Back in London

I am back in London after a gruelling long journey. Because of bad weather I got delayed in Austin long enough to miss both the connecting flights to London from Houston. I had to stay in a hotel overnight, which luckily the airline paid for. I got on the flight the next day and both me and my luggage made it. Man, was I glad to get in my door and put my bags down. I am forcing myself to stay awake and adjust to this time again. I was suppose to work today, but that wasen't going to happen. I will be back tomorrow bright and early. I am too tired to even stay up until midnight for new years. I do hope everyone has a happy new years and can celebrate for me. I may have to rethink coming back earlier next time. Jetlag is definately having a worse effect on me as I get older, and it SUCKS.

Christmas holidays go so fast.

Well, here I am getting ready to jet off to the airport for my return trip to London. I apologise for not writing the entire time I was here. That was pure lazyness. That and the fact we did quite a bit. And certainly a lot of eating. It was great to be with family. There is nothing quite like it. I am looking forward to getting back to my friends and workmates in London though. I have missed it a bit. The one dumb thing I did was forget to bring my camera with me, so I didn't get any pictures. The cool thing was we did all these family pictures. My aunt still has to polish them up, but I am well looking forward to getting them.

I will try to write more once I am back in merry ol' england. I wish everyone a happy new year.

In Austin

So, I am now in Austin. After a very long journey (I really wish they would hurry up and invent beaming) I am with my family again. It is really great to see them. It is also like summer here, I was out in my t-shirt after getting here. Mind you, it was quite warm in London for the time of year, so maybe it is the global warming thing. I've already had some yummy honey baked ham and went up to the supermarket for a few things. Had to stretch my legs for a bit. It is funny, but for the first time I experienced something that I haven't before. Normally, I am well excited to come and see my family, and kinda dread at the end going back. But, this time I am actually missing London a bit. Between having such great friends and an amazing job, it really has become my home in my heart. Plus, I know my housemates will do some sort of drinks which I would have loved to be a part of. Well, I am happy to be with my family and hope to contact some of my friends in CA soon too.

Sexiest radio voice.

So, I get into work today. I am having a cup of tea when the constabulary walk in. One of the first things they say, to me, is that they had a contest amongst themselves to determine who had the sexiest radio voice. Well guess who won? ME!!!! That's right, me. They said my american voice was the sexiest on the heath. The second place belong to an american woman who works at the ladies pond. Well, that brightened up my day. Now, if only the rest of me could match....

Ice skating is so fun.

Okay, so this is a bit late to post. Last friday we had the grand opening of the ice rink on the heath. It is built upon some of the tennis courts. It isn't a big rink by any means, but it does the trick. This event was for staff and press to attend. It was free, the best price, and there was also free mulled wine and mince pies (yummy.) We did have some rain, and it was on the rink, but luckily it was frozen in time. I say this, because there were complaints from neighbours about the noise of the generators that were freezing the ice and they had to be shut off. Needless to say, they weren't sure if it would be frozen in time. It was, and I had a blast. The last time I went ice skating was two years ago up at Alexandra Palace. That is a very nice rink, and operates year round. The one on the heath is there for a month. Skating is one of those things that once you do, you don't forget.

I tell you once, I tell you again. I LOVE THE HEATH!!!!!

Thanksgiving

I had a really good thanksgiving. Firstly, it was a beautiful sunny day, and as always a great day on the Heath. Then I hosted a thanksgiving dinner for housemates and friends. I had 9 people in total. I did all the cooking. I cooked a big turkey, 9kg/19.5lbs. I have quite a bit leftover though. I also made mashed potatoes, stuffing, veggies, rolls and cornbread. With it was cranberry sauce and gravy. We had quite a few bottles of red wine and mulled wine to wash it down with. It went very well. I was pleased, as was everyone there. I do enjoy being able to keep up this holiday even though I am in England. And everyone was happy, and that is one thing I love, to see people happy. I hope everyone had a wonderful thanksgiving too!!!! :)

Bond rules!!!

Everyone who is anyone needs to go out and see the new Bond film, Casino Royale, immediately. It was a kick ass movie. Daniel Craig does a reall hard ass Bond, and it works. The stunts were freaking amazing. It was different from previous Bond films, and I have seen them all, in that there weren't any gadgets, aside from the car, and there was a bit of a love story, where usually he just shags the girls. I went and saw it on saturday night with a friend. Unfortunately, we sat near these kids that kept talking and being a nuisense. Other than that, it was so much fun. You will not be disappointed.

Life on the heath

A few things to note as of late. Firstly, one of the lifeguards is somewhat of a resident chef as well. He is from Maritius and makes curries and the sort. I finally had one of his creations. It was beef sausage and turkey bacon in a tomato sauce with mushrooms, onion, garlic and coriander. It was served on rice with a piece of crusty bread. And this was at 10:30am!! It is great to work on the heath.

There was a film shot entirely on the heath call Scenes of a sexual nature. It was released last friday and I went and saw it. I thought it was really well done, and the heath used to its full brilliance. It was a very low budget film, but I felt it was true to life. I recommed looking it up and checking it out if you can.

