My house is no longer being left unwatched and unguarded. In a Ferris Buellerian set of connections my old roommate’s wife’s brother needed a place to live. He graduated from St. Cloud State and is now working at General Mills. So he needed a place to live and I needed someone to watch over things. So that seemed like a good idea to me and RG was down with the plan so we went ahead with it. As he was moving in it struck me. I have had a lot of roommates/renters in my house. I have owned it the better part of 8 years and there have been a lot of people there. I had never counted them though, so I could not say with certainty how many I have had.
So I counted. 11 people besides myself have lived full time in my house since I have owned it. And that doesn’t count another 2 or 3 that only lived there for a week or two because they needed a place to stay. To put this in perspective I am only the fourth owner of the house in 100 years (the house was built in 1905). All of the previous owners were families. So assuming 4 people in a family plus one other person I know lived there I estimate that possibly 10-13 people have lived in the house prior to my tenure as owner. So basically nearly to 50% of the residency have been my roommates or tenants and then mostly over the last 8 years! Now I doubt I will have any more roommates that aren’t related to me while I own the house. So this new tenant is probably the last renter. But it was a surprise to me to think about the number, and variety of people that have lived in the house.
A somewhat related situation that also happened as the new guy – JA – moved in also occurred. When we got to the back of his moving truck I was shocked to see that he had a motorcycle in the back. And not just any motorcycle, but a 2002 SV650S Suzuki. I had before deciding to leave the phone company been planning on buying a 2003 SV650S six years ago. So I must admit I was a little jealous. I even contemplated offering him free rent for a year in trade on the bike. I didn’t of course but still I do have to say it does get me thinking of motorcycles again, even if I would only get to ride the thing twice a year. To be honest I haven’t even had time to get my golf clubs out this year so what would I do with a bike? But it was funny that my new roommie, has practically one of the bikes I drool from time to time over. The other being a BMW R1200C. Though last year I also liked but didn’t add to my list – due to the high cost – the Fat Bob from Harley.
So I do wonder how many people will eventually live in my house. I know my wife would like to see us plus 4. Though I have a suspicion that we may also house some other relatives from time to time, so really I may end up responsible for 20 people living in the house over my ownership.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Apparently I already did that
A funny thing happed to me at work the other week. I was asked to prepare a document and when I started to gather my notes I realized I had already written it. In fact I had finished it only two weeks before the request. The fact that I did it before I was asked isn’t surprising. I am getting the hang of this consulting thing and I can on occasion see some of the needs on the horizon and prepare material proactively. This of course helps to curb the late night projects and long extra hours when things are asked for on short deadlines. No the thing that was surprising was I didn’t remember writing it. At all. I couldn’t recall even starting it! What a hoot. Here I had, and it was all obvious my work, around 30 pages of documentation I couldn’t remember doing it. At least not at first. I was baffled and amused that I could play such a trick on myself. I started to wonder if I was going senile already. I didn’t think I was that old yet.
So I started to investigate a little. I verified in the document properties that I was the creator and last modifier of the document. Then I read the document, or at least skimmed it. I started to remember creating the screen shoots and even typing some of the text. Then I checked the date of the document. It was created during the week I was in workshops in Munich. That week was basically a set of meetings of which my part was very small. I gave one 20 minute presentation that was mostly a recap of much of the information that was already presented. I also had some side meeting with the team I would be working with, and worked on some defects on the objects I am in charge of. But this was enough to lead me to some conclusions to what happened with the document.
Basically I have to admit that I do not have a typical method of working. I enjoy and need distractions. In school when we did tests to find out our style of learning I was a KT learner; someone who learns by doing and needs constant stimulation. So the work style I have developed is to have tasks that I am actively working on that have close deadlines and to have other work open and in the back ground. Then if my mind starts to wonder I switch tasks for a few minutes. I started doing this when I returned to college and seemed to work well for me. I also tend to keep things open even when I am not working in case I get an idea.
For example when I was in college during programming classes I would code while watching TV. I wouldn’t seriously be dedicated to it but I would do a little bit of the boring parts of projects bit by bit. So by starting a project early and doing these pieces in little bits, by the time the deadline was coming up I only had the interesting work left and I wouldn’t get bored doing it. Sometimes I would even do more than my part of a project just because it was open in the background. I remember one partner being surprised when a couple days before a project was due I had 80% of it done. So even though my wife yells at me for always being on the computer it does have some benefits.
