Party Time!

You could not ask for lovelier weather! What a day!

I finished the shopping for the party early this morning and started making the food for the party before Brian and Jen got up this morning. (Yes, as those of you who know me, I am a morning person. I tend to get up well before sunrise.)

After a light breakfast (what they call in the UK, the continental breakfast – fruit, yogurt, toast, cereals, coffee and juice) Brian and I went out to get the beer, while Jen (what a sweet person) decided to vacuum for me! (Once again, Jen, that was really not necessary!)

Later this morning, after we had gotten all the preparations accomplished, Brian did an evil thing to me. He convinced me to do something I wanted to do but was unable to justify doing. He told me it was “a guy thing so go ahead – you know you want to.” So I ran out to the electronics store shortly before the party and bough the wireless speakers I wanted to buy – I had been thinking about it for weeks but kept convincing myself not to buy them. I spent the first half-hour after my guests started arriving getting them all hooked-up.

Lucy

The party was lovely. I think we had about twenty-five people all-told show up. Saga was her own bad self and kept begging people to give her the odd carrot, bit of cheese, anything that she could con them out of. There was plenty of beer and food and everyone seemed to have a great time.

After the guests left, Brian and Jen and Kathi and I stayed-up to play a game of taboo. I do not know who pasted the score sheet to the ‘fridge showing that Kathi and I had won two of the three games we played. Later, we retired to the living room with our coffee and sat up late chatting. What a lovely day. You could not have asked for better.

I hope you are having a lovely day wherever you are!

Don Bergquist – 23-April-2005 – Lakewood, Colorado

Arrival

There is nothing I enjoy more than entertaining. Any of you who know me well will know this, of course. I may spend way too much time worrying-out the details of the visit, preparing for company (or the party, or whatever), and wondering if I have done everything I could to get ready for my guests, but it is always fun when they arrive and I get to enjoy the company of friends, family, etc.

This weekend my newly reorganized guest room gets it official first guests.

My friends from the United Kingdom, Brian and Jennifer have come to visit as they are traveling across the country. After regaling me with stories of their travel adventures (and misadventures – snow, sleet, rain, hail, and fog – Ah! Springtime in the Rockies!) of the past few days, we all turned-in to ready ourselves for a full weekend.

Jennifer & Brian at Lair 'O The Bear

They will be with me for a few days and are enjoying the cooks tour of Colorado. Today I took them around the lariat loop drive (I definitely suggest it to anyone who is visiting my area of the world! It is a lovely drive that really shows off why I love to live here!) with stops at the Red Rocks Amphitheatre, Lair ‘o The Bear Park, and Buffalo Bill’s Grave Site. Tomorrow I will be holding my annual Spring party and expect about twenty people. Sunday we are off to the summit of Pike’s Peak by way of the cog railway.

It is sure to be a lovely trip!

I hope you are having a lovely day wherever you are!

Don Bergquist – 22-April-2005 – Lakewood, Colorado

Springtime in the Rocies

It is a beautiful day in the Rockies, well…

Okay, I'm actually located in the Denver Piedmont. In addition, technically it is not that great a day either. It has been snowing since very early this morning. They have been saying on the news all day that they expect it to dump thirty inches of snow on us before it decides to move on.

When I first took the dog out early this morning, Saga looked at me as if I had personally placed all this snow there to annoy her. (She does not like cold or wet… today is just not her day!)

Snow on the Blossoms

I decided to document the day for everyone. So, please feel free to follow the link above to see more pictures. I went out all day, every hour to see what the changes are.

It is amazing that I never believed my dad when he used to talk about having to crawl out the second story window to get to Easter mass. I guess it goes to prove that not all the stories my dad tells have been embellished. (But I'll still accuse him of it… it's more fun that way!)

I hope that today finds you warm and dry and safe an comfy. I think I will go make a cup of cocoa and watch the snow falling as the sun sets on this wintry day.

Have a great day!

Don Bergquist – Lakewood, Colorado – 10, April, 2005

Home Again! Home Again! Jiggety-Jig!

