HR Community Event

I went into the office, because today was our (quarterly? semi-annual? annual? budget cuts have meant they keep cancelling these things) HR Community Meeting.

I mostly work with people in Chicago on my immediate team, but there are folks on my larger team here in the UK. Therefore, five of us located in London (out of a larger team of about 200 worldwide) met up for lunch before the community meeting. It was a nice enough lunch, although as with most things in London, a bit overpriced for what it was.

Afterwards, we made our way to the Royal College of Surgeons, which was a big giant hall where we were holding our meeting. My feet were dying when we arrived, as it was a hot day and these were new shoes, and they were causing the most incredible blisters on my little toes. So I was very excited about arriving and being able to sit down. Little did I know...

The room turned out to have no A/C, nor even a single fan. Given that it was a sweltering hot day, 200 people packed in a room with only the emergency exit open at the back was not nearly enough ventilation. Everyone was guzzling the water provided, and trying to make fans out of random scraps of paper. It was at that point that I remembered I typically carry a formal, lace fan with me in my handbag, to deal with the heat on the London Underground. (There is no A/C on the Underground either, and it's apparently 10 degrees hotter underground than it is at the surface. On a hot summer day, you can guess how bad that gets). I'd first seen a woman in Buenos Aires using a fan like that, so I always make a point to pick up cheap tourist souvenier fans whenever I go travelling, and then keep one in my handbag at all times.

So I did have some minor relief from my fan, but as though they weren't torturing everyone in the room enough, things were even worse with the news. Despite the economic recovery going on and the company doing well, our entire department is in the midst of a reorganization, so we are facing lay-offs, re-levelling, and promotion and pay freezes. I love how the company basically says, "Work hard, but we're not going to reward you for it."

Overall it was a dispiriting afternoon, so I think everyone was grateful when it was time for drinks, guzzling down the cold white wine and rose that they had going around. We moved up to the library of the Royal College of Surgeons, which apparently had some A/C, but it was on the fritz, hence the room was just about as hot and stuffy as the room downstairs within moments after we walked in.

I ended up mostly chatting with my CoE colleagues, and we actually had some lovely conversations about how one of them is getting married in a month, and she met her husband as the last date she did doing online dating. Apparently after a slew of truly horrific online dates, she was going to give up on it, but then her flatmate convinced her to go out with one last guy. She says she thinks the date went well because she just didn't care anymore at that point and was completely relaxed about it, and what do you know, now they're getting married! So it was a nice story about how online dating can really work for people...

I was also impressed by one of the Senior Execs who came by to talk to us, having a much longer and more extensive conversation with this random team than my own Senior Exec had with me when I'd come all of the way to Chicago to meet him. (Not like I'm annoyed by that or anything). We agreed that whilst the new open and honest communication was nice, it basically alerted us to the fact that nobody in charge of this reorganization has any clue as to what they are doing. Way to go.

I probably had a touch more wine than I should have, but it was too tempting when it dulled the pain in my feet from my ill-fitting shoes. Finally it was time to go home, and when I got about three blocks from my house, I did something I'd sworn I'd never do, but my feet were in way too much pain. So with the pavement looking relatively clear ahead of me, I took off my shoes and walked home BAREFOOT on the streets of London. Luckily I didn't step on any glass or anything gross, but perhaps you can imagine how desperately my feet hurt for me to consider doing that!

Dinner with the South African

At work today, somewhere around mid-day I started to realise that there was no way in heck that I was going to make it to that evening's run. A bit of a shame, given that I hadn't been in several weeks, but there was nothing to be done. So I e-mailed out that I wasn't going to be able to make it, and kept on working.

But as it so happened, my friend from South Africa who happened to be up working in London e-mailed and asked, "Was I free for dinner?" Happy coincidence!

So after I finally finished enough work, I made my way to the Shearaton where he was staying, and suggested that we go to a Lebanese place I remembered going to with my parents about a year ago. Amazingly, I managed to find the place again after having not been there in a year, so I was really impressed with myself!

Luckily, the food was also as good as I remembered, so I had a very nice dinner with the South African. Our discussion ranged across a wide range of topics, including religion (a favourite with the two of us), and who ultimately pays for societal costs in the majority of economic models. As is usual with us, the discussion was pretty wide-ranging.

We also discussed having kids, which is an ongoing conversation between the two of us. The South African is married to a lovely girl, although given that they were both virgins when they married, I think they've had some difficulty transitioning from a religious prohibition of "No, no, no" to a married state of "Yes, yes, yes." As well, there's the problem that the South African is spending a lot of time in London, whilst his wife is in South Africa. As he points out, makes it kind of hard to get pregnant, even if he was of a mind for it to happen. I feel bad for his wife though, because I know she wants kids, and I think the South African would make a good father, he just needs to trust that he can rise to the occasion. Oh well, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what life has on offer.

Finally, we parted ways even though it was still light out, but that's because it was already 10:30 PM, and it was still light out! Ah, how I love summer in England!

Cake Boxes at Emily's House

I'm going to the christening of the daughter of my friends Emily and Toby on Friday, and when my friend Emily wished me a Happy Birthday on Facebook yesterday, she suggested I come over for a girly evening of putting together cake boxes. Although I had no idea what she was talking about, I was game, so why not?

I arrived and found immediately that I'd made somewhat of an error, because I'd worn a somewhat short skirt when everyone was sitting on the floor to do these cake boxes. I kept trying to arrange myself in somewhat graceful positions, but there was really nothing for it, I should have worn a more long and flowing skirt if I'd known!

Still, it was a lovely time chatting with people, including an American girl who was SUCH the classic Southern Girl, down to her perfect make-up and pearl earrings. I had to really admire her style though, I wish I could always look that perfectly put together.

Our hostess' little boy kept getting up out of bed to show off new outfits that he'd put together, despite his mother continually telling him that he needed to go back to bed. It did make me realise how important it is to raise children with consistent discipline, and make sure they are well-mannered, as this mother obviously had no control over her child. And while it was cute at first, it quickly became tiring.

