today's blond moment

Today, I needed to filter through about 650Mb worth of engineering drawings to find a few specific files. So, given my lack of engineering expertise, I went to an engineer that sits just down the hall from me for help:

Dovie (cheerfully enters office): "Hey Nikos...can you take a look at these and find the blah blah drawings? It's all Greek to me."

Nikos (chuckling): "No problem, I'm fluent."

Dovie: "Thanks. Just save them to blah blah drive."(cheerfully exits)

[end scene]

Hah! Did you catch it? I was talking to a guy named NIKOS! And, to make it worse, I JUST had a conversation with him last week about how the Greeks don't celebrate birthdays, but they DO celebrate name days...so in a way it's more fun, because everyone you know with your name gets to party together on the same day (which, for Nikos, means about 50% of the male population).

(This, of course, made me very happy to NOT be Greek, because...clearly...I would never get to have a day of celebration.)

About five minutes after I got back to my desk, I got the joke...and laughed out loud alone in my office. I'm sure Nikos could hear me, and I hope he thinks I was laughing about something (anything) else. And way too much time has passed by now for me to go back to him and say "Hey...that was funny" or something equally stupid.

Mustang planned an Astros Spirit Day for today (excellent timing), and this is the picture I sent for the "Best Dressed" contest they were having.

I got 'Honorable Mention' all the way from London!! It might seem weird that I'm holding my laptop, but I'm trying to show my commitment to our boys from across the pond...I've had to sign up to watch over the Internet (on a 2x3 inch viewing screen, mind you).

the ugly green monster bit me

Seriously!! How did she get this gig??? I've GOT to figure out how to work with Alyson Footer so that when she gets promoted to bigger and better things (is that possible, given what she's currently doing?), I can take over as the Astros inside-scoop-girl!

I actually teared up a bit reading this article.

She's GOT to know how sweet a gig she's got going...I just hope that she's ready to move on when I get back from England!

oh no...i might like golf

I’ve got a whole list of things I’d like to do or learn how to do while I’m in England...some are things I’ve always wanted to do, and some are just for the sake of trying something new and different. Writing, painting, photography classes and horseback riding lessons are all on the list…and just before coming here, I added golf.

--- background story ---
(feel no guilt for skipping down to the main point)
Now, I have never EVER wanted to play golf. I always said it looked boring and tedious, and it’s a really expensive hobby (and frankly, there are other equally expensive hobbies I’d rather take up first, such as photography – if you really get into it). However, this summer my mom gave me tickets to the Shell Houston Open, and I went with a few girlfriends. We got some good advice from a guy on the shuttle bus to the course: “You’ve got two options, really…either pick a green and plant yourself to watch all the players come through, OR pick a player and follow him through the course to watch his game.” We went for the “pick a green…” option, and planted ourselves at the 17th hole.

This is where I started realizing that my disdain for golf actually stems from a lack of understanding (and an assumption that it takes a special blend of talent, fate and fairy dust in order to consistently make contact with that teeny tiny ball) rather than tediousness. Turns out, I like tedious things (as long as they’re interesting or challenging) because it gives me something to really focus on and turn off the rest of the world.

The weekend after the Houston Open, we visited my aunt and uncle in the thriving metropolis of Tyler, TX. My uncle is a GREAT golfer, and when I was telling my story about the Open (because I knew he’d appreciate it), he offered to take me to the driving range at his club. And off we went…where I got a second piece of good advice: “Now, do you see how – all across this field – there are balls on the ground as close as 10 feet from the tee boxes? That means that EVERYBODY hits a bad shot here and there…so don’t you worry about these other guys out here. Just concentrate on what you’re doing and have fun.” Brilliant. Exactly what I needed to hear.
--- end background story ---

So, last week, I signed myself up for 6 weeks of golf lessons. Last night was Lesson #1, and I was the only pupil (Woohoo!! Private lessons!) After about 30 minutes of getting familiar with a few terms, learning how to hold the club, and some coaching on stance, my coach had me swinging on my own, and worked with me until I hit 3 balls in a row, completely unaided. Then he left me with a bucket of balls and said “You need to hit 25 more balls before you leave.”

