A week later....

Kensington, Maryland- August 12

All good things must come to an end, sort of...  

Last Tuesday I packed up my 55lbs suit case and headed back to San Francisco via Fort Lauderdale.  Our good friends Paige and Charlie postponed their lunch hours to pick me up and we had a great late lunch together.   I met Paige many moons ago, when she was working in personnel (the term HR had yet to be invented) at Saks Fifth Avenue in Chevy  Chase, Maryland (this was probably 1985), she hired me to do inventory, which re-numerated me with a small check and two days of shopping discounts at Saks.   Don't remember what I bought, likely it would not fit today, but so began my friendship with Paige.   She later met the love of her life, Charlie, they married, she went to work with Claire at the travel agency, and it goes from there.  Charlie and Paige have two very beautiful, smart daughters, and over the years we have had lots of fun times in California, Florida, Washington DC, Key West and France together.

Me, Paige and Charlie

Lunch went by too fast, and soon I was back at the Ft. Lauderdale airport, and then on the plane home.   Reinold met me at SFO - the circle was complete!  I had a busy few days before leaving again this past Saturday - saw my parents one night for dinner, and Simon/Elizabeth on Friday.  Currently I'm attending a certification class in Fairfax, Virginia, staying with some other friends, Barb, Drew and Cailin in Kensington, Maryland just north of Washington, DC.   Cailin is keep me on my toes, when I arrived Saturday, and knocked on the door, this 4 year bundle of nuclear energy belted out "It's open...".   We've been having a good time, in between my trying to understand how to describe an ENTJ...but I got a 100% on my first test today, so I must be making progress!

Cailin and her dad, Drew

And so life goes on.  Hopefully I'll have some consulting work soon, in the interim I'm catching up on some training and certification opportunities that I neglected in the past couple years, and quite honestly I'm kind of enjoying for now being in limbo.   August is a dead month for job searching regardless, however I'm still very certain something good is on the horizon.    The past 40 or so days have been enlightening - Reinold and I are blessed with a remarkable, global network of friends and family, it has been easy in the past 12 months to lose sight of that with other things going on, but I'm back in focus now.   I have also discovered joy in writing this blog, and will be starting another one shortly about the end of summer/early fall adventures of looking for a job, and general thoughts on life.  

Lots of people to thank for my incredible month, including Fiona, Tom, Annette, Anita, Andrew, Sharon, the Jackson 5, Roger, Rosy, Louise, Greg, Rob, Juliet, Carmen, Will, Todd, Kerry, Claire, Paige, Charlie....and many others.   And thank you to Reinold, who patiently supported this undertaking as he does with so many things in our life together.

So stay tuned, the adventure continues... 

Key West Top 10/Headed Home

Key West - August 6

In 2.5 hours I'm headed north to Ft. Lauderdale, for lunch with Paige and Charlie, then off to San Francisco, where I will land around 8:30 tonight - the global circumference will be complete!   As fun as this has been, I am ready to get home, see Reinold and our two fuzzy friends....and get ready to leave again Saturday for my MBTI certification course in Washington, DC, followed by a weekend with Reinold at Bob and Sally's place in Utah.

Monday was low key, usual routine, in the evening Claire's friends TK and Brady came over, and TK made grouper for dinner, fantastic meal, fun night.    About 6am this morning it finally rained here, torrential downpour for about 25 minutes, which cooled things off significantly, though still very humid.   Claire and I are just back from our walk, she has been a fabulous host all week, and made the final stop very enjoyable and restful.

So, the Key West Top 10:

#10 - Fresh grouper, snapper and Florida pink shrimp - amazing seafood here
#9 - Katie the cat's at a distance tolerance of me, versus her usual run for the closet act (Tim, eat your heart out...)
#8 - Amazing meals out - Michael's (did this twice...), Antonia's, Salute, Santiago's, Blackfin, Hogfish
#7 - The backyard swimming pool
#6 - Claire's startling revelation on Sunday morning, 4 years after the kitchen remodel, that the cabinet handles didn't match - tied with this morning's revelation that the kitchen window is listing to the left.   I hope the fridge is o.k....
#5 - Lots of fun times with Pam, Claire and Carol on Friday/Saturday/Sunday
#4 - Sunset on Saturday
#3 - Iguanas and Chickens
#2 - Key West's relaxed atmosphere
#1 - 717 Ashe Street, and my pal Claire, the sister I never had

That's it for now, will blog from home tomorrow to wrap this up, stay tuned.

