Angler's Retreat and More

16 October 2007
Another frustrating day at the office where multiple roadblocks had to be disassembled before any real work could get done. First, we were still faced with the massive challenge of network traffic crawling along at practically unusable rates. Second, we found out that due to a miscommunication on someone’s part (unknown who, really), the trainer was not available for us to train. So, we had to start doing some one-on-one bits with the folks that would be using the scanners. This is not a good solution, and I was frankly a little peeved. We did what we could and at 5 sharp, we left. We drove a few miles down the road to a place that had been recommended by www.beerintheevening.com as good quality. The Swan was indeed nice, but not what we were really looking for. Jane, the bartender, pointed us to some other options, so we had our ales and left. The next step was the Angler’s Retreat---a comfy country pub with what were pretty obviously regulars.

We weren’t made to feel unwanted, but nor were we included. We drank our pint of ale and moved on. The next, recommended pub, was the George and Dragon, a Greene King pub, that was quite nice. We ate dinner here and had another pint…and for the first time since arriving, I had a pint of beer that I’d never had before. It wasn’t anything special I’m sorry to say. We were done and it was starting to rain so we pulled out the trusty Tom-Tom GPS (having now used this one for a few days, I don’t think it’ll be the Tom-Tom we get for Marita Beth (UPDATE: I arrived home from work last night to find that my Mother-in-Law had gotten one for us. It’s a Garmin and very nice – THANK YOU!). It just wasn’t very friendly to use in comparison to others) and plotted our way home. Which, typically, took us by another pub. This one, the Fox & Pheasant is another one that Beer In the Evening had recommended, and as Terrill would say, “It’d [have been] rude not to” so we stopped. This was a delightful pub and well worth the stop. Stella Artois apparently produces a Bock beer that was truly tasty. We also caught the second half of the England U-21s against Northern Ireland. Good match. When it was done, and our pints empty, we did head back to the hotel finally. More work tomorrow.
Cheers

~KR (16 October 2007)

Listening to:
Savannah Mama by Blind Willie McTell
on Pig 'n Whistle Red

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.05 sec (1/20)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: PUB, ENGLAND, WEST+DRAYTON, LHR, ANGLER'S+RETREAT, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

Chelsea is a Dog

15 October, 2007
Oy! We arrived at the office and went rather immediately to work. A few hiccoughs delayed us a little bit, so we didn’t actually settle into the upgrading and loading of the devices until nearly lunchtime. At that time, as we settled into the task at hand we discovered that the bloody network was traipsing along at approximately 7k throughput. Compare that to a slow dial-up connection at 28.8k and you can see what we were up against. We left for lunch, eating at a place called the Wheatsheaf (different than the night before) with the hopes that the network would be better upon our return. It wasn’t. What was normally a 6-10 minute job for each device was taking hours. It was almost 6pm by the time our devices had been upgraded to the point we needed them to be. That should have been a very easy, very quick thing to do, but it wasn’t . We were exhausted. It was not the physical body exhaustion of the previous jet-lagged day, but a mental exhaustion borne of frustration. We went for drinks and dinner. Determined to visit the same places as seldom as possible, we headed off down the road to a recommended place called the Five Bells. Met a wonderful Springer Spaniel there named (sadly) Chelsea.

He was aging, but very affectionate (especially when food was on the offering). Terrill & I reached our first major disagreement point of the trip upon encountering Chelsea. I bemoaned the fact that my extremely well-behaved dogs are not welcome in any restaurant or bar in Texas. He applauded that fact saying that he was perfectly happy when other people’s dogs were not present in places where food was prepared and consumed. We reached an agreement of sorts. I conceded that I understood his point of view, and he recanted enough to say that he wouldn’t mind it one whit of dogs were allowed in bars. In fact, he mentioned that in the Ice Houses of Houston, it was commonplace. Houston is more like London than many people realize. Houston and London are very, very unlike Dallas. After leaving the Five Bells, we returned to the Holiday Inn at Heathrow (never stay there, if you have another option) where we parked the car in the carpark and walked to the Three Magpies for a nightcap. The Three Magpies, while nice enough, is very much a traveller’s trendy bar. Filled with internationals of all flavour, it was just a little too yuppy for my taste. So, one beer and we were off. Time for bed. Morning comes early.
Cheers.

~KR (15 October 2007)

Listening to:
Choke by Nerve Exhibit
on Horror of Amusement

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.125 sec (1/8)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: PUB, DOG, CHELSEA, BAR, ENGLAND, UNITED+KINGDOM, FIVE+BELLS, NEVER+EXHIBIT, CANON, PHOTOBLOG

