You've probably seen it on the news in the US, it's been so bad....we've had horrific flooding in the Midlands and North of England. People have had to be evacuated (and at least 3 tragic deaths for people who couldn't escape the sudden rising water), schools closed, houses destroyed, etc. Although it is in the 90s and 100s elsewhere in Europe, and very warm in the US as well or so I hear, in England it has been cold, gray and gloomy, and RAINY for all of June. They are saying that floods like this only happen in England once every 150 years, but worse may be to come as the rain is not expected to stop any time soon.
And yes, like it or not, the Spice Girls have reunited officially. I suppose they saw how well Take That has done, and wanted to cash in on the nostalgia fever themselves.
I am only three and a half days away from Vermont, hooray! And tomorrow I head for Somerset for another Yoga Trails weekend, although we may not get that much hiking in if the weather stays this miserable. The good news is our accommodation has a heated pool, hot tub and sauna...
Thursday, June 28, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Singin' in the Rain
So, I feel like I've been indoctrinated to the English festival thing, even if I haven't (yet) done a full camping weekend at the likes of Glastonbury or Isle of Wight or T in the Park. I haven't given up completely on Reading, but the people I was supposed to be going with have pretty much backed out, claiming money issues.
Anywho, we arrived at Hyde Park in a little patch of sun, and spent 20 minutes or so in Speakers' Corner, listening to various people try to shout over the top of each other, as they each held forth on whatever was near and dear to their heart, on a typical Speaker's Corner type Sunday. As we then headed for the entrance to the festival area of Hyde Park, we commented on how we might just be getting lucky as far as the weather. We should have known better!! It rained for most of the time we were there, and was really chucking it down at various points in time. But my lovely American flagish type knock-off stetson kept my head pretty dry, and I had luckily worn my gore-tex boots and raincoat. So my jeans were about the only things to get wet and muddy.
My favourite acts of the evening were Jet, Chris Cornell and Aerosmith. I snaked my way through the crowd to get close to the stage for Jet, and ended up behind a group of guys with Jo next to me. One of the guys kept turning his head, to the point where I figured out something was up. He then got out a camera and starting trying to take self-portrait pictures with his buddy by holding his own camera at arm's length, but the angle was a bit odd. I kept hiding behind his tall mate to keep out of the picture, so he finally just dropped all pretense, turned around and started taking pictures of me. Long story short, we made some new friends, two guys from England and their mate from New Zealand.
Aerosmith played an awesome set, although it was toooo short. They started late, and were not allowed to carry on past official festival ending time, around 10:30pm. Steven Tyler apologised to the crowd, and said the police were throwing everybody out. But their encore number was "Walk This Way" with a special appearance by Run DMC. I don't think they've performed the song live with Run DMC since the Grammys performance awhile back, so the crowd just went wild! Rain notwithstanding, it was a great night!!!
Anywho, we arrived at Hyde Park in a little patch of sun, and spent 20 minutes or so in Speakers' Corner, listening to various people try to shout over the top of each other, as they each held forth on whatever was near and dear to their heart, on a typical Speaker's Corner type Sunday. As we then headed for the entrance to the festival area of Hyde Park, we commented on how we might just be getting lucky as far as the weather. We should have known better!! It rained for most of the time we were there, and was really chucking it down at various points in time. But my lovely American flagish type knock-off stetson kept my head pretty dry, and I had luckily worn my gore-tex boots and raincoat. So my jeans were about the only things to get wet and muddy.
My favourite acts of the evening were Jet, Chris Cornell and Aerosmith. I snaked my way through the crowd to get close to the stage for Jet, and ended up behind a group of guys with Jo next to me. One of the guys kept turning his head, to the point where I figured out something was up. He then got out a camera and starting trying to take self-portrait pictures with his buddy by holding his own camera at arm's length, but the angle was a bit odd. I kept hiding behind his tall mate to keep out of the picture, so he finally just dropped all pretense, turned around and started taking pictures of me. Long story short, we made some new friends, two guys from England and their mate from New Zealand.
Aerosmith played an awesome set, although it was toooo short. They started late, and were not allowed to carry on past official festival ending time, around 10:30pm. Steven Tyler apologised to the crowd, and said the police were throwing everybody out. But their encore number was "Walk This Way" with a special appearance by Run DMC. I don't think they've performed the song live with Run DMC since the Grammys performance awhile back, so the crowd just went wild! Rain notwithstanding, it was a great night!!!
