Getting back to normal
Mood:  lazy
Working on Saturdays kinda sucks; maily because it's one less day a week that Elisabeth and I can spend with each other. That said, at long last she gets 'Elisabeth time.' Mom got away alright (Another downside to working Saturdays - I couldn't see her off) and we're re-adjusting to life as normal. Expect that I'm employed so how normal is that?

I'm sipping peppermint tea and she's cooking a quiche for tomorrow - our first steps to the Thanksgiving feast that we're preparing for our South African friends and their two childern tomorrow. Elisabeh's cooking and my job is to build a huge tent upstairs to occupy the 2 and 4 year olds. I'm eagerly anticipating my charge.

Woking's been voted the 31st crappiest town in England. Woo Hoo! Windsor is 5th so all in all, we're moving up in the world. Perhaps in a year or two we'll live in the 49th crappiest town! Oh, and a note to anyone who wants to work as a bookseller in England: DO NOT tell any customer that you agree that Windsor is a crap town - he'll lecture you for a long time about why it isnt crap while you try to deal with customers.

What Blu Tack and hammers cannot cure...
It's my mom's last day in Britain which meant an afternoon at Wetherspoons for lunch and beers. It's Oktober Fest over here which equals over 30 micro-brews for 1.49/pint. My advice: Get on the net and seek out Old Slug Stout. Toffee + honey X dark stout = 4.5% of yummyness.

The airing closet door broke & I had to fix it with, what else, Blu Tack and a hammer with a healthy dose of the ol' Swiss army knife. Just think: Vogue says that these knives are for poseurs. Huh. I use it every time I open a bottle of wine... Won't get into how often that happens...

PS- Oh yes, and once mom's gone, I'll put up some pictures to chronicle her visit. Yep; we're listening. More pictures on the way.

Biker Chic
Mood:  energetic
Now Playing: Stephen's sizzlin' Chillie
Just letting everyone know that I am having a kawabunga time on my bicycle. Although it's exhausting and draining to ride 16+ miles a day (can you believe) it is really nice bicycling along the canal. I often look like hell on my bike, because there's lots of mud, sweat, etc... but I feel very down to earth, splashing through puddles and inhaling gnats, etc...

This morning a large bird flew over the canal (at first I thought it was a vulture come to finish me off), and lo and behold, a beautiful heron landed in the tow-path in front of me. I stopped my bicycle and gazed in appreciation of its long graceful neck, and massive wings. Soon it took off and the wing-span must have been 3 feet or so!

So lots of ducks, swans, coots, squirrels, and even little pony's by the canal.

Let me tell you how much I hate bicycling on the roads in England. The space available is so narrow (one must cycle directly on the yellow line) and the cars are merciless. Often I end up on the side-walks but it is too slow. So I will stick to the muddy canals, and will hopefully get mud guards for my bike soon.

Otherwise, Stephen has been enjoying all the literaly insane people that visit his bookstore, and Susan seems very much at home reading, and going into town.

Time for un vino rosso.

Ciao!

100th blog entry!
Post a comment so we know you're out there! Consider this an open discussion on anything you'd like to see added or changed. All trolls on this web page must post otherwise you know what Elisabeth thinks of you:

Weirdness
This dual-income thing is mighty weird. Out all day, back in the evening slightly-pooped and slightly-surely. Mom's still here which is good in that it delays the shock E and I are going to get next week when all the nummy food we usually cook isn't going to be ready to eat 'till bed time, I mean 9 o'clock.

Woo-hoo I'm still the Boggle master! (Only 1 loss to Mrs. E. Allin... though Dame S. Allin scored the first official 8 letter word 'breather' for a whopping 11 points!)

Being DINKs is alright I suppose, once we actually get those two pay days. Oh yeah, except that every cent of my cheque goes to paying off the credit card. Ha Ha. Ha? Well the joke's on them because Barclay's has offered ME a credit card now and if I transfer Elisabeth's mess onto my card, there'll be no payment for a year. Woo-hoo! Here's to putting things off! Now all I've got to do is play my cards right on Friday when I try to get this card of capitalist delights... Shave, brush what little hair is left on my head and remember not to wear my t-shirt that says "All banks are an evil extention of a fascist neo-feudal caste system that imprisons our bodies and minds via the almighty dollar."

