We were fortunate enough to have visitors from London last week - Dawn & Teresa came to stay with us for 4 days, then Cat drove them to Memphis & spent the evening with them there (I wasn't feeling up to the journey or I would have gone along).
It was marvellous to see them both again - Dawn is one of the most engaging, ebullient people I've ever met: she and Cat met while working together at Metropolis 5 or 6 years ago. She has since struck out alone as an independant consultant & contractor, doing floral design primarily for weddings and events. This must be a bit precarious at times, but she has a (well-deserved) stunning reputation, and seems to be steadily busy.
Teresa is a senior detective in the Met: she was head of the homicide squad for the west half of London when we first met her, and has moved on since then to handling the child abuse squad. She is quite hard-headed and (unsurprisingly) acute and inquisitive, but also one of the most warmhearted people I've ever met. She's also an exquisite cook and we had the fortune to have her offer (well, insist) on cooking us dinner on Thursday night, which lived up to her high standards.
We didn't really do much except go out for dinners & brunches, hang out and talk a lot, although Cat took them to look at various stores, mostly to show off the size of them I think: and we did all go to see the President Clinton Library, which was quite interesting - although I found it a bit depressing as a reminder of opportunities squandered, and the incredible damage done by the simple inability to keep his trousers zipped.
Altogether, just a wonderful time to see such dear friends, and to relax and talk heart to heart.
Showing posts with label weekend. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weekend. Show all posts
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Let it come down
Wow, it snowed again overnight, and it's still snowing, quite hard. I can see I'll be working from home tomorrow. There's about 4 inches of snow piled up outside in the driveway already.
R was over from OKC for a weekend visit this weekend - had a game of 6th Edition wherein he massacred me: Note to self, do not charge chariots frontally into hoplites. Just because it sorta worked in DBM doesn't mean it will anywhere else ... which (a) makes sense from the real-world point of view, and (b) what on earth was DBM thinking?
Otherwise, kinda tiptoed around all the things we disagree on, like global warming, and a general hankering to revert to the 50s when middleclass white males had it so good (which inter alia I would say, actually not, but that's yet another matter).
R was over from OKC for a weekend visit this weekend - had a game of 6th Edition wherein he massacred me: Note to self, do not charge chariots frontally into hoplites. Just because it sorta worked in DBM doesn't mean it will anywhere else ... which (a) makes sense from the real-world point of view, and (b) what on earth was DBM thinking?
Otherwise, kinda tiptoed around all the things we disagree on, like global warming, and a general hankering to revert to the 50s when middleclass white males had it so good (which inter alia I would say, actually not, but that's yet another matter).
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Everything comes and goes
Everything comes and goes
pleasure leaves too early
and troubles leaves too slow
Tough month: it's been freezing cold here, biting in a way that it wasn't in London. And I do mean freezing, quite a few days it hasn't even reached 0C at the warmest point of the day. Last weekend, we didn't go out for 4 days as we were iced in - all the roads were sheets of ice, with a dusting of snow, and the temperature seesawed between 15 & 25F (-10 and -5 roughly).
It isn't the grim grind of an English winter, even at worst there are plenty of sunny blue-sky days - viciously cold, but fine: but it's decidedly colder. Of course all the locals are shaking their heads and saying, never been a winter this cold before ... as usual. They've also been cheerfully announcing that it means this global warming stuff is just foolishness (gakk).
It, or various medical issues, seem to have left me fairly depressed: quite hard just to get up and keeping going each day.
Cat seems to be feeling a lot brighter than this though - she's just launched into a new project to build a set of compost bins behind the garage, with a raised vegetable garden as the next project after that. She's tearing into that with quite a bit of energy, happily hammering and sawing away in the garage, while wrapped up in many layers of warm clothes.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
Hell is not Texas
Hell is in fact phoning the Infernal Revenue Service - exactly on their stated opening hours - and, after spending 5 minutes wrestling vainly with their autophone service, getting a message saying, 'Your anticipated wait time is greater than 15 minutes', without even the option to leave a message or request a callback.
Oh well.
Ironically I phoned the Arkansas Tax Department & got everything sorted with them in about 2 minutes total :)
Heaven, on the other hand, is getting enough sleep. I've been on this new CPAP machine for about 10 days now, getting used to wearing it at night, and the results are ... fantastic! I've got energy, and bounce, and much more cheerfulness. No more periods of feeling dopey and dozey, no more extended lethargy, no more afternoon naps in the weekends.
Cat says I've got a twinkle in my eye, and I'm present and here so much more. It sure feels like it - last night after work, I got home, did my regular exercise, had dinner: then instead of washing the dishes then sitting quiescent in front of the laptop all evening, I got up, cleaned the kitchen, helped Cat with a problem with her furniture project, did stuff, was all energetic! Wow ... just ... wow.
