now 1pm and incredibly hot. We walk through the park behind the tower and stand near a sprinkler to cool down. In our search for a bench we end up sitting on newspaper on a 'bird bench' with two lovely American old dears. One said she was born in London and had that distinctive Anglo-American twang in her voice that made her sound Canadian. Her friend was all-out Ohio. We chatted for a bit and ended up travelling on the bus with them pass the Hôtel des Invalides back to Le Madeleine so we could change tour lines and take a bus up to Montmartre.

Montmartre is a bit like Tottenham - it's dirty and you can get mugged in broad daylight and no-one would bat an eyelid. However it is where le Basilique duu Sacre-Coeur is situated, as well as all the sex shops and the infamous Moulin Rouge. As we travel up the Boulevard de Clichy Reuben constantly jokes about going into a sex shop. So we get off the bus and do just that. We decide against buying any DVDs as they all only play region 2 but I was a bit tempted to get my brother a magazine entitled Down the Hatch. Giggling madly we took our last bus back to le Gard du Nord and went back to the hotel.

Its been so hot we haven't eaten all day and have just drank the equivalent of 2½ litres of water each. So we shower for the 3rd time (our 2nd being the sprinkler in the park) and attempt to find somewhere were we can eat small portions. We go to Buffalo Bill and opt for the a la carte menu of burger or buffalo wings with fries followed by crême brulée and expresso. The restaurant had air con but they didn't turn it on, typically tight of Parisians. We did have some very nice Pina Coladas even though they cost 9€ a go. Eating and drinking is turning out to be expensive in Paris. Bottled water is at least 2.50€ a time for a regular 50cl bottle.

Desperate now for some air con we wander up the street and end up in McDonalds. Sitting under the air con slurping a vanilla milkshake was the ultimate feeling. You cannot believe how nice it was. And we decided we must be pretty desperate to be in Paris and Maccy D's being the best place to go.

Bonjour Paris!

2006-07-17T16:22:00.000Z

No, we didn't see the brilliant film Funny Face but have gone to Paris for the week. We decided we needed a break and ten minutes later we had a week booked up in Paris. Bizarre! So finally the day has arrived and we pack and take a taxi to Cheshunt station. From there we take a train to Liverpool St and then the Underground to Waterloo. ABBA songs aside, we catch the Eurostar at 4pm and take a direct train to Paris. This gives me a chance to try out my bad French (and even write some of my blog in the language too!).

We arrived at the Gare du Nord and were accosted by a beggar asking for money . We said we didn't have any, but then he saw us going to the Bureau de Change so we quickly ran around him when he was distratced by a group of tourists loading a taxi with their cases. We found our hotel really easily, literally just around the corner, and we checked in without any problems. The nightclerk introduced himself as Keith which we thought was rather English-sounding for a Frenchman. Its a bit like a Spaniard being called John Smith. Our room is on the 7th floor and has a lovely view of the Tour Eiffel and Le Basilique du Sacre-Coeur. The traffic however is deafening. In Paris there are no houses - everyone lives in a flat. So all the buildings are built 7-8 floors high. This makes the sounds in the street resonate up the buildings. So you can imagine how loud it is when you are situated on the main road. Nothing but police and ambulance sirens wailing through the air not to mention that Paris has possibly the world's worst drivers and they do nothing but cut each other up and sound their horns repetively.

Tired from the journey and feeling rather peckish, we leave our room and walk towards Le Gare de L'Est in search of food. We find a little Italian-style cafe and order a pizza to share. The waitress looks a bit annoyed by this and prances off into the kitchen. The couple next to us ask if we speak English. On reply, they start talking nineteen to the dozen about how they came to Paris for a long weekend and gave us tips about visiting Notre Dame and the Open Tour buses that dot the city. We thank them as they leave and we order dessert. I ask for fruit salad so the waitress yanks open the fridge door, pulls out some fruit, slams the door shut again and stalks off to the kitchen. It is mega hot in the retaurant and the ceiling fans are just circulating warm air. I think the heat is getting to her...! When it came to paying up, we put down the cash but mistook a 1 cent coin for a 1€ coin and she got really annoyed. "Fifty not five!" she yelled at us. Reuben swapped the cash over and apologised but she wasn't having any of it. Something tells me we won't ever be going back there...

Very hot and bothered now we wander back to the hotel and hope that next day we fare better.

80th birthday

2006-07-16T16:13:00.000Z

My nan turns 80 tomorrow so my uncle has organised a get-together at the Royal Chase. Reuben and I turn up and mill about waiting for everyone to arrive. I got to see all my cousins (except Hayley) whom I haven't seen in ages, plus my dad's cousin and her family, and my nan's brother and his wife, daughter and son-in-law. Then my dad's cousin's daughter turned up with her 3 girls. I just about managed to name everyone on the table!!