I believe I have mentioned that I love to go to the United Kingdom. I do not want any of the wonderful people that I have met there to, for a moment, believe that I am less than thrilled to see them when I am there or that the time I get to spend over there is not wonderful. But the truth is that I love getting home and spending time here.

My old friends, my home, my car, and my dog are all here. As much as I love going across the Atlantic to the home of the Full English Breakfast, it is nice to wake up, brew coffee, check my email, and take the dog for an early morning walk in the park. I mean really nice! There is nothing like the reaction I get from Saga when I come through the door after a trip.

That is not to say that I want all my friends from the pub to act like Saga; jump up, wag their tales, whimper with utter joy, and cover me in kisses when I walk through the door. (Well, okay, a couple of you maybe… but you'll have to guess who you are!)

I arrived late last night. It was a lovely night. There were a sky full of stars, and it was a warm and placid night. The clemency of the weather almost made-up for the fact that my plane was late and that my luggage was delayed. I got back home and schlepped the luggage in; threw a pair of jeans and a shirt in the laundry for today and collapsed. It was then that Saga decided to let me know that she had to go out. We took a long, starlit march through the park. She wanted to go play with the coyotes. I think not!

Oh well, It is time for me to get to work.

I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Don Bergquist – 28-March-2005 – Lakewood, Colorado

Happy Easter!

There are advantages to showing-up at the airport really early! I arrived at the counter about three hours before my flight this morning and was told that because the flight was overbooked, they had only center seats for me on the flight. The woman behind the counted took one look at me and said that she could probably do better and handed me a boarding pass but told me to check at the counter when I got there.

I got there and there was another boarding pass waiting. They bumped me up to executive class plus. It is not quite business class, but it is quite nice here!

I have my own video screen with games on it… not that I am planning on taking advantage of that. I have three books with me for the flight. I have a wider seat… they are six across in this area instead of nine across in coach. But the best part is that I have a good three inches more leg room than I would have back behind the blue curtain! I walked back there (doing a circuit walk of the plane to stretch my legs) a while back and it is exactly as I remember it from my trip to the UK.

Well, I finished one of the books I brought with me and am sure I will finish the second somewhere along the southern coast of Greenland. I think I may watch one of the movie offerings when they start again. Ninety minutes down, seven hours to go!

I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Don Bergquist – 27-March-2005 – Somewhere over the Atlantic

Dr. Who

Yes, the cult classic is back!

Some friends from the pub invited me into Richmond to watch the premier this evening with them. Never the one to show-up empty handed, I brought some cheeses, some crackers, and some bread. It was a lovely evening.

We chatted for a while, about old music, old episodes of Dr. Who and American television. It was wonderful. Around 19:00, we turned on the Television to watch the show. It is more compact than the old episodes I remember. The show this evening had the entire problem resolved in 45 minutes as opposed to the old four-part episodes with cliffhangers at the end of the first three and the wrap-up on the fourth week.

I like it. The TARDIS is updated and the reaction when Rose walks into it for the first time is, perhaps, the best acted reaction that I have ever seen. Where as most side-kicks look around in awe when they first walk in, Rose walked in, did a wonderful double-take; she then backed out of the TARDIS in terror, ran around the callbox outside telegraphing beautifully how perplexed she was that it was bigger on the inside then on the outside. She runs back in only when being chased by a creature.

Afterward we talked about our thoughts on the new Doctor and how the updates played. It was late when I headed home. My host graciously offered to walk me to the bus stop but I am independent, and with the light rain that is now falling, I thanked him for the offer and we parted on the walk outside his home.

I am now on the bus for the 45-minute ride back to Hampton Court a noisy altercation was occurring at the last stop and a (Drunk? Stoned? Just fricking obnoxious?) person just stormed onto the bus. She flipped off her (Friend? Lover? Enemy? John?) person who she was arguing with and then stomped to the back of the bus where she has been sitting and kicking things noisily. The elderly couple across the aisle and I keep exchanging glances… What next?

Well, I guess I will sign-off now. I am on my way back to the hotel to pack. The time changes to GMT Summer Time tonight so I lose an hour this weekend. I lose another next weekend in Denver! Isn't travel fun?