Of course, it does feel weird, at night, but I'm gradually getting adjusted: and finding I'm even waking up before the alarm goes off, and just thinking & planning the morning.
Not sure if this burst will last or subside as I get more used to feeling rested, but damn it feels good so far!
Oh well.
Ironically I phoned the Arkansas Tax Department & got everything sorted with them in about 2 minutes total :)
Update: I do have to apologise to the IRS for some of the mental ill-wishing I indulged in, as once they did answer my call, the woman I got was amazingly friendly and helpful, and couldn't do enough to resolve my issue and make me happy. It did take quite a while, but rather than the usual bounce-me-round-the-department crap, she made all the ancillary calls herself, & let me know what she was doing, and her progress on each one. Score a big plus for the civil service, I must say.
Heaven, on the other hand, is getting enough sleep. I've been on this new CPAP machine for about 10 days now, getting used to wearing it at night, and the results are ... fantastic! I've got energy, and bounce, and much more cheerfulness. No more periods of feeling dopey and dozey, no more extended lethargy, no more afternoon naps in the weekends.
Cat says I've got a twinkle in my eye, and I'm present and here so much more. It sure feels like it - last night after work, I got home, did my regular exercise, had dinner: then instead of washing the dishes then sitting quiescent in front of the laptop all evening, I got up, cleaned the kitchen, helped Cat with a problem with her furniture project, did stuff, was all energetic! Wow ... just ... wow.
Of course, it does feel weird, at night, but I'm gradually getting adjusted: and finding I'm even waking up before the alarm goes off, and just thinking & planning the morning.
Not sure if this burst will last or subside as I get more used to feeling rested, but damn it feels good so far!
Monday, June 1, 2009
Eh, Monday
Well, we had pretty good weekend - Ray came over from Oklahoma City for the weekend, so we dined out a lot, stayed up waaay too late talking every night (I'm definitely too old to stay up til 3 a.m. now ... so is Ray o'course :), much jawing about wargames and roleplaying, and carefully tiptoeing around political subjects*, and played a game of Flames of War, which Ray had seen played but hadn't tried before.
The game went about as they usually do: too much static armour sitting around engaging in shooting contests while the infantry cower in terrain or dig in around objectives. It was a draw in the end, as we both managed to make several rolls to keep our shattered platoons from breaking & sweeping away the whole army.
Dining out was interesting - almost everywhere we went, business appeared to be sharply down - the only place that wasn't true was Bossa Nova, a Brazilian place we like to frequent for Sunday brunches: it was only about 40% full, but that is how it has been for the last 12 months. Everywhere else (Red Lobster, Satellite Cafe, Mimi's Cafe, & Outback Steakhouse), where we would expect to have a 10-20 minute (or more) wait for seats, we were seated straight away, and none of them were more than half-full. For Outback (which we went to on Saturday evening at 6, prime dining time for Little Rock), I was just astonished: last time we went there on a Saturday, we had a 45 minute wait and it was packed the whole time - this time it was barely a third full.
I guess it's a sign of how badly the depression is biting, even here in the heartland where supposedly we are much less affected than California, NYNY, or Chicago/Ohio. I thought people might be 'dining down' & going to cheaper places, but apparently not - even Denny's Diner & IHOP continue to be nearly empty, and the fastfood places are all looking empty all the time too - the Wendys, BK & MacDonalds that we'd drive past, last year would usually have a long queue at the drive through, but now the carparks seem empty & you hardly ever see a queue.
Bad times all around: Thank god my job relies primarily on an electricity/gas company, who are fairly unlikely to go out of business.
Well, back to work
*Ray is a die-hard Republican who seems quite blinkered when I try to discuss anything of this nature with him: he either cites spurious evidence or simply replies that the democrats are even more corrupt, depending on the subject. About the democrats, he sometimes has a point, I must admit, but I wish I could persuade him to at least doubt some of the so-called evidence the Republicans drum up on other subjects (the economy, for one). Oh well, we just agree to disagree, and doubtless he feels the same way about me :) Fortunately, we share an enormous amount of overlap in terms of wargaming and roleplaying games, amongst other things.
The game went about as they usually do: too much static armour sitting around engaging in shooting contests while the infantry cower in terrain or dig in around objectives. It was a draw in the end, as we both managed to make several rolls to keep our shattered platoons from breaking & sweeping away the whole army.
Dining out was interesting - almost everywhere we went, business appeared to be sharply down - the only place that wasn't true was Bossa Nova, a Brazilian place we like to frequent for Sunday brunches: it was only about 40% full, but that is how it has been for the last 12 months. Everywhere else (Red Lobster, Satellite Cafe, Mimi's Cafe, & Outback Steakhouse), where we would expect to have a 10-20 minute (or more) wait for seats, we were seated straight away, and none of them were more than half-full. For Outback (which we went to on Saturday evening at 6, prime dining time for Little Rock), I was just astonished: last time we went there on a Saturday, we had a 45 minute wait and it was packed the whole time - this time it was barely a third full.