We sat near Chris and Cem on the near corner and had cold meats, salads and jacket potatoes passed round by waiting staff. We then had trifle for desert though it didn't have any cake at the bottom, so we debated whether it could actually be proper trifle or not... and then we had coffee and Elizabeth Shaws. I managed to knock over an entire jug of milk though it didn't drip onto anyone so that was lucky in a way! Nan's brother William, who everyone calls Jock(!) was passing around an old photo of him, my nan, and their other brother and sister, John and Nancy, both of whom have now passed. My Nan is crying in the photo so Jock says that she is always crying, and didn't he look handsome back in the day? It made us laugh a bit and he managed to make my Nan cry (with laughter) so he could prove a point. (sigh) Families, eh?

Wedding No 1

2006-07-15T15:57:00.000Z

Reuben and I have three weddings to attend this year (so far!) and this is the first. Alan is Reuben's mate since nursery and we have been invited to see him marry the lovely Caroline.

So early this morning we were up and dressed ready for our trip into Central London. They are getting married in St Bride's near St Paul's Cathedral and it is a really beautiful little church. We nabbed good seats at the back, facing the front, while everyone else was ferried into side-facing seats. Caroline came half an hour late (Alan sneaking peeks at his watch every ten minutes) and within the first 5 mins had the hiccups from giggling so much. The priest nipped round the back to give her a glass of water! Hymns were mumbled by the congregation, although since everyone knows the words to Jerusalem so this was belted out with much aplomb at the end. During the signing of the register, the St Bride's choir sang Cole Porter's You're The Top and Let's Do It (Lets Fall In Love) which I thought it was kinda cool...!!

We met up with Reuben's other mate from nursery, Sai-Hong and his wife and son, Deanna and James. We walked slowly and, in my case, painfully through the heat to the reception venue 10 mins away. It's about 28C today and my 3inch heels are not helping matters. One very sensible woman was carrying a posh pair of teal sandals with skyscraper heels and wearing an old pair of flip-flops during the walk to the venue. I wish I was so smart... By the time it came to photos though my shoes were also being held! I can only suffer so much for my art...!!!

During dinner, Reuben could no longer contain himself and starting mucking about, rubbing his nose and balancing a spoon on it. This gave the man next to him an opening and he grabbed two spoons and put them in his eyes. Suddenly, all the blokes on the table are playing spoons, putting the decorative feathers in their hair, and taking lots of silly pictures with the disposable cameras on the table. Deanna was pissing herself with laughter but I was just embarrassed. Reuben always has to start these things... Speeches followed and the best man told a rather amusing anecdote about how he and Alan pretended to be his boss and his superior at a wine-tasting event, even though neither of them know anything about wine. Their comments evenutally became ridiculously stupid (e.g. wine no 122 - disturbing lack of vanilla) and were sent by email to their boss' email before the end of the night...!

Tables were cleared and the DJ came on and proceeded to chase everyone away from the dance floor by playing Ruby Tuesday and Everybody Changes. With no proper dance tunes being played, we decided now was the time to leave and, saying goodbye to Alan and Caroline, we walked/hobbled back to the car.

Italy 2006

2006-07-09T22:04:00.000Z

When you are France’s star player and it is your last night as captain and as an international footballer, with millions of people across the world watching, what do you do? Well, if you happen to be Zinedine Zidane, you head-butt a member of the opposing footy team and get a red card for your idiocy. Well at least he won’t be forgotten.

Funnily enough, without their star player on hand and with Thierry Henry taken off for a substitution, France lost. Italy scored 5 spot-kick penalties after extra time and won the Jules Rimet. Bella! Italy are the 4th time winners of the World Cup. See ya in South Africa in 2010.

The Taverna

2006-07-08T22:01:00.000Z

A lot of money has exchanged hands this weekend and it turns out I owe Reuben about £30 so I offer to treat him to dinner. We decide to go to The Taverna in Waltham Abbey. It has great reviews and is supposed to serve very good Greek food. So we leave home in good time and arrive about 7pm and book a table for 7.30pm. We hang about in the pub opposite watching the Doctor Who series 2 finale in ‘mute’. Finally we head back and wait in the bar to be seated. We see a long table with ‘L’ plate balloons and Reuben says, “Oh look! There must be a hen night here tonight.”

