Cos You Had a Bad Day!

A very emotional day (I was tempted to put sad but that's only for the people who are left at BOC like me). People I have worked with and partied with for ten years left or were made redundant today. This is all due to this new fad of off-shoring to India - a fad that mark my word wont last, it's just a fad.

Amongst people who left today were Simon Webley who I've known for all of the ten years I've been at BOC. I remember his son Alex being born, I remember when he got married in his lunch break because he needed a green card to the US LOL!! Lee Dixon - friend (and sometimes foe :)) for ten years, I've know him both as boy and man an I wish him every success in what he chooses to do outside 'The Company' and I hope we have parted as mates. Then last but by no means least and the person I will miss the most - Shahida Sharif. We may have only worked together for about a year but my God I'm going to miss her. People knew we were gossiping and giggling on CHAT (just like the TV advert) they probably hated it but we had such a laugh - I'm going to miss you gal! Always sorting out people's problems as well as their fashion! The Trinny and Susannah of 'The Company' sadly been pulled from the programme listings!

I know things will get better and things have a habit of working out for the best but that's not how it feels today. All the good boys are leaving, a lot of good times behind us and my God there have been some wonderful times at BOC. I was in personal termoil in '96 when I was offered a six month contract, I was near to a breakdown, shattered, emotionally drained with a messy divorce and no real friends but with the support and friendship I found at BOC I put my life back on track - this is why I feel such sadness. Four leaving speeches in one day and this is only the start - more talent walking out that door than most IT departments have in a lifetime - such a waste!

....but it's all so nice to come home

The flight was good. I think the captain was on some kind of mission to get home early! Despite going through quite a bit of turbulence the seatbelt lights didnt come on once! I tried despearately to sleep but couldnt so I read my book - the most amazing The Pact by Jodi Pocoult - what a deep and thought provoking book that is.

This is a picture of one of the Virgin cabin staff dressed as Elvis - hilairous!


Arrived in the UK at about 11am, totally fatigued. Now I've got the bloody jet lag to contend with for the next week or so as well as going back to the miserable place that is BOC!

My dogs hardly recognised me - I think they have been spoilt by the house sitter just a little too much. Unfortunately Bailey has some kind of injury after a high speed collision with Harvey. He seems OK, just a little lame but I knew there was something wrong with him as soon as I entered the door. The cat on the other hand was actually quite glad to see me although I suspect that maybe just because she wants more food!

There really is no such place like 161.100.....sorry, geek joke!

It's so nice to go travelling......

So it's the last day and a long, long day (or two days really) travelling home. The sun is out in Vegas, it will be sad to leave this lovely weather but it will also be nice to see my Furbies again. Work on the other hand I dread going back to, all the friends and colleague's that are leaving this month, back to the proposturous ideas and plans that are going ahead without any proper thought or research - all the sycophants! How depressing is that and I havent even got as far as thinking about the weather!



We got up at about 9am, had breakfast (the last time I'll have buttermilk pancakes for a while) and then went back to pack - it took two hours we had collected so much over the last two weeks!

So its now off to McCarren Airport (again) for that long wait and then the long trip home.

So what do I miss about America? The politeness (everyone says 'good morning' or 'hello') the weather - oh that gorgeous wearther! The shopping!! The way the Americans seem to treat their pets as one of the family. I will also miss the Californian Pizza Kitchen's spicy sausage pasta and the sweet orange juice. The way they love the relatively young small history they do have instead of like us just bulldozing it to put flats up in its place.

What will I not miss about America? the publlic toilets or restrooms - why oh why do the partitions have to have so much of a gap between the wall and the door that an anorexic could squeeze through it? I dont want to see women sqautting when I walk in the loo!! Not even the Americans can explain why this is the case. The toilets! OK, I know you can see a theme here - I dont know what is different from theirs but I think Alan says they use a suction flush rather than ours using water weight(?) I dont know but they are horrid - you see everything floating around in this pond that is the loo - bloody awful. The food! Although some of the food is very good there is always far too much of it and everything is loaded with sugar or corn syrup - even things like cole slaw and mayonnaise! After two weeks of overload and over sweet I crave a Sunday roast or just vegetables but most of all CURRY!

TV - what appalling TV they have out there. You'd think being way before us in having hundreds of TV stations that there would be some quality - but no, its appalling! Not to mention the repeats!! And then the adverts - every other advert is for a fast food or restaurant chain - Marie Callender, Olive Garden, Pizza Hut, Carls Jnr - you can see why they are so fat! They even have Barry Scott over there - 'I'm Barry Scott and I'm now Global' - idiot! I also wont miss waking up on Sunday morning to the sound of Alan putting on the TV to listen (and laugh) at the TV evangelists telling us that Darwin was a mad man suffering from some kind of delusion!