I guess it's a sign of how badly the depression is biting, even here in the heartland where supposedly we are much less affected than California, NYNY, or Chicago/Ohio. I thought people might be 'dining down' & going to cheaper places, but apparently not - even Denny's Diner & IHOP continue to be nearly empty, and the fastfood places are all looking empty all the time too - the Wendys, BK & MacDonalds that we'd drive past, last year would usually have a long queue at the drive through, but now the carparks seem empty & you hardly ever see a queue.
Bad times all around: Thank god my job relies primarily on an electricity/gas company, who are fairly unlikely to go out of business.
Well, back to work
*Ray is a die-hard Republican who seems quite blinkered when I try to discuss anything of this nature with him: he either cites spurious evidence or simply replies that the democrats are even more corrupt, depending on the subject. About the democrats, he sometimes has a point, I must admit, but I wish I could persuade him to at least doubt some of the so-called evidence the Republicans drum up on other subjects (the economy, for one). Oh well, we just agree to disagree, and doubtless he feels the same way about me :) Fortunately, we share an enormous amount of overlap in terms of wargaming and roleplaying games, amongst other things.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Well, that was a soggy long weekend: rain, rain, rain, rain, and a bit of mist, with more rain to come. I guess we were lucky last year, when we arrived: then it was a heat wave, but dry. Apparently this weather is typical May weather for Arkansas, tho - a dry winter, a cool pleasant early spring, then a warm soggy late spring (to be followed by hot& steamy summer, oh joy).
Didn't really get to do very much over the weekend, as Cat got hit badly by menses this month, and had no energy (and lots of pain/cramps). Sometimes I'm just so grateful to be a man: at least, those times I don't have to deal with all the s*** that gets wrapped up in the concept :)
On Friday we did go over to our neighbours place - this is Tom & Molly: their only son, Matt, was home after completing training as a Navy medic & just before he left for Okinawa for his first tour of service (nice posting!). He had his girlfriend there as well - in fact, they announced their engagement that night - so there was quite a celebration.
Then we went to dinner with them on Saturday, after Matt had flown off to Okinawa: it was Molly's birthday the previous day, but she'd deferred any celebration until Matt had left so as to make the most of time with him, sensibly enough I guess. Anyway, we went to a place called the Samurai Steakhouse with them, Ellen (the fiancee), and Kay, a friend of Molly, and had a fairly enjoyable time (although the food was ... well, underwhelming and very expensive: not actively bad, but nothing much).
Otherwise we were very quiet, just went out for a drive to Conway on Monday, so Cat could buy some more fabric for dressmaking.
I'm hoping to find time to finally sit my driver's test this week - I was eligible to sit last week, but the work week just filled up with things & I didn't get a chance to do it. That would be a relief - not that I do much driving, Cat drives me to work & home each day so that she has the car during the day - but it will make life simpler, and should reduce our horrendous car insurance bill: because we had to get insurance with foreign licenses, it was roughly tripled from what would normally be paid here: it would be very nice to reduce that from it's current level ($260/month).
Well, back to work - more tomorrow
Didn't really get to do very much over the weekend, as Cat got hit badly by menses this month, and had no energy (and lots of pain/cramps). Sometimes I'm just so grateful to be a man: at least, those times I don't have to deal with all the s*** that gets wrapped up in the concept :)
On Friday we did go over to our neighbours place - this is Tom & Molly: their only son, Matt, was home after completing training as a Navy medic & just before he left for Okinawa for his first tour of service (nice posting!). He had his girlfriend there as well - in fact, they announced their engagement that night - so there was quite a celebration.
Then we went to dinner with them on Saturday, after Matt had flown off to Okinawa: it was Molly's birthday the previous day, but she'd deferred any celebration until Matt had left so as to make the most of time with him, sensibly enough I guess. Anyway, we went to a place called the Samurai Steakhouse with them, Ellen (the fiancee), and Kay, a friend of Molly, and had a fairly enjoyable time (although the food was ... well, underwhelming and very expensive: not actively bad, but nothing much).
Otherwise we were very quiet, just went out for a drive to Conway on Monday, so Cat could buy some more fabric for dressmaking.
I'm hoping to find time to finally sit my driver's test this week - I was eligible to sit last week, but the work week just filled up with things & I didn't get a chance to do it. That would be a relief - not that I do much driving, Cat drives me to work & home each day so that she has the car during the day - but it will make life simpler, and should reduce our horrendous car insurance bill: because we had to get insurance with foreign licenses, it was roughly tripled from what would normally be paid here: it would be very nice to reduce that from it's current level ($260/month).
Well, back to work - more tomorrow
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