But I can imagine why it had all been a bit confusing for the boy, as for some reason one of the girls became really fascinated with the idea of playing with the little boy's Legos, and so whilst he was in bed, we had an entire crowd of girls playing with his toys. Kind of funny, and a fabulous return to childhood, to play with some toys again.

Finally, my hostess presented me with a birthday gift (how thoughtful!) and finally we finished up the cake boxes and made our way home. Looking forward to the party on Friday!

My 31st Birthday

I'm 31 today!! Given how the past couple of weeks have seemed like one long, continuous birthday party, it was almost a bit surreal to find that the day itself was finally at hand!

I was woken up in the morning by a call from Dr T, where he sang "Happy Birthday" to me again in the most purposefully awful singing. I think I nearly peed myself laughing. Luckily he seemed okay about me losing him last night, and told me some funny stories about going swimming. Of course, what is usual with him is that when he gets excited I can find his English somewhat hard to understand (silly Danes!) and without the visual cues it's hard to know what they were saying. But by just nodding along, I got most of the story at least, and a very good start to my birthday!!

I then went out and joined my friends from the hash where they were having a run (I purposefully arrived too late to have to run), where everyone wanted to buy me drinks, and I had a great time chatting with this guy I know, Jon. He's a bit sweet on me (but he's a smoker, so that's a no-no), but he basically just spent the afternoon making me laugh, even buying me another drink after I knocked over the first one he bought me. (Eeek, and I swear I hadn't had much to drink, as they were all shandies!) The boys are good to me, that's for sure...
Finally ended up in a packed bar in Picadilly to watch the USA vs. Ghana match. ("Tiger Tiger", which I knew the name of because about two years ago, a car bomb nearly went off in front of it. Only quick thinking by the police stopped it as it was smoking. And I was going to it at a time when it was packed with Americans? Yeah, that sounds awesome...) It was a fun crowd, but I was getting overly into the game, and I hadn't eaten since breakfast, so I think I was too focused on how hungry I was to think about chatting anyone up... Such a shame because the girls I was with gave their numbers to two guys....apparently it was a good crowd! Still, the boys I was with made sure I got plenty of attention anyway, so I wasn't short on good company.

My brother called me with 10 minutes to go in the match, so I had to yell into the phone that I couldn't talk (the pub was PACKED and screaming), and then eventually sneak outside to call him back. So great to talk to my brother on my birthday!

Whilst I was outside, I wondered if I should make my way to yet ANOTHER party that I was due to put in an appearance at, but at this point I was just too tired. Luckily, after the game, everyone in the crowd was up for food, so after going to a Wagamama's (closed) and a Pizza Express (20 minutes for a table) we went to Pizza Hut, where there was finally food at last! (Did I mention I was STARVING?)

At last, finally made my way home on one of the last Tubes at midnight. Overall, I have to say, what a fabulous birthday!

ROSL Ball

To celebrate my birthday, I decided to co-opt an Inter-Club event, the Royal Overseas League Centenary Ball that was happening the day before my birthday. I went with my flatmate and my friend Dr T, as well as having the great folks in the crowd there to celebrate with.

It was a black-tie ball, so I wore this flowing blue-and-green dress that I'd bought on a whim in Australia. Although I almost didn't wear at the last-minute because I was having such trouble finding a bra that worked with it. (Seriously, I almost thought I was going to have to resort to duct tape. Yet, with a bit of ingenuity, I came up with a pretty nifty engineering solution). Probably worth it, because the entire time everyone kept saying, "I LOVE your dress". My flatmate even said that when she was trying to point out who she had come with, all she had to say was, "I'm with the girl in that dress" and people would just reply, "Oh my goodness, that's such a beautiful dress!" Although the annoying part is, it's such a distinctive dress, next time I wear it, everyone will undoubtedly remember it!

I was probably the world's worst hostess to my guests, as when we arrived I kept seeing people I knew and so just abandoning them to go talk to all of my other friends who were at the ball. Yet that's why I had brought Dr T, as he's just about the perfect guy. Charming, handsome, and supremely self-confident. (Seriously, we've been out in pubs together, and he's managed to convince random strangers to buy drinks for us. He's amazing).

They had a magician to entertain us, and I will say that I was really impressed by one of his tricks where he had me write my name on a card and he kept making it reappear in various places. Even though I was the key person involved in the trick, I couldn't figure out how he did it.

Dinner itself was fantastic, really excellent quality food. After dinner, they even called me up to the front of the ballroom and had about all 200 guests sing "Happy Birthday" to me.

After dinner, we retired downstairs, although it was funny how a large group of the girls got stuck in the loo listening to this American female academic in a sari talk about her life in India in the 1970's. She was absolutely fascinating.

There was a band, but most of us just spent our time in the bar, chatting to each other, and catching up on all of the various company. Then at midnight (when it was properly my birthday), my flatmate had the clever idea to suggest a champagne toast, at which point, everyone sang Happy Birthday to me again.

Continuing my role as a terrible hostess however, I lost Dr T somewhere along the line, and later got a message from him that he couldn't find me and was headed home. Oh dear! But I stayed for one last glass of champagne (bought for me by this Navy doctor in uniform, who also happened to be named "Adrian", it was quite bizarre), until finally Emily and I decided to head home too at around 2 AM. A good evening out, but as is becoming my custom now that I'm older, I just wanted to go home and go to bed!

Back to London

I spent my final day in the US basically running around getting errands done, getting my teeth cleaned at the dentist and packing. Nothing too exciting, but finally there was one last pizza lunch, and then it was time to head for the airport.

I did have fun breaking out my iPad in the airport, as people asked me about how it worked, and I ended up talking to one guy quite extensively about it. Finally it was time to board the plane, and so I got on, settled into my seat and checked out the movies. Really, they had nothing on offer, the best flick going was "The Bounty Hunter". What on earth happened to the movie selection?

So mostly I ended up sleeping, barely exchanging a few words with my seatmate. Touched down in London with no problems, and was surprised to find a message on my phone from the guy I'd given my number to a few weeks ago at the Inter-Club Quiz. Apparently he was just out and about, and giving me a shout, although of course the call had happened just a few days after I left, and the message was now over two weeks old.

