Old News - Newsletter March 2002

A good friend of mine once stated that any woman who passed the age of 30 without being married was a lesbian. So you will all be glad to hear that I have now reached that significant age without the benefit of matrimony, and am awaiting the change with interest. I have had a very short haircut so far, but the ‘comfortable shoes’ have yet to materialise!

As I was in France skiing over my birthday, I had a party in London the Saturday before. J and T kindly let me use their flat, and 12 of my closest friends came along for oodles of snacks and much, much champagne. Cheers to everyone who came for making it such an enjoyable evening! (and to those who couldn’t make it, you missed a great time!) It was a lovely chatty, boozy, laid-back evening, and at around midnight we all staggered over the road to an indie club where the music was excellent. Then back to the flat at 3 for more champagne… I had one of the worst hangovers on record the next day! 9 of the 12 stayed over, and we limped down the road to the greasy spoon for a fry-up at about midday on Sunday. I had meant to produce breakfast, but was too ill to face it! I still felt terrible on the Monday, and work was a trial!

On Friday the 8th Mountain Man, T, J and I went to France to go skiing in Les Arcs. We travelled by train, which is not bad – it means you get 2 extra days skiing, as the train arrives at 7am on Saturday, and leaves the following Saturday at 10pm. I managed to drink far too much far too fast on the train there, and was not feeling well when we arrived in Les Arcs. Mountain Man and J had stayed up most of the night sponsoring the bar, and were not too good either! But as we could only check-in at 5pm, we bravely hired skis and launched ourselves at the chairlift.

I decided to try out snowblades (v short skis, turned up back and front) for the week, while the others took skis. They’re cool, you can get down any slope, no matter how steep or icy, as their turning radius is so small! On the downside they react to the surface a lot, and I never felt quite safe at high speed.

Mountain Man, T and J are very good, and very fast, skiers. I had spent a large amount of time in the gym before the holiday building up my leg muscles, in the hope that I could keep up through brute strength. It seemed to work a bit, as I was not too far behind at each stop (and my legs didn’t get sore - bonus)! I will never be as fast as they are though, even on proper skis – my sense of terror kicks in too soon at high speed!

I’m a bit of a lazy, social, fair-weather skier, and 8 days in a row of 6 hours a day is a little too much skiing for my liking. I took a day off after 3 days, and an afternoon off a couple of days later, and towards the end of the week tended to head for home an hour or two before the others. Unfortunately there is not much else to do in a ski resort, and I was bored silly! If I go skiing again it will be in a big group, with at least one other lazy person to chill out with.

Les Arcs is a superb skiing resort. We were very lucky with the snow too, as they had a huge snowfall the week before, and the piste was still 1m thick at the bottom and 2m at the top. It was getting pretty thin at the bottom by the time we left, and I felt sorry for any novices trying to dodge the grass! There are about 4 villages that you can ski between, and one of them is very high up and always had excellent snow. It was very sunny for most of the time (we all got sunburnt on the first day, and now have sunglass-tans!) and surprising warm. This is the latest in the year I have skied, and the sun is getting strong!

I had a great birthday – I didn’t even notice it! The best way to spend your 30th I say! (or the beginning of your fourth decade as someone said – sounds even worse!)

The rest of this week will be spent packing up our flat, as we move on Saturday. Yuck, I hate packing. My Mom is coming to visit tomorrow, and we are having a ‘packing party’. Heh, I wonder if I’ll be able to find anything that was packed after the second bottle of wine!

Mountain Man is still job-hunting. The IT job market is really horrible, and he is starting to talk of taking absolutely anything offered. He is thinking of perhaps nipping over to Nepal for a month in the hope that things pick up while he is gone. He was planning to go next year, but if he has to take a permanent job now then he won’t be able to :-(. Is anyone out there interested in going along? On the bright side (for me), he has taken over shopping and cooking duties while he is at home, and has been trying out our cookbooks. I have been eating like a king for the past few weeks and I’ve begged him to use the ‘slimmers’ cookbook this week, as my clothes are starting to creak at the seams! (also since I’ve promised myself this week off from the gym, after all the activity before skiing!)