I managed to hit at least that many, about half of which actually caught some really good air and flew straight ahead. The really good ones made about 125 yards (or is it feet – well, whatever measure of distance is commonly used in golf) and a couple of them looked like they went even farther than that!

Confession: I loved every minute of it.

i want alyson footer's job

Alyson Footer is a journalist for mlb.com, and I would love to have her job. I have visions of all sorts of cool things that she probably gets to do...like attend MLB parties throughout the year (in AND out of season) and any pre- or post-game activities that she wants, hang with all the cool broadcasters (who come up with all those amazing statistics and give away blue stars to the guys who make the really great plays), and of course...interview the players.

She's doing a daily commentary series with Chris Burke throughout the Astros post-season run, and I'm about as jealous as is humanly possible! Well...in all honesty, it WOULD be worse if she were interviewing Lance or Bradley ("Is that what he prefers you call him?" "No...I do").

Laurie...can you hook a sister up?

By the way, in case you missed Game 4 yesterday...you can check out the photo gallery page on MLB's website. There's a really great shot of the crowd in the Crawford Boxes all going for Jason Lane's home run ball. (Click on the "Sunday's Gallery" link at the bottom of the picture-box labeled "Daily Pics" to choose any galery for viewing.)

taking recommendations

I've just signed up with Blockbuster's version of the Netflix subscription service (Netflix hasn't made it to the UK yet).

Anybody care to share their 'must see' movies...?

it's not versailles, but it'll do

So, in case you're planning or considering a trip to the UK to take advantage of the free room and board...you might be interested in the luxurious accommodations you can expect.

Here are a few pictures of my home sweet home in England.

haven't received my post card?

Don't worry...it's on the way!

The US Postal Service promises "neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds", but they're no fools! The trick is, they just don't specify how long it will actually take!

how cool am i?

I'm feeling rather cool about my new place, due in part to the intercom system installed for visitors. It's so very metro...visitors have to buzz from the ground floor and then I buzz them into the building. THEN they trudge up the stairs and knock on the door.

At 7:45 this morning, as I was getting ready for work, someone buzzed my flat! Not being used to this noise, it took a few seconds to realize that it was NOT the fire alarm (sigh of relief), rather a visitor trying to gain access (Who needs to see me at THIS hour? Welcome back, panic attack!). And it took another few seconds to realize that it was likely the post man (not Joe, for those who heard that story) who was delivering my (insert singing angels in the background) broadband set-up package from British Telecom.

Frankly, it was WAY too early in the morning for me to have such an emotional roller coaster...maybe that buzzer isn't so cool after all!

i can't resist

I chuckle almost daily as I stroll through town center in search of lunch. There is a small clothing shop that is almost always along my chosen path for the day. Apparently, they sell shoes as well. The reason I chuckle is because of the sign that hangs in the window that looks like this:



Now, normally I would think lots of not-so-nice thoughts about the marketing person who made that sign, and the people who approved it. But in this particular scenario, I have thought:

• "I wonder if they're trying to be clever and make people think there's a sale on when there's really not...just to get them to wander into the store (I bet that's half the battle in the retail sales world)?", and
  
  
• "Hmm...I wonder if that's just how they say it here in England, as opposed to 'Buy one PAIR, get one free'?", and
  
  
• "I wonder if that shop just happens to sell shoes one at a time, instead of in pairs."
  
  
• "Maybe it's just another case of poorly done marketing that ended up with an interesting twist.", and
  
  
• "I wonder if ANYONE else has spent as much time thinking about that sign as me...including the people who made it?"
  

Whatever the answer, I still grin as I pass the sign every day...one of these days I'm going to wander into the shop just to find out, but for now I'm still enjoying my daily chuckle at all the possibilities.

patience is a virtue...

...and I'm not as virtuous as I'd like to be.

I’ve been in England almost 4 weeks.
I just got a phone last Friday (last day of week 3).
I should be getting broadband in 6 days.
But I still don’t have a television.

While this does mean that I’ve done a lot of reading and walking around town just to keep from sitting around staring at the walls, I am definitely looking forward to the day when the much anticipated TV does actually arrive. I have DVDs to watch, a language to learn (and isn’t a country’s media the best way to do that?), and hours of unallocated time in which to do it.