I started stressing about it a little bit, wondering if I had to call this guy back, apologize, and offer to go for drinks, before I concluded that if it was just making me stressed, rather than eager to see this guy, then the answer was obviously no.

I got through customs, and then on the Tube ended up randomly chatting to this American guy all of the way to Earl's Court. Some guy in town on business with a wife and kids joining him later (no wedding ring, but interestingly one of those "MIA" bracelets that I've seen Vietnam vets wear, so I assume it was for Iraq and he was recently out of the military), it at least passed the time on the journey.

I finally got back to the flat, settled in, and was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a chat from the Young Dutchman, who I met recently playing polo. You know, the one who is basically perfect in every regard except for the fact that he's 22-years old? Still, just seems that he was a bit bored and wanted a break from work (silly boy works for himself, can't even complain that the boss makes him), and so I just ended up having a lovely and amusing chat with him. Always a good way to pass the time.

Too soon however, jet lag caught up with me, and I was off to an early bedtime!

Catching Crabs

Every time I go down to New York, I make a point of catching up with my best friend from kindergarten. We met on the first day of school as five-year olds, and were pretty much inseparable for our entire childhoods. We lead very different lives now (she still lives just 30 minutes away from the house she grew up in, married with a three-year old), but I'm always amazed how every time we get together, we never seem to run out of things to talk about. You'd think after being friends for 85% of our lives, we'd already have talked about everything there is to talk about! Yet, as with all great friends, we continue to enjoy each other's company immensely, after all these years.

My friend has always been at one with the ocean, the type of girl who LOVES boats and being on the water. When she was growing up, her family owned a boat, named for her, where they spent a lot of time as young children. When my friend got married and had her child, her father gave them that boat. Yet, after 30 years, the boat was starting to show its age, and finally it was time to get a new boat, which they got this past spring. Hence, my friend was very excited to be able to take me out on the new boat (and I was very keen as well to get to see it!)

We met at her house and then went out to the docks, where a tender took us out to the boat. Unfortunately, as we'd had to wake the three-year old from her nap, the kid was very upset with us, and when we got out to the boat, started sobbing uncontrollably. The joys of a three-year old, I suppose, who I hear come by their name "three-nagers" quite honestly. Hence, we had to spend about our first 30 minutes out on the boat with a wailing child, although my friend assured me, "When she's better, she's better, so don't worry, this will all stop any moment."

Indeed, after refusing hugs, snacks, naps, or any other method of being consoled, the child revealed that what she really wanted was to catch crabs. (?!) And so whilst this struck me as totally bizarre, my friend pulled out a crab trap, basically a wire metal cube with sides that let down, that you could drop into the water and the crabs would walk in. It didn't look like anything sophisticated, so I couldn't imagine that it would work.

Would you believe it though, that crab trap was amazing? Every time we popped it down in the water, it would have one or two crabs in it every time we brought it back up. We released the crabs we caught every time (they looked like rock crabs, not very good for eating), but it provided endless amounts of amusement for the three-year old.

Otherwise, we spent our time hanging out on the boat, eating snacks, and just enjoying watching the sunset over the harbour. It was so peaceful out there, I could easily understand why they enjoyed spending so much time on their boat. And it was really funny when we pulled the crab trap up one last time, in addition to a crab, we'd caught a clam! No idea why a clam had decided to latch onto the corner of the crab trap, but whilst it was easy enough for us to open the trap and let the crab go, that clam was really stuck on there! Finally, after much prying, we got him off and tossed him back into the ocean.

After the sun set, my friend's husband came out and joined us briefly, but all too soon we had to call the tender to get back to shore before they closed for the night. So we radioed the tender and they came out, although I remembered from my childhood how much trouble I'd had getting on and off of boats, as you always have to perch on some tiny moving surface to get to another tiny moving surface. Yet luckily I made it onto the tender without falling in (but yet I couldn't help but notice how much easier a time my friends had of it than I did, obviously people with more experienced sea legs!)

We then went back to my friend's house, where I'd brought strawberries and pound cake for dessert. So we spent some more time talking, until at about 1 AM I finally reminded my friend that we both had work in the morning! (It's always so hard to leave the company of such good friends!) But finally we parted ways, and I made my way back home, having had such a wonderful night out with my oldest friend.

Pipalooza

After my day off, it was back to work on Friday, but luckily we got to leave early, as we were driving up to Portsmouth for a weekend cousin gathering, that instead of "Cousinpalooza" (our usual moniker for our cousin gatherings), we were calling "Pipalooza", in honour of my soon-to-be-born niece or nephew, who we refer to as "Pip" for "Pipsqueak" or "Personality in Progress."

The drive was pretty uneventful, even if I was a bit concerned with how much my cousin spoke on the phone whilst driving, not even using a hands-free headset. Once again, the reason that girl has been in so many car accidents is plainly clear to me.

We arrived up at my brother's house just in time to have homemade za (our word for "pizza") and greet the crowds as they came in. Besides me and my cousin Kate, there were my cousins Brendan and Hillary, and my parents as well. Everyone gathered around the table, we had a great dinner, and got playing with my new iPad, which my dad had brought up from New York. It was funny how the iPad functioned as a communal device, with everybody playing with it.

On Saturday morning, we decided to go to my brother's office and take the ficus tree that he keeps there home for the summer. Obviously, living indoors year-round is not the best thing for a tree, so we decided it was going to "go to summer camp".

To move the tree, we needed to get it out of the office, and then into a wagon, which we then carted through the middle of downtown Portsmouth on "Market Fair Day", so there were people everywhere, wondering why on earth we were carting a tree in a wagon! We got quite a few funny looks, but it was incredibly fun.

After our efforts with tree-moving, our labour was then enlisted to remove the chain-link fence at the side of their house. This involved digging up the posts deeply buried in cement, but with the group labour working on it, we managed to get it done in relatively short order.

Then my aunt and uncle arrived, and we then had an indoor cook-out, as the weather was not totally co-operating with us. But given that this allowed us to avoid mosquitoes and just enjoy each other's company around the table, we weren't complaining too much!