We get seated and order. A large party of girls come in wearing silly hats, over-large sunglasses, and one in a veil. This must be the hen party… although they sat at another table.

And then another group of girls came in wearing cat masks and devil horns. They sat behind us.

And then another group, this time wearing bunny ears and placards saying ‘chicks’ and ‘cocks’ (depending on which side of the family they were on, I guess).

And that was our night. Streams of women just poured into the place, each having their own hen night. And Reuben and I sat there on a little table for two in the middle of all this, trying to have a nice night out and surrounded by very drunk and giggly girls. The group behind me had sparkler fireworks in their cocktails which worried me a little.

And it put us off our food a bit. Reuben said he felt a bit intimidated and I said that I did too! The waiter could have at least warned us when we booked the table that it appeared to be hen night for half the women in Waltham Abbey.

England bite the dust (again!)

2006-07-01T19:26:00.000Z

Yeah, my bad. I haven't written for ages!!! Last week at work was pretty slow so I started writing up all the missing bits of life story that I would have normally blogged about, and then sent it to my home email so I could post it. No email has arrived. The new system at work must have blocked it.

So all my footy anecdotes are for naught. Just five words: England never won on penalties.

Free lesson (9.30-11am)

2006-05-10T10:41:00.000Z

I'm taking some time out at uni... or college. Whatever. I'm a CONEL student which is college but I study at Middx Uni so go figure. It's one of them. Any case, I got a free lesson because I did my assignment at home instead of in class. No way was I handing in a piece of handwritten work. Everything is word processed. The lecturer said presentation wasn't part of the assessment criteria and as long as she could read it, she wasn't bothered. But I am. So I get a free lesson. And I spend it playing on the Internet and writing my blog. I would spend it studying but the library has a weird layout and I've gotten lost twice this morning. And then I tried to start typing up my last piece of work but I can't figure out the print system. I think I have to assign my work to a printer, then go to the print release computer next to the printer and release the page so it prints. Oh, and I have to buy credits at 50p a page. Not really worth it. I'm sure it was something like 10p or 20p at UKC. Has inflation gone up that much in nine years?

I should stop rambling and get to my next class...

Descending the slippery slope...

2006-05-01T21:32:00.000Z

It's my birthday. Yet another year has passed but no wrinkles have appeared as yet, so it's still good! But having reached my late 20's, I think I've had a good life so far. I mean, I've gone through education, moved out, found a gorgeous and wonderful man... My life is good.

I did get some birthday cards today which was nice. I secretly think some people forgot simply because I didn't organise a get-together like I usually do. But then I thought that people won't make the effort to come visit me and expect me to go into Central London to meet them, so I didn't try organise anything. What's the point? Too much time and effort is wasted and I'd rather spend it with people who appreciate me.

So I end up at Dad's. Which was weird really because it's the last place I expected to end up. But I was invited so I accepted. It was nice to chat to everyone and I showed off my holiday snaps while Anna and Rosemary showed us theirs from the Collectormania weekend in Milton Keynes.

It was a nice day. No rushing around. Just taking it easy. And that's all I want from life.

Day 8 - San Jose to Los Angeles (to London)

2006-04-22T21:13:00.000Z

So we're in San Jose and in a gorgeous hotel conveniently near the airport. Unfortunately, I threw up at 1am this morning. A week of junk food and a day of wine two days previously have not helped matters. I have a good diet at home and my body has rebelled against my not drinking water, OJ, and six portions of fruit aand veg a day. It sucks. I'm sick and this is probably the best place we've stayed in all week and would have been the best brekkie ever! I order Jenny to go and have breakfast while I have a nap, but she traipsed back 5mins later saying it wasn't the same... but she could have made her own waffles.

I am in no condition to fly but fly I must, and I take my bag to the car looking like death warmed up. We drop off the rental car at the airport and sit in the waiting area for ages doing crossword puzzles as we have arrived mega early. We board a place and an hour 15 mins later, we're in LAX. We trek in the Los Angeles heat from T4 to T2 with our heavy bags and heavy wine carriers. This is not improving my condition...

Liz picked up Jenny and we bade farewell. I check in my bags and wait...

I board the plane, grab an aisle seat, and sleep. And sleep. Dinner arrived and I ate the salad, sesame crackers, and Oreo cheesecake before... yep, sleeping! I wake up for breakfast and skip the egg and cheese roll, just drinking the OJ and picking at the fruit salad. As we land, I feel a little nauseous but remain okay! My bag came out relatively quickly and I skipped customs, rushing out to meet Reuben. Who I missed a lot while I was away!! But I am still tired, drained from being ill, and very jet-lagged. I desperately try to stay awake until 9pm and watch some highlights of the San Marino Grand Prix, which Michael Schumacher won, so it hasn't been the best of days!