Old News - Newsletter Feb 2002

Well, interesting times over here (I do believe that's a Chinese curse or something).

As you may know by now, Mountain Man has been made redundant - well we're 99% sure he is. He'll find out for certain on Thursday, but we're quite sure. He got told last Wednesday afternoon, and hasn't had to go into work since - which is a bit of a giveaway! His company have decided to stop developing products, and do consulting with their existing product, or something like that. So bye-bye developers. It's a bit of a shock, but we've almost got our heads around it. Luckily he has a bit of money saved, so I don’t have to support him just yet!

Mountain Man is now frantically trying to get another company to take over his work permit, on which he still has 3 years. If he swings it then this will have been all for the best! He was fed up with his job, and was just killing time waiting for the market to improve. He's hoping to get back into contracting, at which point I am going to be horribly jealous – permanent work sucks! We’re not expecting him to have much of a problem, although the market could be much better.

In spite of this we have decided to carry on with our move into a bigger, more expensive flat! We’ve found a lovely 2-bedroom flat in Putney, and will be moving at the end of March. It’s very spacious, and even has a garage to store bicycles and stuff – I’d love to get a car, but probably won’t in the near future!

I’ve finished repainting our current flat back to cream, and taken down all the shelving I put up. All our things are now stacked in piles against the walls again… sigh. Our next flat has lots of built-in cupboards, and I can’t wait!

My job move is progressing in a whirl of paperwork. The company that has bought us is a huge established one, and so they have lots of paperwork routines in place to which we have to conform. I haven’t written a document since I was studying, and they’re going to send us on training to teach us how!

T and J are now engaged. They’re expecting to marry next January, and the planning is already in full swing. As one of the bridesmaids I get to trail around choosing dresses and fabric and patterns and hen night and so on. I am not having a wedding if I get married – far too much effort!

I’ve had a raise and a bonus in the past few weeks, which was very nice indeed. I’ve slapped most of the bonus into savings, and the rest will pay for my 30th birthday party in 2 weeks and my trip home in November. The raise will half cover my rent increase!

What with job loss, job move, home moving and turning 30 we are a little stressed! Interesting times indeed.

Old News - Newsletter January 2002

A whole month into the New Year, time flying as always.

It's been a busy month. In the first week I went to Paris with my Mom for a couple of days. We've been before, and decided to do the art galleries this time. It was very cool, we spent most of a day in the Louvre, and a morning in the Musee D'Orsay, with plenty of wine and cheese breaks, and an awesome steak in the evening. Plus some sightseeing thrown in to and from the museums. We'd managed to get a free upgrade to first class on the Eurostar too, which means free wine and a meal on the way... very cool!

One thing I have to warn you about though. There I am thinking I am a veteran traveller, and I got horribly conned in Gare de Nord. We'd got in late at night from London, and I had a pretty good idea which Metro tickets I wanted, so we happily toddled down to the ticket area. All the windows were closed, and the machines would only take Euro coins, so we had a bit of a struggle, and eventually got change and came back. Then we got 'helped' by a French bloke, who insisted we had to buy two 2-day passes (E100), and we were so tired and fed up and struggling with the language we finally agreed, and as we didn't have enough coins he kindly paid with his card, and we handed him cash. The next day our tickets wouldn't work, and it turned out we had two singles... worth E5. I don't know how he did it, but it was very slick and I had no idea! So watch out.

Mountain Man came back from SA on the 14th, L also got back that week from Oman, and B got back from SA the week after, so we've had lots of reunions. N and N have arrived from SA too, and we've seen a bit of them, so a nice social month.

The weekend before last I came down with a cold, and stayed home when Mountain Man went for 'quick drinks' with mates, and got home the following evening after going clubbing and staying over. Nothing changes.