But most of all I wont miss that brown, hot water they call coffee - or cooooorfee!!! YUK!!! Free refils?? You couldnt get a wake up call from their coffee if you drank a gallon of the damn stuff. If I go to Starbies I always ask for an extra shot and the look I get from the Barista is like I've asked him to take his clothes off!

It's Sunday and the last full day of our holiday and the plan is to meet up with my friends Nik and Lee (who although British, now live in Phoenix). I have now known them for ten years and I think we've met them out here about four or five times now.

We decided to stay beside the pool for the morning as it was our last day but oh boy had the storm cooled down the water in the pool - brrrr! When the sun passed over the pool we decided to walk down the Strip for a while and discovered the Sin City Brewery in the soon to be transformed Alladin Casino. The owner was into real beer, had travelled the world to discover beer and horrah it didnt taste like the usual American beer it was the best pint we'd had all holiday if only they didnt make it so bloomin cold!!

the phone then rang and it was Lee and Nik to arrange the evening.



So we met up in the hotel, had a couple of beers and then as Lee needed an emormous burger we headed off to one of our favourite haunts the Harvey Davidson Cafe. Had a good meal and then tottered back to the Flamingo for a few more drinks. It was lovely to see them again and as usual I always miss them when we the evening's over.

Tommorow it's off to good old Blighty!

Hoover Dam

The plan for today was to get up and drive to Death Valley but due to the storm last night there was a land slide and many floods and the US 95 (the main road out of Vegas) was closed. Sunbathing was out of the question as it was still pretty grey so we decided to head out to the Hoover Dam which Alan being a frustrated engineer has always wanted to inspect closer than the drive past we'd done in 1999.

On the way though we discovered Boulder (I was starving so dropped into a BK for a cheeky cheeseburger - or was it a whooper :)) What a lovely green, quiet place this is. Some of the houses that overlook Lake Mead are spectacular. This is the city that grew up because of the Hoover Dam. Its where all the workers came in the middle of the depression looking for work. It was then a tented, it's now a quiet, small city that overlooks the tranquil Lake Mead.


They are in the middle of creating a by-pass for the dam as the road being the main route from Phoenix to Vegas has now become antiquated and inadequate for the amount of traffic it now has to support from these two growing cities. The plan is to build a bridge across the actual gorge!! That's engineering!

We did the trip down to the generators and around inside the dam which was quite claustrophobic but incredibly interesting and to think this was built in 1932 is amazing, what foresight, what engineering, what a pioneer spirit - you dont see that in the UK anymore but it's still abundent in the still very young and ever growing US.

Friday the 13th? (OK so that's a film not a song)

Welcome to Friday the 13th's Blog!

Went to the pool pretty early but within about two hours it was raining - yes, raining in the desert!! So headed out to one of the malls as we thought there was an Old Navy and an American Eagle but there wasnt - need to check out the internet again to find out where these are. As the evening came in so the sky got darker and darker and as you are in the middle of a valley here you can see all around and it was obvious a storm was coming. So we head back to the hotel and something I have never heard or experienced before. On the TV, blotting out all the TV naration was a severe weather warning telling us that a big storm was heading our way and to keep away from windows and unplug non-essential electrical gear - amazing. Anyway, the storm is coming, with this large full room size window we can see over towards Henderson easily and my God is this a storm!!

We'll have to see how this evening pans out but Californian Pizza Kitchen was going to be our choice for tonight and it's only over the road at Mirage but if it rains heavily we may have to stay in the Flamingo. Then off to one of the tables to find a number thirteen, after all it's Friday the 13th and I was born on the the 26th (double 13) so it's gotta be worth a flutter.

Coming back to the hotel we sat up and watched the storm. I have never seen anything like it. Watching an amazing storm right the way across the Valley, lighting up the mountains - something I didnt expect to see in the desert - and the rain - boy did it rain!

Take a Walk on the Wild Side

We spent the morning round the pool again which was bloody lovely. Then headed out to the Red Rock area to find the PetsMart and Costco stores. I bought this really cool ihome gadget which means that the radio/CD under the kitchen cabinet can be upgraded to an iPod player as well - how cool is that? Costco is really weird, its just like being in the one in Reading it's so similar - apart from the prices of course!

