Tuesday, 24 March 2009
TfL
Today marks the third consecutive weekday when Transport for London has been incapable of running both the Jubilee Line and the DLR during rush hour. Is it really that tough?
Sunday, 22 March 2009
A whirlwind
As a part of my rotation here to the UK with my firm, I'm encouraged to take a one-week networking trip back to the States, to spend time with others from the office and/or to participate in training.
Two weekends ago, I left for this trip -- I was in NYC Saturday afternoon through Tuesday evening, DC through Friday evening, and then Harrisburg with the family for the day on Saturday.
New York was great -- I caught up with Kai, Leon, Sam, Brice, and a whole group of others on Saturday night. Sunday, Greg met me for brunch... we didn't have anything in particular planned, but ended up finding an absolutely amazing Polish restaurant. It was about 55 degrees and sunny, so when we saw the sign for the beer garden and the other sign that they were serving breakfast, we figured we had to give it a try. After a kielbasa omelette and raspberry pancakes, we just spent some time there, catching up. After a few hours, we had to continue through their menu and try the pierogies (incredible!) and some Polish beers. A great find!
I also met up with Matt, Michelle, and others while there, but still felt like I had too little time. Whereas I'd hoped to spend some of the time during the day Monday and Tuesday in our office, I ended up spending 12+ hours each day in the client's offices. It was useful to be there rather than in London that week, but not quite what I'd intended.
The second half of the week was at a conference, training session, and exam in DC. I spent some time with colleagues from our DC-based privacy practice at the conference, and also got to catch up with Ros, Al and Dave. In trying to convince Ros and Al to come over here, I got them to look at flights, and we're now going to be meeting next weekend in Paris!
After an exam that ended at 7pm Friday, I drove up to the parents place in Mechanicsburg, for just over 24 hours there. Saturday was a bunch of errands, and I also met up with Jared, Andy and Bill to get fitted for our tuxes for Jared's wedding this summer. That night, my parents invited the grandparents over to join us for dinner and we had steaks from the grill... something I definitely miss over here!
In all, it was a great trip and amazing to catch up with a few friends. It was exhausting, though, as I feel that it should have taken at least two weeks to fit in everything that I did during that one.
Two weekends ago, I left for this trip -- I was in NYC Saturday afternoon through Tuesday evening, DC through Friday evening, and then Harrisburg with the family for the day on Saturday.
New York was great -- I caught up with Kai, Leon, Sam, Brice, and a whole group of others on Saturday night. Sunday, Greg met me for brunch... we didn't have anything in particular planned, but ended up finding an absolutely amazing Polish restaurant. It was about 55 degrees and sunny, so when we saw the sign for the beer garden and the other sign that they were serving breakfast, we figured we had to give it a try. After a kielbasa omelette and raspberry pancakes, we just spent some time there, catching up. After a few hours, we had to continue through their menu and try the pierogies (incredible!) and some Polish beers. A great find!
I also met up with Matt, Michelle, and others while there, but still felt like I had too little time. Whereas I'd hoped to spend some of the time during the day Monday and Tuesday in our office, I ended up spending 12+ hours each day in the client's offices. It was useful to be there rather than in London that week, but not quite what I'd intended.
The second half of the week was at a conference, training session, and exam in DC. I spent some time with colleagues from our DC-based privacy practice at the conference, and also got to catch up with Ros, Al and Dave. In trying to convince Ros and Al to come over here, I got them to look at flights, and we're now going to be meeting next weekend in Paris!
After an exam that ended at 7pm Friday, I drove up to the parents place in Mechanicsburg, for just over 24 hours there. Saturday was a bunch of errands, and I also met up with Jared, Andy and Bill to get fitted for our tuxes for Jared's wedding this summer. That night, my parents invited the grandparents over to join us for dinner and we had steaks from the grill... something I definitely miss over here!
In all, it was a great trip and amazing to catch up with a few friends. It was exhausting, though, as I feel that it should have taken at least two weeks to fit in everything that I did during that one.
The Southwest
Several weeks ago, my parents came over to visit for a long weekend. After I left work on Thursday, we met for dinner at Gordon Ramsay's The Narrow. I'd previously gone to one of his other gastropubs... this had equally amazing food in a great setting. It's located on the Thames, out toward Limehouse. My venison special was remarkably tender and delicious!
Friday afternoon, we left town for a trip out into the countryside. We stayed at a B&B just this side of Bath. Saturday, we took a walking tour of Bath, went through the original Roman baths, and then explored the town a bit more.
Sunday, we went off to Avebury, Stonehenge and Salisbury, before returning to London. I'd heard from several people that Stonehenge was underwhelming, but it didn't really come across that way to me. Yes, it was a bit smaller than I would have expected, but it was still powerful to see such a substantial monument that was built there 5000+ years ago, without any of the support, tools, or the like that we would use today.
I didn't have my camera with me, but a few photos of the trip are posted here.
This was my first experience driving on the left side of the road -- in many ways, it was easier than I expected. I had no issues with turning, merging, traffic circles, or the like. However, on two lane country roads, it was counterintuitive to maintain the appropriate spacing. Having oncoming traffic on the other side of me was fine, but I still felt like there should have been four feet of car to my right, so it was definitely a conscious effort to not flinch with the cars coming so closeby.
In all, this was a great weekend -- both as an excuse to get out of London to explore the countryside and also for having spent some time with the parents!
Friday afternoon, we left town for a trip out into the countryside. We stayed at a B&B just this side of Bath. Saturday, we took a walking tour of Bath, went through the original Roman baths, and then explored the town a bit more.
Sunday, we went off to Avebury, Stonehenge and Salisbury, before returning to London. I'd heard from several people that Stonehenge was underwhelming, but it didn't really come across that way to me. Yes, it was a bit smaller than I would have expected, but it was still powerful to see such a substantial monument that was built there 5000+ years ago, without any of the support, tools, or the like that we would use today.
I didn't have my camera with me, but a few photos of the trip are posted here.
This was my first experience driving on the left side of the road -- in many ways, it was easier than I expected. I had no issues with turning, merging, traffic circles, or the like. However, on two lane country roads, it was counterintuitive to maintain the appropriate spacing. Having oncoming traffic on the other side of me was fine, but I still felt like there should have been four feet of car to my right, so it was definitely a conscious effort to not flinch with the cars coming so closeby.
In all, this was a great weekend -- both as an excuse to get out of London to explore the countryside and also for having spent some time with the parents!
Thursday, 12 March 2009
An observation
I need to update this with everything that's been happening for the past month, but here's an observation:
You can tell where the power has shifted within the States over this past year. A year ago, a weeknight hotel room in NYC would have cost 40-50% more than one in Washington, DC. This week, one in Times Square cost 25% less than one near the White House. Go figure...
You can tell where the power has shifted within the States over this past year. A year ago, a weeknight hotel room in NYC would have cost 40-50% more than one in Washington, DC. This week, one in Times Square cost 25% less than one near the White House. Go figure...
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