Monday, June 25, 2007
Hyde Park Calling/Aerosmith, baby!!
Yes, I stood out like a sore thumb, but given that my heart and head are already in Vermont for the Fourth, it had to be done...and even though Dave and Jo disowned me for buying and wearing it (they're both English), much to my surprise I got a lot of positive attention as a result ;)
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Updates
Last week was the most stressful one I've ever had since starting at Whipps. Whether that was worth getting an excellent end-of-rotation review, and being told by my supervisor I gave her the best handover of a patient caseload she's ever had, I'm not sure. I was exhausted all week because not only was my ward crazy busy, but I was doing work on the audit after work and getting up early in the mornings to work on it too. I'm just glad that week is over. I still have work to do for that rotation even though as of Monday, I start my new one. Oh well.
So, what else has been happening?
I got the car keys!! A week from tomorrow I land in Newark, meet up with Jo and James, and hop into the Jetta which my parents will have kindly left there for me on their way up to VT. Woohoo, I'm only a week away from summer! (You can hardly call what we've been having here summer thus far).
I got my new mobile...although it's a very cool new toy and I'm having fun playing with it, I do miss my old one, because I knew how everything worked! This new one has a 3.2 megapixel camera, and can also function as an Ipod although that seems to run the battery down really quickly. My current favorite feature though has to be that the wallpaper is Parliament/Big Ben, and it reflects time of day-- as in Parliament and Big Ben light up and the sky goes dark on my little mobile screen when it's actually nighttime. And fireworks go off in the sky when I get a text message.
Went out on Friday night with Angelica and a friend of hers called Dai who I've now met a couple of times. We started out just the three of us, but met some of Dai's friends later on out in Brick Lane, who kept buying us Stella Artois. Now, I'm not going to turn down free beer, but come on, and I blame my persistent low-grade headache yesterday morning squarely on the Stella. Yesterday we spent a good 9-10 hours at our friends' house for a BBQ. We managed to make it work, in between the spurts of thunder and rain-- with somehow perfect timing we spent a couple of hours outside grilling and eating in sunshine, and moved indoors when it was raining to play a cool card game called "Grass," which I will be bringing to VT with me. Very exciting, it will be the first time I introduce a new game to the Heilalas instead of vice versa!
And today in an hour or so, we take off for Hyde Park Calling! The weather is more than a little iffy, but nothing to be done about that. Besides it almost doesn't qualify as an English music festival unless it's raining and muddy. It'll be a blast regardless, and I can't wait to see Jet and Aerosmith!!
So, what else has been happening?
I got the car keys!! A week from tomorrow I land in Newark, meet up with Jo and James, and hop into the Jetta which my parents will have kindly left there for me on their way up to VT. Woohoo, I'm only a week away from summer! (You can hardly call what we've been having here summer thus far).
I got my new mobile...although it's a very cool new toy and I'm having fun playing with it, I do miss my old one, because I knew how everything worked! This new one has a 3.2 megapixel camera, and can also function as an Ipod although that seems to run the battery down really quickly. My current favorite feature though has to be that the wallpaper is Parliament/Big Ben, and it reflects time of day-- as in Parliament and Big Ben light up and the sky goes dark on my little mobile screen when it's actually nighttime. And fireworks go off in the sky when I get a text message.
Went out on Friday night with Angelica and a friend of hers called Dai who I've now met a couple of times. We started out just the three of us, but met some of Dai's friends later on out in Brick Lane, who kept buying us Stella Artois. Now, I'm not going to turn down free beer, but come on, and I blame my persistent low-grade headache yesterday morning squarely on the Stella. Yesterday we spent a good 9-10 hours at our friends' house for a BBQ. We managed to make it work, in between the spurts of thunder and rain-- with somehow perfect timing we spent a couple of hours outside grilling and eating in sunshine, and moved indoors when it was raining to play a cool card game called "Grass," which I will be bringing to VT with me. Very exciting, it will be the first time I introduce a new game to the Heilalas instead of vice versa!
And today in an hour or so, we take off for Hyde Park Calling! The weather is more than a little iffy, but nothing to be done about that. Besides it almost doesn't qualify as an English music festival unless it's raining and muddy. It'll be a blast regardless, and I can't wait to see Jet and Aerosmith!!
