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.

Da Vinci Code

One of the other cool things about my trip is that I read The Da Vinci Code. It is a gripping read from beginning to end. Yes, it was partially because of the hype of it, but also on recommedation. I am glad I did. Dan Brown is a great author. I have just started the prequel to it called Angels and Demons. It is already gripping. I also went out and saw The Da Vinci Code today. I actually quite enjoyed it. I thought it stayed roughly true to the book and the cast was stellar. I am not one to nitpick to much over a film adaptation of a book. It was great to see the locals that were used in the book, especially the Louvre since I have been there. In fact, when I was in Paris on my Europe trip, I walked past the Louvre again and took a pic of the pyramid. It will be uploaded tomorrow. I highly recommend the book and film to everyone. Damn good!!!

Rest of the trip.

I am home now. I didn't get anymore internet access on the trip. After the last post, our next stop was in the German town of Rothenburg. It was a small town with cobbled streets and we had a good walk around. I bought Schneeballen, which are cakey balls dipped in different things like chocolate or sugar or icing. After that it was on to Austria and our next overnight which was in Innsbruck. This was nestled in the alps, so the mountains were huge around us. In the winter there are a lot of ski resorts there. We got to walk around the town for a bit and then on to the hotel. The next day was more driving through the alps, which crossed the border into Italy. We then made our way out of them and on into Venice. We had to take a boat over, as there are no vechicle roads. It was breathtaking to say the least. Venice is built upon an island, and is sadly sinking. I hope they can figure a way to save it, because it is amazing. We got a guided tour of the main square and into a glass blowing factory. We then went on our own for awhile. We then had an optional excursion, which I took, of a gondola serenade down the canals. It was so amazing. You can't go to Venice and not have one. After that it was back on the boat and to the hotel.

Next we made a stop in Verona, to see the famous ampitheatre and Juliet's balcony. There is a statue there of Juliet and legend goes that if you touch her right breast and make a wish about love, it will come true. Who was I to argue, I did that. After some more walking around, we got back on the coach and made our way into the alps once again, this time to Switzerland. We drove on to Lake Lugano for another stop. It was for strolling around and shopping should we feel like it. It was a beautiful place as well. Then on to Lake Lucerene and our hotel. Tonight was a second optional excursion which I took. We went into Lucernce and had a Swiss fokelore evening with cheese fondue and massive litre beers. It was a fun evening to say the least. Then back to the hotel. Next day we spent the first part of the morning in Lucerene, and then another optional excursion. I did this one as well and it would be my last. This was a cable train and cable car ride up the Stanserhorn. It is a 1900 metre high mountain with spectacular views. It was a true experience to go up this in Switzerland. I did buy some swiss chocolate as well. Then back down to rejoin the bus and make our way to France. We went to our hotel in Dole, a halway point for getting to Paris. The next day it was on to Paris, where we had a bit of time to stroll, then got a city guide tour. After that, the rest of the people went on an optional excursion there of a Seine cruise and up the Eiffel tower. Since I have been up it, I opted out of it and spent the time walking around taking in sights, some I have seen, others I have not. I then got a drink and sat on the grass in front of the Eiffel tower to view in amazment. I met back up with the group and we went to the hotel.

Next day, today, it was back to Calais and on the ferry back to the UK. It was an altogether fantastic experience that I would highly recommend to anyone who wants to get around Europe without anything to worry about. Everything is taking care of. I did take loads of pictures and they will be on my album site at the end of the week when I have more time. So, please look out for them. I definately want to go back and visit some of the places I went to, but of course got and visit plenty more I haven't. Man, Europe rules!!!!

In Germany-Day 2

I am having a great time on my trip. The ferry ride over to Calais was great, if not a bit rainy. We then got a coach to Brussels. We had a very quick walk around the square with a bit of dinner. By this time I had met some people and we did this together. We then went back to the hotel for overnight. I had a couple beers down in the bar with a couple of the people from earlier. It was nice. The next day, today, we got up quite early and had breakfast. Then we got on the coach for 4 hours until we got to the Rhine river where we had a very lovely 1.5 hour cruise. It was basically a ferry. There are a lot of castles down the river and were all fantastic to see. Once that was over, we got back in the coach to take us into Frankfurt, where we are now at the hotel. Luckily this hotel has free internet, which I am writing on.