So this is basically what happened here. Even though I was involved in workshops and working on defects I also had this document open in the back ground. Every once in a while I would take a screen shot or type up a couple of sentences. In the course of the week I had put the entire thing together. The reason I didn’t really remember it is because I had never felt that it was “finished” so I just thought of all I had done as a work in progress or working notes. However when I reviewed it there was very little left to change a matter of 3% or so. So I was very happy to be able to turn this around quickly to client. It is fun when you surprise yourself I for time to time I think.
So I started to investigate a little. I verified in the document properties that I was the creator and last modifier of the document. Then I read the document, or at least skimmed it. I started to remember creating the screen shoots and even typing some of the text. Then I checked the date of the document. It was created during the week I was in workshops in Munich. That week was basically a set of meetings of which my part was very small. I gave one 20 minute presentation that was mostly a recap of much of the information that was already presented. I also had some side meeting with the team I would be working with, and worked on some defects on the objects I am in charge of. But this was enough to lead me to some conclusions to what happened with the document.
Basically I have to admit that I do not have a typical method of working. I enjoy and need distractions. In school when we did tests to find out our style of learning I was a KT learner; someone who learns by doing and needs constant stimulation. So the work style I have developed is to have tasks that I am actively working on that have close deadlines and to have other work open and in the back ground. Then if my mind starts to wonder I switch tasks for a few minutes. I started doing this when I returned to college and seemed to work well for me. I also tend to keep things open even when I am not working in case I get an idea.
For example when I was in college during programming classes I would code while watching TV. I wouldn’t seriously be dedicated to it but I would do a little bit of the boring parts of projects bit by bit. So by starting a project early and doing these pieces in little bits, by the time the deadline was coming up I only had the interesting work left and I wouldn’t get bored doing it. Sometimes I would even do more than my part of a project just because it was open in the background. I remember one partner being surprised when a couple days before a project was due I had 80% of it done. So even though my wife yells at me for always being on the computer it does have some benefits.
So this is basically what happened here. Even though I was involved in workshops and working on defects I also had this document open in the back ground. Every once in a while I would take a screen shot or type up a couple of sentences. In the course of the week I had put the entire thing together. The reason I didn’t really remember it is because I had never felt that it was “finished” so I just thought of all I had done as a work in progress or working notes. However when I reviewed it there was very little left to change a matter of 3% or so. So I was very happy to be able to turn this around quickly to client. It is fun when you surprise yourself I for time to time I think.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Motorcycle or Sidewalks
On this last trip back home to the states I had a nice little note from the city. It made me start to think of two great uses for my money. Not my tax money mind you, my post income tax, non-property tax, non-State Sales tax, non-County Sales Tax, and non-City Sales Tax money. My personal hard earned dollars. The choice hypothetically be between new sidewalks along my property and a used motorcycle, a used motorcycle that I been thinking a little about for years. So basically the situation is this. The side walks around my house are shoot. Anyone can see they are in bad shape. So the city has decided for me that it is time to replace these. For most people this would only be a bill for a couple of hundred dollars. But because I am on a corner lot my bill will be a couple of thousand dollars. The cost of the sidewalks would be just shy of what I was looking for a starter bike. But it really isn’t a decision, it is mandated by the city.
I always knew this could happen I have heard about from other people. There are many things in a city that you would think were paid for by taxes but are actually the responsibility of the home owner. Things that your neighbors may use more than you do, things you may not even ask for. Worst of all things you don’t get to really choose. These are of course the same sidewalks I must keep clean in the winter or be charged just under a grand if the city does it for me. That is by the way each time they would do it, not a monthly or seasonal charge, a per visit charge. It is kind of like a fine but billed as a service. So anyway my side walks have been assessed as needing to be replaced. And I will get billed several thousand dollars for the new concrete work. Last year of course I got a city ordinance situation to paint the house, and before that I got a notice to clean the alley. This year just happens to be sidewalks. I wonder what they will come up with next year.