On the job front things are interesting. My company has been acquired by a big one out in Bracknell (near Windsor), and we will all be working there by May. It should be a good move for me, as I have gone as far as I can in my current place, and was getting very bored. They are massive, and international, and committed to training and new technology and to keeping their staff. Might be good.

We are going to have to move, as the commute from where I now live is too far, and so we will be moving to Putney in March. I am now frantically taking down shelves and repainting our flat back to the way we found it!

Old News - Newsletter January 2002

I am back at work after a lovely relaxing break. My company gave everyone the days between xmas and new year off for the price of one day's annual leave, which was very sweet of them.

I can't remember what I'm meant to be working on, so I'll postpone it a little longer by writing email...

I think I last wrote before my company xmas do... it was great fun, and I didn't get too blotto. I made it home on the last train without falling asleep, and felt halfway reasonable the next day. Not so the rest of my office (some of whom had been in the hotel bar until 3), and we all repaired to the pub at midday for the hair of the dog. At 3ish I decided to go home for a nap before Mountain Man's do that evening. I had a nice snooze, dressed and dolled up, and called him for directions... apparently I sounded so out of it that he told me I didn't have to come out, so I had a nice long bath and an early night instead! Just as well as he staggered in reeking of vodka at 7 the next morning!

The rest of the weekend was very low-key, with both of us resting our livers in preparation for xmas.

On xmas eve I travelled through to my Mom's in the afternoon. She was busy preparing the xmas dinner for the family at the Hall, so I took a bottle of wine across and sat at the kitchen table chatting. Mountain Man arrived in the evening and joined me, and towards the end of the evening A's and A also came across. So the 'staff' were in the kitchen while 'family' were in the living room! Straight out of an old novel... we took our portion of dinner back to the servants quarters after serving the family, and had a very nice evening opening pressies, and drinking lots of wine.

I woke up feeling a bit under the weather the next day, just in time to see my Mom off to the Hall to prepare xmas lunch - and didn't see her again until 5. A's daughter and I made lunch for the rest of us, and we chilled out watching TV and reading, and Mountain Man flew to SA in the evening.

Mom and A were given Boxing Day off, so after a slow and lazy start we all went for a pub lunch and then a long frosty walk on the downs near Uffington. It was freezing, with thick frost on the frozen ground, and bits of snow in the wind. Very bracing!

The next couple of days were very lazy, and I came back to London on Friday to an empty flat *sniff*. I hibernated over the weekend, and on New Years Eve caught up with J and T to tag along to a New Years do. We went to a house party with a bunch of Jon's Cambridge mates - 6 couples and one baby... very grown-up and civilized. We had a 5 course dinner, each course organised by a couple (T and I did the starter) and all of it really impressive gourmet stuff. Then we had port and coffee in the lounge and watched Big Ben strike midnight and played Trivial Pursuit until quite late.

Everyone stayed over, and we had a massive fry-up brunch, and then a long frosty walk through lanes and fields (the long frosty walk seems to be a very English festive thing).

Then home, and a very early night. I managed to set my alarm for PM, so overslept somewhat - but got in to work on time anyway!

So, now back to normal. It is wierd not having Mountain Man around, and I'm looking forward to him getting home in 2 weeks.

Old News - Newsletter December 2001

I don't have much to tell you... no major international trips anyway - so it's all boring!

The past few weeks have been a (literal) blur of drinks and dinner, with xmas do's, farewells, reunions and birthdays. Add in a few pub lunches and gym sessions during the day (not necessarily in that order) and you might understand why we've barely stirred from the flat over the weekends. Plus it's bloody freezing now. They say we might get a white xmas down here, or at least a damn cold one!

We have made a small effort to do some sightseeing though, and a month or so ago we went off to Shrewsbury to see S and L. Shrewsbury is a gorgeous town - a bit like York without the tourists.

Then a few weeks ago we walked from the Millenium Dome (thought we should see it before it finally gets torn down) to the Thames Barrier which is very impressive. We had coffee in the Tearoom there to defrost and then scampered back home to watch videos feeling slightly smug.