Sunday morning, we generally hung out, did some quick shopping at some of the outlet stores in Kittery (I picked up a strapless bra and a pair of jeans), and then before too long it was time for me and my parents to make the drive back down to New York. We got caught in some traffic, but it wasn't too bad, and before long we were home, sweet home!

A Day with Abby and Lizzy

The entire reason I keep this blog, is that I was inspired to do so by my friend Kara, who argued that while my e-mailed stories were wonderful tales to read, they were often long and hard to keep up with. "Wouldn't it be great if you just put all of your e-mails on a blog?" she asked. "Then I could read them whenever I had the time!"

So, I agreed to give it a go, and it's hard to believe it's been nearly a year since my first visit with Kara inspired me to start the blog. She's been doing it for over two years with her two little girls, and I'm amazed at how she almost never misses a day, recording the stories and funny adventures of life with two adorable toddlers. And it's particularly fascinating to see the kids grow, right there in front of you, where you can click back to any story, any day in the past, and see what they were up to at any point in time.

So, although I didn't have two little adorable toddlers to write about, my life involves some truly interesting and random stories (lots of travel and going to balls, and of course all of the drama that is being a single girl trying to figure out boys), so I agreed to give this blog ago. But given that I didn't have any cute kids to write about, this blog would be called "Adventures Without Kids!" (One day I hope that will change, but in the meantime, let's record the stuff I get up to! Hopefully it will one day shock my kids to realise that their mother actually had a life before them).

Today however, I was going for the ultimate in celebrity....spending a day with the little girls I read about every day! You can read all about our fabulous day together on Kara's blog here: http://beantownmommy.blogspot.com/2010/06/mommy-playdate.html

(I of course, have borrowed the lovely photo Kara took of me and Lizzy for the top of this blog!)

The day really was pretty much as Kara describes it. I took the day off of work to play with them, and I borrowed my cousin's car and drove out to Kara's new house. I got totally lost at the final turns however, and had to call Kara, who talked me in to her place. After helping the girls with some puzzles, we drove downtown to their favourite deli for lunch, and then went for a walk to a local bakery afterwards for cupcakes.

Back at the house, Kara and I just enjoyed several hours of catching up over mugs of tea (how on earth is our 10-year college reunion coming up?), interspersed with playing with the girls. The girls are charming, and I was amazed at how well they played together. Particularly compared with how much time and attention one child seems to take, it really seems that having two is the key to success in life, as then they always have a playmate. So now I'm trying to talk all of my friends with one kid into having another one, as that really seems to be the way forward!

Finally at about 5 PM however, the girls were showing the obvious effects of having skipped their naps (playing with me was just too much fun!) so it was time for me to go and pack them off to bed. But what a fun day out with two wonderful little girls!

Chicago - Days 2 and 3

In the morning, I made my way downstairs for breakfast in the "Q Center", the place where I was staying. I'd been told by some others that the breakfasts were good, but I hadn't realised what wonders they spoke of until I got there.

It was the most incredible cafeteria set-up, with just about anything you could imagine wanting for breakfast. So I loaded my plate up with eggs, sausage, hash browns, cinnamon rolls, french toast, whipped cream, yogurt and Diet Coke (they had a soda fountain!) and tucked into a breakfast with enough food to keep me going for a week.

A bit much? Perhaps, but still nothing compared to what I did the next day (now that I knew about these incredible breakfasts!) The next day I went for the "make-your-own-omlette" bar, where you filled a dish with peppers, mushrooms, ham, and whatever else you wanted, and then the chef whipped up an omlette right there in front of you. On as well, I went for my fried potatoes and sausages again, and then stacked a plate full of pancakes, and topped them off with chocolate sauce, strawberry compote, and whipped cream. To try and describe the deliciousness of it all is alas beyond my powers of description!

My first day in the office, they found me a random desk, and I spent most of my time meeting with a woman who I work on reports with, and I had lunch with her (we dashed out to a Wendy's. Because this is the fun of working in an office park?) Then I spent some time meeting with a woman I'd been having some communication issues with, and I just turned on the charm. (As I've often said, I learned everything I really needed to know in life from my sorority, which included how to be sickly charming and sweet, even to people you can't stand). I guess the charm-offensive worked, because she even invited me to join her for dinner that evening. Since it beat eating by myself, I went out with her, and we had a nice time. Turns out that she'd moved out to suburbia after breaking up with a long-term boyfriend after she'd been living in New York. She apparently still dates some random guy long-distance now, and insists that's how she likes it, but I still couldn't help but think what I think so many times when I meet older women I work with: "I hope my life doesn't turn out like yours!"

My second day in the office, a lot of people were out at some conference, so it was a much slower day, but I took the opportunity to talk to my boss' boss about how I was bored out of my mind in my role. I think he heard me, but we'll have to see how this plays out in terms of new opportunities for me.

Finally, I caught a limo back to the airport, although I was so tired, that I really just passed out for the entire drive, and for the duration of the flight too! Landed back in Boston, caught the T back to my cousin's place, and we went and grabbed some Anna's Tacqueria burritos for dinner. Super-yum! It's good to be back in Boston...

Chicago - Day 1

Several years ago, when taking one of my first business trips from Boston, I had booked a cab to pick me up and take me to the airport at 4 AM. Yet, the cab never showed up, even as I called the cab company repeatedly and they assured me that the driver was "just ten minutes away". I wish I could remember what cab company it was, so that I could tell all of my friends and remind them never to use that cab company. Ever after that day, I never got cabs to the airport again, but rather simply drove my car and parked it in the long-term parking lot.

Yet, without a car now to drive to the airport, I needed to catch a cab. And while I couldn't remember the cab company that caused me such agony all of those years ago, at least I remembered the cab company that had saved my bacon that morning: Green Cab Co. I'd gone running out onto the street at 4:45 AM, absolutely going mad with panic that I was about to miss my 6 AM flight. And then I spotted a cab at the kerb, with a cabbie obviously enjoying a peaceful morning coffee before beginning his shift. I yelled down the street to him, "I'll give you $40 if you can get me to Logan in 15 minutes!" (Given that an average cab fare to Logan at the time was merely $20, you can see the premium I was offering).