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
Proscratination (substituted into the song for the game Operation)
I am supposed to be attempting to finish off the write-up for an audit I foolishly agreed to do during this very short rotation, so that my supervisor can look it over tomorrow and make suggestions for revision before Friday, which is my last day on this rotation, officially at any rate. As of Monday I'm on the acute stroke unit. Small yay!
Supposedly I will also be receiving my new mobile tomorrow- bigger yay! My mom needed to speak to me today about a matter of some urgency, but wasn't sure how to reach me knowing my mobile was out of commission (and it is officially dead now...it took until today to dry it out, it came to life--sort of-- for about 5 seconds when I powered it up, flickered a bit, then gave up the ghost). So she called the landline at home, and fortunately for her, my housemate Sheena was home having taken a half day to do some continuing education stuff. Sheena gave her the 411 on how to reach me at the hospital. I happened to be the one to pick up the phone in the office, and although my brain registered it was my mom's voice saying "Allison? Is that you?" it took me a while to register it was her, because I was at work, and I knew she didn't have that contact info. So I think I said something stupid like "Mom??!?! How did you find me here?" And then I became even more confused because she said a girl answered the phone at home and gave her the hospital number. And I said," But I saw Sheena here at work this morning, and I'm sure Nicole went into work as well!" My mom, rightfully thinking this was irrevelant and trying to move on to the purpose of her call, got a bit annoyed because I kept after it. All I could keep thinking was, who the heck is in our house??! So I kept questioning her, and she said the person had a British accent, so I eventually let it drop, thinking maybe it was Sheena after all...but I couldn't really let it rest until I had hung up with my mom, called home, and confirmed it was really had been Sheena.
Anywho, here are some wise words from Mom #3 that I thought I'd share with all of you...okay, so they're not hers exactly, but she shared them with me via a forwarded email ;)
TEQUILA AND SALT
This should probably be taped to your bathroom mirror where one could read it everyday. You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.
1. There are at least two people in this world that you would di e for.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you tak e another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
And always remember...when life hands you Lemons, ask for tequila and salt, and call me over!
Good friends are like stars........You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.
Supposedly I will also be receiving my new mobile tomorrow- bigger yay! My mom needed to speak to me today about a matter of some urgency, but wasn't sure how to reach me knowing my mobile was out of commission (and it is officially dead now...it took until today to dry it out, it came to life--sort of-- for about 5 seconds when I powered it up, flickered a bit, then gave up the ghost). So she called the landline at home, and fortunately for her, my housemate Sheena was home having taken a half day to do some continuing education stuff. Sheena gave her the 411 on how to reach me at the hospital. I happened to be the one to pick up the phone in the office, and although my brain registered it was my mom's voice saying "Allison? Is that you?" it took me a while to register it was her, because I was at work, and I knew she didn't have that contact info. So I think I said something stupid like "Mom??!?! How did you find me here?" And then I became even more confused because she said a girl answered the phone at home and gave her the hospital number. And I said," But I saw Sheena here at work this morning, and I'm sure Nicole went into work as well!" My mom, rightfully thinking this was irrevelant and trying to move on to the purpose of her call, got a bit annoyed because I kept after it. All I could keep thinking was, who the heck is in our house??! So I kept questioning her, and she said the person had a British accent, so I eventually let it drop, thinking maybe it was Sheena after all...but I couldn't really let it rest until I had hung up with my mom, called home, and confirmed it was really had been Sheena.
Anywho, here are some wise words from Mom #3 that I thought I'd share with all of you...okay, so they're not hers exactly, but she shared them with me via a forwarded email ;)
TEQUILA AND SALT
This should probably be taped to your bathroom mirror where one could read it everyday. You may not realize it, but it's 100% true.
1. There are at least two people in this world that you would di e for.
2. At least 15 people in this world love you in some way.
3. The only reason anyone would ever hate you is because they want to be just like you.
4. A smile from you can bring happiness to anyone, even if they don't like you.
5. Every night, SOMEONE thinks about you before they go to sleep.
6. You mean the world to someone.
7. You are special and unique.
8. Someone that you don't even know exists loves you.
9. When you make the biggest mistake ever, something good comes from it.
10. When you think the world has turned its back on you tak e another look.
11. Always remember the compliments you received. Forget about the rude remarks.
And always remember...when life hands you Lemons, ask for tequila and salt, and call me over!
Good friends are like stars........You don't always see them, but you know they are always there.
Monday, June 18, 2007
I did it!