I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Don Bergquist – 26-March-2005 – Somewhere along the Thames, United Kingdom

Bank Holiday

Today is a bank holiday here in the UK. It is Good Friday.

I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are! I have been up since 06:00 (because I am in the habit now) and have worked on some paperwork and documentation that I needed to complete before returning.

It is almost noon so I am thinking of taking off and heading over to The Kings Arms for a bite of lunch and then head into town for some sight seeing. It is my last weekend in the UK and I need to do something to celebrate and to make the memories last.

Have a great day!

Don Bergquist – 25-March-2005 – Hampton Court, United Kingdom

Curry Dinner

There are three things I have learned this trip.

1) It is obligatory to have at least one curry dinner whilst in England.
2) All curry is not created equal.
3) The pictures taken in low light by my PDA leave something to be desired.

On the last issue, the food looks much more appetizing than it appears in the pictures at the link above. Also, I do not appear that pasty usually. Oh, and you can tell how off the pictures are… the shirt I am wearing in this picture and the picture that is currently in my profile (to the right).

Dinner at The Rose

That being said, last night I had my obligatory curry dinner at The Rose here in Thames Ditton. I am told that curry is now the number one ethnic food in the UK. It is rapidly replacing meat pies (such as steak and kidney pie) as the national dish.

The conversation was good, we talked very little business and had a good time. The curry itself, sad to say, was uninspiring. It was all good, but the dish spiced with chili was not very spicy, the one that was in the cream sauce was a bit too sweet, and the one that was based on lamb was a bit greasy. Good thing the conversation was sparkling… it saved the meal.

Tomorrow is a bank holiday here. I will be going to the palace for a tour this weekend and then packing for my return trip and watching Dr. Who on Saturday. I will post my entries upon return to the states next week. Have a great weekend!

I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Don Bergquist – 24-March-2005 – Thames Ditton, United Kingdom

Sunset Over the Thames

Last night as I was entering the palace grounds on my way home to the hotel, I chanced to look behind me (up the Thames) and noticed that the sun had come from behind the clouds. It was a nice sunset. Unfortunately, all I had with me was my PDA which takes fair but not really good pictures.

Sunset Over the Thames

It puts me in mind of the fact that tomorrow is the last day I will be here testing on the current project. We have had great luck on the testing and the project is due to be finished on-time. Since Friday is a holiday here I will not be able to post an entry after tomorrow’s until I return home. I will, however, write them and load them up as soon as I can. So keep checking back.

It will be a good weekend here. There is a bank holiday on both Friday and Monday so we will be having a long weekend. There is a fun faire being held at the palace grounds (ell, actually in a park across the street from the palace but…) in Hampton Court, and I am going to be visiting the palace again on Friday or Saturday.

Saturday night I have been invited over to the home of one of my friends from the pub to watch the first episode of the new Dr. Who series that is starting on BBC 1, and when I return to my hotel afterward it is to pack and prepare to head to the airport.

It has been a productive trip but I am looking forward to getting home. I wonder if Saga has missed me…

I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Don Bergquist – 23-March-2005 – Thames Ditton, United Kingdom

The Motorways

It is raining and miserable today. It is good to note that people here drive no better in the rain than people everywhere else that I have lived. I have no idea why a little water falling from the sky seems to completely flummox some people. Do they forget how to drive? Or is it, perhaps, that they think that with the rain falling nobody will see the stupid things that they do?

I guess that this tirade was rough-on by my trip to Basingstoke this morning. I had a morning full of meetings to attend in our office in Basingstoke, a trip, I am led to understand should have taken us about half the time we actually took to get there. The traffic on the A309 from Thames Ditton to Hampton Court Palace was bumper-to-bumper and absolutely crawled. We turned south on the A309 at Hampton Court and went to the A3 motorway to head east into Basingstoke. Once on the motorway, it was a fairly easy trip, but getting to the motorway was a real trial.

I did, however, learn some interesting things this week about the motorways. They are approximately the same age as the Interstate system in the United States and contrary to the theory that I had developed last year on my first visit here, there is some rhyme or reason to the striping on the motorways. It is not as intuitive (I believe) than the striping on US highways, but it is, nonetheless, there. Here is a brief primer of what I have learned:

1) The striping between lanes going the same direction (the white lines on US Highways) is narrower than the striping between lanes going in opposite directions.