Chickens, Iguanas and Graveyards

Key West, August 4

What can I say...life is tough here in Key West.

It's Sunday morning in the southern most point in the United States, have had a really relaxing few days with Claire, and now additional friends Pam Dawson and Carol McDonald who came down Friday from St. Petersburg to join us, we are also quietly celebrating Pam's ascension into the life decade I've been in for over a year now.   I met Pam back in the early days of eTrade in California, in the mid 1990's; she and Claire became good friends through Claire's long association with eTrade, and Carol keeps Pam honest and practical (we discussed the similarities of this to the Tom/Reinold dynamic last night at dinner).

Days here have consisted of the following general pattern - up around 8am, walk with Claire, splash in the pool,  coffee and breakfast, catch up on email/internet stuff, plan lunch, eat lunch, nap, splash in the pool again, go to the gym, come home, glass of wine, dinner.    Speaking of dinner, we have had some blowout meals this past week at Michael's, Antonia's, Santiago, Salute, complimented one night by my own culinary attempts (TG's version of chicken paillard; Claire liked it, wants me to make more for her to have for lunch after I'm gone Tuesday) (Bob, the asparagus was good too, thanks for the temperature guidance).

Weather has remained consistent, by afternoon quite warm and very humid, it's rained a great deal up in Miami, but not down here, not a drop.   Still some breezes in the early evening, last night we had a drink at sunset before dinner,  the view was spectacular.

 

Me and my lovely host

 



Evident throughout Key West is the impact of people on this pristine environment.   Yesterday I walked over to the Key West Cemetery to have a look around.   I was captivated by many of the head stones and the engravings, some of them close to 200 years old - people have been partying out here for a long time!  

 

 

 

 

In addition to this history, some of the departed left humor and mystery on their headstones.  One had an encryption "I told you I was sick", another said "At least I know where my husband is sleeping tonight".   Of particular interest to me was the following plate on an occupied mausoleum space:

 

 

 

I googled GROK, and have yet to figure out what it meant, there's a good bottle of red wine for anyone that can email me the answer.

 

During the cemetery walk, I also encountered two feral examples of mankind's presence in paradise, chickens and iguanas.   In addition to a lot of cats and many inebriated tourists, Key West also has thousands of feral chickens walking around, often bravely crossing busy roads, some leading their chicks in maternal procession, roosters crowing at all hours, all descendants of chickens people brought here for eggs and food, that escaped and became part of the scene.   Anywhere else in United States you'd have the local municipality rounding them up and dispatching them to the local Fosters Farms plant, but not here - the public tolerance of these birds is an example of the general relaxed and accepting attitude of the 15,000 year round residents in Key West.

 

 

Rooster in fast retreat from my camera - not shown was his lady friend hiding behind the green bin

 

 

Another exotic example of pet ownership gone wrong is the abundance of colorful iguanas.   Discarded pet iguanas have very successfully survived and multiplied throughout parts of south Florida, and as voracious herbivores, they have laid waste to various home gardens, fruit trees, etc.  A few winters ago, they had an unusual cold snap in and around Ft. Lauderdale, resulting in many frozen iguanas falling dead out of the trees they typically hangout in during the night - apparently a very messy scene to wake up to...



 

While I have heard many iguana stories over the years, until my cemetery tour yesterday I had yet to see one in action.   Claire has one that visits her backyard, apparently their guano is fairly disgusting and not fun to clean up (but then again, what animal's guano is enjoyable?) however, the one that fouled Claire's deck has yet to show his/her face this week.   In the cemetery, however, they were all over the place, multiple/vibrant colors, shapes, and in general very timid, they'd run away and hide under a grave stone before you could get a picture, with one exception....