So I survived the London to Brighton bike ride...and it actually wasn't too bad. There was a massive queue at one point trying to get out of London because there were some 60,000 cyclists on the road. That was frustrating because it took an hour to clear that small section of the route. But otherwise, it was a great ride through beautiful countryside, with some smallish hills, and one massively big hill at the very end, just before arriving in Brighton. We did it in about 6 hours, which would have been maybe four and half or five hours but for that big queue I've just described. I got separated from the rest of the group once, and stopped at pub where the owner took pity on me and let me use her phone to ring Nicole's boyfriend Dave and find out where they were so we could meet up again. And the only real casualty was Nicole, falling off her bike before we'd even started. She bumped into the curb and fell over just as we were about to join the race, and did a fair amount of damage to one of her shins...but she was a trooper and carried on with just a couple of band-aids I had on me, and then we stopped at a first aid tent so it could be properly tended. I have small scrapes and cuts all over both legs myself because when you're on the road with that many cyclists, things just happen-- people stop suddenly, etc.
Anyway, I'm barely functioning here at work today (absolutely knackered!), but I am here. So I suppose I'd better go back up the ward.
Hope everyone is well. Love, Allison
Anyway, I'm barely functioning here at work today (absolutely knackered!), but I am here. So I suppose I'd better go back up the ward.
Hope everyone is well. Love, Allison
Saturday, June 16, 2007
There are no words
In a stunning display of stupidity, I have managed to wash my mobile phone along with my duvet cover, sheets and pillow cases this morning. I'll most likely be sending out an email within the next few days, trying to rebuild my list of contact numbers. And it's particularly terrible timing, because I am supposed to coordinate meeting up with Dave and Nicole in Croydon early tomorrow morning for the London to Brighton bike ride...they'll already be out there at Dave's house, and I'm supposed to ring when I get to the station!!! Excuse me while I go beat myself up....
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Prime Meridian at the Greenwich Royal Observatory
Well, a projection of where it would fall anyway...
Monday, June 11, 2007
Greenwich
Just back from a power walk, from Canary Wharf to Greenwich and back. I saw what is left of the Cutty Sark, the world's only surviving extreme clipper (a fast commercial sailing ship)...unfortunately in May this year it was set on fire by arsonists. It was already closed at the time for renovations which were due to take until 2009 to complete. I'm not sure what's happening now, but I assume they will attempt to restore it. I also went up to the Royal Observatory to see the home of the Prime Meridian of the world. A little history for you:
Greenwich Observatory was set up by King Charles II in 1675 to study means of fixing longitude, and became the acknowledged world authority on the subject. An International Meridian Conference was convened at Washington in 1884 and the delegates recommended to their respective governments that Greenwich should be adopted as the prime meridian. The decision was by no means unanimous. A Canadian delegate, Sanford Fleming, produced figures showing that 72% of the world's shipping used Greenwich as prime meridian, with the remaining 28% divided among ten different meridians. The French, for political reasons, said that they would only accept Greenwich as the prime meridian if Great Britain adopted the metric system. Over the following years the various governments adopted Greenwich officially as prime meridian, with only France going its own way. A bill was passed eventually in 1911 but stayed on the statute books until 1978 when France adopted Universal Time.
Greenwich Observatory was set up by King Charles II in 1675 to study means of fixing longitude, and became the acknowledged world authority on the subject. An International Meridian Conference was convened at Washington in 1884 and the delegates recommended to their respective governments that Greenwich should be adopted as the prime meridian. The decision was by no means unanimous. A Canadian delegate, Sanford Fleming, produced figures showing that 72% of the world's shipping used Greenwich as prime meridian, with the remaining 28% divided among ten different meridians. The French, for political reasons, said that they would only accept Greenwich as the prime meridian if Great Britain adopted the metric system. Over the following years the various governments adopted Greenwich officially as prime meridian, with only France going its own way. A bill was passed eventually in 1911 but stayed on the statute books until 1978 when France adopted Universal Time.
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Catching up
I have a fussy internet connection tonight, so I'll just hit the highlights...
After almost a year and a half of living in the UK, plus 5 applications, I finally have a NINO!! (That's "National Insurance Number"). The equivalent of a Social Security number. I believe I'll probably get a refund because I've been paying too much into the system without a NINO, but we'll see.