I’m living in a ‘fully furnished’ flat, and (clearly) a TV is supposed to be part of that package, but the people that lived here before me had their own TV, so I guess the owner never had to buy one. They agreed to provide a TV by mid-September, but we’re quickly approaching October and I still don’t hear the choir warming up to sing the Hallelujah Chorus.

It’s definitely an exercise in patience…and I have to say that God is forcing me to ask myself I would be spending as much time in the Word or studying or prayer if I did have my precious TV.

What I’m hating is that the answer is NO. And what is even more shameful is that even though I AM spending more time doing those things, I still find jingles of other things to do instead of being thankful for all the ‘extra time’ I could be spending with the Lord! So, it’s two lessons in one, really (and maybe more, by the time it’s all said and done):

1. Have patience.
   
2. Reconsider how I prioritize my ‘free time’ before the Great Distracter arrives.
   

my introduction to the island

So, let me take you back to the first weekend I spent on the Island after I left Houston. Although I came here to live in England, I spent the first two weeks traveling in Scotland for work, mostly. Anxious to spend as much time as possible in the land of the Scots, I signed up for some extra time in country over the weekend before I was to report for duty at a conference in Aberdeen.

For brevity’s sake, I’ll confine this story to the events of the first (full) day of travel with my 2 (American) co-workers who were also in Scotland to work the conference.

Early Saturday morning, we picked up the rent car (which I was nominated to drive, given my need for acquiring the skill anyway) and were assigned a 4-door Smart Car. It’s cute…in an odd sort of way. I can’t imagine having the 2-door version, but this one actually looks like a whole car. So we were off.

I’m happy to report, for the record, that over the course of the weekend we managed to avoid contact with all other cars and pedestrians with which we shared the roads of Scotland. And I say ‘we’ because it took all three of us to get around – driver, co-pilot and navigator.

We left Aberdeen, and headed for the Braemar Gathering (Highland Games - the link is to the pictures of this year's event) to witness a traditional Scottish event (the caber tossing is particularly exciting!). One of the big pulls for us to attend this particular event was that it is traditionally attended by some members of the royal family. And true to tradition, the Queen, Prince Phillip and Prince William arrived as expected at 3pm. We were rather excited that we were seeing the queen on our first day in the country – even though she was about 2 football fields away.

Not long after they’d arrived, we headed for back to Aberdeen. After stopping in a couple of small towns (to shop, of course) along the way, we headed across a small, short bridge to the entry gates of Balmoral Castle (Queen Liz’s home away from home). We couldn’t see much (except the gate itself), so we turned the car around and headed back for the main road. Now, remember that it’s my first day of driving in the UK, ever…so I look both directions about 4 times before committing to a turn in any direction. At my last glance to the left, I spotted the motorcade. The queen was on her way home! Her car literally turned RIGHT in front of us. I was, for a brief moment in time, approximately 4 feet from the Queen of England.



I will be eternally grateful to one of my travel pals for the speed of her trigger finger on the camera. What really got us about the whole thing was that, as we crossed the bridge to Balmoral, we noticed a few people that had started gathering to see the queen come home…and there were a couple of guards posted at the gate…but there was NO indication that we were MOMENTS away from her arrival. Needless to say, we all FREAKED OUT! We were screaming and laughing so hard that I had to pull the car over, and Heather (our shutter bug) had to get out of the car and run around a bit before she could begin to compose herself again.

A few minutes down the road, it occurred to me that, if I were an on-my-feet thinker, I would have hit the queen’s car with our little rental (hey, we bought the insurance!). Can’t you see it? “Why don’t you come in to the castle and we’ll exchange insurance information over tea” and all.



At least now I have a better plan for the next time I’m within striking distance!

simon

We’re about to move our offices to the 3rd floor of our current building. I’m working with two other people to plan the space: Shelley and Simon. In trying to explain how we plan to lay out the kitchen area, the phrase “Simon did a drawing” was said to me today. With the accent, “drawing” sounds like “drawRing”.

