Anti-social behaviour

A sign clearly stating that one must be social in Canterbury.

 

A public service announcement

Interesting sign seen at the opening to an underground tunnel system.  I found it funny that those were the three ‘conditions’ they picked out…

Mom and Dad Schrock’s visit begins

Mom and Dad Schrock are here on a visit.  They arrived on Saturday and will be with us until Monday.

Here they are at the Prime Meridian, in Greenwich, London.  Dad loves getting his picture taken.

Testing from the train

Testing the wordpress mobile interface from the train. Nice but constrained by my gimpy thumb typing.

A small, but important part

While tidying the spare bedroom I moved the fan that was sitting on the windowsill.  somehow the knob that controls on/off and the speed popped off, flew out the open window.  I watched it roll across the roof of the kitchen and then roll off the roof and out of sight. 

Oh bother!  And the hunt began.  Steve got on the roof to see if it was in the gutter.  We looked under the bushes, in the bushes, on the lane, across the lane, up and down the lane.  To no avail.  This was very annoying, as the fan was near impossible to turn on without the knob.

We tried again the next day, but still no luck.  I got out on the roof to shake the bushes.  No dice.  Then, I tried to imagine the trajectories, and looking off the edge of the roof identified a begonia that was a nice target.  I hollered down to Steve and asked him to check in the begonia.  Sure enough, that’s where it was.

Errand at the British Museum

I was in London today for a work meeting.  When I was in Seattle last month a colleague asked me to run an errand for him at the British Museum.  Since my meeting was done by the early afternoon, and it was a nice day, I made a detour across town to stop at the museum.

First the errand in the gift shop.

Sorry, Reiner, I did not spring for the £4000 bust of Hadrian, but I did find you something good :-)

Since we’re going to be going to Greece next month I thought I’d spend some time in the ancient Greece section – so I made my way through the museum.  London was quiet today (everyone goes on holiday in August) so the tube and trains were less crowded than normal.  The museum, on the other hand was a madhouse.  I think the Rosetta stone is behind this mob.

When I finally made my way back to the Greek section there were several signs (and even brochures) explaining the controversy about the Greek government wanting its stuff back.  You know, the British Museum could almost be called ‘Museum stuff Brits took from other places’.  I spent about a half hour in the Parthenon room – looking at the friezes that used to encircle the temple.  It will be nice to be there next month and mentally put the bits together.

The great British ’summer’ continues

<sigh>

Steve – the flirt

Steve is a champ at flattering the older ladies.  We were talking with one of our older friends at church tonight, chatting about our upcoming England driving tests.  M said she gave up driving at 81.  Steve, not missing a beat, says “oh – just last year!”  M was flattered.  He had given her the benefit of about 10 years.

We love our evenings at the chapel at Binfield Heath.

The Olympics…BBC style

Our friend Ben posted some observations about Olympics TV coverage, which inspired me to note a few observations about the BBC coverage.

1.  The BBC focuses coverage on events where the Brits are competing and in the final rounds.  This means they show a lot of badminton, rowing, canoing, dressage…you get the idea.

2.  The editing is pretty tight.  They don’t fill a lot of time showing people getting ready for races.  They show a race, and when it is over they cut to another race.  No muss, no fuss.

3.  There is a lot less time spent covering ‘personal interest’ stories.  Of course there is some, like excessive coverage of the 14 year old British diver…

4.  The rowing events are very soothing to watch.  Sort of like watching the weather channel.  Put it on and do some work.

We just watched the mens 100m running final.  That Jamacian Bolt is fast!

Welcome back passport!

My passport found its way back home today.  Hurrah!  Now I can start planning our vacation with confidence.