I still bless that cabbie to this day, because he definitely earned his $40 that morning. He got me to Logan in record time, and I went screeching up to the check-in desk, and successfully checked in for my flight with something like 2 minutes to spare.

So when I had to order a cab that I could count on to show up at 4 AM, I was suspicious as to whether it would work, but I figured I might as well go with Green Cab Co. again. And would you believe it? At 4 AM, on the dot, there was a cab outside my cousin's house. Green Cab Co., I love you all over again.


I got to the airport and got myself a breakfast burrito, and then got on the flight, where my three hours of sleep totally kicked in. I just passed out for the entire flight, and don't remember a thing about it.

When I arrived in Chicago, it turned out that I was sharing a limo out to Chicago with someone else. I wish they'd warned me, but that was fine enough, although I was somewhat surprised when the girl pretty much immediately pulled out a magazine and settled down to read for the entire hour's ride. Seemed kind of anti-social, but I guess not everyone is a chatterbox like me...

I arrived, checked into my room (it was barely bigger than the single bed in it), and then went down to try to get into the Woodlands office, hoping to catch a ride with someone there.

Now most of my company's offices have a reception desk, where you can go in, request a security badge, and gain access to the rest of the building. This place, however, had no such thing. Hence, I ended up wandering around the outside of the building, wondering how on earth I could gain entry to it, given that I didn't have an access badge. My friend Shelley even called me randomly at that point, asking, "Where are you?" And I told her, "I'm stuck outside in the parking lot of a random office park building that I can't get into!"

Finally, fortuitously, one of the guys on my team called me asking where I was, and came outside to let me in. Thank goodness!

The guy then gave me a ride to the Senior Executive's house where we were having our training for the day. First impressions of everyone were interesting, so I'll give you a rundown:

Bryan - The one guy on the team my age, although I think we're at different points in our lives personally. He's already married and was in the middle of the process of buying a house, seeming to move from suburbia to suburbia in one smooth transition. I caught the telltale sign of a diabetes monitor as well, which I guess was impressive, that I'd had no inkling that he suffered from the disease before this.

Bob - The one guy I've liked most from the get-go on this team, and that impression remained on this trip. He's a bit guy in that he's about 6'5", although people tell me that previously, he'd been big as in "seriously overweight". He looks good now, although he did talk about how he'd changed his life with Weight Watchers, although I couldn't quite imagine him as overweight. Good job Weight Watchers, I guess! It was funny too, as he greeted me with a big giant hug, which given that I am so used to the restrained kissing on each cheek in the UK, took me by surprise.

Mike - A jovial guy I've worked with on projects previously but have never met in person, I was surprised when he greeted me with a simple nod and said, "Yeah, we've met before." It took quite some convincing to assure him that we'd never met in person, but had only worked together with web cams. "Are you sure?" he asked. I guess one more argument for our brave new world of working with web cams, he seemed so utterly convinced that we'd met in person before.

Sarah - My counterpart on the team, supposedly does the same sort of work I do, but in truth I have no idea what she really does. A somewhat large person, she seems nice enough, but I think because she's not what I originally expected I have a hard time figuring her out.

Dana - My boss. Which, when he showed up, I kid you not my first thought was, "OMG, my boss is wearing MOM JEANS!!" Up to his armpits, practically. He's always somewhat reminded me of my dad, but even my dad is a bit more stylish than that.

The training was an absolute repeat of a training I'd done two years before, but given that it gave me the excuse to come out to Chicago, I wasn't going to complain. A nice afternoon off and some time to think about one's priorities in life. I don't think it was nearly as effective as David Allen's "Getting Things Done", but as I said, a nice afternoon off.

The Senior Executive's house that we were at was an interesting place, in that it was sort of McMansion-ish (i.e. big but not overwhelmingly huge), but weirdly deserted. That was later explained when it was revealed that the Senior Executive was a single man, who had this giant house but his only "family" was serving as a chaperone on youth trips for young men from his church.

Which I guess was another thing that struck me about everyone, was how much they talked about their church and God in their lives....ah yes, welcome to the midwest.

So an after-work drink was out of the question, but my boss had already said that I should come to his family's house for dinner. So he picked me up from the Senior Exec's house (where, it should be noted the Senior Exec said barely two words to me, despite that it was going to be one of his only opportunities to meet me in person. Awesome). We then drove back to his place, where his three teenage girls struggled to make polite conversation (when did I become such a grown-up that I triggered mutism among teenagers?) and finally it was time to sit down to dinner. And we said grace first (of course). Despite the random silences from the girls, we struggled on through, I took a brief tour of the house (still somewhat McMansion-y, but I suppose typical for the suburban midwest), and then we went down to the basement for ice cream.

Someone explained to me earlier that most men, when seeking to finish out their finished basements, would install a bar as the piece de resistance, but my boss, being a Mormon, can't drink. So what to install instead? An ice cream bar! The whole set-up was amazing, with the flavours of the day and an incredible set-up of toppings. Good fun, although I'd be amazed if I didn't gain 40 lbs with that in my basement. Too tempting by half!

Soon enough, it was time to get me back to my hotel room, and so I gratefully accepted the lift back, thinking it must almost be bedtime. Imagine my surprise when I got to my room and checked the time...and found it was 7 PM. What on earth is up with these people? Still, after the early start, I wasn't about to object to an early bedtime and turned in.

Visiting the Q Man

On Sunday morning, I woke up with my cousin to get showered before her psuedo-boyfriend, this chap she's sort of been seeing, arrived. He was coming over so that the two of them could practice singing some hymns before going to church that morning.

I did some ironing of my dress shirts whilst they practiced songs, and I have to say I was in awe of how lovely my cousin's voice is, and how well she just instantly picked up the harmonies on the songs. It was a pleasure to listen to them practice.

