24 May 2008

STILL cramming for the exam on Tuesday.  I'm so nervous!  There's so much to study and I can't seem to remember it all... or stay focused, for that matter.  Ya see, there was this WONDERFUL lady who I completely admired.  She adopted me as her grandchild and she lives in Argentina.  I remember a conversation I had with her.  I told her, "I don't have anymore grandparents."  She replied, "Now you do!"  It was so cute!  Her name was Dora.  She and I instantly had one of those crazy human connections that don't come around all that often.  Well, yesterday she passed away.  I just happened to call Dora two days ago and spoke with Susana, her daughter.  Soozi (I call her), mama Evy and I went to Iguazu Falls last year together.  So, I grew really close to Soozi.  She's also the mother of my best friends wife.  Anyway, Soozi was crying when she started talking to me... telling me that Dora wasn't doing well at all.  I asked if I could speak to Dora.  Soozi told me that Dora can't speak, so I said, "Well, I just want for her to hear what I have to say."  She gave the phone to Dora.  I could hear in the background, "Mom, it's Denise in London."  Dora gets on the phone and she says, "Denise, I'm not well.  I love you."  I said, "I just want for you to know how much I love you.  You are always in my thoughts and very close to my heart."  "I love you."  She said.  And she handed the phone back to Soozi.  Sooz  couldn't talk very well after that so I told her I would call her again the following day. 

I decided I wanted to send her some flowers.  Every time I order flowers on the internet, it never works out properly.  And this time wasn't any better.  I tried to call German at his office to see if they had received the flowers.  The lady who answered the phone said that "German is not here.  His wife's grandmother has passed away this morning."  Part of me was happy that she was resting in peace now, but the other part of me was so upset that I couldn't be there with the family to mourn with them... so I mourned on my own.  I had an all day pity party for myself.  Didn't study but for maybe 10 minutes the entire day.  Dan came over and brought me a beautiful bouquet of flowers and then I watched The Way We Were with Barbara Streisand.

16 May 2008

Yeah, so, life in London at the moment is at a standstill as I am still studying for my final exams.  Last weekend, Dan went cable wakeboarding as I took in some sun.  It was really cool, the wakeboarding thing.  It's similar to riding on the back of a boat, except there is no wake and you're just going around in circles.  But there are tricks you can do and some of the guys were WAY up in the air!  Next time he goes, I may give kneeboarding a go.

The weather has been BEAUTIFUL lately! We have had temperatures in the 70's almost all week!  I read in the paper today that this May has been the hottest month in 254 years!  That's a long time!  Temperatures are cooling down a bit this week, but we're still getting highs in the 60's.  I love Spring!!!

This past week, we went to see Chicago.  It was really good and the set was very simple.  I had expected for it to be a little bit like the movie, but it wasn't at all.  There were no scene changes.  It was almost like going to a concert!

Ok, continuing on with what to expect when traveling to London series.

- No matter what, ALWAYS stay on the left, except on the escalators... stay on the right.  No matter what you're doing... whether you're driving (obviously), walking along the street, going up or down the stairs, you will always need to stay on the left.  The escalators... people will run you over if you're on the left.  That's the passing lane for those who are ambitious and climbing their way to the top.

- You will be in the land of the big brother.  There are CCTV's everywhere!!!  Dan was pushed off of his skateboarder by a bicyclist a few weeks ago.  He told me that he could call the police and tell them the time and place and they could find video footage of the jerk who did that to him and have him ticketed.  I didn't know that!  Of course, you'll see camera's at the tube stations, but I didn't think of the camera's being on random street corners!  There is no privacy in this country... except for behind closed doors, if you're lucky!

- Don't expect for people to cover their mouths when they cough.  Do expect to get sick.  Riding the tube is a dirty game... well, any public transport system for that matter.  But for some reason, people here were not trained by their mothers to cover their mouths!  It makes me so upset because you're confined in small places with these people and they don't even have the courtesy to not at least try to prevent their little viruses from spreading around to others.  Since I have been here, I have been sick for probably at least half of the time.  I'm thinking it's not any of my doing, but of people constantly passing different strands of viruses over my way.  And I had the flu shot before I left!  Same for sneezing.  I read that there are about 40,000 particles that come out of your nose and mouth when you sneeze... at the rate of anywhere from 90 - 650 mph.  All of those little particles contain a virus.  I can imagine it's the same for a cough, just not as many and not as fast.  No wonder why I have been sick so much!

That's it for the second installment of what to expect when traveling to London.  More installments are yet to come...

04 May 2008

As promised, I'm going to give the first installment of "What to Expect When Traveling to London".

London is a fabulous city that takes a while to warm up to.  However, there are some things that I have noticed that I didn't expect.

Expect a dirty nose when riding on the tube.  I didn't realize it until I had my first cold and I blew my nose and black stuff was coming out.  I have heard before that if you ride the tube regularly for a year, it would be like smoking two packs of cigarettes.  Now, I don't know if that's true or not, but with the amount of dirt flying in the air and soot that I get in my nose, I wouldn't be surprised.  It definitely can't be good for your health.  My suggestion - take the bus when possible... although riding the tube is an enjoyable experience and very efficient.

Expect to hail a taxi and a bus.  In Chicago, the buses stop at the bus stop if they see somebody standing there.  Not in London.  If you don't hail the bus, it will ride right pass you.

When at a pub, you will need to order and pay at the bar.  I think I had been lucky in that I had gone to my first pub with a local, so I knew what to do.  But, if I hadn't experienced that, I would have been waiting for a very long time to get any type of service.  Pubs are a great place for food!  It's usually the cheaper alternative and you will find good food from all types of ethnicities.  It's certainly not like American pub food.  It's much higher quality and very rarely will you find nachos and wings on the list of grub.  Dan and I went to a really great pub and had delicious Thai cuisine.  The moral of the story is you never know what you're going to get.  

Stay tuned for the next installment of "What to Expect When Traveling to London"!

02 May 2008

I'm so excited about the news I have just received, that I had to immediately post this so whomever is reading this will be able to share in my excitement.

Blackbaud, the company I have been working with since January, has leased another floor in our current building. This new floor is going to be for visitors and clients that are coming in to the office for training or meetings, etc. This morning, I went downstairs to check out the new space and I told Mark that I would be happy to supply some photography for the new diggs and he agreed!!! It's all still up in the air, but we had a good discussion about it and he has given me an assignment, so to speak, of places to go in the city to take pictures. They are naming the meeting rooms Parliament, Embankment, and Festival, which are all areas close to the office. Also, we talked about doing a gallery wall along the corridor with various photos from around London. So it looks like this weekend, I will be taking a million pictures of sights in the city for them to choose from. How fun! :)