Elisabeth's at her mondo-Italiano class tonight.
Ciao!

Stuff Happening
Mood:  hungry
Now Playing: The Archers
So... Whats new? Elisabeth's new biking to work for the first time thing turned rather muddy this evening when, of course, it rained on her way back from work. She's invigorated, though, and cooking a lasagne, showing off her muscles and enjoying the tightness of her neck/chin thing. Don't ask. I don't fully understand it.

And I'm working. Life isn't too tough at the bookstore - the people are nice, pace slow, etc, etc, etc.

[A real question I as asked yesterday: "I'm looking for a book. I don't know it's title or who wrote it but it's got a brown cover and is half as thing as the book i'm holding in my hand. Do you think you can help me?"]

>yawn< Yesterday what with D&D etc, has tired me out. I had to go to work early for a staff meeting and watch a video with no sound. I can't remember if Elisabeth mentioned the pleasant Saturday whn all 3 of us headed down to the Bournemouth area and I visited some family members. Darn... I wanted to write more, be concise, detailed, etc but I've run out of steam.

Toodleoo!

I Want to Ride My Bicycle!
Mood:  a-ok
Ta dee Ta daa! Elisabeth has at long last a bicycle!!! No more train rides and schlepping on the pavement...this girls got wheels!

I made my first trip (and yes I was on the left side of the road ALL the time!) to the Jack the Ripper rehearsal, and I got there in record time.

Tomorrow I will forgoe the clickty clackity rackity choo-train and climb aboard MY BICYCLE and ride to Weybridge...shouldn't take me too long...only three train stops...

The best part is the whole trip will by via the Basingstoke Canal and River Wey Navigation. This means I'll see lots of locks and some canal boats, and hopefully spy some good pubs that Stephen and I can go to once he's purchased his own set of wheels too.

Speaking of the MAN, he has completed his first day at work (awe) and instead of coming home to tell you all about it, decided it would be more fun to take a train to Camberley and play D & D.

At this point, you might be wondering, "Well what the hell is Susan doing if they're both out and about?" Well I'm happy to report that we have put her to work cleaning up our apartment, doing our laundry, and answering our telemarketing phone calls.

But really, she has been enjoying relaxing and reading, walking, and generally being free of responsibility.

Now I want to hear from you: You must participate in this drink pole: Beer, wine, or Cider?

And WHY...

The drink that gets the highest recommendation, may very well be featured in our next update...and the more comments we receive, the more elixer we will drink.

On your mark, get set, POST!

Soon...
...but now tomorrow.

Things have been pretty busy over here, hence the lack of regular posting and, what with my job starting tomorrow, I'll have even less bench warming time on my hands. A full update is scheduled sometime this week and then we'll be back to our regularily scheduled blogging. Less frequently but more regularily, I suspect. Kinda like when the Metamusal kicks in.

Busy
Mood:  caffeinated
Now Playing: The fat, bearded blow-hole weekday morning talk show host
Busy, busy, busy. That's the word of the day.

It's Elisabeth's busy season at work and she's not allowed to have a full day off. Me and mom have been doing the tourist thing in London (The typical Stephen & Elisabeth deal: British Musum, Tate Modern, Markets & Speakers Corner).

The good news is that all my blood sacrafices to the ancient Chinese God of jobs, PeiDei have paid of and I'll be starting a 3 month contract at the local book store. Not the lucrative assistant managerial job that I was hoping for but, with our debt laconically spiraling out of control, I'm not in a postion to play the waiting game - hopefully they'll still want me around in January. If all goes well (And it should - I mean, is it feasaby possible to get fired from a book store?) we'll be debt free in the UK by the new year.

Which is how we started off this year, which means that in 2005 we can, at least, resume building up debt all over again (It's always more fun at the beginning because you actually think you can pay it off) and this time we can do it with even more style!

Choo Choo!
"All aboard the job train!"
(As Stephen holds his breath...)