Well, it's safe to say that January is working out to be a typical "accountant's" January for me, which means that I am extremely busy. Unfortunately, the work crunch has already begun and I spent the majority of the past weekend working, in addition to pulling late hours during the week. I'm hopeful that the pace will drop off a bit after the end of January, but that's still a few weeks off at this point, and there's no guarantee that it will.
That fairly well sums up all my meaningful activity for the past week or so. It has continued to be cold, cold, cold, and it wasn't until Sunday that the temperature actually passed 35F or so - it's been running between 18F and 36F for about a week. The papers say that it's the coldest cold snap Britain has had in 15 years. So anyway, all the cold resulted in our pipes freezing (twice!), and then on Saturday, I got the joy of participating in cleaning out the drain. It was effectively the same experience as you might have if you had to clean the sewers. I won't talk about that much, for obvious reasons, but they were frozen as well. Not fun stuff. Fortunately, the really cold weather appears to be over for the time being.
Yesterday, we were presented with a rather interesting dilemma. When we registered Dalton for his school, we put Maggie on the waiting list, and she's been on the list for the past year and a half. Because there wasn't room, Mich has been homeschooling her for the entire time that we've been here. Yesterday, we got the call that now there is a space for her. Admittedly, this was a perplexing choice. On the one hand, Maggie is dying to go to school - she already has a school uniform, gets Mich to pack her a lunch when they go to school, all that stuff. On the other hand, they start school earlier over here, so Maggie isn't exactly at a comparable place, education wise. Then there's the fact that she's Maggie - and if you've met Maggie, you know exactly what that means - talkative, bouncy, and all that jazz - and to be honest, we're not sure how she (or the teacher, for that matter) will react to being in school. Still, in the end, we opted to let her take the place. So today will be Maggie's first day of real school. I promise to get pictures of stuff coming soon, including one of her first day of school.
And that's all the news from this side of the pond.
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Weather and Illnesses
The weather today has been nothing short of odd. The forecast has been for cold and snow, and sure enough, this morning, it was cold, and it snowed. The kids were exuberant - it seems like every time we've left England, we've come back to hear stories of snowfall, and this morning it looked like a good steady snow was here for a few hours. We did insist upon their having breakfast, and then, once they had eaten, and gotten dressed, Mich and the kids went outside, where the snow promptly turned into rain. However, just to keep everyone on their toes, the weather changed again afterwards, so that as I write this now it is sunny and about 45F.
The kids and Mich have been battling colds for the past week or so, and unfortunately, my system finally failed me on Friday evening, when I finally started with sniffles, which turned into a full-fledged cold by Saturday morning, as everyone else seems to be getting better. So, other than this morning when the kids went outside, there hasn't been a whole lot going on this weekend. The week preceding hasn't had much to note, either - simply lots of work for me, so not much to tell there. I am cognizant of the fact that I still owe some pictures of Maggie's toothlessness, among other things, so I will try to catch up soon.
The kids and Mich have been battling colds for the past week or so, and unfortunately, my system finally failed me on Friday evening, when I finally started with sniffles, which turned into a full-fledged cold by Saturday morning, as everyone else seems to be getting better. So, other than this morning when the kids went outside, there hasn't been a whole lot going on this weekend. The week preceding hasn't had much to note, either - simply lots of work for me, so not much to tell there. I am cognizant of the fact that I still owe some pictures of Maggie's toothlessness, among other things, so I will try to catch up soon.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Return of the Rainy Weather
I really can't complain too much. This summer has been very nice - extremely nice when compared to last summer, which, in case I failed to mention it before, was the rainiest summer on record. But the weather has now returned to normality. We had been hitting highs in the lower 80's (26 - 27 C), but the temperature has cooled off considerably, not that I actually mind that too much, since, as might be expected, we don't have air conditioning, and if it gets too hot, there's nothing to do except open the windows and turn on the fan. Still, the summer weather was good while it lasted.
Things are being set in motion for our visit back to the States in a bit. We're slowly straightening the house, and trying to think ahead about what we're going to want to bring back. (We learned last time that buying things there is like getting 50% off... or more.) I think everyone's emotions are high with excitement over getting to go home once more. The kids are looking forward to seeing their Stateside friends, and I think Mich and I are both ready to have a bit of Southern hospitality.