And a week or so back we went up St Paul's Dome. It's quite a long climb, and we had to hurry as they were about to close for a function, so I reached the top hot and sweaty - then got so cold I had to come straight down again! I've done it before in warm weather, so I didn't mind!

My company xmas do tonight (last week was the department do), and Mountain Man's tomorrow. The weekend to recover and then xmas (we're going to my Mom's). Then Mountain Man heads to SA and I tag along with J and T for New Years - and then the poor liver might actually get a break!

Old News - Newsletter November 2001

Yes we are safely home in one piece, in spite of flying Egypt Air, and touring a Middle Eastern country! I have to say that I never felt in any danger (although we both had the jitters on takeoff from London!), and the Egyptians were really friendly and took pains to tell us how welcome tourists are in their country. Heavily armed police and solidiers were thick on the ground everywhere too, which was nice to see.

I didn't see a single American, and even the English were few and far between. Mostly Germans and French around. Places where the guidebook said we should expect to queue were empty, and it felt like low season, not the height of high season! Nice for us, but the locals are frantic for business... which is perhaps why they fleeced us so thoroughly - but I hear they do that anyway!

After spending 4 hours in Heathrow (3 hours early for checkin, and then the flight was delayed. ugh) we finally landed in Cairo around 1am. We got to sleep at about 2 with big plans to be at the pyramids for sunrise. Seeing as the sun rises at 6am, we missed that, but got there at about 8 instead!

The pyramids of Giza (3 big, 6 little) stand isolated on a desert plateau. They really are awesome, and we had a nice stroll about in the cool morning air. It was still quite peaceful as the hawkers and camel drivers hadn't arrived yet. By 9 it was getting hot, and so we got talked into a horse ride all around the plateau, past a muslim cemetary, and then to a perfume and papyrus shop (hmmph). We proceeded to part with way too much money, as we had no idea of the relative costs, paid the horse man and took a stroll uphill past the sphinx with the idea of now entering the great pyramid of Cheops.

After 10 minutes of beating off dozens of camel drivers, boys with postcards, old men with mules and would-be guides, we finally got caught out by a bloke who asked to see our tickets, and then wouldn't give them back until we had followed him into and out of several tombs, sarcophagi, shafts, tunnels and mounds - expecting to be mugged any second. We then had to pay him a huge amount of money for the privilege. By this stage we were so hot, dusty and annoyed that we gave up on the pyramid idea and caught a taxi into Cairo for lunch and the Egyptian museum.

This was amazing. Miles of sculptures and artifacts of ancient Egypt. All the goodies from Tutenkhamun's tomb are there too, and we had a good look at the famous golden death-mask, and tons of solid gold statues and bits and pieces. By this stage we were a bit tired, so went back to the hotel for a siesta before heading out for a dinner cruise on the Nile. We were on a 3 story boat - with 3 restaurants - and had a buffet dinner, followed by a belly dancer and sufi dancer. They were both excellent! Sufi dancing originates from some religion where they spin round and round until they reach a trance. A man dressed in weighted colorful skirts spun in the center of the room for about 15 minutes, spinning extra skirts over his head and performing other tricks at the same time. Quite impressive!

The next morning we flew to Luxor at 6, so got up at 3:30am (ugh) and checked in to our hotel by 8. We managed to organise a guide and minibus that picked us up at 9, and headed off to the West bank. Our guide was a recent graduate from Tourist school, and extremely eager. I have never heard anyone babble so many names, dates and places. And expect you to remember them too. He got really annoyed if we didn't pay attention, and by the late afternoon I could have thumped him.

First we pottered around the temple of Hatchepsut (yes, where all the tourists were shot in 1997), then went to the Valley of the Kings and went down 3 tombs. These are essentially a long deep tunnel decorated with hieroglyphics, culminating in a room with a sarcophagus and lots of treasure. Of course they were all plundered millenia ago. The mind boggles to imagine the treasure that would have been in the tombs of the important kings who ruled for decades, when you think that Tutenkhamun only ruled for a couple of years and his treasure was astronomical! The paintings and hieroglyphics are in amazing condition, considering that they were painted 3 or 4 thousand years ago! It must be the dry desert air.