Then onto Costco to buy my beloved furbies so treats so that they'll speak to me when I get home - I cant wait to see them again.

We then decided to eat in the Stardust - in particular the Tony Roma's in this casino. The Stardust was built/opened in 1958 and on the 31st of October this year will be closed forever - a bit of history gone, so we made this pilgrimage to the casino as it wont be there next year - and the ribs were as good as ever. It seems a real shame but you could tell that it's on it way out, the staff (not Tony Romas) we rude and unattentive (and could hardly speak English) and the whole casino was completely full of freaks and weirdos - well even more that usual!

We then had a look in the Wynn and although it's obviously a lot more classy than most casino's on the strip at the end of the day it's still a casino/hotel on the seedy strip of Las Vegas - I dont believe class is something that can be created here - it's tacky and that's why we love it!

Went back to gamble a bit (its a long walk back from the Stardust) and played Reel 'em In as usual. Had a bad run but was more fascinated by this prostitute. It was so obvious, she was pretending to play a slot whilst continually talking and taking calls on her mobile. After about half an hour this middle aged, grey, non-descript male walks in, goes straight up to her and takes her arm and the thrash out details (and I presume prices) in a corner of the casino - amazing people watching!

It's a Wonderful, Wonderful Life.....

Woke up pretty early (for holiday) so went down to the pool at about 11am. Took breakfast with us from the little shop just inside the door and started my third book of this holiday, Mary, Mary. It's true pool reading stuff - not too cerebrally challenging like the last one (The Kite Runner). It was a lot warmer today, the type of weather that I just look up to the sun and think 'hmmm...this is a true moment of happiness'.

Did a bit of shopping in the late afternoon and Alan has finally justified the purchase of an Apple Mac laptop!! I cant believe it - how many PC's does one geek need?
For the evening we went to P F Changs as we knew there would be no overfacing like last night and also that even if you do eat too much at a chinese, you will feel OK in a couple of hours time - and we did - it was delicious

Tried a bit of gambling at a few near casino's but came back to the Flam as the serving girls are always around and attentive, the slots are pretty good and it's a pretty friendly casino to be in! We still havent won our fortune though!

At last! That well earned day beside the pool in the hot sun! I have to say that the Flamingo has been a really pleasant surprise to me/us. The pool is lovely, warm and relaxing. The cafe just inside the doors has wonderful breakfast and lunch snacks as well as decent coffee (a rare thing in the US - they call brown water coffee!!) BUT, there is one thing I certainly wont miss about this hotel - the bloody awful, 80's, mostly British music that is piped round the pool and hotel 24/7. If I hear Sade, UB40, Kim Wilde, Level 42, Elton John or Rod Stewart track again I will throw a wobbler! Thank God for iPod!

For the evening's entertainment we went to Maggacio's in the Fashion Show Mall. I've wanted to eat here since first seeing it last year. It has that rare commodity of outside eating (although I have to say this is becoming more popular as Vegas changes). Anyway, the inside is garbed out like a forties lounge bar with piano player and crooner and for the most part full of beautiful people. On the balcony (where we ate) it's opposite the Wynn and depite the noise from the strip is very nice and feels pretty relaxed. I had the sausage spaghetti which was gorgeous and Alan had the strangest looking lasagne that was hardly any bechamel but mostly cheese - and enough for an English family of four!! We couldnt even leave a dent in these meals (despite me only ordering half size meal) and consequnetly felt over-full, uncomfortable and tired all evening - what a shame, the food is very good but the portion sizes and the richness is just too much.

We then gambled a bit on the slots while feeling VERY bloated!

Viva Las Vegas!

Well, here we are again. Just five hours from San Diego and here we are once again in the middle of the desert in the maddest place on the planet! We are staying at the Flamingo this year for a change of scene - I am not disappointed. The room is nice, the pool, restaurants are very accessible (not always the case with some of the larger, newer casino's) and you literally walk out onto the strip - right slap bang in the middle.

We were however a pair of lightweights - after a couple hours of pathetic gambling we had a few final drinks and didnt even make it to 11pm - yawn!!

Alan's back is a little better so we decided to go to Bilbao Park. We've been here once before but not had the time to really look around, but as usual for this marvelous city just as we were parking we realised there was an Native American 'pow wow' going on opposite the car park- how could we resist? I bought a couple of really nice navajo pieces of jewellery and watched some 'authentic' Native American dancing - although I'd seriously question the lineage of some of these 'Indians'!!