Now of course I joke that it is a choice between the motorcycle or the sidewalks. I don’t have a choice it was made by the city for me. So I will be getting them. And in all honesty, I would like to say that it angers me and confuses me, that the city would do this to law abiding and tax paying home owners. But in reality I don’t really have an issue with it. I use the city side walks all of the time. I am surprised that it isn’t included in the property taxes but that is the decision that was made by the city planners or council members. People elected by the same people who complain that sidewalk maintenance isn’t covered in taxes. So I realize that this choice was made by due process. If I don’t like it I could run for local office and try to change it. Or just vote for people the might change it. But since I probably won’t get hit up for this again and I can afford it I will just shrug my shoulders and enjoy the new uncracked, unheaving sidewalks. Too bad they don’t throw in a used bike though.
I always knew this could happen I have heard about from other people. There are many things in a city that you would think were paid for by taxes but are actually the responsibility of the home owner. Things that your neighbors may use more than you do, things you may not even ask for. Worst of all things you don’t get to really choose. These are of course the same sidewalks I must keep clean in the winter or be charged just under a grand if the city does it for me. That is by the way each time they would do it, not a monthly or seasonal charge, a per visit charge. It is kind of like a fine but billed as a service. So anyway my side walks have been assessed as needing to be replaced. And I will get billed several thousand dollars for the new concrete work. Last year of course I got a city ordinance situation to paint the house, and before that I got a notice to clean the alley. This year just happens to be sidewalks. I wonder what they will come up with next year.
Now of course I joke that it is a choice between the motorcycle or the sidewalks. I don’t have a choice it was made by the city for me. So I will be getting them. And in all honesty, I would like to say that it angers me and confuses me, that the city would do this to law abiding and tax paying home owners. But in reality I don’t really have an issue with it. I use the city side walks all of the time. I am surprised that it isn’t included in the property taxes but that is the decision that was made by the city planners or council members. People elected by the same people who complain that sidewalk maintenance isn’t covered in taxes. So I realize that this choice was made by due process. If I don’t like it I could run for local office and try to change it. Or just vote for people the might change it. But since I probably won’t get hit up for this again and I can afford it I will just shrug my shoulders and enjoy the new uncracked, unheaving sidewalks. Too bad they don’t throw in a used bike though.
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Cornwall and Wales
No I am not talking about a corn maze in the Midwest and animals in the ocean. I’m talking about two larger regions of the United Kingdom. Cornwall having been the supposed land ruled by King Arthur Millennia ago and Wales which is still a principality ruled by the Prince of Wales the future king of England. Because England and the United Kingdom are the result of years of conquest of one set of kingdoms over the others government and politic structure is quite different than any other place in the world. There are still regional dialects, there are still ruling royalty (in name if not in practice), and the people identify themselves with their local identity first and the larger country second. Taking a road trip through these two regions was very fun and informative the other weekend.
We started out going to Cornwall. The area is different from anywhere else I have been in England. Cornwall has beautiful scenic views in all direction, different plants, a crazy Moorish (boogy) landscape, and signs in another language. While everyone speaks English they also speak a local language, but only with other residents, however much like Quebec in Canada they have signs in both languages. The first site was Tintagel a place that includes several ruins that are on an island just of the west coast of England. At one time there was a settlement and garrison if not a castle on this island. This is the place where King Arthur was to have been born and ruled from after the departure of the Romans from England. The town on the main land by the ruins is also very scenic and has a lot of tourist shops revolving around the Arthurian myths. Surprisingly there was also a fun little stop in town where you could tour a post office from the 1500s. This was a house/postal office in the town and it was interesting to see the construction used 500 years ago, and amazing that it was still standing and in good shape.
Our second stop in Cornwall was one the BMc wanted to do. He had found the link to a strange museum on witch craft on the internet and it was only 10 minutes from Tintagel. So we went. The town was called Boscastle and contrary to its name it never had a castle in it at all. The museum was a little strange for my taste. It was also some what hokey. The first few rooms showed witches in pop culture, exhibits such as advertising, books, stories, movie posters, etc. showed the popular view of witches. As you moved along they showed some of the plants and ingredients used in spells and remedies real witches might use. After that protective charms and voodoo dolls and things were on display. The museum in all was maybe 5 or 6 decent sized rooms and took us about an hour or so to get through. I wasn’t that impressed but BMc seemed to eat it up. At the end of the tour though he started arguing with the witch that ran the place, I told we should get out of there so she didn’t curse him!