Then we went to the Valley of the Queens and went down a few tombs there, and then had a late lunch (via an alabaster shop where Mountain Man spent close to half an hour knocking 10 Egyptian pounds off a statue - about £2. Not sure who won!). Egyptian food is nothing to write home about. It's a bit like Turkish - all fried, spiced and greasy with rice and pita bread. I went right off it after a day or two and started pinching rolls from breakfast instead!

In the afternoon we went to the East bank and the temples of Karnak and Luxor. I'm afraid by this part of the day it was all a bit of a blur of columns, obelisks, pylons, statues and paintings, but it was really amazing and awe inspiring. We finished our tour at 6pm, absolutely shattered!

I'd mis-read our itinerary, and we had an extra day in Luxor. This was brilliant as we'd already 'done' the tombs and temples. We slept late, and chilled out next to the pool all day. We were in a rather swish hotel, with terraced gardens leading down to the bank of the Nile, and then a huge floating swimming pool with sun deck and bar. Very nice! In the evening we went for a sunset felucca ride (ancient-style sailboat) which was everything I'd hoped it would be. Quietly drifting down the Nile, watching kingfishers diving for fish, and little fishing boats rowing about near the reeds. Unfortunately we ended up paying double what we'd 'agreed' on, which spoiled it a little.

On Tuesday we took a bus to Hurghada on the Red Sea. We stayed in the most incredible hotel I have ever seen, with 2 swimming pools, a private beach, shops, restaurants and bars all inside the grounds. We spent the afternoon on the beach, and organised to do a couple of dives the next day, followed by our advanced PADI course. The diving in the Red Sea is superb! Loads of coral and fish, and we were lucky enough to see moray eels, stonefish, lionfish, an eagle ray and a shark. I got so excited about the shark that I spat out my mouthpeice, and by the time I found it again the shark had gone! The dive boats and guides were excellent, and the equipment first class - made me realise just how basic Thailand was!

We had an idyllic few days in Hurghada, although the few times we left the hotel grounds on our own we were so hassled by the locals (perfume, papyrus, alabaster, jewelery, where are you from, come into my shop, check my english... bug bug bug!) we went scampering back inside!

Then flights back to Cairo and London and Winter. the clocks have gone back, and now it is dark well before 5. There was ice on the cars this morning, and I have unearthed my gloves and scarf... hat will follow soon! *sigh*

It really was an excellent holiday. I had a wonderful time, and it rates as one of the best trips I have ever done. Pity about the huge hassle factor... but that's just the way they are. Very smiley and friendly with it anyway!

Old News - Newsletter October 2001

Well, I can hardly sit still! 2 hours to go and I'm off to Heathrow to catch a flight to Egypt. I have hardly slept the last few nights, and I'm so worked up now that I'm trembling! Either that or it's the 3 cups of coffee I had this morning to get my eyes open. Tonight we land in Cairo (Pyramids) at midnight, spend Saturday there, fly to Luxor (Valley of Kings etc) on Sunday morning, and on Monday we bus to Hurghada on the Red Sea for the rest of the week (Diving and snorkelling). Head back to Cairo next Saturday, and land in London next Sunday. woohoo!

Egypt is one of the places I have dreamed about visiting since I was little. I am so thrilled and excited to actually be on my way to the Pyramids! Truly a dream coming true!

The political situation seems to be reasonably stable there at the moment, so as long as we don't walk around shouting anti-muslim slogans we should be fine.

Hmmm, what else have I been up to?

The first week after Mountain Man got back from Peru was pretty quiet, with him struggling with his jetlag, and me struggling with his jetlag. He came right by the weekend, and we spent it catching up on sleep!

2 weekends ago we went over to Brussels to visit A and P. A is contracting there in SAP at the moment. They took really good care of us, driving us all over Belgium sightseeing, and guiding us through Brussels to the best sights, restaurants and watering holes.