TOTAL MILES (to the airport): 1.52

TOTAL MILES OVERALL: 506.08

Day 7 - San Francisco to San Jose

2006-04-21T21:03:00.000Z

We are up early but not early enough - breakfast finished 5 mins before we reached the reception to ask if breakfast was complimentary!! We check out anyway and walk to Ghiradelli Square.

It was all still opening when we arrived and a man with earphones was blasting the street dirt away with a power hose. Avoiding the water as much as possible, we buy chocolate from the Ghiradelli Chocolate Shop and head to the trolley car so we don't have to climb the very big hills back to the car! We do have to go down a couple of steep hills though, making us think of John Cleese's Ministry of Silly Walks. I decide against risking breaking my neck by goose-stepping down the hill Back in the car, we find the Cliff House easily and wait there for Joe and Jean... and eight other people! We have lunch and a good natter before finally making our way into San Jose to visit the Winchester Mystery House.

Mrs Winchester's husband and daughter both died before she was 40 and, being a spiritual woman, believed they had been taken by the spirits of those killed by the Winchester rifles. To appease (or confuse!) these spirits, she moved into an 8-bedroom house and, over 38 years of 24/7 construction and building work, turned it into a 6-acre 160 roomed house. Work only stopped after 38 years because she popped her clogs. The house includes a door to nowhere (open the door and drop 12 feet to the outside ground), a cupboard that opens into a wall, and a staircase that goes up to the ceiling... She was mad. Evidently. Jenny and I said in every room, "This woman is mad/ bonkers/ weird..." and other variations of 'whacked-out pyscho'. Melissa would have loved it.

TOTAL MILES: 48.66

Day 6 - Napa to San Francisco

2006-04-20T20:51:00.000Z

San Francisco again! After leaving Napa and sorting a lengthy mix-up with the motel room being upgraded but not being told it would cost more, we finally buy stamps for Melissa's postcards and drive to San Francisco around the San Pablo Bay so we arrive via the Golden Gate Bridge. We head up into the hills just before going over the bridge so we can take lots of photos and we look around the old fort built up there.

Back in the car, we head over the Golden Gate Bridge, find Fisherman's Wharf and park up so we can have a good wander, but not before we have driven down the Crookedest Street in the World - Lombard Street, made famous in films like Herbie and Bullet. I taped some of the descent on my camera and it was so cool!!

Anyway, we walked along Fisherman's Wharf and hopped into the Boudin Sourdough factory where we could watch the bread being made and taste the different varieties. Afterwards, I bought some souvenir T-shirts and we wandered up Pier 39, looking at all the tacky stuff and trying on silly hats in a hat shop! We then did a whistle-stop tour of the city on an open-top tour bus, passing the Civic Centre, Union Square, the financial district, and the Crookedest Street from a distance! We also saw Chinatown but we missed seeingf Ghiradelli Square, so we make it our priority to do that tomorrow!

TOTAL MILES: 52.33

Day 5 - Wine tasting in Napa

2006-04-19T20:38:00.000Z

We are in Napa so the only thing we can do is... wine tasting!! We picked up a flyer that has free or complimentary tasting 'flights' and circled all of them on the map. There are literally 100 wineries and vineyards all along Napa, St Helens, Yountville and Calistoga, so we were picking and choosing!

First stop was a chocolate shop, Annette's, where Jenny purchases a box of chocolates and a bottle of port chocolate sauce, which was a little strong for my liking. We then head into the Valley.

We went to five where we got free tastings, one of which we bought bottles of gorgeously-sweet wine and some equally gorgeous-tasting cheese! We then went to the Frank Family winery where I announced I had had enough wine for one day. It was hot, I hadn't eaten properly, and I'm downing all kinds of wine without any water inbetween! Jenny bought bottles here too, before we headed to Sterling, our last stop for the day. We took the cable car up the hillside to the winery at the top. We did the short walking tour of the winery, looking at the presses and barrels, before our last tasting of the day. I purchased wine here too because it was too scrumptious and I want Napa Valley wine in the my cupboard!!

In the afternoon, searching for a light snack in Calistoga, Jenny dropped in on a family friend who offered us use of her house until she had finished work. So we had a Napa Salad to share and went to the house, just a short drive away from Calistoga and the Petrified Forest. The house was cool as were Joe and Jean. They offered us dinner and we shared the chocolates bought this morning. Jenny took advantage of the port on offer while Joe and I had some Jim Beam and Glenfiddich! :) We arranged to meet again in San Francisco for lunch before departing... and I feel a little bit sick from all the alcohol consumption!