Otherwise, not much to tell. We had a fairly uneventful weekend, visiting London Presbyterian Church on Sunday, but not doing much else. I did have an interesting ride on the Tube yesterday. For those of you who have never been on the Tube, each train is driven by a conductor, who normally, at each station will say something to the effect of, "This train is ready to depart. Mind the doors." Or "Stand clear of the closing doors." Or something like that. Well, yesterday, I hopped on, and the conductor said his normal bit, and then, as they do occasionally, the doors re-opened, and the conductor said, a bit more firmly, "Stand clear of the closing doors, please. Mind the doors." Then, "Will the passenger holding the door for another person, please move out of the way of the closing doors." Then shortly afterwards, we were informed that whoever this person was, they had damaged the doors, and we were going to be delayed for a few minutes while the station personnel looked at the doors. Then, the conductor came back on, "Ladies and gentlemen, I do apologise for the delay, but due to one very selfish customer, we have had some damaged doors, and the station staff are having to look at them." The rest of the stops, the conductor kept emphasizing to everyone that the Tube delay was due to this selfish person.
Things are being set in motion for our visit back to the States in a bit. We're slowly straightening the house, and trying to think ahead about what we're going to want to bring back. (We learned last time that buying things there is like getting 50% off... or more.) I think everyone's emotions are high with excitement over getting to go home once more. The kids are looking forward to seeing their Stateside friends, and I think Mich and I are both ready to have a bit of Southern hospitality.
Otherwise, not much to tell. We had a fairly uneventful weekend, visiting London Presbyterian Church on Sunday, but not doing much else. I did have an interesting ride on the Tube yesterday. For those of you who have never been on the Tube, each train is driven by a conductor, who normally, at each station will say something to the effect of, "This train is ready to depart. Mind the doors." Or "Stand clear of the closing doors." Or something like that. Well, yesterday, I hopped on, and the conductor said his normal bit, and then, as they do occasionally, the doors re-opened, and the conductor said, a bit more firmly, "Stand clear of the closing doors, please. Mind the doors." Then, "Will the passenger holding the door for another person, please move out of the way of the closing doors." Then shortly afterwards, we were informed that whoever this person was, they had damaged the doors, and we were going to be delayed for a few minutes while the station personnel looked at the doors. Then, the conductor came back on, "Ladies and gentlemen, I do apologise for the delay, but due to one very selfish customer, we have had some damaged doors, and the station staff are having to look at them." The rest of the stops, the conductor kept emphasizing to everyone that the Tube delay was due to this selfish person.
Monday, May 12, 2008
Where Are They Now?
Catching up, yet once again...
Since our return from Italy, life has been fairly quiet. Most of the first week or two was partly consumed by my trying to get my various credit cards, debit cards, and other sundry cards cancelled and reissued. We did pop off to Guildford on the 3rd, and I'll put up some pictures of that shortly. Some of you may recall that Mich had already been to Guildford, however, this was where our camera decided to cease working, so there weren't any pictures the first time around.
Guildford was quite enjoyable. It's a fairly small little town, and really the most interesting thing there is Guildford Castle, which was probably built shortly after the Battle of Hastings (1066). It's been greatly modified since, and the only thing left is the walls, but it also has some magnificent gardens, where we took a good number of pictures. We wandered around the town a bit, stopped off at a TGI Friday's (!) for lunch, and had cotton candy (here it's called candy floss) from a vendor on the high street.
It's probably a good thing that we went that weekend, as we finally got our tax bill this past week. It's safe to say that the tax bill and our trip to Italy has left us grounded for a bit. I won't go into the gory details on taxes, but basically we pay taxes to the US, Alabama, and the UK, which makes for an unusually high tax rate. Nonetheless, life goes on.
The weather here has taken a turn for the better and the past week and a half or so have been unusually sunny and warm, running about 70 - 75 or so for the highs, which is really quite warm for this part of the world. According to the Wikipedia article, the UK gets an average of 1,339.7 hours of sunshine per year, and I figure that with the recent good weather, things are about to get ugly. Still, it has been thoroughly enjoyable. The weather is reminiscent of when I first arrived: for nearly two weeks it rained only a little, and I wondered why everyone fussed so much about the rain and bad weather. I've wised up since then. We even bought a disposable grill yesterday and grilled some burgers for the first time in over a year. It was awesome. For those of who pondering the disposable grill, it's basically a small aluminum pan with charcoal in it and a small grilling surface, useable once.
