... the IT man in LibraryLand
So this deferred Australia Day Holiday saw My Guitarist host a barbecue at his Southerly residence to which much of the band was invited. Of course FridgePower and Judge Mingus come as a package deal these days so it was a tad easier to get the band members various on site, however, sadly, illness (and not musical differences as reported in the papers) prevented the appearance of LittleBigGirl.
In typical drumming fashion oneself - with Salsa Girl and Hulk in tow - did not arrive until the second verse but then immediately guided the rhythm of the remainder of the afternoon as the rest of the band followed my lead and gathered around my anchoring presence - it had nothing to do with my entrancing them all with Hulk's bountiful cuteness, I swear.
Typically most of the younger generation ignored my rock star presence, not to the Scary Uncle Phill levels of the past mind you, but you would think that I would warrant more than a cursory hello from Thumper and Ball Boy seeing as I was apparently their second-favourite person in the world.
Still as they say, in the world of rock and roll, fame is fleeting.
.
Showing posts with label BigBen. Show all posts
Showing posts with label BigBen. Show all posts
... The LittleBigGirl Catchup
Most of my Sunday was spent languishing in an inner city pub catching up with LittleBigGirl.
She and BigBen were over from the mother country for a short visit and LittleBigGirl had the brilliant idea of sitting all day in a pub and having the hordes come to them - although I must say that BigBen took to the pub part of the idea with relish.
I myself arrived mid afternoon and forced myself to suffer through several beers, a largish pub lunch, and some quite interesting gaming conversation with BigBen himself - such are the sacrifices I make for the sake of friendship.
Eventually I had to return to my demesne and face the further trials and tribulations of a gaming night at my place with ample attendees and the expected level of fun.
.
She and BigBen were over from the mother country for a short visit and LittleBigGirl had the brilliant idea of sitting all day in a pub and having the hordes come to them - although I must say that BigBen took to the pub part of the idea with relish.
I myself arrived mid afternoon and forced myself to suffer through several beers, a largish pub lunch, and some quite interesting gaming conversation with BigBen himself - such are the sacrifices I make for the sake of friendship.
Eventually I had to return to my demesne and face the further trials and tribulations of a gaming night at my place with ample attendees and the expected level of fun.
.
... A Lazy Weekend
I've been enjoying my first lazy weekend for ages after surving the tail-end of my anniversary week.
I do think that I have to point out that box cake might come from a box but it is still stirred (by hand I might add) and bunged into my oven. I want to squash those rumours of my bringing cake straight from the shop, as we all know that shop-cake means reputation death in the library staff room.
Anyway, thanks to random computer and borrower failure, I was only able to have one piece of the cake as it was naught but crumbs by the time I got back to it at the end of the day. Oh well, I can just say that it's a part of my renewed fitness program.
Friday started off well with an invigorating pre-work walk/jog. Things soon took a turn for the worse when I arrived at Brighton to find that Sister Serials and I had "worn the same dress to the ball". It turns out that when Svetlana gives you a green polka-dot shirt it's part of some cosmic joke and SS will be there in her red twin of your shirt the moment you enter the building and you'll have to put up with Xmas themed humour at your expense all day.
In any case I soldiered on and, with the help the disturbingly Miami Vice like collarless Mr Prada, proceeded to run yet another 2.0 remedial class. Sonja Roster Queen, Sister Serials, Nurse Janet, Devil's Advocate and a new casual were the victims of the day. From some points of view it was successful as yet more staff finished their 23 things before there IT Man.
Friday was finished off with a surprisingly dinner-free Sandringham Xmas dinner. Still it was good to be home again although it does sound like I'll have to give them an anniversary cake of their own. Hmm, I wonder if etiquette allows me to buy this one?
I was going to make a one sentence post saying that a lazy weekend leaves me with little to write home about but I seem to have blathered on and filled my quota.
And blather is what it is compared to some of the heartfelt blogging I've read recently from the likes of LittleBigGirl re her and BigBen's horrible health issues; and Tooticky's farewell to a monster I knew in passing; not to mention The Viking Hat GM's world/people saving efforts. Still, I am famous, judging by LittleBigGirl's blog, so I must be doing something right... right?