We took the Eurostar there on the Friday night, went for a few drinks and ended up eating hot chips in the street at 1am (a Belgian speciality (!)). Saturday was a slow start, and then we whizzed off to Bruges, an absolutely stunning medieval town with canals and gorgeous houses etc. We ate lunch at a pavement restaurant overlooking a canal, and then pootled contentedly home for a rest. That evening we went into the centre of Brussels, to the Grand Square, which is really impressive - especially when lit up at night. The entire area is swarming with restaurants spilling out onto the street, and we had glorious mussels (another Belgian speciality) and seafood outside in the balmy evening. There was an Anthrax scare nearby, and we had to leap to one side and grab the tables out of the way of a fire engine at one point, but otherwise a very congenial evening! On the Sunday we went out for a late breakfast, then went exploring around Brussels, and caught the train home.

Last weekend I went along to visit my Mom, and Mountain Man had a boozy boys weekend. Mom and A are working as housekeeper and groundskeeper for a huge estate (North Aston Hall) in Oxfordshire. The Hall has 16 bedrooms, each with full bathroom with claw-footed tub etc, on 3 or 4 stories. There are also various sitting rooms, and every single room is fully furnished with all sorts of expensive ornaments and linen. Walking inside made me feel as overawed as entering the Lord Nelson in Cape Town. My Mom has her hands full keeping it up to speed! When the family come up from London (!) for weekends and holidays she has to cook and clean for them too.

The grounds are 200 acres, and have been quite neglected. Alfons is beginning to make a dent in what needs to be done, but he is working all day to clear barns, sort out equipment and mow. There used to be a private 18 hole golf course in the grounds, but that's been left to grow over for the last few years. There are also formal lawns and gardens, a huge indoor swimming pool, and tennis courts to look after. They are extremely busy!

Work is still boring. They were going to finally go live next week, but 2 days ago suddenly noticed I was going away (hellooooo... I told you months ago!) so have moved it to the week after. Then I expect I will have lots of changes and bugfixing to keep me quiet. We also have a French version to be released sometime... yay. I've settled down a bit, as I have no option but to stay. I'm lucky to be in a job at the moment with the recession, so there is no point in rocking the boat! Delphi jobs are always hard to find in London, and the American recession has spilled over onto the London IT market. *sigh* I would love to go contracting again though. I miss the money and freedom.

Mountain Man is feeling it worse than me though. Some of our friends are travelling through South America (hi guys!) and he is sick as a parrot with envy. If we were still in the contract situation he'd be with them! I'm not so sure about myself, as the letters home all sound a bit primitive and jungly... but I'd probably enjoy it if I was there!

Cheers for now!
We're off to see the mummy, the wonderful mummy of ..er

Old News - Newsletter September 2001

Mountain Man is off in Peru doing the Inca trail at the moment, back in a week. Unfortunately the trip fell right between 2 of my deadlines, so I couldn’t go. Rather upset about that, really, as my deadlines have just been moved yet again so that I would have been able to go!

The events in America are not really affecting us yet, although there is a lot of sabre rattling in Parliament. I knew about the first plane within minutes of it happening, and was watching from that point onward. We got no work done that afternoon, just watching online or listening to the radio. They let us go home early, mainly because no work was being done I think, but it was nice to get away from the centre of London! We were all flinching at every plane overhead!

Things were a bit tense and jumpy for a couple of days, but seem to have settled back to normal now. I don't believe anywhere except America is a target. If we do end up in the 'war' things might change, but I'm not losing sleep over it. I should be at ground zero if anything happens anyway, so with any luck won’t know about it!

The only real effect it has had is on flights! Mountain Man was due to fly BA to Dallas on last week Sat morning on his way to Peru, and they were only allowing American Airlines in to the US. He and his mates were at Gatwick by 6am on Sat for a 10am flight, and ended up flying to Cuba on Sat evening instead! He finally got to Peru yesterday! I just hope his flight home is OK.