 

 

Myron, one big, colorful, un-intimidated cemetery iguana

 

 

I decided to name him Myron, although quite honestly Myron may have been a she, I wasn't sure how to determine that with any level of anatomic precision.   Myron also had very long claws, and while I know they are generally vegan, I decided getting any closer was probably not in my best interests.  The iguanas in Key West are being fruitful and multiplying, and there is faint evidence of emerging intolerance of these lizards, as demonstrated by a sign in a home adjacent to the cemetery.

 

 Reptile intolerance, Key West style

 

 

1.5 days left in Key West, then its homeward bound, via a lunch stopover in Ft. Lauderdale with our good friends Paige and Charlie.   Key West top 10 coming tomorrow, stay tuned.



Carolina Fun and Key West Living

Key West, July 31

Ah, life in the Keys.....

I arrived here yesterday after a very fun two days, first in and around Greenville with Reinold's family.   Sunday night I took Reinold's mom, Suzy, his sister, Jennifer and her husband, Ray to Devereaux's, a great southern fusion restaurant in downtown Greenville.   Greenville is undergoing a renaissance, accompanied by a burgeoning food scene.   We had an awesome meal, I was particularly pleased by my mother in-law's appetite, starting with a foie gras appetizer (you can still eat that legally in South Carolina) - really fun night.   Monday Suzy and I had breakfast together, then I drove south to Pendleton, and had a great time visiting Reinold's dad, Dick.  We had a great conversation, and he shared some very good photos of young Reinold with me, that I include here for your viewing pleasure...(sorry RT, couldn't resist, you were a cute kid!).

 

Yes, that's my leg in the top, I was holding the photo album on my lap

 

Aw shucks....

After lunch with Dick, I drove back to the Charlotte area, and had  a very fun Monday night and great bbq at my good friends Todd and Kerry Stanelle's home in Waxhaw, NC, just south of Charlotte.   Todd and I met in the late 90's when we both worked at Qwest (now called Centurylink) - Todd was based in Columbus, Ohio, and I managed to work in three different cities for Qwest during my tenure there (Arlington, Houston and Denver) - we were great colleagues, became very good friends, and both of us ended up being laid off after Qwest acquired US West in one of the most ugly corporate mergers I've ever seen.    That fork in the road led Todd (and Kerry, along with their sons Ben and Zachary) to a new job in Charlotte, where they have lived ever since.   It was that same event that resulted in Reinold and I moving to Alameda, where we have happily resided for almost 11 years.

 

Monday night on the deck - Kelly, Melissa, Zachary, Kerry and Todd (Ben was at work making burritos and nachos)

 

 

Todd modeling his Oktoberfest hat

Tuesday I had an easy trip south, and arrived in Key West to spend the final week of this journey hanging out with Claire, the sister I never had.

Little history on Claire/Tom.   Both of us have a common friend, Dan Heminger, whose family was a client of Claire (Claire is a travel professional).    When Dan started his own travel and convention business, he hired Claire to manage the travel side of the enterprise, and thus was born Biscayne Conventions and Events, and the affiliated BCE Travel.   It was based in Ft. Lauderdale, and on a trip down to Florida on or about 1989 to see Dan, I met Claire.   We hit it off instantly, and what ensued was a tremendous friendship that prospers right up to this moment in time.   When BCE closed, Claire started her own travel business.   Several years later I found myself affiliated with eTrade, introduced Claire to them, and she for many years did most of their corporate travel.   This account also yielded an introduction to Tim Heard, who is now Claire's husband, and it is their Key West hideaway that I scribe this latest blog entry from.

 

Claire and Tim's Key West House

To say life here is laid back would be a gross understatement.   No one drives in Key West - you either walk or ride a bike.   This time of year it gets very warm and is humid, but around 4pm breezes kick up off the ocean, the occasional thunderstorm floats through, and it becomes delightfully tropical and soothing.   There are lots of feral chickens running around the whole town, and lots of cats, some domestic, some feral.   Walking down Ashe street last night on our way to dinner, Claire manifested her cat whispering abilities, and suddenly 5 or 6 cats came out, they know her from her frequent walks down the street, and came up to say hello - kind of like a scene out of Dr. Doolittle!   Claire and Tim have a big network of very kind, funny friends here, and several of them appeared at the restaurant last night as we were eating, and ratcheted up the fun.   We left there and went to a wine bar, and then I made Claire walk home (they do have cabs here, but we needed the walk...), we both were sound asleep by midnight.   

