Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Friday, March 16, 2012
Little House on the Prairie meets the Horsecollar
Okay, so I'm in a bitchy mood today. But Really. Mrs. C. normally doesn't go this far off kilter -- but what in hell was she thinking? As far as I know she is not a Mennonite on rumspringa, and her budget for fabric should extend a little further than JCPenny. I didn't even know JC Penny carried fabric, but apparently they do. And Moochie. Ah, well. The one time the gown is quite acceptable ... what is with that horsecollar of a blue mess around her neck? Is that a disguised millstone? Moochie, honey. Less is more. Try a nice double strand of pearls next time. And the hemlines. Oh. Dear. It's a wonder that neither of them walked up the inside of their dresses.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Sunset
I live just south of Heathrow Terminal 4 - and I have to say the sky is always interesting here. It was crappy rain all day, but right at the end of the day just at sunset for a few fleeting moments, everything turned red.
The mound off in the distance Quentin and I used to call our own little Grand Canyon, because depending on the time of day and the conditions, the color of the mound could be anything from white/gray/brown/orange, and very occasionally, like this evening, red. I don't remember seeing it this red before. If you blow the picture up, to the right of the mound between the poplar trees you can see the spire of the church we were married in, St. George's, Hanworth. I took the closeup below of it last January on our wedding day. The church dates back to about 1293, though most of what you see here is more modern. See here for a bit of history.
Being on the far west end of London, and so near the airport, I'm grateful for the green bits around. The main par of the town I live in, Feltham, is just over the mound and to the left. Feltham isn't much of a town, but I have to say it's nicely situated as somewhere to be if you want to jump on one of the M-ways. So it's about an hour and 15 minutes or so to Oxford, about an hour to Henley, a half hour to my in-laws in Fleet (lovely little town that is) and about 15 minutes to Richmond and about 40 minutes to the Brompton Oratory, which is by the V&A museum and close to Harrods. The train runs just behind the mound, though it's hard to see unless you happen to look right at it as its passing for Staines, Windsor, and other parts west, or come to think if it east for that matter. Seems I always see it westbound.
Anyway, I'll be doing a few bits of 'travelogue' to catch up on all that I didn't do from when I first came over. Haven't been gallivanting much at all this last year and some months, mainly due to looking after Q most of the time, and then wanting to save some moola. At any rate, the town is kind of 'damn all when you get here' BUT it is pretty close to anywhere I'd want to get, which is what counts! Only drawback is Our Lady of the Rosary out at Blackfen isn't very practical to get to, being on the other side of London, and because there really aren't any good freeways THROUGH the place, you have to go all the hell the way around on the M-25 -- which makes it about 60 minutes by car -- for what [here comes the bitch and moan] SHOULD BE a crummy 20 minute drive, Blackfen only being about 20 miles as the crow flies. But no........it's gotta be 120 mile round trip by car, or an hour some each way by bus->train to Waterloo where you switch Trains->then catch bus to OLR. So with wait times, and bus time tacked on closer to two hours each way.
The mound off in the distance Quentin and I used to call our own little Grand Canyon, because depending on the time of day and the conditions, the color of the mound could be anything from white/gray/brown/orange, and very occasionally, like this evening, red. I don't remember seeing it this red before. If you blow the picture up, to the right of the mound between the poplar trees you can see the spire of the church we were married in, St. George's, Hanworth. I took the closeup below of it last January on our wedding day. The church dates back to about 1293, though most of what you see here is more modern. See here for a bit of history.
Being on the far west end of London, and so near the airport, I'm grateful for the green bits around. The main par of the town I live in, Feltham, is just over the mound and to the left. Feltham isn't much of a town, but I have to say it's nicely situated as somewhere to be if you want to jump on one of the M-ways. So it's about an hour and 15 minutes or so to Oxford, about an hour to Henley, a half hour to my in-laws in Fleet (lovely little town that is) and about 15 minutes to Richmond and about 40 minutes to the Brompton Oratory, which is by the V&A museum and close to Harrods. The train runs just behind the mound, though it's hard to see unless you happen to look right at it as its passing for Staines, Windsor, and other parts west, or come to think if it east for that matter. Seems I always see it westbound.
Anyway, I'll be doing a few bits of 'travelogue' to catch up on all that I didn't do from when I first came over. Haven't been gallivanting much at all this last year and some months, mainly due to looking after Q most of the time, and then wanting to save some moola. At any rate, the town is kind of 'damn all when you get here' BUT it is pretty close to anywhere I'd want to get, which is what counts! Only drawback is Our Lady of the Rosary out at Blackfen isn't very practical to get to, being on the other side of London, and because there really aren't any good freeways THROUGH the place, you have to go all the hell the way around on the M-25 -- which makes it about 60 minutes by car -- for what [here comes the bitch and moan] SHOULD BE a crummy 20 minute drive, Blackfen only being about 20 miles as the crow flies. But no........it's gotta be 120 mile round trip by car, or an hour some each way by bus->train to Waterloo where you switch Trains->then catch bus to OLR. So with wait times, and bus time tacked on closer to two hours each way.
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Wish there was some Sun in the Sky
Dreary end Feb. beginning of March weather. It's not particularly cold, but it's the gray, or grey or whatever. Mentally in better shape this morning than I've been all week. Have been fighting a nasty sore throat and flem, but it's getting better, and compared to this type of cold, I know it could have been much worse. Must have gotten it from one of those evil supermarket checkout clerks - because that's about the only people I've interacted with in the last few weeks. The first cold I've had since I came over to England.
Feeling better enough to take a stab at PHP and other LAMP elements I need to add to my repertoire. Still no visa. Which makes it so frustrating because I can't even apply for jobs I see online. I'm beginning to think I might even have to start an on-line business and base it in the USA. Any stream of income would help, multiples would be great, but right now I'm working on the first one. I wish I personally KNEW someone who managed to make a living doing stuff entirely on-line. No get rich quick stuff. Just a steady modest income would do.
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