I am well pleased to have met some poeple already along the way. There is a couple from England and another woman from England. The rest of the passengers are from elsewhere, so us 4 have stuck together a bit. Hopefully I will talk to the others too. I will post pictures as soon as I get back.

Great news and work toy.

First off is to say that I got to use a cool vechicle at work. It is the roller you see on the left. It was to flatten the gravel in the yard for the cars and bikes not to slip around so much with the rain and all. You would think one would need full training, but my supervisor let me have a go. It is really easy once you get the hang of it, and I couldn't stop smiling while on it. I almost felt like a kid on one of those rides outside a supermarket that you pay a quarter for. Only a little more aware and with safety in mind. I swear this job gets better and better.


And speaking of which, I had some good news about my job. I have been asked to stay on for "as long as possible." I won't have any idea how long this is, and unfortunately it does make it more difficult to know about coming home for xmas, but be assured I will keep everyone up to date on that when things change. We all went out to the pub last night for some drinks, the first time I had been with workmates. It was a really great pub up in Highgate called The Gatehouse. I had a really nice cider from sweden that was a bit on the sweet side, but nice. I also had a small article written about me in the Heath Hands newsletter. I will eventually get a scan of it and post it so everyone can see it. It is to show my successful change from volunteer to ranger. So cool!!!

Links for my holiday

Here are two links for my holiday. The first is the travel agency I used to book the trip. The second is the tour operator's website. The second one also has a map of the route I will take. I am well super excited by all this. They gave me the option of having a single room and paying more or share with someone of the same gender. I, of course, chose the latter to mostly save money, but also have someone to talk to about the trip. Should be good.

http://www.coachholidays.com/coachdetails.phtml?priceid=118535&session=E5A06546-17CA-11DB-89FB-843CC7F04533


http://www.cosmostourama.com/search_detail.php?product_code=4420T&product_type=touring&region=1&cid=15&year=11

I will for surely post pictures when I get back to make you all jealous. :)

Going on holiday.

I am truely excited. I have booked myself an awesome holiday. I have some time to take off work as a seasonal and am going on a coach tour of europe. I will visit 6 countries (Belgium, Germany, Austria, Italy, Switzerland and France.) It goes for 8 days. It was a really good package deal. I have been wanting since moving here to travel around europe. I didn't even know something like this existed until my housemate Linda told me about it. She has already done one and is going to do another. She is from Austrailia and most Aussies and Kiwis come here and do this kind of thing. I definately will have to thank her. I leave on the 21st of Aug and return on the 28th. I think it will be a great expreince and the best part is travelling with other people and not being alone. Plus, lots of good food, beer and wine. It has taken way too long for me to do something like this.

I will definately take pictures and add anymore details as I know them. The tour operator is Cosmos Tourama, so you can go to their website and look up the 6 countries tour for more info.

HOORAY FOR ME!!!!!!

Dvd burner and Superman

I wrote two blogs today, so be sure to scroll down after reading this one. Firstly, I got myself a new dvd burner for my laptop this past week. I already copied some dvds and cds for friends. It really is cool. It slid right into my laptop and started without any problems. I have been wanting one for awhile, but it took me quite a lot of research to find the right one.

This is important. Everyone, I mean EVERYONE needs to go see Superman Returns. It was a major kick ass movie. It pays really good respects to the old Reeve films. It is somewhat of a continuation, but at the same time is seperate. See it and you will know what I mean. Casting and effects are top notch. I was literally blown away. I am a major superman fan and was not let down. I will definately buy this on dvd, along with the special editions of the old superman films they are due to release at the same time. The next one I will probably see is the new Pirates of the Caribbean film. It is getting nothing but great reviews and I am told if I don't see it at the cinema I will be missing out. So, I may say that everyone should do the same. I also saw a trailer for the new bond film coming out in november and will definately see that. I saw all the other bond films on tv, so need to see it to be complete as well as I really love them. Great action.

I do love summer, good weather, good movies, and good times.

Slug and Dog Love

So two things happened to me while working that were amusing. I got to work on tuesday and started my normal patrol through the area called the orchard. Once I was done with that I went up to the bothy to say hello to people who were just going on lunch. I was on a late shift. As I walked in the door I start to ask one of the team leaders a question when he bursts out laughing. I look down and there was a slug on my shirt. Not only that, but it had started on my back and worked it's way over my shoulder and down the front a little ways. And I didn't even see it. Needless to say I got it off quick and washed my shirt. Looking back it was quite funny.