.
I do think that I have to point out that box cake might come from a box but it is still stirred (by hand I might add) and bunged into my oven. I want to squash those rumours of my bringing cake straight from the shop, as we all know that shop-cake means reputation death in the library staff room.
Anyway, thanks to random computer and borrower failure, I was only able to have one piece of the cake as it was naught but crumbs by the time I got back to it at the end of the day. Oh well, I can just say that it's a part of my renewed fitness program.
Friday started off well with an invigorating pre-work walk/jog. Things soon took a turn for the worse when I arrived at Brighton to find that Sister Serials and I had "worn the same dress to the ball". It turns out that when Svetlana gives you a green polka-dot shirt it's part of some cosmic joke and SS will be there in her red twin of your shirt the moment you enter the building and you'll have to put up with Xmas themed humour at your expense all day.
In any case I soldiered on and, with the help the disturbingly Miami Vice like collarless Mr Prada, proceeded to run yet another 2.0 remedial class. Sonja Roster Queen, Sister Serials, Nurse Janet, Devil's Advocate and a new casual were the victims of the day. From some points of view it was successful as yet more staff finished their 23 things before there IT Man.
Friday was finished off with a surprisingly dinner-free Sandringham Xmas dinner. Still it was good to be home again although it does sound like I'll have to give them an anniversary cake of their own. Hmm, I wonder if etiquette allows me to buy this one?
I was going to make a one sentence post saying that a lazy weekend leaves me with little to write home about but I seem to have blathered on and filled my quota.
And blather is what it is compared to some of the heartfelt blogging I've read recently from the likes of LittleBigGirl re her and BigBen's horrible health issues; and Tooticky's farewell to a monster I knew in passing; not to mention The Viking Hat GM's world/people saving efforts. Still, I am famous, judging by LittleBigGirl's blog, so I must be doing something right... right?
... A Digest of Disasters
Or Five Six Days in London
On the morning of January 15 we innocently packed our bags and headed to the airport by bus to catch our two o'clock flight.
On reaching the check-in desk our bag was checked in and we were informed that the flight was delayed 5 hours and then handed some refund forms which implied that we had to cancel the flight to receive any refund. Svetlana was furious at the uninformative nature of the airport staff, and WizzAir for not being able to provide a better option than the huge delay, and was not sure that she wanted to wait that long for a flight that would have us arrive close to midnight.
We spent the next five hours lurking in the airport bar discussing what to do, despairing further as the delay accrued another 45 minutes, and drinking many beers.
Finally our flight arrived. We boarded and were off. A small bright light was being last onto the plane, which used a sit where you want policy, and being upgraded to extra legroom seats for free - take that WizzAir, you just lost 12 Euros!
After a couple of hours we landed at the incorrectly named London-Luton airport after midnight. Luckily the national rail country trains run all night so we could catch a 1:06 train into Kings Cross. Unluckily the tube doesn't so we had to scramble up a taxi to get to our Motel (well a Liscensed Private Driver actually, and they are referred to as mini-cabs for unknown reasons). Our driver did seem a little dodgy but had all the paperwork and punched the destination into his UPS so I wasn't particularly worried.
Arrival at our Motel in the Walthamstow area showed the perils of getting me to book the first cheap available motel that's on the Luton side of the Thames. We completed our 24hr check-in and went to our room to collapse, only to find that it had almost beaten us to it. Suffice to say we had to sleep so we stayed in the room with: tea/coffee fixings but no jug, no tv remote, the window nailed shut, no fan in the bathroom so the steam would set off the fire alarm, excess furniture crammed in the corners, a highly mobile toilet seat, a sheet of thin foam between two sheets as a doona and a distinct smoky aroma.
First thing the next morning, after a short fire alarm (presumably from other guests showering with the door open), I was able to change us into one of their first rate rooms with no trouble and no extra fee. First rate being within the bounds of two star of course. Everything worked and was present in this room and we even had morning sun shining in to brighten up our mood.