Hmm, what else? The only interesting thing I’ve been up to lately is taking Mom to Paris for a long weekend about a month ago. Mountain Man was meant to go with me, but there was a huge hassle with his UK and French visas all expiring at the same time, and he couldn’t come. Luckily my Mom was in England, and I phoned her frantically on the Thursday morning to tell her she was flying to France with me on Friday morning!

She got back late that night, and the on Friday morning we flew off to Paris, arriving midday. We had a very interesting navigation from the airport into the center of town, and then walked from the station to the hotel to get a sense of our map’s scale. It turns out it was pretty big, and we were very hot and bothered by the time we found it! However, after a shower and change we ambled back out and took a stroll to the river. By this stage my feet were killing me, so we sat down and had an ice cream looking over the river. It was now evening, and we hobbled back to the hotel via open-air wine cafes, and a glorious dinner outside too. The whole weekend was hot and sunny – the days in the 30s, and the nights around 25.

Over the Saturday and Sunday we went all over Paris on the open-topped bus, hopping off here and there for a closer look. In the afternoons we would find a tree and/or café to while away the hottest hours before exploring the backstreets looking for a congenial café for dinner. It was such lovely weather, and the crowds were so crazy that we decided to go into only a couple of places, and rather to walk around the streets and parks. We are determined to go back in winter to see all the museums and galleries though.

We got back to London on Monday, after a very long and stressful journey. Charles de Gaulle airport is one of the most grungy and uncomfortable I have been in - surpassed only by Kathmandu. I'll be taking the train next time.

Not much else going on here. I had dinner with Tara on Friday, and by 3am we'd got through 3 bottles of wine. Saturday was rough, as I went to Stonehenge and Salisbury with Mom and A (who had a bad cold). Luckily they were driving and I could doze in the back seat! Mountain Man and I are going to have to go back and do it again properly, as the place is stunning.

Sunday I slept late and woke up feeling great. I've downloaded the audio books of the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings (I want to refresh the story before the film comes out) so I did loads of domestic stuff while listening to it. Mom left A languishing in bed and came to visit me in the afternoon, and after she left I dug out my sketching stuff and did my first decent drawing in several years. I'm getting back into it I think, and it's going to be a joy to do it again this winter. They're not very good yet, as I am very rusty, but there is hope. It is satisfying in spite of the result anyway.

Work is crap. I really can't give a damn at the moment, after the latest deadline shift. My live date is now the middle of October. I still can't believe I met their insane 3rd Sept deadline only to have the work left mouldering for the past month. Bastards. We are now held up by hardware problems. There are the odd things still to do, which I am eking out. None of my managers can program, so they know nothing about how long it should take anyway. I've downloaded some French lessons, which I listen to in the background as a distraction... sod this recession, I want to go back to contracting. Moan moan – I’ve just come back from the pub where a few of us were complaining about work, so I’m a little worked up.

Tonight I am having a fondue with T and J. Then a couple of days to recover from that, and we are out for drinks on Friday. T wrote her doctor specialist exams this morning, and will get her results on Friday, so either way it will be a piss up. They only pass the top 40% so it is touch and go.

Then Saturday to recover from that, and on Sunday morning Mountain Man should be home. The last couple of weeks without him have flown - it is very wierd to think he is in South America at this moment! It feels like he should be at work on the other side of Waterloo station!

Old News - Newletter August 2001

It seems I am becoming as bad as everyone else when it comes to regular email!

I'm working very hard, as we are fast approaching our live rollout date! Very very scary, as it is not nearly finished! Same old story... every IT project seems to be the same. My project is now in beta testing – which means lots of unhappy users are making it crash a lot! I am enjoying working here though, as I get left alone to do my own thing, which is nice. I think I'll stay for another year at least. Mountain Man is quite settled in at his place too, although it is a wrench getting used to permanent after contracting for so long. Every now and then he starts getting very restless!