So, all quiet on the front. After I post the Guildford pictures, I'm going to try something new. A friend of ours has a blog where she posted 30 things for 30 days. I'm not sure if I have the stamina, but I figure I'll give it the old college try.
Since our return from Italy, life has been fairly quiet. Most of the first week or two was partly consumed by my trying to get my various credit cards, debit cards, and other sundry cards cancelled and reissued. We did pop off to Guildford on the 3rd, and I'll put up some pictures of that shortly. Some of you may recall that Mich had already been to Guildford, however, this was where our camera decided to cease working, so there weren't any pictures the first time around.
Guildford was quite enjoyable. It's a fairly small little town, and really the most interesting thing there is Guildford Castle, which was probably built shortly after the Battle of Hastings (1066). It's been greatly modified since, and the only thing left is the walls, but it also has some magnificent gardens, where we took a good number of pictures. We wandered around the town a bit, stopped off at a TGI Friday's (!) for lunch, and had cotton candy (here it's called candy floss) from a vendor on the high street.
It's probably a good thing that we went that weekend, as we finally got our tax bill this past week. It's safe to say that the tax bill and our trip to Italy has left us grounded for a bit. I won't go into the gory details on taxes, but basically we pay taxes to the US, Alabama, and the UK, which makes for an unusually high tax rate. Nonetheless, life goes on.
The weather here has taken a turn for the better and the past week and a half or so have been unusually sunny and warm, running about 70 - 75 or so for the highs, which is really quite warm for this part of the world. According to the Wikipedia article, the UK gets an average of 1,339.7 hours of sunshine per year, and I figure that with the recent good weather, things are about to get ugly. Still, it has been thoroughly enjoyable. The weather is reminiscent of when I first arrived: for nearly two weeks it rained only a little, and I wondered why everyone fussed so much about the rain and bad weather. I've wised up since then. We even bought a disposable grill yesterday and grilled some burgers for the first time in over a year. It was awesome. For those of who pondering the disposable grill, it's basically a small aluminum pan with charcoal in it and a small grilling surface, useable once.
So, all quiet on the front. After I post the Guildford pictures, I'm going to try something new. A friend of ours has a blog where she posted 30 things for 30 days. I'm not sure if I have the stamina, but I figure I'll give it the old college try.
Friday, February 1, 2008
The Unpredictable Weather
The guidebooks will invariably tell you that the British weather is unpredictable. This is true. What the guidebooks don't tell you is that it hasn't stopped the BBC from trying. What the guidebooks don't further tell you is that the BBC has come up with an almost entirely accurate way to predict what the weather will not be.
Like most weather-predicting sorts, the BBC maintains a weather website, so if you happen to be interested in their prognostications about whether they think tomorrow will be sunny, rainy, mild, or blistering with a 30% chance of green cheese falling from the sky, you can flip to their handy website. You may, if you wish, access aforesaid website here. The problem, or perhaps the brilliance, is that the forecast is almost entirely always wrong. If the BBC has predicted that it will be rainy and cold tomorrow, it is almost entirely certain to be sunny and hot.
Now, to be sure, meteorologists are almost universally jeered for their inability to predict the upcoming weather. Oddly enough, despite this, we keep coming back and listening to them, as if we haven't learned better yet. (Well, some of us anyway - I have to admit I tend to get my weather directly from the source: "Look, honey, I'm getting wet. It must be going to rain today.") Nonetheless, despite the fact that any meteorologist knows infinitely more about cirrus clouds, atmospheric conditions, and cold fronts than I do, and the almost certainty that the BBC probably has the best and brightest meteorologists in the UK, the apparent inability of the BBC to provide any sort of reasonable forecast has me befuddled.
