Apr

28

More Greenland from the air

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More from 38,000 feet above Greenland on my Flickr page.
Click the above photo to take you there.

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Apr

25

38,000 feet above Greenland

Filed Under photos, tout le fromage | 5 Comments

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Taken as we flew over Greenland on our way to Chicago today. I’ve got loads more of the glacier paths, icebergs, and terrain to upload but will probably not do any more tonight since we’re knackered from travel.

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Apr

19

On acting my age and then some

Filed Under regular, tout le fromage | 3 Comments

Neil and I went down to the Post Office to take care of the car tax due and decided to stop for a Costa coffee to properly start the day. We walked through the shopping centre and passed a (high quality) shoe store. A display caught my eye.

J - ‘Oh! Those look comfortable!’

This is how I know that my age and my attitude are sometimes in the same room now. I was drawn not to the sexy, funky shoes, but rather the ones that you could spend all day in, travel in, do the laundry in, write your will while soaking your dentures in…

Next thing you know, I’ll be appreciating the elastic-waisted, permanent press slacks that are advertised in those little catalogues that come with Reader’s Digest. “Almond” — yes! that would go with everything and the elastic waist would be so comfortable.

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Apr

17

I think they drink rum down there anyway

Filed Under conversations, tout le fromage | 5 Comments

N - ‘I desperately wanted nomnomnom.com.’

J - ‘But it’s taken, right?’

N - ‘Oh yeah.’

J - ‘You could try monmonmon and make a Jamaican themed site instead.’

N looks puzzled.

J - ‘What? I thought it was funny…’

N - ‘What does mon mon mon have to do with gin making?’

J - ‘Jamaican, mon. And this gets written down.’

-
[On a related note, if you decide to try to buy monmonmon.com or any other domain, I have GoDaddy discount codes that are awesome. Use mtech1 for 10% off your domain, or mtech2 for 20% off orders of £25 or more. Don’t say I never gave ya nothin’. ;) ]

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Apr

14

As our Spring holiday nears

Filed Under expat, regular, tout le fromage | 2 Comments

…I have come to notice that I am planning, quite possibly, the white-trashiest vacation ever.

Here’s what’s on the list (so far) for our upcoming trip back to the American Midwest:

  • Firearms lesson and range time.
  • Tattoo work. Call it, an expansion of my already colourful body art.
  • An evening of ogling and over-priced drinking in a strip club. (Gotta love the weak American dollar! Lap dances for everyone!)
  • Gorging at Taco Bell.
  • Meeting my Mom’s pet possum. (If Gerald hasn’t already moved on from her garage. Yes, she named him Gerald.)
  • Edgerton. (My friends in Wisconsin will understand that one without being offended by it. That’s part of why I love them.)
  • Waffles. Possibly at ‘bar-time’.
  • All-You-Can-Eat Friday Night Fish Fry.

There is more to our visit that the above list of amazingly exotic options, but it really struck me as amusing when I was getting them down on paper. Good God— we should pack Neil’s banjo and plan a canoe trip while we’re at it. ;)

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Apr

12

Free stuff and I don’t really care why you need it

Filed Under irregular, tout le fromage | 2 Comments

First let me say: I love Freecycle. I’ve offloaded several things that we no longer needed, plus I always find the digest emails entertaining.

Earlier this evening I gave away a perfectly good — less than one year old — vacuum cleaner. I also briefly stated my reason for getting rid of it, just so people would know that it wasn’t defective in some way. (If you’re dying to know yourself, we upgraded to a machine that also washes carpets. It’s absolutely THE shit and has raised the bar against which I will measure all future vacuuming machines.)

Begin the crazy.

So, Freecycle is kind of a first-come idea. I get an email and respond with something like, “You’re first. Let’s pick a time for you to come get the item.” Seems simple enough, no?
I think some (or most) respondents must believe the best story wins the item.
No, no, no— I do not need to know about your current vacuum cleaner. I do not need to know that you need a vacuum cleaner (that would seem evident by the answering of the ad). I do not need to know how abnormally hairy your house is due to [fill in blank here]. I don’t need to know how many kids you have. Or that you just moved to the area. And really, I don’t need to know that “the council has ordered [anonymous family member here] to put in carpet.” Far too much information, people.

Anyway, point is, I don’t care why you need a vacuum cleaner. I’m guessing you need to suck up some dirt and that’s honestly enough for me, entertaining as the emails have been.
Freecycle mentality is a strange thing.

So now I’m thinking about putting an old electric Shiatsu massage machine up for grabs just for the entertainment value of the emails. I’m already imagining the stories I’ll hear to claim it: ‘I fell off a horse ten years ago and ever since I get the occasional neck pain.’ ‘My aunt lives with us and we are tired of rubbing her neck for her…’ ‘I was curious what other uses it might have- can I use it on my feet? How about my dog?’
Oh! the possibilities! :D
If you want to read some funny, hand-picked Freecycle ads without signing up to your local Yahoo Group, check out FreecycleGems. There’s some real entertainment value there.

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Apr

8

Operating with a low level of interference

Filed Under conversations, tout le fromage | 2 Comments

J - ‘Dinner was really good! Thank you for making it tonight.’

N - ‘And do you know what made it so good?’

J - ‘You remembered to put butter and milk in the mashed potatoes?’

N - ‘No… You stayed out of the kitchen and didn’t look over my shoulder.’

J - ‘I liked it better when I thought you had magic ingredients…’

He totally set me up for that one.

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Apr

6

Had a bit of snow this morning

Filed Under photos, tout le fromage | 2 Comments

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We had a up to a few inches of snow this morning in Maidenhead. We woke to thunder and I opened the curtains above the bed and looked out over a pure white landscape. Though really unwanted, the snow was beautiful. It’s all melted away now, but looks like some flurries are giving it a go this evening.

The above photo is of the same church seen in my rainbow shot from 17 January.

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