Lastly, and sadly, I came across two dead animals yesterday. The first was a crow, which my colleague took care of. The second was a cat. A member of the public alerted it to me. I had to take it and bury it. I couldn't tell if it was a stray or not, but it didn't have a collar. Poor kitty. I gave it a fitting burial though. Unfortunately, finding dead animals is part of the job. At least we take care of it properly. It is all part of life.

Inconvienient truth and games

Had a good day out yesterday. I went to the science museum where they had an exhibition called game on. It is the history and culture of videogames. I had been 5 years ago, not too long after I arrived here, at the barbican. Well, it has returned to london in the new venue. They have around 120 games to play from game consoles and arcade units going back to the beginning. It definately flooded memories from my childhood playing games with my friends. I have been playing games, and have had a system, since 1986. 20 bloody years. That is a lot of gaming. I have loved every minute of it, and I still have games to play. In fact I will no doubt get the Playstation 3 when it comes out. :)

After the exhibition, I went for a stroll around the west end and ate at my favourite chinese restaurant. I then went and saw An Inconvienient Truth. I must say, they did an amazing job visually of presenting the information. It is definately an eye opener, and could be a great topic for conversation. I am really glad at this point that I have set myself up where I work locally enough to walk, and ride my bicycle everywhere I can. I would never want to own a car at this point. At least not a petrol driven one. It is hard to describe how profound the film was, it needs to be seen to understand. But I encourage everyone to see it, even on dvd. I just hope it's not too late.....

Coming home for xmas

I am excited to announce that I will be in Texas for xmas. I have booked my trip and can't wait to see my family. I regret I can't make it to CA this time to see my friends, but hopefully I will soon. Maybe even an extra trip. Below are my details. See everyone before you know it.

Flight Details:

Depart:9:30 Thu., 14 Dec., 2006 London, England (LGW - Gatwick)
Arrive:14:00 Houston, TX (IAH - Intercontinental)
Flight Time:10 hr 30 mn
OnePass Miles/Elite Qualification:4,853 /100%
Flight: CO35 Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ERFare Class: Economy (W)Meal: Lunch

Change Planes. Connect time in Houston, TX (IAH - Intercontinental) is 1 hr 50 mn.

Depart:15:50 Thu., 14 Dec., 2006 Houston, TX (IAH - Intercontinental)
Arrive:16:48 Austin, TX (AUS)
Flight Time:58 mnTravel Time:13 hr 18 mn
OnePass Miles/Elite Qualification:500 /100%Total Miles:5,353
Flight: CO841 Aircraft: Boeing 737-700Fare Class: Economy (W)Meal: None

Depart:13:30 Fri., 29 Dec., 2006 Austin, TX (AUS)
Arrive:14:31 Houston, TX (IAH - Intercontinental)
Flight Time:1 hr 1 mn
OnePass Miles/Elite Qualification:500 /100%
Flight: CO1540 Aircraft: Boeing 737-500Fare Class: Economy (W)Meal: None

Change Planes. Connect time in Houston, TX (IAH - Intercontinental) is 1 hr 29 mn.

Depart:16:00 Fri., 29 Dec., 2006 Houston, TX (IAH - Intercontinental)
Arrive:6:50 +1 Day London, England (LGW - Gatwick)
Flight Time:8 hr 50 mnTravel Time:11 hr 20 mn
OnePass Miles/Elite Qualification:4,853 /100%Total Miles:5,353
Flight: CO34 Aircraft: Boeing 777-200ERFare Class: Economy (W)Meal: Dinner

Slides and a pig.

I have some pictures to post. The first ones are of the slides at the tate modern which I went to with some friends on saturday. They were totally wicked slides. They had 2 on the second floor and 1 on each of the 3rd, 4th and 5th floors. The latter 3 you had to get a timed ticket for which was free. The queues were pretty long, so we went off for lunch before riding them. It was worth it though. It felt a big like going down a waterslide, without the water (if that makes any sense.) If anyone is coming to London before next april, this is a must.

The second set of pictures is of a pig we ran into on a site visit to Burnham Beeches. I had done this with my volunteer group, heath hands. It was a great day and always appreciative to see how another site is run and managed. More on that in a previous blog.

Conkers and slides.

Last sunday was the conker championships on the heath. It is an annual event. I helped last year as a volunteer, but this year I was there as staff helping. It was great fun, with both kids and adults participating and enjoying themselves. A huge turnout. Basically, you have a conker, which comes from the horse chestnut tree, on the end of a string. Each person takes turns hitting their opponents conker. If your conker gets smashed, you are out. It goes on like that until you get two finalists who battle it out. Good stuff.

I found out yesterday that Tate Modern has a new exhibition in their great hall. It is 5 big slides, tubular, which anyone can slide down. They start on the 5th floor and go to the bottem. I am hoping to go this weekend to check it out. It will be a bit like being a kid again going to the playground. The artists reckons we need more stuff like this in our lives to keep us stimulated. I mean, if it can work when we are kids, why stop it? I wil for sure take pictures and post them. Should be fun.

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!!!