Midnight Tea Time
Typically tea time is at 4pm in the afternoon, but England is eight hours ahead so it's really midnight over there right now. I'm back in the U.S. in body but not in mind. I think my mind is somewhere over the Atlantic trying to figure out a way down to the Caribbean. The flight back was long, long enough that I watched 3 movies and the end of one movie 3 times. I watched Pirates of the Caribbean 2, Monster House, which is a surprisingly good movie, and Fast and the Furious 2. I have to say though that I watched half of FF2 without any sound, but it didn't seem to make any difference. It was also more fun making up dialogue in my mind and made for a much better movie.
The last few days my mum and I were in England we met up with some old family friends. Thursday we spent a day with my mum's old boss when she worked account payable. It was nice seeing him again as I haven't seen him since I was 9 or 10. He's still basically the same, like much of London, but just a bit different. He and his partner are off to Saint Vincent for 5 months to live there while England goes through Winter. I have an open invitation to Saint Vincent if ever I want to go. Thursday evening we had dinner with some old family friends and their children. I used to hang out with the kids quite frequently when I was young, so it was cool hanging with them again. Well just one actually because the other was off working, so we drowned our sorrows in a bottle of wine, which was promptly proceded by a bottle of Jack. I was a bit buzzed and on teetering on being drunk when my mum asked me if I was in fact drunk. I replied, "if you can't tell, then I'm not going to tell you." I might have stuck out my tongue as an added retort but can't remember due to my old friend Jack.
Friday, my mum and I had an invitation to dinner from one of her old coworkers when she was a nurse. The dinner was actually for her son who was celebrating his 24 birthday. Coincidentally Friday was also the six year anniversary of when I started my job, so I get an extra week of vacation! Interestingly at the celebration I met a guy who recently graduated who will be working for BAE systems on the F-35. My company is working with BAE systems on the next generation of our satellites. Small world.
Saturday I went for my last long run in the city. I hadn't done much running in London, so I wanted to make the most of my last run. I ran through Hyde Park down past Buckingham Palace, then behind Downing Street which took me, after a sharp left, past the houses of parliament and Big Ben. I ran across Westminster Bridge and then alongside the Thames and ran by the Eye of London, a huge ferris wheel, The Tate, Saint Paul's Church. I also ran over the Millennium Bridge and Tower Bridge. All this took about an hour and fortyfive minutes, so after showering and stretching, not necessarily in that order my mum and I had a "traditional" English breakfast of sausages, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans, eggs, and toast. We went down to Oxford Circus again to pick up a thank you gift for my Godmother who got the Spamalot tickets for us and then went to another friend's house for lunch, where I stuffed myself. The rest of the afternoon I spent packing and relaxing in preparation for departure the next day.
I had a bit of trouble with my big yellow duffel bag at the airport on Sunday. I didn't check my bad in because there were a few delicate items I wanted to keep safe. When I checked my other bags in, the fellow at the counter asked me to put my bag in one of the sizing cages they had for carry-on luggage. I squeezed it in there after which my mum and I went to security check. Right before security check there was another bag size check which I was again asked to put my bag. I was getting a bit irritated at this point. Now after taking 20 steps there was yet another bag size check in clear view of the other one just behind me. The rocket scientist there again asked me to put my bag in the cage at which point I sort of lost it and went off on the guy. I was seriously pissed off that I was being asked to put my bag in the sizer again when I had just done it not 20 feet in front of him. I have never been so angry at another person before like that.
Well after getting through that guy and making a little scene, my mum and I passed through security, of which there were only two lines and another fine example of British efficiency, and another bag sizer we finally made it to the promised land of duty free shopping. I call it the promised land because there weren't any more bag size checks after security. We sat around a bit. I bought lots of chocolate and then we finally boarded our plane. I slept twice, for about 30 minutes each time, and then spent the rest of the day awake. I think spent about 22 hours awake yesterday, so I could go to sleep at a normal time here rather than over there. I'm currently sort of spacy after a lack of sleep and some beer at lunch, although that has made the day go by rather quick. I'm hoping to get some pictures up soon, so you'll see pictures of the Eiffel Tower and some French and English stuff up there in a bit.