After that we headed up to Wales. The drive wasn’t bad we got a little rain, but surprisingly the dumb little car I had was pretty comfortable. I don’t think I would choose a Renault Scenic myself but it did surprise me a little, but I think it is still to ugly to own. We stayed at the Marriott in Cardiff, the capital of Wales and went out for a little that night to the local bar area and to get a late dinner. The next day we went to Cardiff Castle in the middle of town. Now that is a castle lover’s castle. It is rather large, in pretty good shape, has a remodeled main building from around the time Neurswanstein was built, but it also has the ruins of an old keep that you climb around in and that is surrounded by a moat. To top it off there are the remnants of a Roman fort. So I was really glad that we got to tour that castle. Even if it was raining like crazy. In fact many of the metal ribs of my umbrella were bent it was so stormy.
After the castle we took a double decker tour bus around town. It was too hard to get many photos because it was raining so the windows made photos blurry. The top of the bus, where we sat, was only cover for the first 4 rows then it was an open cab. So every time the bus turned a corner we got wet. But it was worth it. Cardiff is a nice town that is certain an up and coming area. It boasts a lot of modern development along with many older buildings and neighborhoods. I could easily spend a weekend exploring the city. As if our day wasn’t already pretty full we had two more stops to make. A set of water falls that had been used to drive water wheels that powered a tinning plant in the 19th century and an old gold mine. We arrived at the gold mine to late to do the tour but that was ok we got to crawl around on all the equipment and pan for gold so that was fun. The waterfalls and tin works were amazing. Now we were only able to hit about a ¼ of Cornwall and a ¼ of Wales but I can’t wait to make another trip to Wales. There are still amazing beaches and mountains to see, along with another fort and some manor houses. I think I will combine my trip to Liverpool and Manchester with Northern Wales. I can’t wait, maybe I can even bring the wife this time.
We started out going to Cornwall. The area is different from anywhere else I have been in England. Cornwall has beautiful scenic views in all direction, different plants, a crazy Moorish (boogy) landscape, and signs in another language. While everyone speaks English they also speak a local language, but only with other residents, however much like Quebec in Canada they have signs in both languages. The first site was Tintagel a place that includes several ruins that are on an island just of the west coast of England. At one time there was a settlement and garrison if not a castle on this island. This is the place where King Arthur was to have been born and ruled from after the departure of the Romans from England. The town on the main land by the ruins is also very scenic and has a lot of tourist shops revolving around the Arthurian myths. Surprisingly there was also a fun little stop in town where you could tour a post office from the 1500s. This was a house/postal office in the town and it was interesting to see the construction used 500 years ago, and amazing that it was still standing and in good shape.
Our second stop in Cornwall was one the BMc wanted to do. He had found the link to a strange museum on witch craft on the internet and it was only 10 minutes from Tintagel. So we went. The town was called Boscastle and contrary to its name it never had a castle in it at all. The museum was a little strange for my taste. It was also some what hokey. The first few rooms showed witches in pop culture, exhibits such as advertising, books, stories, movie posters, etc. showed the popular view of witches. As you moved along they showed some of the plants and ingredients used in spells and remedies real witches might use. After that protective charms and voodoo dolls and things were on display. The museum in all was maybe 5 or 6 decent sized rooms and took us about an hour or so to get through. I wasn’t that impressed but BMc seemed to eat it up. At the end of the tour though he started arguing with the witch that ran the place, I told we should get out of there so she didn’t curse him!
After that we headed up to Wales. The drive wasn’t bad we got a little rain, but surprisingly the dumb little car I had was pretty comfortable. I don’t think I would choose a Renault Scenic myself but it did surprise me a little, but I think it is still to ugly to own. We stayed at the Marriott in Cardiff, the capital of Wales and went out for a little that night to the local bar area and to get a late dinner. The next day we went to Cardiff Castle in the middle of town. Now that is a castle lover’s castle. It is rather large, in pretty good shape, has a remodeled main building from around the time Neurswanstein was built, but it also has the ruins of an old keep that you climb around in and that is surrounded by a moat. To top it off there are the remnants of a Roman fort. So I was really glad that we got to tour that castle. Even if it was raining like crazy. In fact many of the metal ribs of my umbrella were bent it was so stormy.