Anyway, Bilbao Park was as beautiful as ever. There was also an organ recital being played on the Spreckels Organ (the largest outside organ in the world) and spookily enough the player was a very English lady!! We then wandered around for a few hours, had a Guiness outside the Globe Theatre as well as visiting the international village - which always brings a smile to my face - Alan had a cup of tea in the English house! It was Spanish Day so there was flamenco dancing and a large paella made which you could buy some of - it was really good, very authentic!

For our final evening in SD we at last had dinner at the renowned Anthony's Grotto just across from the hotel. It's reputation for fresh fish is well known and we wernt disappointed. I had Swordfish (which is local) and Alan had his favourite, crab cakes. The service was good, the food was wonderful and for such a well known eatery the bill was also very reasonable.

When we woke up on, looking from our room across from the harbour, there were two cruiser ships in as well as another navy vessel (it's fleet week this month - yeah, go figure we didnt understand either but this means there have been quite a lot of sailors in San Diego all week). So the day starts off well enough, we decide to walk to Starbies as the deli below our hotel was full of people off the cruise liners - all so far so good - but on the way to Starbies Alan cough's and pulls a muscle in his back!! So he hobbled up to Horton Plaza, to the drug store then we had to decide what to do. The plan had been to go to Mission Valley to get some new glasses for Alan but were not that sure he'd make it. We did, and he stumbled round the place looking like a cripple. Had lunch in CPK and then back to the hotel. Against his better judgement and drugged up, we then had a look round the famous Gaslamp district of SD - its a bit seedy but feels very old and has more than a snippin of San Francisco to the feel of the place.
We then went to see the USS Midway, an aircraft carrier which now retired has been donated to the museums in San Diego and has a great collection of planes and helicopters as well as all areas of the ship being accessible - I've never been on an aircraft carrier before, it was an amazing experience as well as a great vantage point for pictures of the bay.

Fat Bottomed Girl, you make the rockin world go round

I have reminded Alan on many occassions that if I ever come up with any more bright ideas he is to slap me and put me in a cupboard until the idea seems like a lost memory. Sadly he didnt take my advice this time and we decided to hire bikes for the day. We have been cycling a lot at home in the hope it would prepare us for this trip...hmmmmm.....

We cycled to Mission Beach (have these people any idea how lucky they are to live here!!) then onto Mission Bay (a lot quieter and probably a lot more expensive)this doesnt sound a whole lot but Alan has just worked this out on Google Earth and it is a staggering 28.5 miles - my buttocks are numb!!!I will defo be walking like John Wayne tommorow!! It's also worth mentioning we are both a little pink - local lobsters? Pah, we are the imported, British Lobsters!

I almost dropped the bike back in the shop, warned Alan not to take my up on any more of my bright ideas then walked to Seaport Village for something to eat and a well earned beer.

So a short blog for today but my God was that an effort - and I never in a million years thought I'd ever cycle on the right hand side of the road in America - a true experience - hard work at times but well worth it. Off to the E&C now for a well earned glass of merlot - what a shame those Delegates have gone home :)

I can hear music......

OK, so you've probably noticed by now that my titles to each post have a music theme. This leads me nicely onto today - the day I've waited for - OK, so I'm sad, it comes of living with a geek for so long!! Anyway, the reason for my cheer and jubilation is that I bought my iPod Nano today :). I also bought the sport kit and running shoes that allow you to jog and the iPod tells you the distance, calories or time by interupting your music and since discovering running in the gym last year this is a godsend - the trainers are even pretty cool!

This was supposed to be a chill out day but we spent far more time in Fashion Valley Mall than expected (buying iPods, Gordon Setter socks(yes, I found some) and trainers). We then decided as it was getting late to have lunch in one of our favourite diner chains the Californian Pizza Kitchen - they make the BEST pasta!

We then came back to the hotel, I downloaded some music onto said iPod and sat on the balcony in the beautiful sunshine which belies the fact it's October (I've been here far earlier and its been cool and damp). I finished my book, the Shadow of the Wind (an unforgetable masterpiece of a book) then took a quick trip to Wal-Mart to buy a new suitcase after the sad demise of one of out old ones thanks to baggage handlers last year.

We then ended the evening with a few beers in the E&C watching a conference delegate who thought he was Mr Smooth making a complete ass of himself in front of this woman delegate - great people watching!

I'll have a pint of Courage Best!

So we now leave Anaheim and I really wont miss that bed! My back is killing me. The hotel is fine, clean and well located but the pool is freezing and the bed is uncomfortable and small! What I will really miss though is Suzette, the bartender in the Pickford Pub who is everything you would look for in an American bar.