The remainder of the morning was spent in rest before we set out to explore the local area in the afternoon - central London would have to wait until the morrow. During our explorations I had my first Indian meal for a while plus, at Svetlana's insistence, beers (but not Fosters Lager!) at several authentic British pubs.
The next day saw our first foray into Central London, after some internet time and an early lunch. We chose to go by double decker bus for that authentic English experience. It was enjoyable but took twice as long as the tube was supposed to take. On arrival we walked over the Tower Bridge and around the Tower of London in the failing light before taking the bus back to our temporary home for an evening meal of take-away Chinese.
The next morning we were up early and already on the tube when LittleBigGirl called to arrange a catch up for dinner. Our first stop was Buckingham palace which was quickly followed by Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, London Eye, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. Satisfied that we'd hit enough of the icons we began our shopping. Perusing Forbidden Planet for comics and The Orc's Nest for gaming items along the way we hit Oxford street and the Virgin Megastore - strangely renamed as Zavvi.
Shopping was cut short to get to our Turkish dinner with LittleBigGirl and BigBen. We had a great couple of hours catching up. BigBen was a font of information on London and on the gaming he indulged in - although the schnapps shots caused me a few Srpski flashbacks.
Our next day started with a quick tube to Oxford Circus followed by a few hours of girly shopping along Oxford Street. A walk through Soho was followed by a cross town trip to the Tower of London which we actually deigned to enter this time. After seeing the Crown Jewels and a few other parts of the Tower complex the Tower began it's four o'clock closing routine so we decided to head home, stopping to admire the well lit Tower Bridge.
Transport woes reared their head again as our line was closed due to somebody being on the tracks. The closure was still underway after our dinner at a King's Cross pub so we made multiple line changes to reach an overground train that got us home late, and tired.
The next morning we were up early and off to the airport. At least until we encountered a line closure at King's Cross and had to do the tube tango again to catch a different National train out to Luton. Arrival at the airport revealed that our flight had been recently canceled. Apparently a flight to WizzAir's home city had problems so they cancelled our flight and shifted our plane to that flight. Much angst, and calculation of travel times with the track works we already knew about, later we decided to take a flight the next morning from Gatwick and stay the night near that airport. The WizzAir alternative was their Thursday flight and we weren't going to stay another 4 days for that!
Another round of train and tube travel ensued before we were courtesy bused to our Gatwick Hotel. We were greeted with a small room but with nicer fittings. A short walk took us to the Horley main street where we had a nice Chinese meal since the local pub closed the kitchen at 7.
Early arrival at the airport the next morning did us no good as our flight - with a different airline - had a half hour delay. Finally after attempting to spend our remaining British Pounds in the airport we were able to board an actual flight and escape back to Svetlanaland.
We were collected from the airport and hustled back to Svetlana's home town were we promptly hugged the ground.
All this delay has unfortunately removed Venice from my travel menu this trip as I have to flit my way back to Australia in only a few short days.
On the morning of January 15 we innocently packed our bags and headed to the airport by bus to catch our two o'clock flight.
On reaching the check-in desk our bag was checked in and we were informed that the flight was delayed 5 hours and then handed some refund forms which implied that we had to cancel the flight to receive any refund. Svetlana was furious at the uninformative nature of the airport staff, and WizzAir for not being able to provide a better option than the huge delay, and was not sure that she wanted to wait that long for a flight that would have us arrive close to midnight.
We spent the next five hours lurking in the airport bar discussing what to do, despairing further as the delay accrued another 45 minutes, and drinking many beers.
Finally our flight arrived. We boarded and were off. A small bright light was being last onto the plane, which used a sit where you want policy, and being upgraded to extra legroom seats for free - take that WizzAir, you just lost 12 Euros!