After the castle we took a double decker tour bus around town. It was too hard to get many photos because it was raining so the windows made photos blurry. The top of the bus, where we sat, was only cover for the first 4 rows then it was an open cab. So every time the bus turned a corner we got wet. But it was worth it. Cardiff is a nice town that is certain an up and coming area. It boasts a lot of modern development along with many older buildings and neighborhoods. I could easily spend a weekend exploring the city. As if our day wasn’t already pretty full we had two more stops to make. A set of water falls that had been used to drive water wheels that powered a tinning plant in the 19th century and an old gold mine. We arrived at the gold mine to late to do the tour but that was ok we got to crawl around on all the equipment and pan for gold so that was fun. The waterfalls and tin works were amazing. Now we were only able to hit about a ¼ of Cornwall and a ¼ of Wales but I can’t wait to make another trip to Wales. There are still amazing beaches and mountains to see, along with another fort and some manor houses. I think I will combine my trip to Liverpool and Manchester with Northern Wales. I can’t wait, maybe I can even bring the wife this time.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Minnemelvichportscow – BS!
So I assume most people have seen the ATT commercials with the people that travel a lot around the world and have ATT cell phones. I thought they were amusing because I feel like I don’t just live in one city either. One guy is an actor and you see a bunch of stages change behind him, another guy is a real-estate mogul who gets into a helicopter. I currently have an ATT smart phone so I thought I would try to come up with the city I live in like in the commercials: Minnemelvichportscow, for Minneapolis, Melville (NY), Munich (DE), Portsmouth (UK), and Moscow (RU). I’m not sure what my commercial would look like, either me sitting in meetings with different backdrops, or me typing on computers with different back drops. Probably not as interesting as a Real-estate Mogul or an actor though.
Now these commercials didn’t have any influence on me moving my phone from T-Mobile to ATT, I would have rather kept T-Mobile as their signal is the strongest of the providers in my house, but to get work e-mail on my phone I had to go with a provider supported by our IT guys. It works ok in the states and I do get signal in all of the countries I have traveled to so far. But that said it certainly isn’t as flexible and easy as they seem to point out. In fact a lot of the time my phone, though it technically works, is useless. The weirdest problem I only seem to have in the UK. When I leave the phone on it works great right away, if I leave it on for days however it starts to require different dialing criteria. For instance I when first turned on I can use my phone book just by selecting the name, a couple days later I have to modify the number to dial out of the UK, and even then this only works half the time. The solution is to reboot the phone. This is really annoying and at first kept me from using the phone abroad.
The next thing that is really crazy is that I have different rates where ever I go. So really my bill is normally a surprise for me. As it is expensed it doesn’t cost me, but it makes it hard to plan around when you do have a telecom budget. Also the dialing requirements change from country to county. So sometimes I can use the phone book and sometimes I can’t. Sometimes I can call local and sometimes I can only call back to the US. It is quite a lot of effort to figure out the rules for each country actually. So I find it amusing that the guys in the phone seem to use their phones seamlessly from place to place. I guess I am just traveling to the wrong assortment of countries.
Now these commercials didn’t have any influence on me moving my phone from T-Mobile to ATT, I would have rather kept T-Mobile as their signal is the strongest of the providers in my house, but to get work e-mail on my phone I had to go with a provider supported by our IT guys. It works ok in the states and I do get signal in all of the countries I have traveled to so far. But that said it certainly isn’t as flexible and easy as they seem to point out. In fact a lot of the time my phone, though it technically works, is useless. The weirdest problem I only seem to have in the UK. When I leave the phone on it works great right away, if I leave it on for days however it starts to require different dialing criteria. For instance I when first turned on I can use my phone book just by selecting the name, a couple days later I have to modify the number to dial out of the UK, and even then this only works half the time. The solution is to reboot the phone. This is really annoying and at first kept me from using the phone abroad.
The next thing that is really crazy is that I have different rates where ever I go. So really my bill is normally a surprise for me. As it is expensed it doesn’t cost me, but it makes it hard to plan around when you do have a telecom budget. Also the dialing requirements change from country to county. So sometimes I can use the phone book and sometimes I can’t. Sometimes I can call local and sometimes I can only call back to the US. It is quite a lot of effort to figure out the rules for each country actually. So I find it amusing that the guys in the phone seem to use their phones seamlessly from place to place. I guess I am just traveling to the wrong assortment of countries.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Visitors
Before and after our wedding anniversary in Paris, my apartment was over run by visitors. So along with work those two weeks were very busy. MQ and SL were the first to come. They came in on a Saturday night, SL left midweek, and MQ left Saturday (after we had flown to France). It was quite a good time and it was fun to see faces from back home over here. The first night of course we went pubbing a little. The pubs weren’t that great but we had a decent time anyway. The next day we went up to London and did the super whirlwind tour. I was able to park the car in the second Zone of the mass transit area so we could use a $10 day pass to go anywhere in the core of the city we wanted to go. I won’t list all of the places that we saw but in a single day we saw as many places as I had in ½ a week back in January.