So onto San Diego and into a much more confortable hotel - the Holiday Inn on the Bay. We have a bay view room and you can watch people sailing in the harbour as well as having a good view of all the maritime museums that are lined up along the bay. This is our third visit here but I sometimes feel I know the place like home. It's a lot easier to navigate than most American cities and although I believe its the second largest city in the US it certainly doesnt feel like it. The other difference you notice immediately here is the lack of fatties! In fact all you ever see are people from young to old jogging, power walking and cycling around the bay.

After the journey down here we headed off to Horton Mall for a quick look round and a burger (well, it has to be done) and then watched the sun go down on San Diego. We then headed off to the Elephant and Castle pub (which strives to be a British pub but that we frequent simply because it's attached to our hotel) for a well earned beer and curry!

Surfin USA

Since coming to America for ten years I always seem to discover something or somewhere that makes me realise why I make this long trip over to the US every year. This year it was Laguna with it's surrounding beaches. This place is truly beautiful. Surrounded by the affluent Laguna Hills this place was a gem of a find. It's about 30 miles south from Anaheim on the Pacific Coast Highway and our plan for the day was to explore some more of the West Coasts famous beaches. We started at Huntingdon (which we've visited before) which claims to be Surf City (although I hear that they are currently in dispute with another beach in Califonia who also aspire to this name) and had a coffee and danish there. From here we set off on the Pacific Coast Highway on a voyage of discovery :)! After passing many wonderful beaches we decided to take a look at the Crystal Cove State Park which we'd seen advertised on the info. channel in the hotel. After the noise and crowds of the previous day in Disneyland this was a very well anticipated place of contrast. We walked about four miles along this quiet, clean, uncrowded beach to the actual cove. There are many birds here (including the Anna Hummingbird which is beautiful) and many rockpools containing mussels, anenomes, barnacles and other crustaceans.

We walked all the way to the Crystal Cove itself which has the most amazing kind of ghost town of old fishing shacks. This was the most relaxing couple of hours.

Then onto Laguna itself - what a town!! There has to be a lot of money here. The cars, the houses, the shops!! We saw a Shelby and Roush Mustang within about twenty minutes and Porsche's here are two a penny (it's considered a status symbol here to have a European import especially German cars).

We managed to find a BJ''s Restaurant on the main road overlooking the ocean. The food was incredible for a Pizza and Grill chain. I have honestly never tasted such amazing meat sauce with pasta. Alan was made up because they had decent beer but as with all beers in the US its far too cold but the Porter was very good. We waddled away an hour later trying to do more walking but gave up and staggerd back to the car - we did about ten miles again today. Then in the car off to Dana Point and the Marina which is also beautiful but by then we were completely beached out - headed back to Anaheim for a well earned beer!!!

One final thing I must mention about Laguna is this sweet shop we found called the Candy Shack on Broadway. To take a child in there would be akin to child abuse. The air smelt of sugar, there are barrel upon barrel full of different flavours of salt water taffy and the rest of the shop is a tribute to true english sweets and chocolate bars - everything from Fishermans Friends to Double Decker bars - YUM!! Only a picture can truly portray how amazing this shop is.

When you wish Upon a Star............

Well, you cant go to Anaheim without visiting the original Disney theme park Disneyland. Most people think that the Disneyworld in Florida is the original but it's not, Disneland in Anaheim, California transformed what was a vast area of fruit farming into the first Walt Disnet theme park - 51 years ago.

It was incredibly warm and for October, incredibly crowded - I've been here in September when there have been half the visitors. While talking to people in the bar this evening we realise that the reason for the high entrance is that it's Yom Kippur so a lot of Jewish people are celebrating.

We walked about ten miles, ate pizza and drank coke, went on our favourite rides and generally had a good time - I just prefer it when it's not so crowded.

'Take me Down to the Ball Game'

We went to see the final baseball game of the season between our team the Anaheim Angels (please dont correct me by telling me they are the Anaheim Angels of Los Angeles or whatever the ridiculous new name is - they ARE the Anaheim Angels!) and the Oakland A's.

It was Angels veteran, Tim Salmons last game and he needed only one more home run to make his total up to 300! Sadly it wasnt to be but we all gave him a very loud send off!


A very exctiting game though, there was only one point in it right up until the 10th innings!! Unfortunately it wasnt the Angels that won so for the second time of coming all this way to see our team, the Oakland Athletics won!!!

Brilliant day though, great atmosphere and great game!





I have been a fan of the Angels since 1996 and this is my collection so far of caps!