Sunday, 25 December:
Merry Christmas Everyone!
We hope the day brings you joy and happiness and maybe a present or two. Suzanne and I had planned to spend the day helping the homeless in a shelter or volunteering our services. But the giant monster Crat has stymied us yet again. Not only do you need to have a license to carol, you also need to turn in an application to volunteer, along with two references, a blood sample, a urine sample, a background check, and pass a battery of interviews. It's good to know that this much effort it put into making sure that the homeless person you hand a plate of food to is safe. Now if only they would put that much effort into ensuring the safety of the rest of the city's citizens.
Instead, Suzanne and I are going to be selfish and spend the day walking through the parks here. Suzanne and I opened our presents to each other by opening our eyes. Being in London is a fantastic present. While it isn't very cold, (44F) and certainly not a white Christmas (looks like we will have to wait another year for one of those), it is still chilly enough that we will look the part for winter and perhaps we can get some great pictures. (Pictures should be forthcoming on the site, I apologize for the delay).
In other news, thanks again to Aunt Linda and Uncle Stewart for playing banker for us. We are really in debt to them, as we would have been skint without their willingness to help out. The banking drama continues, but should be sorted within three weeks. Crat is going to lose that battle eventually, as I am one determined SOB! It was also great to see them again, I feel like we saw pictures of when we were here in May as they were so busy with their son's wedding (rightfully so!) and we weren't staying with them. Bigger than life Paddingtons and Banker to boot, does the title Auntie get any better? =@}
Trains are better than planes. At least they are in this country. The scenery is far more beautiful on the train ride from London to Wakefield than the standard clouds and brown earth or blue sea I see from an airplane window. And the trains we rode had full internet accces, plugs for laptop charging, relatively comfortable seats and on the way up, a table to sit at rather than a dropdown tray. Considering that trains have about a hundred years on planes as a mode of public transport, it is pretty amazing that they are a more modern convenience.
But, the subway finally lashed out at us. On Saturday morning last, when we were headed to Wakefield, we awoke at the Gawd Awful hour of 5:00 to make sure that we gave ourselves plenty of time to get to Kings Cross. Bleary eyed, we walked to the tube station to find out that the trains were already experiencing delays on the Circle line. After waiting for 15 minutes, a train finally showed up, and one stop after departure promptly got stuck. Another 15 minute wait and my blood pressure was beginning to rise. The train finally pulled into the next station and we were told to leave the train, cross over the tracks and wait for the next train. 15 minutes later, we were informed by the most bored man on earth, who decided to have some fun to cross back over the tracks and wait at our original platform. The train arrived shortly after, and we made it to Kings Cross with about 3 minutes to spare before departure. Our 15 minute tube ride took an hour. Considering the traffic I have screamed my head off at in San Diego, I shouldn't complain, it was one delay.
We hope the day brings you joy and happiness and maybe a present or two. Suzanne and I had planned to spend the day helping the homeless in a shelter or volunteering our services. But the giant monster Crat has stymied us yet again. Not only do you need to have a license to carol, you also need to turn in an application to volunteer, along with two references, a blood sample, a urine sample, a background check, and pass a battery of interviews. It's good to know that this much effort it put into making sure that the homeless person you hand a plate of food to is safe. Now if only they would put that much effort into ensuring the safety of the rest of the city's citizens.
Instead, Suzanne and I are going to be selfish and spend the day walking through the parks here. Suzanne and I opened our presents to each other by opening our eyes. Being in London is a fantastic present. While it isn't very cold, (44F) and certainly not a white Christmas (looks like we will have to wait another year for one of those), it is still chilly enough that we will look the part for winter and perhaps we can get some great pictures. (Pictures should be forthcoming on the site, I apologize for the delay).
In other news, thanks again to Aunt Linda and Uncle Stewart for playing banker for us. We are really in debt to them, as we would have been skint without their willingness to help out. The banking drama continues, but should be sorted within three weeks. Crat is going to lose that battle eventually, as I am one determined SOB! It was also great to see them again, I feel like we saw pictures of when we were here in May as they were so busy with their son's wedding (rightfully so!) and we weren't staying with them. Bigger than life Paddingtons and Banker to boot, does the title Auntie get any better? =@}
Trains are better than planes. At least they are in this country. The scenery is far more beautiful on the train ride from London to Wakefield than the standard clouds and brown earth or blue sea I see from an airplane window. And the trains we rode had full internet accces, plugs for laptop charging, relatively comfortable seats and on the way up, a table to sit at rather than a dropdown tray. Considering that trains have about a hundred years on planes as a mode of public transport, it is pretty amazing that they are a more modern convenience.
But, the subway finally lashed out at us. On Saturday morning last, when we were headed to Wakefield, we awoke at the Gawd Awful hour of 5:00 to make sure that we gave ourselves plenty of time to get to Kings Cross. Bleary eyed, we walked to the tube station to find out that the trains were already experiencing delays on the Circle line. After waiting for 15 minutes, a train finally showed up, and one stop after departure promptly got stuck. Another 15 minute wait and my blood pressure was beginning to rise. The train finally pulled into the next station and we were told to leave the train, cross over the tracks and wait for the next train. 15 minutes later, we were informed by the most bored man on earth, who decided to have some fun to cross back over the tracks and wait at our original platform. The train arrived shortly after, and we made it to Kings Cross with about 3 minutes to spare before departure. Our 15 minute tube ride took an hour. Considering the traffic I have screamed my head off at in San Diego, I shouldn't complain, it was one delay.
posted by Unknown at 1:36 AM
1 Comments:
Merry Christmas.....
Your Bud
Marc
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