That Monday also happened to be a bank holiday. Of which they have a ton of over here. While SL went to go visit an old friend from when he was a kid in Italy out in Bath MQ, along with a friend from work BMc (someone I have traveled a lot with in the UK) drove up to Oxford. You know the town with the ridiculously old school college. We did not actually go and see the college or the town. Instead we went to Blenhiem Palace, the traditional home of the Duke of Marlborough. A place I had never heard of but MQ really wanted to see. This is the family of Winston Churchill, but because he was the 2nd born did not become a Duke. I guess Prime Minister worked ok though. It was pretty nice. It is a large country estate, a pretty fancy, though not quite as fancy as Versailles in France. They were having Jousting and Falconry on the grounds and had several tours to see. The funniest was a “Hi-tech” exhibit with holograms, robots, and videos. It was actually pretty lame. After that we drove to Windsor to see that palace, but arrived too late to get in, though strolling through the town was nice.
The following day we stayed local, where MQ got himself thrown out of the historic dockyards. Then Thursday I had him ride the train up to where my client is located, I left early, and we drove out to see Stonehenge, my second trip there while living in the UK. After that we drove over to Salisbury a town with in a couple miles of Stonehenge. We needed to kill sometime because I was too pick up the wife that night and there was no point to back track all the way back to Portsmouth. Salisbury is a nice town with a lot more to see than I expected. A small river runs through the town with shops and cafes along it, and there is a huge cathedral on the south side of town. We walked around for easily an hour to see everything we could. We stopped at a pub had a burger and a beer then headed to the airport. It is quite a nice town to say the least. That night we picked up RG and the next morning RG and I left for Paris. At the end of the trip in Paris I flew to Munich for meetings and RG went back to the UK for the week where her sister met up with her.
So when I got back to town after a couple days in Munich the girls were living it up in Portsmouth. Relaxing, sleeping late, and watching my videos of the Soprano’s. Oh and of course they went into London and did some shopping. RG’s sister KB recently got engaged and she was looking for a wedding dress. So I think they had a crazy nice time. On Friday I had them come up and meet me at work for lunch, so some RG could meet some of the people I work with, on Saturday we just kicked around town. Then Sunday I drove RG to the Airport early in the morning while KB left in the afternoon via train. So with all the travelers and going to Paris and Munich I had a very busy week. So of course I took the next weekend easy!..... Yeah – Right the next weekend I headed to Cornwall and Wales, but that is another story I suppose.
That Monday also happened to be a bank holiday. Of which they have a ton of over here. While SL went to go visit an old friend from when he was a kid in Italy out in Bath MQ, along with a friend from work BMc (someone I have traveled a lot with in the UK) drove up to Oxford. You know the town with the ridiculously old school college. We did not actually go and see the college or the town. Instead we went to Blenhiem Palace, the traditional home of the Duke of Marlborough. A place I had never heard of but MQ really wanted to see. This is the family of Winston Churchill, but because he was the 2nd born did not become a Duke. I guess Prime Minister worked ok though. It was pretty nice. It is a large country estate, a pretty fancy, though not quite as fancy as Versailles in France. They were having Jousting and Falconry on the grounds and had several tours to see. The funniest was a “Hi-tech” exhibit with holograms, robots, and videos. It was actually pretty lame. After that we drove to Windsor to see that palace, but arrived too late to get in, though strolling through the town was nice.
The following day we stayed local, where MQ got himself thrown out of the historic dockyards. Then Thursday I had him ride the train up to where my client is located, I left early, and we drove out to see Stonehenge, my second trip there while living in the UK. After that we drove over to Salisbury a town with in a couple miles of Stonehenge. We needed to kill sometime because I was too pick up the wife that night and there was no point to back track all the way back to Portsmouth. Salisbury is a nice town with a lot more to see than I expected. A small river runs through the town with shops and cafes along it, and there is a huge cathedral on the south side of town. We walked around for easily an hour to see everything we could. We stopped at a pub had a burger and a beer then headed to the airport. It is quite a nice town to say the least. That night we picked up RG and the next morning RG and I left for Paris. At the end of the trip in Paris I flew to Munich for meetings and RG went back to the UK for the week where her sister met up with her.