Day 4 - San Simeon to Napa

2006-04-18T20:23:00.000Z

We drove from San Simeon up towards Vallejo, past Berkeley and into Napa Valley... or so we thought. The 80 veered left and suddenly we're on a bridge.

Clare: "I thought we were gonna hit the bridge a bit later."
Jenny: "If you look to the left you should be able to see the Golden Gate Bridge."
Clare: "I can't see anything on your left!"
Jenny: "Oh look! There it is on the right!"
Clare: "But... if it's on the right, that means..."

I look up from my map and see tower blocks coming into view.

Clare: "We're on the Bay Bridge heading into San Francisco!"
Jenny: "...Fancy lunch?"

So we have lunch in San Francisco. Which has nothing to do with my map reading skills. Neither of us saw the 80 offering a right-turn away from San Francisco and into the direction we wanted to go. We reckon its a conspiracy to make people go to San Francisco and pay the Bay Bridge toll.

After lunch we head to Walgreens as my watch battery has ticked its last tock. The shopkeeper validates our parking ticket and we purchase a cheap purple watch (which incidently glows in the dark) and hair dye!!

Back in the car, we successfully navigate our way to Napa Valley and check into the motel. We then search the brochures and find a cool French cafe by the riverside called Angelos. I order a bottle of water which bills as $7. I am horrified when Jenny tells me this. However, there's still a long way to go before I catch up with her $130 mistake. :) The food was gorgeous though, and we had soup and salad, a cheese 'platter' to share (it could hardly be called a platter when there was only four bitesized portions of cheese, some honey and a thin slice of apple) and fruity cocktails.

Our wallets worse for wear, we head back to the motel and dye our hair. I dye Jenny's hair a shocking red, which is actually only a bit shocking where her former highlights have soaked up the dye. I then dye my own hair blonder so it looks sunkissed for a while when I'm back at work. However, there was somoe bad news - Jenny's hair dye turned the white towel pink. And the colour stain refused to come out. We hid it among other white towels and hope we don't get billed for it!

TOTAL MILES (including the San Francisco detour): 259.83

Day 3 - Hearst Castle

2006-04-17T22:51:00.000Z

The reason we are staying in San Simeon - Hearst Castle! Though its strictly not a castle, but a large mansion on the hilltop of the Santa Lucia Mountains. Its name is Casa Grande and is full of Spanish and Italian antiques and art. Its a 5-mile bus ride up to the top and has some really great views over the Pacific Ocean. Though we booked for 10am, we got an earlier tour at 8:45am and even that group was only half the usual amount! We got a tour that showed some of the rooms and the main gardens, but apparently there are also night tours which show a bit more of the house. It was freezing nonetheless. I think its warmer in England right now...!

After the castle we still had most of the day to kill so we headed into Cambria, a small town down the road from San Simeon. We decide on the spur of the moment to get pedicures, but the one place in town was closed due to a family emergency. Slightly put down, we then decide to purchase nail stuff and colour our hair. In both drug stores, we find only four hair colourants and its a permanent dye. But we do find funky nail polish!

We stop for lunch and I have the largest Caesar salad known to mankind. It came in a mixing bowl! And Jenny had equally large onion rings with her lunch, so big they looked as if they had been made around a drinking mug!

We head back to the motel to do our nails. Half a bottle of cheap wine and an episode of Prison Break later, I have a full set of green toenails out of a bottle called Kermit. Yep, Kermit green toes. Nice! It was very thin polish though and took three coats before it was noticeable. I couldn't be bothered with any more coats of polish and just lay there, chilled out.

Late evening we felt peckish and stopped at a seafood restuarant, the Mantra Ray, where I had the nicest piece of salmon ever! We tried to watch the sunset but it was way too cold and we killed the rest of the evening by starting a comic strip of our 'adventures' for Melissa. Jenny has the job of inking them and scanning them to the travel blog!

Day 2 - Santa Barbara to San Simeon

2006-04-16T22:24:00.000Z

I woke up at a decent time of 8.30am and had a breakfast of cereal and pastries... Apparently, iced pastries and sweetments are normal breakfast fare in motels and hotels!

Thanks to our error of initially driving in the wrong direction for dinner last night, we found a quicker route to the 101 and started our journey to San Simeon along the coastline and through the hills. The scenery was very green and quite breathtaking sometimes. It was a little bit like Scotland.