Then we drove down to Southie to the church, and had a nice time sitting through the church service. The giant loaf of potato bread and grape juice always kind of freak me out however...those funny Presbyterians!

After church, my cousin and her psuedo-boyfriend drove me to to my friend A’s house, who I used to play polo with. I was impressed with the psuedo boyfriend’s ability to navigate across south Boston just on intuition, apparently he used to be a sort of cab driver, doing home visits with people. I could believe it.

We got to A’s house, but she wasn’t home yet. Yet I only had to wait about 10 minutes before she arrived. The Q-Man was sleepy and ready for his nap, so I only got to see him for a few brief moments before A carried him upstairs to take a nap. So then we hung out for a bit and just chatted to catch up.

Another old polo friend, M, came down and joined us, so we went to lunch at a place in JP. Finally, food! (I was hungry after only having bread and grape juice for breakfast!) Didn’t get as much info out of them as I wanted to, although listened quite a bit to M’s tales of the difficulty of moving out of the flat she shares with her ex-boyfriend. Wow, one more reason never to move in with someone unless you’re engaged.

Then A's husband brought the Q-Man to the restaurant, so I finally got some time to play with the adorable little guy. I think A's husband noted that I was more interested in the kid than almost anyone else, commenting at one point, "You'd make an excellent nanny!" Yeah, but with adorable little ones, it's easy to enjoy their company.

Finally though, it was time to pack up and head home, although luckily having gotten in a fantastic Sunday visit!

Baby Shower

The next morning we were up early as my brother Dave wanted us up there in Portsmouth to help out with setting up for the party. Since we needed ingredients for guacamole (and I was desperate for some Diet Coke), we pulled into the parking lot at Foodmaster, then thought better of it and went to Whole Foods. Alas, since Whole Foods is so granola crunch, there was no Diet Coke for me! Katie did get a coffee, but then managed to spill coffee on my gift bag. Luckily we hadn't checked out yet, so I went back and replaced it with another, nicer bag that I liked better. So in the end, it all worked out! (Although it will be a pity when they discover the coffee-stained gift bag that I hid at the back of the rack).

On the drive up, this guy nearly drove into us. My cousin would have honked except she was drinking coffee. And I don't mean to criticise my cousin's driving, but suddenly the reason she's been in two accidents in the past four years became quickly apparent. That girl needs to pay more attention when she drives, as that one there was nearly her third accident in as many years. When the guy drove by however, the side of the car was totally smashed in. I wonder how that happened? Obviously, my cousin isn't the only one who needs to pay more attention when she drives...

We arrived in Portsmouth, and then immediately went out to Hannafords, the local grocery store there. So why did we need to go to Whole Foods?

We ran into Ben (of Ben and Amanda fame) in the parking lot. Got some more avocados and some Diet Coke for me, hurrah. We then went over to John and Heather’s house (the next-door neighbours), and my cousin started making guac there, on the nice, clean, pristine set-up-for-the-party counter-tops. I have no idea why.

My brother then suggested that we move over to his house for guac making, which made a lot more sense to me. Unfortunately, when doing the avocados, got some on my white shirt. Why do I only think to put an apron on AFTER the fact?

The Mulligans arrived, my sister-in-law's parents and brother, and it was really nice to see them. I really like Mr Mulligan (not like they’re not all great). Finally once we had the guac ready and it was about time for the party, we went back over to the next door neighbour's house, and I stood around talking to the Mulligans, and had a good time talking to Bill Mulligan. Then my sister-in-law arrived, and just seemed sort of dazed to see everyone there. It was a fun shower, and some people had come up with some great gifts. (A lullaby version of all U2 songs? How well did somebody know my brother to find that one?)

I ate too much at the party, but all of the food was so good. Afterwards, Katie headed back to Boston, I stayed around Portsmouth, although I was so tired at one point, my brother sent me and my sister-in-law upstairs to take a nap.

I woke up in time to help out with the grilling for dinner. We went back over to the next door neighbour's house for dinner, had great chicken, and more leftovers. Afterwards, we went on an after-dinner walk around the neighbourhood, and my brother and I had a great time playing 1-2-3 with Lily and Grace the next-door neighbour's kids. (Boy, was the four-year old Lily easier to heft into the air than the seven-year old Grace, however!)

We went back over to my brother's house to hang out a bit more, although my brother was so tired he needed to take a nap. My sister-in-law and her friend Kristen drove me to the bus station, where I caught the bus back to Boston. Kind of a nice ride, actually, with leather seats, radio, and even Wi-Fi if I'd had a computer...

Back on the Red Line on the T, I saw a nice lesbian couple on the train (matching rings and everything) and then realised perhaps I see more gay people in Boston than I recall from previously because of the whole gay marriage thing? Funny how that had never occurred to me before...

I made it back to my cousin's house and into bed, where my cousin had gotten home from the wedding a little while before. There was some random guy staying over (friend of a friend who needed a place to crash before heading to the airport early in the AM), so I was in bed with Katie. Bless that girl for being so good with guests, even as they fill up all of the available sleeping spaces in the house! And the guy woke us up when he left...argh. I guess with so many guests, not much sleeping can be done!!

Off to Boston!

As usual, I hadn't done any packing before it was time for me to leave, so I spent my morning packing pretty frantically, missing my self-imposed deadline to leave for the airport at 2:30 (I got out of there closer to 3), and then finding myself having to do a conference call outside the airport as planes were taking off all around me. Sure, that was an easy one to explain to my boss, why there were planes taking off around me when I was supposed to be in the office...

Given that this was a flight to Boston, that meant that there were no individual seat-back movies to watch, but I was mollified when the in-flight movie turned out to be Invictus. Really great film, although I kind of wish I hadn't know how it turned out, as then there would have been a lot more drama. The problem with films based on real-life events, I suppose, as then you already know what happens!

After I landed in Boston, I made it through customs fairly quickly, making it outside to the stop for the Silver Line, but I missed the bus because I had to run inside to charge my Charlie Card. Which them meant that I had a great show as another couple waiting for the Silver Line bus decided to pass the time just making out with each other. Not sure if it was too much PDA or kind of cute, but I suppose we all do such things when we're young and just out of college.

