November/December wrap-up

Yes, I know, a long long time between posts.

I finished the month of November with a week in London and St Albans visiting friends and having a much-appreciated break from work. I bopped around various pubs, restaurants, and coffee shops, catching up with people I haven't seen in almost eighteen months - a perfect vacation, really. The weather in London was typical for the time of year - a bit cold, a bit rainy, but not really too bad at all. All in all, a brilliant trip full of rugby, beer, fantastic food (yum, sausage rolls again!!), wonderful friends, quaint tea shops, the english countryside, a visit to the bank (boo to HSBC!), and, of course, a tasty curry enjoyed whilst watching Have I Got News for You. Fan-tabulous.

I did manage a bit of culture while there, visiting the Tate Modern to see the Mark Rothko exhibition with Lynn. I wasn't convinced at first - the murals are large canvases in dark rectangles of red, orangey-red, brown, blue, and black (usually only two of these colours at a time, though....) but as we moved through the rooms I started to like the works. I found the darkest works - reddish-black on black - to be quite soothing as they took a bit of looking to discern the layers of colours. When we went back through the biggest of the exhibit rooms, which housed the murals that appeared in the Four Seasons restaurant, I found the huge red canvases with their grey and black rectangles had really grown on me.

It was back to Minnesota on the last day of November and back to work the next day. And then on the 2nd of December I arrived back home to the park&ride to discover that my lovely Jeep had been stolen. A bit of a shock, to say the least. However, yesterday I received a call from the police saying they'd found my Jeep abandoned in a parking lot about 30 miles south of where I live. It is now safely in an impound lot there and I'm going to collect it on the weekend. The police couldn't tell me if it would start, but they did say no windows had been smashed and most surprisingly, the ignition/steering column hadn't been torn apart (leaving me to wonder how the bastards started it). Hopefully it will be running and even more hopefully the lousy theives didn't bother to steal my non-valuable belongings.

Next week I'm off to New York to meet up with Mom and GraceAnn (my sister for those of you who might not know). We'll spend the 23rd/24th in NYC, then head to Connecticut to spend the 25th at Mom's house, then back to NYC on the 26th. GraceAnn and I are leaving on the 26th for Saginaw where we'll join the Manor family for some pegs & jokers, margaritas, and general fun times.

Then it's back to work on the 29th and getting ready for the end of the year. I'm still trying to figure out how I can get to the Inaguration in January but I might have to give up that plan and just kick back here with a couple bottles of champagne and some friends and watch it all on the teevee machine.

Have a good weekend. Cheers!

I hate people

SOME BASTARD STOLE MY JEEP TODAY.

IF YOU ARE READING THIS AND YOU ARE THE BASTARD WHO STOLE MY JEEP PUT IT BACK YOU ASSHOLE. IT IS MINE NOT YOURS AND NOW I HAVE TO WALK TO THE BUS AND IT IS COLDER THAN HELL OUT BECAUSE IT IS DECEMBER IN MINNESOTA.

:(