Funeral for a friend

I went to a funeral for a good friend today. He was a coworker when I was at Cadbury's. His name was Joel. He and I were the ones to start the airport contract and spent a bunch of time together in the beginning of it all. We always took the piss out of work, it was a great laugh. Sadly, he didn't take care of himself to well and had a weak heart. It finally gave out on him; he was only 32.

It is interesting to me how the aspects of funerals change as you get older. You start to realise things you haden't before. Not just on how short life is, or where people are you haven't been in touch with for awhile, but things like how happy you are and what is missing to make you complelety happy. Also, if there is anyone missing in your life that you would like to be with. I guess it just puts everything in a new perspective.

Don't get me wrong, I am not being down about anything. In fact, I quite celebrate his life and was pleased to see all the coworkers I haven't seen since I left, as well as his family. I know it may sound morbid to say, but death can really bring people together. And I think that is sometimes important. Especially if the person that died lead a full and happy life. It wasn't the case with my friend, he should have been around for a much longer time, but for whatever reason, it was his time. I just hope he is happy wherever he is. He was truely a great friend and one I am very proud to have known and worked with in my life.

REST IN PEACE JOEL.

Move to the East Side

I have now officially moved to East Heath. I am on what is called Pond Beat. I now only have a 10 minute walk to work, how cool is that? I already know everyone on that side, so I didn't need much of an induction, just right to work. I love every part of the heath, but it is nice to have the change. There will be more litter on this part, but you gotta take the good with the bad. Lots more dogs, which I do love (well not the poop.) Now all that is left is to get something permanent, but you can bet your ass I am working on it, no rest for the wicked they say.

Work is throwing a BBQ, a goodbye for the seasonal staff. Obviously I am not leaving, but I can't turn down a good BBQ, especially with all the booze you can drink. Plus, there is an Aussie going to be cooking, and I hear there is nothing better than an Aussie BBQ. This is tomorrow evening. I do have to be careful as I do work the next day, so not too many beers. We are having an indian summer here though, it was still hot today, enough so that I took a quick dip in the pond. Now that is refreshing.

Lastly, Heath Hands took a site visit out to Burnham Beeches last saturday. It is so called because it is mostly covered with ancient Beech trees. It is another site managed by the City of London, just like the heath. They still have grazing there, so it was cool to see the animals. The best thing is to see the different managment style for different sites, it helps to bring ideas back to your own site. For more information, visit the Burnham Beeches website at:

www.cityoflondon.gov.uk/Corporation/living_environment/

Click on open spaces, and then Burnham Beeches. Be sure to take a look at the other open spaces as well, they are all so lovely.

Wicked

I went to see an amazing play on saturday night. It is called Wicked. It is the untold story of the witches of oz. It is based on the book by Gregory Maguire. It has had a very successful run, not only on broadway, but on tour across the US and Canada. It has now opened in London for what I hope is a long run.

Everything about it was fantastic, the cast were exemplary. The audience started clapping from the beginning, and was a standing ovation at the end immediately. The set and effects were top notch, it must have cost them a pretty penny. And the music was off the wall. I was contemplating getting the soundtrack, but stuck with buying the programme. It is highly recommended to see if anyone gets the chance. I have also added a few pictures I took of the outside of the theatre and one inside of the stage, which unfortuately is a bit dark. You can check them out on my photo site under the Misc album. It really took my breath away.

The website, for more info, is www.wickedthemusical.co.uk. I am sure there is a US site as well, so it would be good to google for it. The also sell merchandise on www.wickedmerch.co.uk.

All I can say is it does what it says on the tin, it was WICKED!!!!!!

Photos of trip.

I have now posted all the photos of my trip. Please click the link on the right to view them. They all came out quite well and I am also pleased that I had some taken of me, to prove I did go on the trip. :) I hope this might entice some of you to come over and explore Europe, I highly recommend it.