I have my sneaking suspicions that someone behind the scenes is orchestrating an immense practical joke, which only meteorologists are let in on. (Which is another question - what exactly do meteors have to do with the weather? But I digress.) I imagine the secret consortium of meteorologists (henceforward to be known as weathermen, due to the difficulty of consistently typing meteorologist - meteorologist, meteorologist, meteorologist - you try it), anyway, as I was saying, the secret consortium of weathermen meeting a couple of weeks in advance of the forecasts and reviewing the weather models for the upcoming weeks. Noting that the forecast is for sun, sun, and more sun, they promptly predict cold and rain, chuckling to themselves as the entire population bundles up and carries about their umbrellas while the sun beats down relentlessly on their backs. "That was a good one," they say, as they promptly go on to predict weeks of sunny weather during the biggest downpour of rain ever seen, and getting on their secret little weather websites to show the pictures of all the drenched ignoramuses that actually listened to them. I suspect that this is particularly the case with the BBC, as this does provide some sort of logical explanation for the otherwise seemingly impossible situation of having so many enormously knowledgeable and talented people getting paid to get the weather so absolutely and horrendously wrong.
I suppose that after the above commentary, you may be wondering why, exactly, (especially if I am so aloof as to not heed weather reports as I claim) I am writing about this. Well, to wit, earlier this week, on the front page of my e-mail service was an article about the imminent cold and snow that would hit, well, today, actually. I must admit, I had my doubts. Nonetheless, I dutifully checked the BBC website yesterday, which reported that, yes, cold and snow was coming today. And, so, I pondered, as I walked home in the 55F degree weather under blue skies, how could they be so wrong?
Like most weather-predicting sorts, the BBC maintains a weather website, so if you happen to be interested in their prognostications about whether they think tomorrow will be sunny, rainy, mild, or blistering with a 30% chance of green cheese falling from the sky, you can flip to their handy website. You may, if you wish, access aforesaid website here. The problem, or perhaps the brilliance, is that the forecast is almost entirely always wrong. If the BBC has predicted that it will be rainy and cold tomorrow, it is almost entirely certain to be sunny and hot.
Now, to be sure, meteorologists are almost universally jeered for their inability to predict the upcoming weather. Oddly enough, despite this, we keep coming back and listening to them, as if we haven't learned better yet. (Well, some of us anyway - I have to admit I tend to get my weather directly from the source: "Look, honey, I'm getting wet. It must be going to rain today.") Nonetheless, despite the fact that any meteorologist knows infinitely more about cirrus clouds, atmospheric conditions, and cold fronts than I do, and the almost certainty that the BBC probably has the best and brightest meteorologists in the UK, the apparent inability of the BBC to provide any sort of reasonable forecast has me befuddled.
I have my sneaking suspicions that someone behind the scenes is orchestrating an immense practical joke, which only meteorologists are let in on. (Which is another question - what exactly do meteors have to do with the weather? But I digress.) I imagine the secret consortium of meteorologists (henceforward to be known as weathermen, due to the difficulty of consistently typing meteorologist - meteorologist, meteorologist, meteorologist - you try it), anyway, as I was saying, the secret consortium of weathermen meeting a couple of weeks in advance of the forecasts and reviewing the weather models for the upcoming weeks. Noting that the forecast is for sun, sun, and more sun, they promptly predict cold and rain, chuckling to themselves as the entire population bundles up and carries about their umbrellas while the sun beats down relentlessly on their backs. "That was a good one," they say, as they promptly go on to predict weeks of sunny weather during the biggest downpour of rain ever seen, and getting on their secret little weather websites to show the pictures of all the drenched ignoramuses that actually listened to them. I suspect that this is particularly the case with the BBC, as this does provide some sort of logical explanation for the otherwise seemingly impossible situation of having so many enormously knowledgeable and talented people getting paid to get the weather so absolutely and horrendously wrong.
I suppose that after the above commentary, you may be wondering why, exactly, (especially if I am so aloof as to not heed weather reports as I claim) I am writing about this. Well, to wit, earlier this week, on the front page of my e-mail service was an article about the imminent cold and snow that would hit, well, today, actually. I must admit, I had my doubts. Nonetheless, I dutifully checked the BBC website yesterday, which reported that, yes, cold and snow was coming today. And, so, I pondered, as I walked home in the 55F degree weather under blue skies, how could they be so wrong?