Tim unfortunately is not here - he's based out of St. Louis, and is working this week.   Claire is able to work remotely, and the living room here is also her Key West office, in fact as I type she is seated on the couch likely issuing another airplane ticket.

 

Claire, Siah (under table) and Katie (on the couch) hard at work in Key West

Today I slept late, had a phone screen with a headhunter (more on that shortly), we went for a walk, I went out and got us lunch (amazing Cuban sandwich for me today from Sandy's - likely will need to repeat that experience at least once more during my time here), I had a nap, then walked down to the local gym to workout.    As an example of the pace here, this nice little gym had no one at the front desk, so I just worked out, then found the manager, and paid my day fee - no hassle, total trust, no worries.   You wouldn't be able to do that in a gym in San Francisco, nor even the venerable Alameda Athletic Club.   Tonight we are headed out to a great Italian restaurant, Antonia's, tomorrow we are staying in and I think I am cooking - poor Claire!

On the work front, I talked to a headhunter today about a job in SF - it ended up not being at my level, but I made a great connection, got a referral to another job opportunity, and what I think was a genuine statement that I should have lots of opportunities to consider based on my background.  Very encouraging, I don't think it was headhunter BS either.    When I started this trip, I was having a hard time summoning enthusiasm around another corporate HR job.   As the days have passed, and I've had time to think about the past year at Blue Shield, I've gained some perspective only distance and time can provide.  It was really tough there at the end of last year, but as my wise career coach Pat pointed out to me earlier this year, I got through that, reinforcing the old adage about what doesn't kill us makes us stronger.   I'm grateful for the transitional support I received from Blue Shield, and while no job gig is ever perfect, there are lots of amazing things going on in the business world that I would love to contribute to.   Tomorrow I'm going to apply for a couple jobs on LinkedIn, and am going to follow up on the opportunity the headhunter told me about today.   I'm also going to be certified in two organizational diagnostic methods next month, and am actually excited about the learning experience involved in both.    It's nice to again feel good about my profession.

That's it for now, on a side note Mom your Walker's Crisps are still in good shape, I look forward to passing them off to you next week!   Stay tuned.

Have a Candy and Crape Myrtles

Raleigh, July 28



It's Sunday morning, I'm sitting in my hotel room overlooking the city of Raleigh, North Carolina.   After an uneventful flight to DC, that included a 2 hour stopover in Munich (and a pretzel and beer in the Lufthansa lounge), I arrived Thursday evening at Dulles airport, zipped through customs (you have to love Global Entry), and was picked up by my good friend Will Long.   I have known Will since 1989, when he decided to move to Washington, DC after being laid off from a banking job in North Carolina (for those that don't know, I lived in DC from 1988 until 1995, and then again in 1999).   Will's family has its roots in North Carolina, Will's dad Bill was a Presbyterian minister, and they lived in Mocksville, half way between Winston-Salem and Charlotte.   Will went to Davidson for college, and then UNC for graduate school - his whole life up until 1989 was NC centric, and then he was laid off.   He used that fork in the road to move north, and in the 20+ years since built a great life in Washington initially for himself, and later with his partner Ray, that included a spectacular turn of the century row house in Adams Morgan, complete with a killer roof deck.  Over the years, Reinold and I have had a lot of good times with Will and Ray, they are two of our dearest friends.