On the way, we stopped at Solvang, an American Danish village. Not a bit of Lederhosen or Buckwurst to be seen, though we did take pictures of the Viking Motel and its decorative roof! And of course we sampled some Danish pastries!!

We arrived at San Simeon late afternoon and check into the Quality Inn, across the road from the sea front. It is freezing. I wish I'd brought my jacket now! We drink cheap wine and eat 'bunny' cake, and decide on a plan for the rest of the week. Jenny hasn't booked anything else for the week, so we come up with a plan and spend about an hour looking for motels and booking them at the cheapest price we can find in the AAA book. Not too cheap though, or we'll be staying in unsecure dumps!

We take an evening stroll along the beach and our toes turn purple with cold before we decide to eat, stopping at a Mexican place and having a whole spread of food!!

TOTAL MILES: 141.19

Day 1 - Los Angeles to Santa Barbara

2006-04-15T21:35:00.000Z

I arrive in Los Angeles, slightly bedraggled but okay. I have just survived a 10-hour flight with zero knee crushing from the seat in front, so it was a good flight! Jenny greets me (after observing lots of people arriving with surfboards in very large cases) and we head out to the rental car we will be living in for the next week. In a word, it is ginormous! Its a brand new Dodge Charger with the widest dashboard you ever did see. "I was thinking about your leg room" Jenny offered, but it also means I will not attempt on any account to drive the car. Even though I can legally. So we immediately hit the road to Sata Barbara. I don't feel jetlagged. It's weird.

We arrive at the Sandpiper Motel and check in. Well... What happens is that Jenny hands over the confirmation email and the desk clerk looks a little perplexed and then says, "This is for last night. Do you have a booking for today?"

Jenny's face is one of complete horror. She's accidently booked Friday night instead of Saturday night! She explains her mistake and manages to get another room but she has to pay the full price again - another whole $130. The desk clerk says she might be able to get $50 back if she calls the manager on Monday and explains the situation.

We dump our stuff in the motel room, Jenny muttering about the cock-up and the money. All I can offer in my partially jetlagged state is that if this is the worst thing that can happen to us, it can't all be bad. We flip through brochures, leaflets, and the motel's advertisements and find a restuarant on the seafront called Eladio's. I really want to eat there, just for the name. You know? "Eladio! You are El Chupacabra!!"

We head for the coast (initially in the wrong direction) and find the restuarant. Except we expected Spanish or Mexican food and it was Italian. The food was good but the serving was way too big. And very garlicky. I think the burger was more garlic than meat!

All I have left to say about the day was that it was cold. I mean the temperature was good, around 15, but the wind was cold. I'm glad I brought my zip-up hoodie.

TOTAL MILES: 102.55

A Series of (Un)Fortunate(?) Events

2006-04-07T23:23:00.000Z

So, today was pretty eventful.

1. First up, it's Pete's birthday today. I'm disappointed to hear he's not throwing some wild and lavish bash but that's not the reason I'm not going to see him. We have already made plans to pick up rellies from Purley and take them to Tottenham. A long trip and one we cannot cancel. So, maybe another time Pete...?

2. An email came around saying that Bisi, the long-suffering temp receptionist who faces the sack at the end of the month, has found another job in Homes for Islington (with some colleagues from my college course, funnily enough!) so she will be leaving us shortly.

3. Another email then came around confirming once and for all that my senior is indeed leaving us for Lordship Lane. She said that she knew some of us were glad she was leaving and so was she. I was very very tempted to reply-all on the email and tell her that we were ALL glad she was leaving, not just some!! But I didn't.

4. Dad called me at work and asked if I was coming over today. I said no, I was meaning to come over next Friday, Good Friday, as I'm not here for Easter. He said okay and hung up. Weird...

5. Then, early in the evening, my Dad came over with Pam. It would appear that they're 'thinking' about getting married. But since Pam has a ring and they're telling everyone about it, I'm guessing that 'thinking' is now replaced with 'doing'. They then wanted to know if I was happy for them...

So yeah, eventful day...

Bienvenue d'Angleterre

2006-04-05T22:03:00.000Z

Reuben's uncle and aunt came over from Mauritius this evening - that is, his real uncle and aunt, not his uncle and aunt twice removed or the cousin of his parents...

Anyway, its the first time they've ever been abroad and Reuben hadn't seen them for eight years since he was last in Mauritius, so we picked up his parents and headed off to the airport. Hugs and air-kissing ensued and everyone spoke French. All evening. I felt like a lemon, catching only the odd word here and there, and by the time I had processed what the words meant, the conversation had already moved on. Wish I'd spent more time listening to Madame Gill now!