And now for something completely different...
The last few days my mum and I were in England we met up with some old family friends. Thursday we spent a day with my mum's old boss when she worked account payable. It was nice seeing him again as I haven't seen him since I was 9 or 10. He's still basically the same, like much of London, but just a bit different. He and his partner are off to Saint Vincent for 5 months to live there while England goes through Winter. I have an open invitation to Saint Vincent if ever I want to go. Thursday evening we had dinner with some old family friends and their children. I used to hang out with the kids quite frequently when I was young, so it was cool hanging with them again. Well just one actually because the other was off working, so we drowned our sorrows in a bottle of wine, which was promptly proceded by a bottle of Jack. I was a bit buzzed and on teetering on being drunk when my mum asked me if I was in fact drunk. I replied, "if you can't tell, then I'm not going to tell you." I might have stuck out my tongue as an added retort but can't remember due to my old friend Jack.
Friday, my mum and I had an invitation to dinner from one of her old coworkers when she was a nurse. The dinner was actually for her son who was celebrating his 24 birthday. Coincidentally Friday was also the six year anniversary of when I started my job, so I get an extra week of vacation! Interestingly at the celebration I met a guy who recently graduated who will be working for BAE systems on the F-35. My company is working with BAE systems on the next generation of our satellites. Small world.
Saturday I went for my last long run in the city. I hadn't done much running in London, so I wanted to make the most of my last run. I ran through Hyde Park down past Buckingham Palace, then behind Downing Street which took me, after a sharp left, past the houses of parliament and Big Ben. I ran across Westminster Bridge and then alongside the Thames and ran by the Eye of London, a huge ferris wheel, The Tate, Saint Paul's Church. I also ran over the Millennium Bridge and Tower Bridge. All this took about an hour and fortyfive minutes, so after showering and stretching, not necessarily in that order my mum and I had a "traditional" English breakfast of sausages, bacon, mushrooms, tomatoes, beans, eggs, and toast. We went down to Oxford Circus again to pick up a thank you gift for my Godmother who got the Spamalot tickets for us and then went to another friend's house for lunch, where I stuffed myself. The rest of the afternoon I spent packing and relaxing in preparation for departure the next day.
I had a bit of trouble with my big yellow duffel bag at the airport on Sunday. I didn't check my bad in because there were a few delicate items I wanted to keep safe. When I checked my other bags in, the fellow at the counter asked me to put my bag in one of the sizing cages they had for carry-on luggage. I squeezed it in there after which my mum and I went to security check. Right before security check there was another bag size check which I was again asked to put my bag. I was getting a bit irritated at this point. Now after taking 20 steps there was yet another bag size check in clear view of the other one just behind me. The rocket scientist there again asked me to put my bag in the cage at which point I sort of lost it and went off on the guy. I was seriously pissed off that I was being asked to put my bag in the sizer again when I had just done it not 20 feet in front of him. I have never been so angry at another person before like that.
Well after getting through that guy and making a little scene, my mum and I passed through security, of which there were only two lines and another fine example of British efficiency, and another bag sizer we finally made it to the promised land of duty free shopping. I call it the promised land because there weren't any more bag size checks after security. We sat around a bit. I bought lots of chocolate and then we finally boarded our plane. I slept twice, for about 30 minutes each time, and then spent the rest of the day awake. I think spent about 22 hours awake yesterday, so I could go to sleep at a normal time here rather than over there. I'm currently sort of spacy after a lack of sleep and some beer at lunch, although that has made the day go by rather quick. I'm hoping to get some pictures up soon, so you'll see pictures of the Eiffel Tower and some French and English stuff up there in a bit.
And now for something completely different...
Labels: "Fast And the Furious", England, planes, security
This entry was posted
on 11.20.2006 at 16:18.
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