Seriously, I MEAN to keep up with this, but it just never works out properly. So, watch this space, as I plan to go back and fill in the details. I just wanted all of the days to appear in the right order on the blog when I am done.
Friday, May 10, 2013
Day 3: London and Prestatyn, 3 May 2013
Seriously, I MEAN to keep up with this, but it just never works out properly. So, watch this space, as I plan to go back and fill in the details. I just wanted all of the days to appear in the right order on the blog when I am done.
Day 2: London, 2 May 2013
Seriously, I MEAN to keep up with this, but it just never works out properly. So, watch this space, as I plan to go back and fill in the details. I just wanted all of the days to appear in the right order on the blog when I am done.
Day 1: Arriving in London, 1 May 2013
Seriously, I MEAN to keep up with this, but it just never works out properly. So, watch this space, as I plan to go back and fill in the details. I just wanted all of the days to appear in the right order on the blog when I am done.
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Day 0: Leaving for London, 30 April 2013
I wound up working entirely too late on Monday night, trying to finish everything on my to-do list before being out of the office for two weeks. I failed. I did, at least, get all but one thing done, which I hope to actually finish by the end of this week anyway.
I got home around 4:30am. No sweat, I still have 9 hours before I have to leave for Deb's house in Plant City. Deb is giving Amy and I a ride to the airport, and our cars will be safe at the Plant City Gang's house (where most of the Stone Hill meetings take place), while we are away.
I reached the end of my ability to stay awake around 6:30am, so I took a bit of a nap. However, I slept a bit too long, and had to rush getting everything done after I woke up. Packing was a bit unusual since I didn't have to play "toss the cat out of the suitcase" a single time. I usually have to throw them both out several times. Nor did either of them lay on top of the clothes on the bed while I was gathering everything. Usually they have to lay on everything to make sure I take a sufficient amount of cat fur with me when I travel. I guess they knew something was up, and they were too busy sulking.
The last bit of my packing was more like throwing, sorting the electric plugs by "need vs don't need" in an effort to not take anything along unless I actually would need it. There was also a bit less time to finish than I originally planned because when I double-checked the departure time it said 6:15pm, and not 7:30pm, which it had originally been. I had completely forgot that the flight was leaving earlier!
I got home around 4:30am. No sweat, I still have 9 hours before I have to leave for Deb's house in Plant City. Deb is giving Amy and I a ride to the airport, and our cars will be safe at the Plant City Gang's house (where most of the Stone Hill meetings take place), while we are away.
I reached the end of my ability to stay awake around 6:30am, so I took a bit of a nap. However, I slept a bit too long, and had to rush getting everything done after I woke up. Packing was a bit unusual since I didn't have to play "toss the cat out of the suitcase" a single time. I usually have to throw them both out several times. Nor did either of them lay on top of the clothes on the bed while I was gathering everything. Usually they have to lay on everything to make sure I take a sufficient amount of cat fur with me when I travel. I guess they knew something was up, and they were too busy sulking.
The last bit of my packing was more like throwing, sorting the electric plugs by "need vs don't need" in an effort to not take anything along unless I actually would need it. There was also a bit less time to finish than I originally planned because when I double-checked the departure time it said 6:15pm, and not 7:30pm, which it had originally been. I had completely forgot that the flight was leaving earlier!
Sunday, April 28, 2013
The Hell of Renting a Holiday Flat in London
You know that saying "Where are we going, and why are we in this hand basket?"
Well, all of our plans for renting a holiday flat in London have gone to hell. In a hand basket.
To back this story up a bit, I am going to the UK for my 50th birthday present to myself. Yes, I don't turn 50 until October, but the weather is better in May. My friend, Amy Kerr, is going on this trip with me.
Amy wanted to rent a holiday flat instead of a hotel. I liked the idea, so we began our search in March. We should have started in February since many properties we viewed were already reserved, but there were still a lot of nice ones available. The fact that our search parameters were rather narrow didn't help much. Parameter 1: Two bedrooms, both needing to have at least a double bed - most of the 2BR holiday flats are designed with families with children in mind, and have two twin beds in the second bedroom. Neither of us wants to sleep on a twin bed. Parameter 2: Within a 5-minute walk of a Tube Station. Parameter 3: Not too far away from the center of the city.
After many rounds of "Sorry, the website hasn't been updated, that flat isn't available" or "that one isn't available, but we have this other one if you're willing to spend just a bit more" ("just a bit more" was usually twice the price), or just no response at all, I FINALLY got a positive response at the end of March!
Well, all of our plans for renting a holiday flat in London have gone to hell. In a hand basket.
To back this story up a bit, I am going to the UK for my 50th birthday present to myself. Yes, I don't turn 50 until October, but the weather is better in May. My friend, Amy Kerr, is going on this trip with me.
Amy wanted to rent a holiday flat instead of a hotel. I liked the idea, so we began our search in March. We should have started in February since many properties we viewed were already reserved, but there were still a lot of nice ones available. The fact that our search parameters were rather narrow didn't help much. Parameter 1: Two bedrooms, both needing to have at least a double bed - most of the 2BR holiday flats are designed with families with children in mind, and have two twin beds in the second bedroom. Neither of us wants to sleep on a twin bed. Parameter 2: Within a 5-minute walk of a Tube Station. Parameter 3: Not too far away from the center of the city.
After many rounds of "Sorry, the website hasn't been updated, that flat isn't available" or "that one isn't available, but we have this other one if you're willing to spend just a bit more" ("just a bit more" was usually twice the price), or just no response at all, I FINALLY got a positive response at the end of March!
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Book Review: The Colorado Kid by Stephen King
I have been reading Stephen King novels since he first started writing them. He got way ahead of me when I went to college, and I've never been able to catch up. Now I read his novels from my to-read list when the notion strikes, which usually means I need a good "Holy Cow!" kind of read.
I decided to read "The Colorado Kid" because it was the inspiration for the TV show "Haven," which I love.
I had no expectations of this story going in. I hate clouding my judgement of a book (or a movie) beforehand by reading the opinions of others. I save the "what did everyone else think?" part for when I have my own opinion to compare. I will admit that I read a couple of the reviews for "The Colorado Kid" when I was about 3 pages from the end. I just had to know what others thought. I had a feeling how the story would end, and I had a suspicion that many would be displeased by it. I now see that Mr. King's statement in the Afterword was correct: people either loved it or hated it, and the two camps are usually divided by the opinion of the ending.
I had no expectations of this story going in. I hate clouding my judgement of a book (or a movie) beforehand by reading the opinions of others. I save the "what did everyone else think?" part for when I have my own opinion to compare. I will admit that I read a couple of the reviews for "The Colorado Kid" when I was about 3 pages from the end. I just had to know what others thought. I had a feeling how the story would end, and I had a suspicion that many would be displeased by it. I now see that Mr. King's statement in the Afterword was correct: people either loved it or hated it, and the two camps are usually divided by the opinion of the ending.
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