The T journey wasn't bad, and I made it to Alewife, where my cousin Katie had just gotten home about 15 minutes before. She didn't have any food in the house for dinner (what is it with all of my friends who don't seem to eat?) so instead I just had a glass of chocolate milk for dinner. Oh well, it was great to finally be there, and get to crash into bed!

City University Wine Tasting

After working for a bit in the morning, I met my friend Tim for coffee at 11. I'll admit I had been somewhat nervous about meeting up with him, given that he'd nearly driven me around the bend when I saw him last in Melbourne. Yet in the end, we actually had a really nice time, and so I was pleased to find that I was enjoying his company again. I told him about how I'm due to finally see Des, this Irish guy that we knew from Balliol, again at the end of July, and I was delighted to see that he had the same reaction I do whenever I think of Des: "Nicest guy EVER!" So he encouraged me to pass on his best to Des, which I will definitely do.

After seeing Tim, I then went the rest of the way into the office, where I was surprised to run into my favourite colleague, Tom in the hallway by the elevators. Given that everyone generally works from home these days, that was a big surprise, a totally random coincidence. What luck!

I texted the Giant Australian to see if he potentially wanted to come to the ROSL Ball at the end of June (now that I know he likes black-tie events), but it turned out that he was going to a Pearl Jam concert that night. Oh well, at least I asked!

I then found myself working frantically until 6 PM, before it was time to make my way over to the City University Club. Once there, I saw both the Chair and Wacky Vice-Chair of the O&C, so I spent a while making polite conversation. Although they're not my bestest friends, I definitely see the value in remaining on everyone's good side... Yet I can't deny that I was glad once the event started and I was able to slip away and talk to Tristan and Sarah, two of my favourite people to spend time with.

The set-up of the event was rather ingenious, in that instead of a usual wine tasting where you taste the wines one at a time, they instead made everyone double-fist with two glasses, and you would taste a French wine in one glass, and a New World wine in your other glass, and then pick your favourite between the two. Made for a much more discriminating time tasting wine, instead of most wine tastings where people have no idea what they're talking about. When it was a straigh-up contest like that, everyone would pick one or the other, and it was interesting to hear how people defended their choices.

As the evening went on, I spotted Sophie, so I went over to talk to her for a bit. She was really gunning for people to go play polo, now that she's got a deal set up where she can play for free if she brings in enough people to play. I can understand therefore why she's so keen to get people, but it makes all of these fun events more "network-y" rather than fun, which I find somewhat distasteful. She was talking to a cute guy named Ben, but I really wasn't keen on the hard sell, so I drifted away again. It really became one of these evenings where every time there was a change in the conversation, I would circulate.

Then Brian and Carolyn arrived, the lovely couple (who broke up for a period in January and February) who I'd gotten to know through all of these Inter-Club events. I hadn't seen them in ages, so it was a real treat. Although I had a good time teasing Carolyn (who is French) about how she seemed to prefer the wines from France every time!

Some guys from the Army and Navy club joined our little conversational group, and as we made introductions, one guy exclaimed that he remembered me from the RAC Casino Night, whilst another remembered me from the Christmas Ball, and even pulled out a photo of the two of us together to prove that we'd met before. For a bit there, I seemed like the most popular person in the room, as everyone exclaimed that they knew me, but for shame, I couldn't remember ever having met either of them!

Nichole, a girl I'd met at the Inter-Club Quiz who is from the ROSL, arrived, and I was incredibly pleased to see her, she seems like a lovely person. So I chatted with her and introduced her around, for although she's new to these events, I want to make sure that she knows people so that she'll keep coming back to more!

I then spent some time talking to Sophie a bit more....I realise it's a huge opportunity, to see myself reflected. I realise Sophie uses her natural guile to get people to do what she wants, and often they do. I realise that's exactly my same problem, that overall people like me, but since I don't always follow through to a deep level, perhaps wonder what my ulterior motive is. I guess that's really the trick, to make sure your friendships aren't just broad, but also deep. It's funny, as I love spending time with Sophie (because she's so like me) but in some ways I don't, because it's so unsettling to basically be hanging out with myself.

Finally the drinks were over, and so we all retreated to the bar downstairs. I spent more time chatting with Sara, Tristan, Nichole and Tom (the guy from the Army and Navy Club who I'd apparently been sitting with at the Christmas Ball). Finally it was time for us to even leave the pub, as they were kicking us out, and I somehow ended up on the Tube with Tom. You could tell that he was interested, but then again I think he was at the point of intoxication and overall letcherousness that he would have been interested in any female, which is of course not at all attractive if you are the female in question. So at Tottenham Court Road, I made a clear point of pushing him out, as he'd previously mentioned it was his stop. No way was he coming home with me! Although in a fit of weakness, I did give him a brief kiss on the lips. But he needed to be on his way, so I could finally make it home, alone, thank goodness!!

Member's Night

I had originally been supposed to meet my friend Joel for drinks after work, but as is becoming his habit as of late, he cancelled on me. So instead, I met up with my friend Doro at the club, and then afterwards volunteered to be a club representative in all of the cocktail party chatter about why the club is such a great place. I must admit, I got a few confused looks as I ran into people I knew taking prospective members of the club on tours around the place, but I assured them, "I'm coming later, I promise!"

I then ended up spending a while engaged in polite chit-chat, convinced quite a few people to sign up, and then even ran into a girl I recognized, but embarassingly mis-identified her (I thought she was a girl I played polo with at Oxford, turns out she was a girl at my college at Cambridge. Oops!)

After the event started to wind down, a chap who I've mentioned previously in this blog, the one who is apparently a reincarnated llama, and the slightly wacky Vice-Chair of the Younger Member's Committtee and I all decided to grab some dinner in the club dining room downstairs.