Mountain Man and I are meant to be going to Paris for the weekend, as it's a long weekend. He hasn't organised his visa yet though, and we fly on Friday morning! So I'm getting very stressed about it... if he doesn't manage I'm going to take my Mom instead - still fun but not quite the same!

I lied when trying to get Friday off, and said Mountain Man had sprung the weekend on me as a surprise (other way round actually). A few weeks ago another girl in the office got proposed to in Paris, so there is a lot of teasing going on about my weekend break, and everyone will be looking at my hands when I get back! I keep telling them I'd drop dead of shock if it happened, but they don't believe me!

Tonight we're off to see U2 in concert - should be good.

Mmmm, what else? We haven't been up to all that much, just work and gym etc. My Mom has been staying with us off and on for the last month or two (long story, tell you another time) so we've had a live-in housekeeper - very nice indeed!

Mountain Man is off to Peru to do the Inca trail in a couple of weeks. Unfortunately it falls right between 2 of my deadlines, so I can't go. Rather upset about that, really. ho hum, he'll have to go again sometime with me! So things are revolving around his trip at the moment, with trekking gear accumulating all over the flat!

Things are quiet otherwise. T is studying for doctor exams, so we haven't seen her in ages. And at the weekend I'm a bit weary after a frantic week, so I rarely make it down to Wimbledon where the rest of the gang stay. I'm also a little low on cash (although I've finally balanced the books after 6 months!) so the odd dinner and movie are the extent of my social life!

I will not be going to SA in the foreseeable future. I have already earmarked all this years’ leave, and I don't see me going to SA next year either. So much to see, so little leave! We have booked a trip to Egypt in Oct/Nov for a week, and that's the last of my leave for this year. Sigh - another Christmas and New Year in London, ugh. Mountain Man will be in CT for 2 weeks arriving on Boxing Day (!) so I'll be on my own for New Years too. mmmph. It'll make a difference not to have the usual drunken row on New Years Eve I suppose!

Cheers for another couple of months!

Old News - Newsletter July 2001

Suddenly it seems a month has flown by since I last wrote! I guess I've been busy!

We're still working very hard, and going to the gym a couple of times in the week, so the days zoom past. My Mom arrived 3 weeks ago, and has been looking after us very well! Cooked meals waiting when we get home is very welcome, not to mention she's taken over the cleaning too. What a pleasure! It's been great to catch up on years of news too... so the evenings have shot past as well! She's struggling to find work as she's trying to get live-in couple work, and everyone wants to meet A first. He gets here in about 2 weeks time when things should pick up. In the meantime she's spoiling us rotten and looking after my garden!

Mountain Man and I took a week's holiday in the South of France 2 weeks ago. We flew to Lyon on Friday night, caught a train to Avignon on Sat morning and spent 2 nights in Avignon. Avignon is in Provence, and the Popes were based there for about 50 years a few centuries ago, so it's rather grand on a lovely small scale. A most imposing fortress dominates the town, and the city centre still has well preserved city walls. We did a daytrip to Nimes on the Sunday, which has lots of Roman remains, including an amphitheatre where they still hold plays and bullfights.

Then Monday we went to Nice, which we really liked. Although it's a huge city and quite commercial there is a large 'old quarter' that is quite bohemian and laid back. Tuesday morning we caught a ferry to Corsica and spent 3 nights there. We travelled all over the island, taking a train ride through the central mountains which are spectacular! It's a gorgeous place, and we're determined to go back again.

Then we got the ferry back to Nice at midnight on Friday, and spent the day in Monaco on the Saturday. I wasn't that taken with Monaco, as there isn't much to do or see, and no local beach. Mountain Man had a great time following the route of the Grand Prix, as I whinged along behind him up the hill in the heat. It was nice to get back to Nice and chill out on the beach in the evening!

Then Sunday we spent travelling back to Lyon and landed in London on Sunday evening. A very full trip, and we were pretty tired for a few days afterwards!

Not much else going on at the moment. We're madly busy, and the days are too short!