Went to see Little Shop of Horrors on Friday night in the West End. As it happened, Alistair McGowan played the part of the dentist-- well known comedic talent here in the UK. I think you'd have to have someone like that to follow up Steve Martin's interpretation in the movie! It was very funny, and very well done. I was initially disappointed in the ending, which is very different from the movie, except that then I came home and looked it up on the internet, and it turns out that in the "original" movie ending, everyone died and the plants took over the world. So I guess the stage production got it right after all...it was a stage production to begin with anyway, so I suppose it was the movie that changed things around a bit, for a happier "awww" ending. Jo was here visiting, so after the show, I took her to my favorite Thai restaurant in Soho, a place called Busaba Eathai, where you always have to wait in a queue, end up sharing big group tables with strangers, but the food is so good you don't care!
And this morning, I went to Hampstead Heath with Angelica and some of the other physios to take part in "Race for Life". It was a beautiful day, and the views from Hampstead Heath are just breathtaking (it's a massive park)-- I was able to pick out St. Paul's Cathedral and the London Eye, among other things. We had an amazing pub lunch afterward, including Sticky Toffee pudding (very hard to find in London itself, normally only at pubs in the country)...and I found myself thinking I really need to book my weekend with Rob's parents in the Cotswolds, because summer is going to have gone by before I know it.
What else...on 1st July, London goes smoke-free. About time! Two weeks until I rotate onto the acute stroke unit, and best of all, only three weeks until I'm up at Wissahickon!!!
After almost a year and a half of living in the UK, plus 5 applications, I finally have a NINO!! (That's "National Insurance Number"). The equivalent of a Social Security number. I believe I'll probably get a refund because I've been paying too much into the system without a NINO, but we'll see.
Went to see Little Shop of Horrors on Friday night in the West End. As it happened, Alistair McGowan played the part of the dentist-- well known comedic talent here in the UK. I think you'd have to have someone like that to follow up Steve Martin's interpretation in the movie! It was very funny, and very well done. I was initially disappointed in the ending, which is very different from the movie, except that then I came home and looked it up on the internet, and it turns out that in the "original" movie ending, everyone died and the plants took over the world. So I guess the stage production got it right after all...it was a stage production to begin with anyway, so I suppose it was the movie that changed things around a bit, for a happier "awww" ending. Jo was here visiting, so after the show, I took her to my favorite Thai restaurant in Soho, a place called Busaba Eathai, where you always have to wait in a queue, end up sharing big group tables with strangers, but the food is so good you don't care!
And this morning, I went to Hampstead Heath with Angelica and some of the other physios to take part in "Race for Life". It was a beautiful day, and the views from Hampstead Heath are just breathtaking (it's a massive park)-- I was able to pick out St. Paul's Cathedral and the London Eye, among other things. We had an amazing pub lunch afterward, including Sticky Toffee pudding (very hard to find in London itself, normally only at pubs in the country)...and I found myself thinking I really need to book my weekend with Rob's parents in the Cotswolds, because summer is going to have gone by before I know it.
What else...on 1st July, London goes smoke-free. About time! Two weeks until I rotate onto the acute stroke unit, and best of all, only three weeks until I'm up at Wissahickon!!!
Friday, June 01, 2007
From Mom #3, this is great
This is a strictly mathematical viewpoint...it goes like this:What Makes 100%? What does it mean to give MORE than 100%? Ever wonder about those people who say they are giving more than 100%? We have all been to those meetings where someone wants you to give over 100%. How about achieving 103%? What makes up 100% in life?
Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:
If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
is represented as: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
Then:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K> 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%*
and K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E> 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%
But ,*A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E> 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
And, B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T> 2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%
AND, look how far ass kissing will take you.
A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G> 1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%
So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that While *Hard work* and * Knowledge will get you close, and** Attitude** will get you there, it's the **Bullshit* and* ** Ass kissing* that will put you over the top.
Here's a little mathematical formula that might help you answer these questions:
If: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z
is represented as: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
Then:
H-A-R-D-W-O-R-K> 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11 = 98%*
and K-N-O-W-L-E-D-G-E> 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%
But ,*A-T-T-I-T-U-D-E> 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%
And, B-U-L-L-S-H-I-T> 2+21+12+12+19+8+9+20 = 103%
AND, look how far ass kissing will take you.
A-S-S-K-I-S-S-I-N-G> 1+19+19+11+9+19+19+9+14+7 = 118%
So, one can conclude with mathematical certainty that While *Hard work* and * Knowledge will get you close, and** Attitude** will get you there, it's the **Bullshit* and* ** Ass kissing* that will put you over the top.
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