Rino and Beth's UK Adventure: 05/01/2006

At work... with camera phone... fun.

My parents arrive tomorrow morning. Beth and I are looking forward to seeing them. On Sunday we will take a trip with them (i.e. bus tour). We will go up to the Lake Region in North England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Bath, Stonehenge, etc... It sounds like much to see in a week, but it will be a good overview of things for Beth and I for the rest of our time in England.

Word of the day:

"Torch"

A flashlight

Has anyone seen our copy of The Patriot?
We shipped our DVDs over to the UK.
It appears all of them made it over except for
The Patriot.

Either someone that we lent it
to still has it - OR - Customs caught it and confiscated
it on the grounds that it could be anti-UK propaganda.

Word of the day (and a very common one; I just heard someone say it...)

"Bloody"

No definition required

Beth's First Post!
(I've received some comments about my obvious lack of posts. So I'm here to make ammends.)

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British Insight of the day:

The British are so polite that you just don't realize you're on the losing end of the battle. Let's take customer service. I thought it was bad in the US, but I was mistaken. Here, they really aren’t empowered to help you out at all (as noted in our 2 month lack of internet access). But they’re so polite about it that I always hang up the phone feeling like I’ve accomplished something.

Five minutes later, I realize nothing was resolved.

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And here's MY word of the day, for those of you who know me by my nick-name. Now that's just sad.

The other weekend, Beth showed me a posh grocery store in Sloan Square. She took me there, because in the back of the store, there is an "American" corner where they sell imported American food.

There she was.... Old Glory hanging behind a stack of Dunkin Hines, Aunt Jemima, and Cheerios. You must really be craving Cheerios to pay £7.99 per box! Based on today's exchange rate of 1.883 (glad I'm being paid in pounds), that's $15.05 per box! It's not even the Sam's Club size.

Today's word (phrase) of the day:

"Have a go"

Used in the context of; "Shall we have a go at it?"

Rose bushes are everywhere this time of year.

Word of the day:

"Quid"

One pound sterling

I thought show last night was ok... though Beth really enjoyed it.

Not much in terms of plans this coming weekend.
We'll be meeting some friends for dinner at Bluebird to see off Steve (a colleague and friend of mine who is returning to New York next month).

http://www.conran-restaurants.co.uk/restaurants/bluebird/home.html

My parents arrive next Friday... Beth and I are looking forward to their arrival and to our trip with them.

Word of the day - One of my favourites:

"Rubbish"

Used in many contexts - refers to something as garbage

Word of the day:

Pop-round

Someone suggested that I start providing a definition.
I hear a lot of people in the office telling others on the phone that they will "pop-round."
Sounds painful.

On another note... we're going to see a show tonight, Whistle Down the Wind
http://www.reallyuseful.com/rug/shows/whistle/

We finally have Internet and TV at home!

Homechoice came yesterday and installed our service (www.homechoice.co.uk)
Beth and I were able to use our Slingbox (www.slingbox.com) to watch some stuff we had Tivo'ed. The Slingbox is being hosted at the Heath's back in Stamford, CT... Thanks Sean!

Word of the day:

Bloke

Word of the day:

Smashing

Quuuuuuuuuaaaaaaack. Swans on the River Thames. Do they quack or just hiss?

In front of the place that I earn my paycheck from, 1 Embankment Place

Beth and I in front of you know what...

We went to Windsor Castle yesterday. The castle was built over 900 years ago by William the Conqueror and is still a fully functioning castle that is used by the Queen on weekends. She was actually there yesterday according to the flag that was being flown. We sent her birthday greetings.

Candy is back.

This is how we grocery shop... Tesco Express and other small versions of larger stores are within a 5 minute walk... Occasionally, we go to the Tesco "superstore" which is a 15 minute walk. Even though the temptation is there to buy a lot when visiting the superstore, you quickly remember that you have to somehow get it home and also store it. Our fridge looks like a my dorm fridge from the days at Uconn in size (maybe slightlybigger)... except it's actually stocked with food. On my first "early" day out of work , Beth detoured me from the tube station directly to the store. Fortunately, Jeff was with us to help carry some of the stuff home.