So when I got back to town after a couple days in Munich the girls were living it up in Portsmouth. Relaxing, sleeping late, and watching my videos of the Soprano’s. Oh and of course they went into London and did some shopping. RG’s sister KB recently got engaged and she was looking for a wedding dress. So I think they had a crazy nice time. On Friday I had them come up and meet me at work for lunch, so some RG could meet some of the people I work with, on Saturday we just kicked around town. Then Sunday I drove RG to the Airport early in the morning while KB left in the afternoon via train. So with all the travelers and going to Paris and Munich I had a very busy week. So of course I took the next weekend easy!..... Yeah – Right the next weekend I headed to Cornwall and Wales, but that is another story I suppose.
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Do do doo dooo do… I wonder if anyone else thinks of Doggie Hauser When Blogging
Ok so it is a weird title that takes up to much room on the screen. But I was watching How I met your mother the other night, as pretty funny show staring none other the Neil Patrick Harris. You know he is star due to the use of three names. Maybe I should start having people call me by my full name all then time, and not just when I pissed them off. Anyway I was thinking how different his character in this new show is to the character he played as a kid, Doogie Houser MD. You should remember the show about a kid struggling to grow up normal when he is so smart that he is a licensed doctor at only 14 years old. At the time it was pretty cutting edge to be using a computer for anything besides work and he used it to keep a journal. At the end of every show we would get a glimpse of his thoughts on an outdated text editor while some corny one note at a time music played. Well when I got to thinking about this I thought, you know that was basically blogging. Not quite in the form it is in today, and the character in show didn’t publish to the world knowingly but would a modern Doogie, most likely.
So I was wonder if anyone ever blogged while trying to mimic that tune in their head? I also wonder how many people actually kept journals on their computers. Seems like a hassle. I like to post to the web because I get random responses from people to my posts, and it allows my family and friends to keep up with what I am doing, or at least what craziness I have been thinking. I know a lot of people that still keep paper journals and write in them semi regularly. Do they ever hear the Doogie music while putting pen to paper? Doesn’t anyone out there even know what the heck I am talking about? I know the tv shows from the nineties are weird, but I always thought this one was an extra step into the ridiculous. Anyway that was just a random rant.
Now on to NPH’s latest gigs: I actually thought his roles in the Harrold and Kumar movies where hilarious. You didn’t see Fred Savage making those kind of moves to change his imagine. And this new role on How I Met Your Mother is absolutely hilarious. I am sure that it is classic because I already saw a Family Guy spoof of it. To bad the show has been on for a few seasons and I have only gotten to see it maybe a half dozen times. Interestingly enough they play it for like 2 hours a day on SkyTV in the UK. So I guess I will be able to catch up on NPH’s antics. Well I know it was an odd post so I just end it with – and that’s all I gotta say about that.
So I was wonder if anyone ever blogged while trying to mimic that tune in their head? I also wonder how many people actually kept journals on their computers. Seems like a hassle. I like to post to the web because I get random responses from people to my posts, and it allows my family and friends to keep up with what I am doing, or at least what craziness I have been thinking. I know a lot of people that still keep paper journals and write in them semi regularly. Do they ever hear the Doogie music while putting pen to paper? Doesn’t anyone out there even know what the heck I am talking about? I know the tv shows from the nineties are weird, but I always thought this one was an extra step into the ridiculous. Anyway that was just a random rant.
Now on to NPH’s latest gigs: I actually thought his roles in the Harrold and Kumar movies where hilarious. You didn’t see Fred Savage making those kind of moves to change his imagine. And this new role on How I Met Your Mother is absolutely hilarious. I am sure that it is classic because I already saw a Family Guy spoof of it. To bad the show has been on for a few seasons and I have only gotten to see it maybe a half dozen times. Interestingly enough they play it for like 2 hours a day on SkyTV in the UK. So I guess I will be able to catch up on NPH’s antics. Well I know it was an odd post so I just end it with – and that’s all I gotta say about that.
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