So, in my head, I immediately saw images of Mike Meyers in a SNL skit sitting in the tub playing the character of a little boy, singing “Well you know my name is Simon, and I like to do draw-rings”.

It was all I could do to keep myself from chuckling. I may have cracked a small grin, but at least whatever expression I had was not coupled with audible (and seemingly random) laughter.

wandering around edinburgh

I can't believe 3 days have already come and gone. I'm going to have to move closer to facing the real world tomorrow (but not QUITE back to office life yet).

I'm going to have to write a bit about our actual comings and goings...but for now, here are some pictures.

falling in love all over again

I have finally set foot again in the place where I first fell in love with Scotland...Edinburgh. I'm even staying at the same hostel I stayed at the last time I was here, and I'm amazed by my memory's ability to remember some of the places I visited last time, and exactly where they are in relation to my humble temporary abode.

I feel like I'm looking at everything with a bit more wisdom this time around, and although it is a dark place, so is a lot of Scotland...so is a lot of the world! However, Edinburgh is home to the roots of the Scottish reformation, begun by John Knox, whose church I hope to visit tomorrow (he's not there anymore).

I'll be happy to serve as tour guide for anyone who ever wants to make the trek across the Atlantic.

dedication or addiction?

This is me in Aberdeen this week anywhere from 11:00pm to 1:30am after a full day at the conference we're here for...I'm staying in the flat of a co-worker b/c all the hotels were booked, and of course some people decided at the last minnute that they wanted to come...so I gave up my hotel room to stay here, where I have a more 'homey' feel AND access to laundry facilities (which allowed me to pack a smaller suitcase for my two-week-stint in Scotland).

Someone in the building has a wireless network, but the only place I can get the signal in this flat is in the hallway...so this has been my 'home office' for the last 7 days.

I'm not sure if this makes me look dedicated to communication or addicted to wireless Internet...either way it was a good photo op!

scotland coastal trip

In case you don't pay much attention to the links on the right...here's a few pictures from my trip along the eastern coast of Scotland today.

We drove from Aberdeen down the coast to Stonehaven, which is a small town just before the Dunnotter (DunOTTER) Castle ruins - see more info here. Then we drove on to St. Andrew's and walked around the golf course, attended a wedding (on the 18th hole) and had tea in the club house. It was absolutely SURREAL!!

The 'old course' is closed on Sundays and you can just wander around on the course (and you can get married there too), but the other two were open for golfing (who knew there were THREE courses there?).

It will be out of order...but as soon as I have the pictures to prove my claims, I'll write about my day at the highland games in Braemar, Scotland.

home sweet home?

After a rather uneventful flight that included exactly zero minutes of sleep, I spent almost an hour in line to get through customs to enter my new homeland. Needless to say, I'm one sleepy chica.

Although I think it will be quite a while before I use the phrase 'home sweet home' with passion and confidence to speak of London (Woking), the truth is...this is my home now.

'Home home' will, obviously, always be Houston, Texas.

there's no place like home

Just in case anyone saw this article on FoxNews, I did NOT steal the ruby slippers.

Yes, I firmly believe that there's no place like home, and I did watch the Wizard of Oz every year when I was growing up, and I CAN sing every line of every song in the movie, and I AM aware that I'll be homesick at some point...but it REALLY WASN'T ME.

excel envy

If computers are alive (and I sometimes think they are), and as they are persnickety in nature, I think it's fair to assume that computers are girls. Further to that, I also think most software is of the female persuasion.

Limiting our subject to the standard-issue Microsoft Office Suite of products (Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Access), I'd have to say every girl on the block has Excel envy.

Let's face it...Word is a helpful girl. She can get the job done reasonably well, but she gets a little hard to work with when you ask her to do things she wasn't really made to do.

PowerPoint is the popular girl on the street. Everybody wants to work with her, but her beauty really is only skin-deep. She tries...and she can really put out the charts and graphs...but when they get too complicated, she can't cut it.

Access is your girl for out-of-control productivity, but you've got to spend a LOT of quality time with her to get there.

In the end, Excel is the one everybody wants to be. She can be very simple, but if you treat her right, she can handle some of the work even Access could do.

She is all things to all people. And all the other girls know it.