My good buddy Will at Union Station in DC on Friday

I share all of this for context, because Will and Ray are in the process of leaving DC and moving to San Francisco - the beautiful house is sold, a swanky SF apartment is rented, Ray is already living there, and soon Will will have a California driver's license.    As this was his last summer in DC, he and I decided to retrace our steps of 20 years ago and come down to Raleigh to attend a fund raising event called the Crape Myrtle Festival, that raises money for HIV/AIDS support organizations in and around Raleigh/Durham/Chapel Hill.   20 years ago there was still significant social stigma about this health crisis in North Carolina, and very limited funding and public interest for support organizations.  The event was held outside in a field near Chapel Hill, we had a great time then, so we decided to retrace our steps (Ray and Reinold declined to join us...).   It is a testament to the evolution of our society that this modest organization has in two decades become a highly sophisticated, well supported institution - the event last night was held in the lobby of the Raleigh civic auditorium, a long way from the field of 20 years ago.

We had lots of fun at the party, had dinner Friday night with some old friends, and Will and I got to have some good catch up time over the past couple days.  On a sad note, a very good family friend of the Longs, Hugh, passed away last Monday, and Will had to make a day trip over to Winston-Salem for Hugh's funeral yesterday.   While he was gone, I entertained myself by walking around Raleigh and finding a new suit case (mine busted, and was not going to survive another airplane flight), Will was back in Raleigh around 7:30pm last night, and we headed to the event which was just down the street from the hotel.



Tom, Will and Will's friend Brooks at the Crape Myrtle party Saturday night



Tom and Brooks in the photo booth....

To get here,  rather than drive we elected to take the train down, and had a very funny trip Friday on a somewhat tired, packed Amtrak train called the Carolinian.   Seated behind us was a woman and her 3 year old son, who very early on into the trip started screaming.  When Will got up to see what was going on, his mother took offense, and began telling the little twerp he could cry and scream all he wanted to, because she had bought him his own ticket.   Will had the good sense to grovel and apologize to the woman, however that child babbled on incessantly for five hours, frequently saying "Have a candy" and repeating everything his mother was saying in her phone conversations.  "Have a candy" became a running joke line for the weekend.   Mom had frequent cell phone conversations with various suitors, family members, etc. - I felt as if I knew her personally by the time we got off in Raleigh (candy boy and mom continued on to Greensboro).

The view from the train was fascinating, we went through beautiful farm country, tobacco fields, old towns in various states of decline - very different from California.   Later this morning I continue the journey south to Charlotte on the train, and then rent a car and drive over to Greenville, South Carolina, where I am having dinner tonight with my in-laws.



View from back of the train on Friday                             Tobacco fields

On a botanical side note, the crape myrtle, for which the event last night is named after, is a beautiful bush/tree that grows all over the Southeast, thrives in the warmth and humidity, and in late July/early August blooms in shades of red, white, and purple.   I wish we could grow them in our yard in Alameda, alas I don't think a crape myrtle would enjoy the foggy summer mornings of the Bay Area.   One of many dividends of being down here this time of year is seeing these wonderful plants in full bloom.



The Crape Myrtle....

I just came back from the lobby, and said goodbye to Will, his train is at 10:20, mine is at 11:45, and the journey continues....   It has been 31 days since I wrapped up at Blue Shield, feels more like six months!   More on that subject later, stay tuned.

  Old Railway HQ building in Raleigh

 

 

North Carolina State Capitol with Polk/Jackson/Johnson statue

 

America Bound,via Deutschland

Birmingham Airport, July 25

Sitting comfortably in the Servisair lounge at Birmingham airport, off to Munich in an hour and 45 minutes, then on to Washington, DC.    The last three weeks have gone by very quickly, what an amazing 21 days, especially the adjacency to little George VII's arrival.   Had a great evening on Tuesday in London with Rob, Juliet and Carmen, at a cabaret/burlesque venue called Volupte.   The evening starts upstairs at the bar, you are then escorted downstairs to the dining area/stage.   The MC then comes out, along with a very talented and unconventional piano player, who entertain between burlesque acts and cabaret songs.   Dinner was very good, afterwards we hit a couple pubs, that were adorned with blue balloons for GVII, I then parted ways with them a bit after midnight and headed back to the hotel.