The next day as I am patrolling, a dog comes bounding up. They usually come up to me because of the litter stick I am carrying. They think I will throw it or something. So, naturally I don't think much but to say hello to the dog, and then it's owner. All of a sudden the owner starts calling the dogs name. I look down and s/he is proceeding to take a leak on my rubbish bag I am carrying around. I couldn't help but laugh at that one.

I think that I am really good at attracting the wild and not so wildlife. Another reason to love this job.

Himalayan balsam and toads

One of the many invasive species we have on the heath is himalayan balsam. It has spread, most likely, from a back garden. There are patches all over the heath. Every year it has to be takled, most importantly before it flowers. Luckily, it is easy to pull by the root from the ground. They can get quite tall too. I have been doing quite a bit of the pulling. I also helped with a couple heath hand sessions on a quite big patch.

The other cool thing is that I just recently saw a number of very small toads. We had a thunderstorm and it seemed to bring them out. They were hopping all over the paths. I also had a few people come up to me to tell me they had seem them. I have never seen one so small. I wanted to take a picture, but my mobile phone camera doesn't have zoom, so it would have been too small in the picture to make out. I love being able to see all this wildlife everyday. That is what keeps one feeling fresh about the job.

New book

I got a new book in today. It was a birthday gift from me mum. It is a book about the geology and natural history of Hampstead Heath. By now I am sure you all know how much I love the Heath. This is one of the first, if not the first, books written about the heath. It doesn't so much have a history of the Heath, it is written about what is on the Heath. It was published in 1913, so nearly a hundred years old. It is a handsome copy with all the maps and plates intact. And it was fairly cheap considering. It was gotten of abebooks.co.uk. A worthwile place to go if you are looking for a rare or out of print book. They have a US site as well. I believe it is abebooks.com.

Long live the Heath!

My new icon.

This is my new icon. It will be added to my site as well. It was designed by my brilliant auntie Janine. She is an amazing graphic designer. She had made me one when I was trying to be in the media with a film strip coming out of the hat. But since I am in conservation now, it was necessary to change. It is one of the best gifts I could get. The leaf coming out of it is a willow leaf, and I liked it since it looked like a feather. I also hope to add a page soon to my website about my job on the heath. Enjoy.

Shoreditch

My second event last friday was to visit Shoreditch station. This station, on the east london line, was closing. The reason for this is because the new extension is on a slightly different alignment than this station. The line won't be fully completed until 2010, but they have to close this to build the ramp up to the flyover.

I should add that one of my hobbies since being in London is on disused and abandoned underground stations. I have collected several books on this subject and have even visited a disused station that closed in 1994 called Aldwych. I have also been on two walks along old railway lines that were either in use by London Underground or was going to be.

As this was an historic event for me, as I don't know if there will ever be another station closure, I wasen't going to miss it. I hopped on the bus from the heath and made it to the station in about an hour. When I got there, they were making speeches inside and I thought I had miss my opportunity to take pictures inside and on the platform. They finished their speeches and all came out the door. Then they did the ceremonial closing of the door for the last time. After that I noticed people filing in a side door. I slowly followed and found myself in the booking hall. I promptly took some pictures and went to the machine to buy a ticket to show I was there on the last day. I ended up getting the second to last tickets as they were closing the machine. After that I went down to the platform to take snaps of the last train. I then boarded and took snaps inside. After a little while, the whistle blew, the doors closed and the train departed. We arrived at the next station, Whitechapel, in a few moments. Everyone disembarked. I then went over to the adjancent platform where I met up with people I recognised. I might add that I knew about all this from a website I frequent and one of the people was the author of this site.

They then asked me how I ended up on that train. Confused, I said I walked on. They then told me that the "final" train was infact a special train intended for staff and the media and bigwigs. I was floored!!! I guess at the end they weren't too fussed who got on as there were a few other "normal" people on. So, I went from thinking I had missed it all, to experiencing the best of it all. I was well pleased. One sucky thing was that my camera switched to short focus at some point and some of my pictures are a bit blurry. But, you can check them all out on my pictures site under a new album called Shoreditch. Also, the website I frequent is: http://underground-history.co.uk.

