March 2002

So I tempted fate.  Arriving back from a work trip to the UK, I flew into Minneapolis and an ice storm.  That night we had about 4 inches of snow which is still here, and we're expecting another inch or so tonight.   At least the snow didn't deliberately target my head.

Sad, sad, sad month.  John Thaw and Spike Milligan died within a few days of each other.

My trip to the UK meant a Friday departure from Minneapolis, via Chicago O'Hare and Amsterdam, arriving in Leeds on Saturday morning.   I went to a local Italian restaurant with my brother, his girlfriend, a friend and his wife.  We bumped into Joseph, my cousin who was there for a night away from University in York with his girlfriend.  Much imbibing and a follow-up karaoke session at my brother's local boozer ensued.  On the Sunday, I drove to my parents' domicile in suburban Manchester (read Wigan) to watch the football followed by a late lunch.  In the evening, I spent an hour in my two old local pubs on the off-chance that I may meet up with old locals but was disappointed.  The rest of the night was spent gossiping with my mum and generally catching up.  I introduced her to Garrison Keillor - not sure she liked it too much, but my grandma did.

The town where I grew up has changed a lot in some respects and little in others.  We moved to the house where my parents live in 1982.   It was a brand new house on a brand new estate with nearby fields where we could play.  Now, if there's a remote possibility that a house could be built on a piece of land, it has been.  All the fields that I remember are gone.  They have been replaced with miles of modern housing; all looking the same, all anonymous in their genericity.  It's a sad thing but maybe that estate that my parents moved onto years ago was the start of that process...of converting semi-rural areas into commuter belt anonymous estates where everyone lives on top of each other.  It's actually happening where I live now in Coon Rapids, but at least America has the land-mass to ensure that you can maintain a comfortable distance from your immediate neighbors.

I spent three days at work in England.  One was very constructive, one average and one was one of those days where all you can do is shake your head, shout expletives and pray that something else crops up quite soon.   I flew back Thursday in time to give a presentation in Detroit.  I hate giving presentations to any more than about 3 people.  It takes years off my life.  The voice quivers, the hands sweat.  Endless 'presenting with confidence' seminars, coping strategies and self-help techniques can't cure the fact that I'm mortified by the thought.  I was always pretty nervous about them, and then, one day I went into a room expecting 20 or so people and was met by close to a hundred, all professional software engineers.  I died there and then.  It was awful.  Just thinking about it now makes me want that hole to open up and absorb me.  Euww...change of subject required.

While in the UK, I spoke to a couple of very old friends.  It's strange...you can live 5000 miles from each other, lose touch for years and still have a conversation like you'd been at the pub with them the night before.   They don't change, or maybe they do but they just evolve in the same way that you do.  One of them had just had a very nasty experience in France which I won't go into the details of, but it seems his experience has triggered some positive adjustments he can make.

It was nice to get back home.  I woke up on Saturday morning with an unusual amount of energy and started cleaning and house-keeping with gusto.  Natzoid had decorated the bathroom while I was away and has done a fantastic job of it.  Slowly, but surely each of the drab rooms in the house that we bought are being turned into fanstatically creative masterpieces.  We spent a few hours in the mall on Saturday, spending a small fortune on gardening books that will aid us in the creation of what we hope to be a beautiful garden, once the malaise of winter leaves.  I think that over the summer months, I'll try to take photos to be included in this journal.

We finally booked our flights back over to Blighty for the end of the month.  It will be nice to spend some time there on holiday rather than at work.

The Bean has been all extremes since my return.   The terrible two's should be renamed the totally traumatic, terrorising, terrible two's.  Being in the book shop with the Bean yesterday was the equivalent of what I would imagine it would be like if I took all my dogs into the butchers.  That said, when asked whether she wanted a nap today, the response was "awright" and off she went.  They really are a mystery.

During the past couple of days, I have noticed that we must be one of the only families with every XXXX for Dummies book imaginable.   From 'C++ for Dummies' through every techie book to 'Personal Finance for Dummies' and 'Dogs for Dummies' grace our humble basement.

In a radical move, while Natzoid was picking up Sammy from the airport, I had the urge to cook so started preparing dinner (I really am awful in a kitchen).  Betwixt doing culinary things, I looked at Britnet; there are a number of posters there who, with great regularity, post something with an antagonising title (usually linked to a website) and sit back to watch the ensuing melee of responses.   I tried to post a bit of a parody but have had not takers as yet.

The dogs have finally completely destroyed the sofa, the carpet and the mattress in my little den room.  So we've succumbed and bought a little pen for them for the few hours that we're both out each week.  They can stay in that until the infernal chewing stops.

OK, so the jet-lag and general lack of sleep has caught up so I'm off.  May write more later in the month. 

Addendum:

The snow came last Friday.  13 inches of the stuff.  It took me 3 hours to clear the drive.  In places, it had drifted up to 2 feet.  Nice.

I finally had Sasha and Stella in to the vets' to be spayed...what a heart breaking process that is.  Apparently, Sasha is in great condition and got an overall 'Excellent'.  Stella is in great health but got an overall 'Needs improvement'; this was due to her "fear aggression" which I am assuming means that she tried to take a chunk out of whoever was trying to tranquilise her.  In the same position, I probably would have acted similarly so I can't fault her.

We have finally bought some furniture for the living room upstairs.  It's changed the whole place...

Last week, there was one day where the high was -8°C.  Where is Spring?  And why does it hate me so much that it stays away?   Bah!