And then there were eight

2006-03-29T22:08:00.000Z

I can't believe Sir Alan voted Jo off in The Apprentice. He loves that woman, only because she's an absolute nutter! The other women can sense her popularity I think, so they bring her into the room at every opportunity in an attempt to get rid of her. From a business point of view, though, she wasn't that much of a threat. She was too hyperactive and unpredictable, not to mention completely unable to sell or haggle for anything. And apparently she trained salespeople for MG Rover (no wonder they collapsed!)...

But I'm sad she went. She was good fun to watch. I was semi-routing for her to win, but now I definitely want a win for Ruth or Paul. Both know about good business practice, get on with everyone, and are straight and direct when it comes to doing their job properly. Next to be voted off? Please be Syed, Samuel or Sharon. Oh, and I promise it's nothing to do with their names beginning with 'S'.

Four things (as requested by Omouse)

2006-03-19T12:55:00.002Z

Four...

Siblings
1. Anna
2. Heather
3. Christopher
4. Rosemary

Places I've lived
1. Bush Hill Park
2. Enfield
3. Canterbury
4. Cheshunt

US states I've stayed
1. New York
2. California
3. Kansas
4. Pennslyvania

Alcoholic drinks
1. Jack Daniels and Coke
2. Cosmopolitan
3. Strawberry daquiri
4. Sambuca shots

Things I can't live without
1. Coffee
2. Purse
3. Nokia 3330
4. Ka

Games I can play reasonably well
1. Scrabble
2. Monopoly
3. Black Jack
4. Bowling

Fave music at the moment
1. Green Day
2. James Blunt
3. Hard-Fi
4. Kaiser Chiefs

Films I've never seen (oh, the shame!)
1. Goodfellas
2. Alien
3. Pulp Fiction
4. Lawrence of Arabia

Films I should never have paid to see at the cinema
1. Batman and Robin
2. Message in a Bottle
3. Armageddon
4. The Avengers

Cars I love
1. Ford StreetKa
2. Lotus Elan
3. Madza RX8
4. Hyundai Coupé

CDs in my car
1. Green Day - International Superhits
2. Savage Garden - Truly Madly Completely
3. Britney Spears - My Prerogative
4. The Beatles - 1

Dinner Party III

2006-03-11T22:48:00.000Z

We invited my Dad & co. over for a buffet-style get-together, in hopes of endearing my father a little more to Reuben, and so we have have my other relatives around for dinner or whatever without offending my immediate family.

So there we were: Reuben and myself, plus Dad, Pam, my Nan, Anna and Rosemary, Chris and Cem, and Pam's kids, Lynne and Ian. Somehow we all managed to squeeze into the lounge and have a bit of a laugh. The chocolate fountain was another success, although a lot more was left over this time - about half. It was okay, though it started off a bit awkwardly, not to mention that my Dad said he hadn't received my text so hadn't picked up my grandmother and he had go to back!

But I think it was a success. Reuben wasn't ignored... so that's good. And when my brother left early to go to the pub to meet some mates, Reuben went forward to do the continental 'cheek kissing' as a laugh, and my brother just grabbed him and gave him a full cheek smacker!! Rosemary was horrified and said that I should start to look for a place of my own!! She's all so innocent, the cutie!! So yeah, success I think.

Needed vay-kay

2006-02-15T13:07:00.000Z

Due to work transfers it's common sense that all my holiday time this year may not get carried over into the next financial year (end of April) so it's best I take it all. However, I have 11 days left, and with day release to college every Wednesday, I haven't been using all my holiday time due to the endless game of catch-up I'm doing at work. So I decided that since I don't have college during the two weeks of the Easter break, I might as well take one of those weeks and have a holiday, unfortunately sans Reuben since he only has about 5 days. Being at home all day (or all week, rather) would bore me so I might as well go away.

Then I had another thought. Instead of taking the holiday alone (which doesn't really appeal to me anyway) I could hook up with a friend or two. And then another thought: Jenny works in a school. Schools have Easter breaks. I should hook up with Jenny 'Stateside' and make use of the brilliant flight deals.

So, whaddya think?! Ooh, and if Mel has the holiday too, that'd be even better!!!

BTW, a very happy birthday to Tara, Heather and Lynne. What on earth happens in June?!

My first ever!

2006-02-14T23:55:00.000Z

Yep, first ever St V's day when I'm not single. Hoo-yeah! It must be noted that Reuben and I don't 'do' the mushy thing and tend to send people funny cards on their birthdays/anniversaries/etc rather than sentimental ones that make us heave. However, this is a one-off. We did give each other cards but they were funny and cutesy rather than flowery and mush. He got me chocs, while I got him Million Dollar Baby, not romantic but I knew he wanted it and I didn't want to get anything predictable. I did unexpectedly get flowers in the evening though. He's pretty soppy at heart I think... (and he'll probably kill me when/if he reads this!)