Apparently they continued to have fun, too much fun as it turns out based on the email conversation I had with Carmen yesterday morning (something about a headache, couldn't remember what time they got back to their hotel, etc., etc......).   I did another walk around the perimeter of Hyde Park, packed up, and was on an 11:43 train out of Euston for Birmingham.  Had a quiet afternoon, then went into the center of town, and walked over to Phil's office on George Street.  Birmingham is an interesting city - prior to world war II there was a lot of money in this town, based on manufacturing and trade, apparently there were some amazing examples of Georgian brick architecture  in offices, factories, etc.  Sadly, the Germans made waste of Birmingham, and nearby Coventry, during the war, and many of the old buildings in the city center were destroyed.   As a result, parts of Birmingham are a curious mix of post war/socialist/1950's blocks, and more recently very modern architecture.    New Street train station is undergoing a transformative renovation that will yield a beautiful transportation hub.  Phil's office is in an area that was spared in the bombing, and still has a fair number of old buildings.  We walked from there to a very good Italian restaurant (he had been their property agent in locating the space), and we sat outside and had a great dinner and long talk/catch up.   Afterwards he dropped me back at New Street Station, and I was back in my fancy (not really...) Novotel airport hotel room and asleep at 10pm.

On a side note, yesterday afternoon I watched an episode of a very clever BBC show, A Taste of my Life, where the BBC chef Nigel Slater interviews famous people about their lives, but uses food they remember from their past to create a story line in the interview.   In this episode, he was talking to Alan Bennett, who is the author of the play the History Boys, and Bennett recollected the post war period in the UK when food supplies were still rationed, things his mother prepared (lamb pie using scraps, simple custard pie with nutmeg on the top, etc.) - Slater then cooks the dish, and the two continue the interview eating the food.   The food acts as to bring forward more memories, and the conversation progresses from there.   Really cool show, will have to get the DVD's when I'm home in two weeks.

In any event, as promised,  here's the UK top 10:

#10:  The assorted characters I talked to in their canal barges near Foxton
#9:    Watching the Jackson boys consume vast platters of grilled sausages and burgers
#8:    Juliet's fascination with my pronunciation of aluminum (in the UK, they mispronounce it as alewmineeum...)
#7:    Playing ping pong with Louise at Western Farm
#6:    Picking up Pip at cricket in Great Bowden, and having a very engaging conversation with him on the way home about many various topics, including sexism (not bad for a fellow who is only 12...)
#5:    Christening of the great dining hall at Western Farm on Saturday night
#4:    Sunday lunch at Fox's Den
#3:    Canal walks and sunsets from the deck in Foxton
#2:    Godson and Godfather banter
#1:    George VII arrival and the masses of crazy people, including me, assembled at St. Mary's Hospital

No pics today, will post some more UK photos from either DC or Raleigh in the next day or so.   Special kudos to Caroline and Phil, who over the years have provided wonderful hospitality to me and my family (Caroline, we need you to declare your US travel date...) during many memorable and enjoyable trips.   Off to Munich for two hours, then a hop across the pond where Will will be waiting for me at Dulles Airport.   Stay tuned.

Oh, and Sandra fear not, three bags of Walkers Crisps are on the chair next to me, with your name written all over them. :)

Out of the Country, Into the City, Royal Baby

London, July 23

It is the day after the royal birth, what a scene....

But more on that later.   My Midland's country retreat sadly ended yesterday.   Saturday was spent with the Jacksons, Greg, Louise, and the Jackson's neighbors formally blessing the new addition of the Jackson home in Peatling Magna.   When I say new, it is kind of new, in that it is a gradual construction project that will double the size of their home on Western Farm.   This has been Caroline's project for over two years, and it is getting close to finished, she believes it will be fully functional by December, in time for Christmas dinner.   Dinner was a combo of grilled tuna/sword fish, sausages and burgers, accompanied by some great vegetable dishes, and some awesome European wines Phil acquired earlier in the day from his wine merchant in Birmingham.   George Jackson has just wrapped up the English equivalent of high school, and is taking a gap year, during which he hopes to land a cooking job at a ski resort in France or Italy.   In preparation for that, he has taken an interest in cooking, and it seems as if he may have a natural culinary skill - he prepped the fish and helped grill, the marinade on both fish were outstanding.    We had lots of laughs and fun.  George then kindly offered to drive Louise, Greg and me back to Foxton, where the evening ended around midnight.