After a couple of hours we landed at the incorrectly named London-Luton airport after midnight. Luckily the national rail country trains run all night so we could catch a 1:06 train into Kings Cross. Unluckily the tube doesn't so we had to scramble up a taxi to get to our Motel (well a Liscensed Private Driver actually, and they are referred to as mini-cabs for unknown reasons). Our driver did seem a little dodgy but had all the paperwork and punched the destination into his UPS so I wasn't particularly worried.
Arrival at our Motel in the Walthamstow area showed the perils of getting me to book the first cheap available motel that's on the Luton side of the Thames. We completed our 24hr check-in and went to our room to collapse, only to find that it had almost beaten us to it. Suffice to say we had to sleep so we stayed in the room with: tea/coffee fixings but no jug, no tv remote, the window nailed shut, no fan in the bathroom so the steam would set off the fire alarm, excess furniture crammed in the corners, a highly mobile toilet seat, a sheet of thin foam between two sheets as a doona and a distinct smoky aroma.
First thing the next morning, after a short fire alarm (presumably from other guests showering with the door open), I was able to change us into one of their first rate rooms with no trouble and no extra fee. First rate being within the bounds of two star of course. Everything worked and was present in this room and we even had morning sun shining in to brighten up our mood.
The remainder of the morning was spent in rest before we set out to explore the local area in the afternoon - central London would have to wait until the morrow. During our explorations I had my first Indian meal for a while plus, at Svetlana's insistence, beers (but not Fosters Lager!) at several authentic British pubs.
The next day saw our first foray into Central London, after some internet time and an early lunch. We chose to go by double decker bus for that authentic English experience. It was enjoyable but took twice as long as the tube was supposed to take. On arrival we walked over the Tower Bridge and around the Tower of London in the failing light before taking the bus back to our temporary home for an evening meal of take-away Chinese.
The next morning we were up early and already on the tube when LittleBigGirl called to arrange a catch up for dinner. Our first stop was Buckingham palace which was quickly followed by Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, London Eye, Downing Street, Trafalgar Square and Piccadilly Circus. Satisfied that we'd hit enough of the icons we began our shopping. Perusing Forbidden Planet for comics and The Orc's Nest for gaming items along the way we hit Oxford street and the Virgin Megastore - strangely renamed as Zavvi.
Shopping was cut short to get to our Turkish dinner with LittleBigGirl and BigBen. We had a great couple of hours catching up. BigBen was a font of information on London and on the gaming he indulged in - although the schnapps shots caused me a few Srpski flashbacks.
Our next day started with a quick tube to Oxford Circus followed by a few hours of girly shopping along Oxford Street. A walk through Soho was followed by a cross town trip to the Tower of London which we actually deigned to enter this time. After seeing the Crown Jewels and a few other parts of the Tower complex the Tower began it's four o'clock closing routine so we decided to head home, stopping to admire the well lit Tower Bridge.
Transport woes reared their head again as our line was closed due to somebody being on the tracks. The closure was still underway after our dinner at a King's Cross pub so we made multiple line changes to reach an overground train that got us home late, and tired.
The next morning we were up early and off to the airport. At least until we encountered a line closure at King's Cross and had to do the tube tango again to catch a different National train out to Luton. Arrival at the airport revealed that our flight had been recently canceled. Apparently a flight to WizzAir's home city had problems so they cancelled our flight and shifted our plane to that flight. Much angst, and calculation of travel times with the track works we already knew about, later we decided to take a flight the next morning from Gatwick and stay the night near that airport. The WizzAir alternative was their Thursday flight and we weren't going to stay another 4 days for that!
Another round of train and tube travel ensued before we were courtesy bused to our Gatwick Hotel. We were greeted with a small room but with nicer fittings. A short walk took us to the Horley main street where we had a nice Chinese meal since the local pub closed the kitchen at 7.
Early arrival at the airport the next morning did us no good as our flight - with a different airline - had a half hour delay. Finally after attempting to spend our remaining British Pounds in the airport we were able to board an actual flight and escape back to Svetlanaland.
We were collected from the airport and hustled back to Svetlana's home town were we promptly hugged the ground.
All this delay has unfortunately removed Venice from my travel menu this trip as I have to flit my way back to Australia in only a few short days.
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