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Cold, Dark... London
It's sleeting outside... or it was. We came home from church, arriving at the station in time for a nice walk home in the cold, rain, and sleet. Brrr. At this point, I have to say that I am very grateful for the warm coat I bought earlier this year. It has proven to be quite nice, as the temperatures have finally gotten to the point where I wear it out every day. In Fahrenheit terms, it's been dropping to the lower 30's every night, rising to the upper 40's in the day. Once you factor in the wind (it is perpetually windy here - it is truly rare to have a "still" day), it's quite chilly. I've even taken to wearing a scarf. Of course, another difference is that I'm walking back and forth in the weather, rather than feeling it only while I heat up the car.
Still, up until today, it had been rather dry, but the forecast for the upcoming week doesn't look promising. Wet, wet, and more wet. We've discussed Thanksgiving, but haven't figured out exactly what we're going to do yet. While there's a service at St. Paul's, it's at 11, and Thursday is still a regular school day for Dalton. I'm sure that we'll end up doing something, but I'm not sure exactly what. Thanksgiving is not generally celebrated here, so there could be some pangs of homesickness this upcoming Thursday, as we gather around our table with only the immediate family.
Not a lot going on this week, at least from a blogworthy perspective. Dalton did manage to lose another tooth two days after the first. That means that while he faced last Christmas without his two front teeth (which, funnily enough is now captured for posterity in his passport photo - the French border guards made him smile to check his teeth), it is quite likely that he will go into this Christmas lacking the teeth on either side of his front teeth. I suppose I could bore all with the details of my busy work week, but I doubt that the non-accountants among you would find the discussions of accruals and residual values interesting, and quite frankly, the accountants probably would tune out as well. We have generally recuperated from our illnesses, so that is a plus - we also finally managed to get our Christmas photos taken for the annual Christmas cards. Otherwise, things have generally tended to move along in the way that normal life moves, which is probably another indication that we've managed to settle in a bit more now. We did stay in for the first Saturday in a while, which was good, although the daylight hours are beginning to make me worried. When I was in the states, it was rare for me to sleep past 6 to 6:15. In fact, I had long ceased actually setting the alarm, with the knowledge that I was going to just wake up on time. Now, on the weekends, when I don't set the alarm, I'll sleep until 7:30, although I strongly suspect that it's because it doesn't get light outside until after 7 at this point. (In case you're wondering, it's dark by 5, thus the title of the post.)
I am looking forward to the next few weeks, as the Christmas lights come out. I'm hoping to take Mich and the kids ice skating at one of the many temporary rinks that come out, and I'm anxious to see the tree go up in Trafalgar Square. Until later...
Still, up until today, it had been rather dry, but the forecast for the upcoming week doesn't look promising. Wet, wet, and more wet. We've discussed Thanksgiving, but haven't figured out exactly what we're going to do yet. While there's a service at St. Paul's, it's at 11, and Thursday is still a regular school day for Dalton. I'm sure that we'll end up doing something, but I'm not sure exactly what. Thanksgiving is not generally celebrated here, so there could be some pangs of homesickness this upcoming Thursday, as we gather around our table with only the immediate family.
Not a lot going on this week, at least from a blogworthy perspective. Dalton did manage to lose another tooth two days after the first. That means that while he faced last Christmas without his two front teeth (which, funnily enough is now captured for posterity in his passport photo - the French border guards made him smile to check his teeth), it is quite likely that he will go into this Christmas lacking the teeth on either side of his front teeth. I suppose I could bore all with the details of my busy work week, but I doubt that the non-accountants among you would find the discussions of accruals and residual values interesting, and quite frankly, the accountants probably would tune out as well. We have generally recuperated from our illnesses, so that is a plus - we also finally managed to get our Christmas photos taken for the annual Christmas cards. Otherwise, things have generally tended to move along in the way that normal life moves, which is probably another indication that we've managed to settle in a bit more now. We did stay in for the first Saturday in a while, which was good, although the daylight hours are beginning to make me worried. When I was in the states, it was rare for me to sleep past 6 to 6:15. In fact, I had long ceased actually setting the alarm, with the knowledge that I was going to just wake up on time. Now, on the weekends, when I don't set the alarm, I'll sleep until 7:30, although I strongly suspect that it's because it doesn't get light outside until after 7 at this point. (In case you're wondering, it's dark by 5, thus the title of the post.)
I am looking forward to the next few weeks, as the Christmas lights come out. I'm hoping to take Mich and the kids ice skating at one of the many temporary rinks that come out, and I'm anxious to see the tree go up in Trafalgar Square. Until later...
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