It was kind of an odd dinner, for while the Reincarnated Llama was as delightful, fascinating, and entertaining as always, the Slightly Wacky Vice-Chair kept getting up and leaving the table at various points at random. I had no idea what was going on, although something leads me to suspect that it may have had something to do with the emotional impact of seeing a man she had once been involved with (although I have nothing to confirm that this was the case, it just is simply the only explanation I can come up with that makes any sense). Still, despite our randomly missing dinner companion, the Reincarnated Llama entertained me endlessly with stories of how he'd decided to stop being a vegetarian (apparently he was just too exhausted all of the time from not being able to get in enough protein when he was eating on the run) and tales of his 24th birthday party. (Once again, why are all of the wonderfully charming guys I meet so YOUNG?)

In the end, we finished our dinner, and then the Reincarnated Llama walked me to the Tube Station, even though I suspected he didn't really need to go there, that he was just being gentlemanly. Indeed, once we arrived at the Tube station, he gave me a peck on the cheek and sent me on my way, as he'd just wanted to make sure I got there safely. {Sigh!} Sometimes I remember why I adore English gentlemen after all...

Cannonball Run

You'd think that having a water-gun fight in the middle of a rainstorm would be a stupid idea. And you'd be right about that. But it was still loads of fun!

This week was the "Cannonball Run" which we had been hearing about for weeks, but still had no idea as to what it was. We were told to be either on the French or the English side, and that we would be participating in "a historically accurate re-staging of the 1812 siege of Badajoz".

When I turned up at the pub, I realised that I'd totally forgotten the one thing we were told to bring, a water pistol. However, someone provided me with a 1 litre water bottle, which I then used for the duration of the fight. I was impressed however with the amount of pre-planning that had gone into everything, as there were t-shirts for both the French and English side with everybody's name on them, and some folks were even dressed in Napoleon costumes. It was all amazing.

I'd joined the French forces, and apparently we were supposed to go out to lie in wait for the English forces as they passed through following the trail. So we ran out ahead, and got to our first ambush point. We adopted a strategy that later proved to be foolhardy, of hiding behind garden walls, which although it allowed us the element of surprise, when people charged in after us firing their water guns, we were without an escape route! Hence, I got quite soaked in that one... (not like the rain wasn't doing that already!)

We then chased the British forces to the next checkpoint, stopping along the way to refill our water pistols from the Thames. I will admit, I felt a bit bad about firing dirty Thames water on everyone, although you have to hope that it's not THAT polluted (but boy did it look gross!)

Every so often, we would come across "medics" who would ask, "Are you injured? You look like you need medicine" and have us take a sip out of their bottles, which were full or port. Definitely delicious!

The whole run was manic fun, until finally we all ended up at the top of the hill near Bermondsley. Where they had tons of drinks and everyone just stood up there, in the rain, trying to figure out who had won, because we were all soaking wet! Finally, after having really too much to drink, we made our way back down to the pub.

I was really feeling all of the drinks, as I hadn't been drunk in ages, but all of a sudden I was feeling awfully giggly. I spent most of my time talking to the Giant Australian, who seemed amused by my somewhat intoxicated state. I found out that he was actually a fan of black-tie events and the things that I enjoy going to, which only added to my confusion about him. I like him, but he just doesn't seem to suit me. He doesn't suit, does he?

Then something happened which forced us all to leave the pub, and everyone was wandering off to another pub, where at the last a wave of sanity gripped me, and I instead turned (without saying good-bye to anyone) and raced to the Tube station to make it home. (This turned out to be an incredibly wise move, as I learned from others the next day that there had been cabs and night-buses involved for everyone else in the saga of getting home). I texted the Giant Australian to apologize for departing without saying good-bye, and he made some joke about how he figured I'd snuck off with some hot guy. I then protested that there was no hot guy at home in my bed, to which the Giant Australian replied, "If he were... I doubt I would have seen you out so late. Sweet dreams, L." Slightly flirtatious but not overly so, a mixed message that was just mostly confusing. Perhaps it was time to sleep it all off...

Bank Holiday Monday

After our late night out the night before, it was time for yet another day in a row of polo. This time we had no rides however, so I was up early to get to Paddington to catch the train.

For the first time ever, Sophie was actually early, and had beaten me to the station, already buying my ticket for me. How thoughtful! I then even had time to buy a bagel and a Diet Coke for breakfast.

For my first chukker, I was on an incredibly slow grey pony named Paloma. I had to laugh at that, given that "Paloma" (dove) was the first word I had ever learned in Spanish, and so I had been a very excitable 3-year old, running around talking about doves all of the time.

For the second chukker, I got Mariposa, the pony I'd been on the day before, who was a drastic improvement, much faster and better to play. So I had a good time finishing up the game, at least!!

After we finished playing, we then all piled into the car and went to the Swan, the local pub where apparently everyone often goes for drinks, and met a large crowd for lunch. I was surprised to be introduced to the key Argentine boss' girlfriend, who turned out to be an Indian woman from Kenya. Many of her family were there (brothers, sisters, in-laws, kids), and it was sort of fascinating, these Indian people who were yet African.

Which then brought up the topic that Fi, a girl who had been coming along to play with us for a few weeks, was actually from Zimbabwe. Given that the situation in Zimbabwe confuses me tremendously (how can a country be on the verge of economic collapse yet still have an airline?) we had an interesting chat about that, and I was surprised at her continued love of her homeland and desire to return there, given how hopeless the entire political situation there seems. Given that most white people I know are desperate to get the heck out of South Africa, a country with a lot more positive outlook, I was surprised by her optimism and enthusiasm for her homeland.

It seemed a bit silly to eat lunch when I was going to be going out to an early dinner in just a few hours, but I had a somewhat lighter meal that still filled me up. Yet, it was a nice lunch and a nice crowd (if a bit random), so I couldn't complain.

We then caught a ride back to the train station, and caught the next train back to Paddington. I then had enough time to quickly shower and change and make it out to Sloane Square for an early dinner with Doug and Sara.

It was a good catch-up with both of them, learning about Doug's decision to reverse his early retirement, and how Sara is doing with work and everything. Nice to see them both, and the meal wasn't bad either, although for once I was glad for expensive restaurants that serve tiny portions, I'd already had too much to eat for the day! Always fun to spend time with new friends and old friends in the same day, so it was a good day all around...