BTW, thanx Jenny for the card. Don't feel bad about being single at the mo. In my 25 years of being single I think I'm experienced in these situations, and there's nothing better than a grande white chocolate cappucino with sprinkled vanilla and chocolate dust to make it go away. :) Calorific heaven. :)

Restructuring

2006-02-10T19:49:00.000Z

My workplace are carrying out yet another restructure but this time it is for an actual purpose! As a service, we are transferring out of the local government and into our own company at arms-length from the Council, known as an Arms Length Management Organisation, or ALMO (or Alamo as Reuben calls it!).

As a result of the restructure, I get a pay rise (not much, but enough!!) and I don't get to be managed by my current senior, but by the surveyors I support. So two good things came out of today. Restructures are usually pesky things involving office moves and title changes. But this one just involves a new ID and being managed by the people I should of been managed by in the first place. Yay!

Hippy bathday

2006-01-22T22:59:00.000Z

My brother turned 20 today. Finally out of the terrible teens. Only Rosemary to go now...! I didn't get him a pressie because Christmas has only just gone and he's probably bought everything he wanted but didn't get. He says he'll let me know if he thinks of anything.

Birthdays scare me. Especially when they involve my little brother and my sisters. Seeing them grow up and remembering celebrating my birthday at their age makes me realise how old I am and how fast everyone is growing up. I remember my 20th birthday. I was in 2nd year at UKC and Peter and I played pool in Rutherford bar for a couple of hours. Dad came down at the weekend with the siblings and we went to Pizza Hut in Margate. Exciting huh?

Happy birthday Chris. Enjoy it while it lasts!! Heheheheh!!

New Year's party

2006-01-14T16:50:00.000Z

Yeah, we're thinking up every excuse under the sun to host a party! Since the success of the first one, we decided to hold another party with a different group of people. We were a little bolder than before and put out a bigger spread which included the chocolate fountain as the centrepiece.

We invited Amanda and Steve, Suzy, Bruce and Jason. Suzy didn't know that Bruce and Jason were coming and hasn't seen them in years. Screams of delight ensued when they arrived and the whole party was definitely a louder affair than the last one. The food almost disappeared completely and the chocolate fountain was the highlight of the evening. We did prepare sponge fingers and fruit for dipping (satsumas, apples, strawberries and bananas) but found that people were happy to dip anything in - breadsticks and nacho tortilla chips being the favourites.

Yeah it was kinda wild and weird and I met some more new people along the way. Again it was really late before everyone left and Reuben and I were left with about 200g of solidified chocolate in the fountain base. Considering we melted down 800g of it thats a lot of chocolate consumed within a short space of time! No wonder everyone was bouncing off the walls!!

War of the Worlds

2006-01-10T23:03:00.000Z

Contains spoilers about the film!!!

I bought Reuben a War of the Worlds DVD for Christmas (among other things!) and we finally sat down tonight to watch it. It was okay but I was a bit disappointed that they just died out by themselves and didn't need some sort of gung-ho American hero in the form of Will Smith. Well, it did have Tom Cruise but he spent the whole film running away or hiding in a basement.
Me: "So they just died by themselves?"
Reuben: "Well, because they were eating and drinking our food. We're dying, what chance have they got?"
"But they weren't really eating food. They were killing people and feeding off their blood."
"Well that's the same."
"I guess aliens have AIDS and bird flu too then...?"

We laughed a lot. I think we're tired... This isn't as funny as I remember it being...

Again...?!

2006-01-09T17:05:00.000Z

I won Employee of the Month for January. Again.

Yeah, people at work are becoming suspicious since no one has ever won it twice. And I've won it twice. And when it came to the Employee of the Year awards I won for the department.

The bad thing was I was nominated by my line manager, the one person I really do not like very much and am currently undergoing proceedings against (secretly, of course). Reuben thinks it is a way of putting the cat among the pigeons: my manager suspects that her staff are petitioning against her removal so she awards one of them to make it look as if we're lying and she actually does appreciate us. Which is a lie. If you appreciate someone, do you yell and scream at them? Treat them like dirt? Be short and curt with them? All the time? Exactly.

So its hard going. I didn't want to throw the award back in her face although it was tempting (despite it being a bottle of champers). But now everyone thinks I'm her little model employee and I'm being teased about being her bodyguard. Ugh! It's tough.