London Begins

13th & 14th October, 2007
Took the pups to the “hotel” early morning, and predictably, Cormac couldn’t care less that I was standing there forlorn. He just wanted to get to his “hotel suite.” Berecyntia was a little less anxious this time, perhaps because the previous visit had been so recent. After leaving my precious cargo, I high-tailed it to DFW to wait in queue after queue after queue. Finally, I was through the ridiculous TSA lines and into the “sterile” area of the airport. I headed toward my gate, but being early, made a quick stop at the lovely Irish bar that was conveniently close by. It wasn’t too long ere Terrill joined me in a Guinness and some rugby watching. When time, we left for the gate where I sweet-talked an agent into changing my seat from a middle seat near the back of the plane to an aisle seat in an exit row; not first class, but then we were on a Super 80 where even first class isn’t really first class. A relatively quick three hours later we were in New York, Terrill & I, where we had but a short wait for Flight 100 to London. We did manage to secure a first class seat for the six and a half hour flight from JFK to LHR which is always lovely. A decent meal, good wine and a movie later, I tried to sleep, as I knew that arriving in London at 6:30 am on a Sunday morning was going to be very tiring. I tried, but was unsuccessful in sleeping more than a few minutes at a time for the entire trip. Consequently, when we arrived at LHR and got through the customs queues, we were completely knackered. But, trundle on we must, so we took the short shuttle ride to the Avis rent-a-car place and picked up our lovely little Peugeot and drove to the Holiday Inn in hopes that there would be rooms ready for us. Luckily, by 10 am there were. We both napped until about 3(ish) then went to a local pub called the King William IV for lunch and drinks. This is the King William IV:
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Lovely. Not being satisfied, however, we located another place. And, because it’d be rude not to, we stopped in The Wheatsheaf. There we encountered a great group of locals and I managed to have my first Football disagreement on this trip. We still needed a good full dinner, though, so off to the Pheasant we went for food. In bed by 10, because our first day in the office was going to come early. Saturday & Sunday were one very long day, with one very short nap in the middle, therefore, it’s just one post.
Cheers.

~KR (13 & 14 October 2007)

Listening to:
Forever Lost by The Magic Numbers
on Magic Numbers

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture: f/8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 80
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: LONDON, ENGLAND, KING+WILLIAM+IV, PUB, PHOTOBLOG, TRIP, TRAVELOGUE

Guarding the Garden

12 October 2007
Still playing with the new camera before heading over the pond. This is an early morning photo of a gnome that keeps one of our gardens safe. I grew up with these little guys in Germany, and my wife loves to have them around. I guess they'll just always be part of my life. I'm good with that. This one actually sits against our neighbours house watching out over our front lawn He's always a welcome sight.

Cheers.

~KR (12 October 2007)

Listening to:
Gun Through a Razor by Flaming Fire
on Songs From the Shining Temple

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1600)
Aperture: f/5.5
Focal Length: 23.2 mm
ISO Speed: 400
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire, auto mode

Tags: GNOME, GARDEN, PHOTOBLOG

Pirate Coins

11 October 2007 With a trip to the UK coming up, it seems it was time for a new camera. I hadn't thought about it, but according to my wife, I've purchased a new camera the last four times I've been to the UK. That's a cool trend. Anyway, I picked up the new camera tonight. The driving factor of this purchase was size. I simply needed a camera that could be snugged away in my pocket and easily transported. Since my phone doens't have a camera in it, and most camera phones suck anyway, the only real option was a new one. After a lot of research, some testing and some discussions, I settled on the Canon Powershot SD850 IS. It's a powerful little camera and tucks into a pocket quite easily. It should suit my needs. After getting it home and charging the battery, I took this photo:
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It's a closeup of some pirate coins I had laying about. I sell those coins through East Wind Games, so I guess the camera is now a business expense. :-)
Cheers.

~KR (11 October 2007)

Listening to:
Cold Glencoe by Rise
on Secret World of Celtic Rock

Camera: Canon PowerShot SD850 IS
Exposure: 0.125 sec (1/8)
Aperture: f/2.8
Focal Length: 5.8 mm
ISO Speed: 800
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: EAST+WIND+GAMES, PIRATE, COINS, TREASURE, CANON, CAMERA, PHOTOBLOG, GLENCOE, Secret+World+of+Celtic+Rock

The Price of Progress

10 October 2007 When I was very young, I decided I wanted to be a professional footballer. That didn't work out so well, so I decided later in life on architecture as a fallback. There I found I had a massive conflict of interest that prevented me from excelling at something that I was actually pretty darned good at. I am not, will never be, Frank Lloyd Wright or Charles Rennie Mackintosh. I don't have the foresight, the chutzpah or the talent to blend the man-made with the natural. Nor, apparently, does the majority of the rest of the world. It seems that in order for a new shopping centre to go up, the trees must come down. This is what remains of a small copse of trees just outside my office complex. They've been uprooted and the entire area bulldozed for what will be a shopping & eating complex.

The price of progress; and I'm ok with it, I suppose. It will be nice to have more options in terms of lunch eateries. It'll be nice for the DFW area to have a better/larger selection of hotels from which to choose. It'll be nice to have more than one petrol station on my way home. I'm just sorry that the trees had to go. The world needs another Frank Lloyd Wright.
Cheers.

~KR (10 October 2007)

Listening to:
You Could Have Been With Me by Sheena Easton
on Billboard Top 100 Of 1982

Camera: Canon PowerShot S1 IS
Exposure: 0.001 sec (1/1000)
Aperture: f/4.5
Focal Length: 58 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/3 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire

Tags: PROGRESS, CONSTRUCTION, DESTRUCTION, TREES, PHOTOBLOG