Louise, Tom, Caroline in the emerging kitchen....

Sunday I hosted lunch, which in the UK is essentially a big end of week meal, more like a dinner event but at 2pm.   In addition to the five Jacksons and Greg/Louise, Caroline's brother Rob, his girl friend Juliet and their friend Carmen from Romania joined us, last guests left around 8pm.   I then proceeded to clean up the cottage, do a load of laundry, and finally hit the hay around 10pm.




Juliet, Tom and Carmen at Foxton Locks





Sunday Lunch Crowd, from left to right:  Rob, Juliet, Louise, Greg, Phil, George, Caroline, Carmen




Cottage on the last day....

The weather here has been highly variable.   All last week it was hot and humid during the day, but cool and pleasant, almost chilly, at night.    Saturday and Sunday were cloudy and cool, I woke up yesterday to a very foggy scene that looked more like October than July.   By the time I got down to London, it was 93F or 34C, very humid, felt like I was in Washington DC!    Last night there were big thunder storms, today it is much cooler.

I packed up and rolled out of Foxton around 9:30, dropped off the borrowed pots and utensils at the Jacksons, and was on the train from Birmingham to London by about 11:45.   As I assume all of you know, the royal baby emerged yesterday at 4:24pm approximately, although that wasn't confirmed until later in the evening, however I am pleased to boast that I was standing at St. Mary's hospital at 4:24pm yesterday with the masses and press, enjoying what could only be described as setting for a Fellini style movie.   There was one fellow who had been camped out there for a week, determined to be adjacent to the hospital when the child arrived.   Another woman had baked a cake, and held noble aspirations of delivering it to the royal couple as a gift (the cake by 5pm in the heat looked kind of pathetic, but her spirit was infectious).   Most of you know that I tend to disdain these kind of things, however I really enjoyed hanging out there yesterday, watching the journalists from all over the world try and occupy their time waiting, talking to an Italian reporter about why an American would be interested in this (he was from Milan, if you get that paper, I may be quoted...), and helping two young Australian guys on holiday position themselves strategically in front of the ABC (that's Australian Broadcasting Company) crew and cameras in hopes their parents would see them on the evening news.

They say it may be a week before we know the young fellow's name, I was hoping for Thomas, but I think that wish may be in the same category as that wonderful woman's cake!

Bench where the fellow who had camped out for a week (also pictured, he's wearing the Union Jack themed outfit) slept....

NBC news cameras, and board where they had a football type pool betting on birth date, time and names...and the masses gathered to await the blessed event outside of St. Mary's hospital

I'm staying near Marble Arch, off of Oxford street, with some great shopping opportunities (Reinold please note that I have applied restraint, sort of....you'll see when I get home), and just down the street a really good Indian restaurant that is based on the food cart scene in Delhi and Mumbai, had an amazing meal last night, then walked around in steamy London before calling it a night.    The Doubletree Marble Arch, where I am staying, is recently renovated, with amazing central A/C, it would otherwise be fairly miserable sleeping here.

Today I had a lazy morning, went down for breakfast, exchanged something I bought at Marks and Spencer, and will likely head over to Hyde Park this afternoon.   Tonight, Rob, Juliet and Carmen are coming into London, and have invited me to join them at a cabaret/burlesque dinner venue called Volupte, should be lots of fun.   Tomorrow its back up to Birmingham and dinner with Phil, then Thursday I head out to Washington, DC to meet up with Will.

On a closing note, some have asked me if I have disengaged from the various emotions associated with my wrap up at Blue Shield, and if I am fretting/worried about what's next, etc.   As far as disengaging, it got started in Australia, however I think that moment completely arrived on a canal walk Friday morning, and I have been blissfully enjoying it ever since.   As far as what comes next, I am curiously not concerned, and am kind of excited about the possibilities, while enjoying an extended break.   I find inspiration in my Dad, who in the mid 1970's had the courage to get out of a job he didn't like, and find a situation that he enjoyed professionally, and gave him the time he wanted with his family.  He landed well, I intend to mimic his navigation!

That's it for now, next entry the UK Top 10, stay tuned....