All in all, it was a terrific friday that made me well happy. :)

Education Centre Launch

Last friday I attended 2 events. The first was for the launch of the education centre on the heath, which I have had a part in. Basically, it used to be an info centre, but has been transformed into the centre which you see on the right. Each wall of the room represents a different habitat area on the heath, whether it be grassland, heathland, ponds or woodland. I helped with making some of the decoration for the wall before I started work on the heath. It was a great event just to get to see so many people I knew. As you can see on the table there was light refreshments. Sam, the education officer, has put in a tremendous amount of work and energy to get this up and running and was well deserved of the celebration. It was a fun event that makes me pround to have been a part of and to continue to help as much as I can while working. Please be sure to view more pics of the centre in the new education centre album I created in my pictures site which is linked on the right.

I shall write about my second event, going to an underground station closure, in my next post.

Me in uniform...finally.

I have taken a few photos of myself in uniform. The building behind me is the bothy that I am based at. For those of you not familiar with the word, it is where are canteen and office is. It is basically the place where we chill and chat. As you can see, hopefully, I wear a green top (two of the pics is with a waterproof on, the other with my jumper) and either grey or brown trousers. Here they are grey. I wear black steel capped boots. It was a great day to take the picture, and it was my birthday. I hope you enjoy them. I have also added a new album on my pictures site, which I have linked on the right. It is called Heath. You can find these pics, plus some others of the heath. I have also added a couple pics of me in the suit I wore to my interview for this job. It is well worth looking at.

I am also getting quite excited for the end of the week. I have the opening of the education centre to attend on fri night. After that, on the same night, I am hopefully going to go to Shoreditch station closure. It is on the east london line. They are closing it to extend it northwards via a different route. Friday is the last train, and I visit a website that is organising being there and a pint afterwars. So, I hope I can have pics of both. I will for sure write about it.

X-men and work

I saw the new X-men film yesterday and I must say it kicked ass. I love comic book/superhero films and this was no exception. (Actually the only exception out there is Hulk.) I also am a huge fan of Patrick Stewart and enjoy almost everything he is in. As with the previous ones, the effects were top notch. I don't know what the rating for it is in the states, but over here it is a 12A, which I found appalling. There was quite a bit of violence and swearing. Should have been a 15. They also had a big sequence in the bay area, specifically Alcatraz, so that made me smile and feel a teeny bit homesick. All I can say is Golden Gate Bridge, see it and you will know what I mean.

As for work. It is going quite well. I have been given a list of conservation jobs that I need to do or help with. So there has been a bit less patrolling, partially because of the rain lately, and more of these jobs. I like having the variety. I have also gotten to drive the electric van a couple times. That thing is so quiet. You can't even tell you have turned it on. I am hoping to remember to take my camera with me to take some pictures of myself and the heath. There is also a funfair on this weekend, as it is a bank holiday monday, but it is on a different beat than mine. I may stop by it for some donuts though. :)

Lastly, tomorrow is the big 30 for me, so everyone have a drink for me!!

Barbeque and Stuck In Mud

We had a barbeque at the house last night. It was most of the housmates and a few friends. There was quite a lot of food and drink, as ususal. It was great to just all get together and chat. We don't actually do it very often. I helped man the bbq. We had burgers and sausages. I also baked chocolate chip cookies and brownies for dessert. I also had to celebrate for my cousin Lauren who was having a graduation party yesterday. I obviously couldn't be there as it is all the way in Texas, but got to have a drink for her as I am quite pround of what she has achieved.

Today was mostly normal at work. At one point I got to drive the electric van. It is so quiet and smooth to drive. Unfortunately I went a way that I thought would be okay and ended up stuck in mud. Luckily we were close to one of the canteens and got help. I felt a bit of an ass for it on my first time driving. Hopefully it will be quickly forgotten. ;)

Lastly, I wanted to tell you guys my call name on the heath. I am HT8 (pronounced Hotel Tango Eight.) There are quite a lot of people, so you can imagine quite a lot of call signs. The radios have quite good distance though, I was still able to pick up transmissions way off the heath when we were delivering Heath Hands newsletters to libraries.