2) The striping that runs between lanes going in opposite directions is thick.

3) Like in the US, where there are two lines between lanes present, you cannot cross the line if there is a solid line on your side of the double set.

4) The length and frequency of the lines between lanes has a meaning. If the lines are close together and long, you are meant to give way (yield to the opposite lane) when crossing the line. If they are far apart and short, they are only an indication that you have two lanes and that they are both headed the same direction.

So, all you foreigners out there, be sure to bring a ruler with you if you plan on driving over here… you’ll need it!

I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Don Bergquist – 22-March-2005 – Thames Ditton, United Kingdom

Staying Up Late

This weekend, my friend the publican and his wife had their going away party. I think that it is partly because I am in the wrong time zone and party because I was up discussing politics, but for some reason I was up ‘til well after 01:00 each evening this weekend. Even last night I was up late… this is so unlike me. Luckily, I slept like the dead when I did get to bed so I was able to recover and keep going.

I do remember when I could stay up ‘til all hours every night. In the early days of my career, I remember being in the television studio until the wee-small hours. But then, I guess I got to go home and sleep all day when I did that!

I did a lot of walking this weekend. Looking for a book to read on the plane, and looking around London. It was fun but tiring. My trip here is now half over and I am beginning to realize that to do all the things I want to do I will have to burn the candle at both ends.

By the way, for those of you who are Dr. Who fans, There is a new series of Dr. Who starting this Saturday. You know I’ll be watching BBC this Saturday night!

I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Don Bergquist – 21-March-2005 – Thames Ditton, United Kingdom

Bushy Park

Two days could not be more different! (I guess they could, but it was a better start to the piece if I practice a bit of exaggeration. )


A Tropical Path in the Woodland Gardens

The day dawned a bit cold and overcast. Not actually cold enough to want to wear a jacket, but cold enough to want to wear a sweatshirt as I took my morning walk. The overcast does have its advantages, though. It is perfec lighting for some portraiture. Of course, my portraits will be of the flora in the gardens, but still...

Today I visited a secret of the people in the know. A hidden treasure right in the middle of Surrey! Last night at the pub, one of my acquaintances suggested that I go to the Woodland Gardens in Bushy Park. The hotel I am staying in (at least the main building of it) backs onto Bushy Park. The Mews (where my room is) actually backs onto The Wilderness.

He gave me directions and suggested that I go early (before the crowds… not that it was ever really crowded.) So right after breakfast this morning, I grabbed my cameras and headed over to the park and sought-out the woodland gardens. What a find!

There are lovely wooded paths that wind through woodlands under planted with daffodils; gnarled and knotted trees that remind me of mangroves (although they are not growing in knee-deep water) and the biggest surprise of all, a walk through what is essentially, a tropical garden. Be sure to follow the link and see all the pictures from this lovely corner of Surrey!

I took pictures of the Palmettos and Spanish Bayonets, the Azaleas, and the Primroses. There are also animals; ducks, foxes, pheasants, and swans. I hope you can enjoy the pictures and get a feeling of the gardens. But, let’s keep this a secret! I would hate to have everyone know about this place. It would ruin it to be packed.

I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Don Bergquist – 20-March-2005 – Thames Ditton, United Kingdom

Walking to Work

I decided today to take you to work with me. I know that there is a slight problem with this in that you cannot actually walk to work with me, but I have a solution! I am going to take a picture every hundred steps along the way from my hotel, the Lion Gate Hotel in Hampton Court, to the offices of Harris Corporation in the Ferry Works, Thames Ditton.

Ferry Works at Thames Ditton

In the pictures (at the link above) you will see a number of shots taken along the way to the office. When I set-out, I had intended to take a picture every 100 steps. Unfortunately, I think I forgot to take one every 100 steps and I got distracted going through The Wilderness and wanted to take some pictures.

Today was absolutely gorgeous! It was bright and sunny and about sixty-five. The outside tables at the King’s Arms pub were already full as I walked past it on the way through the Lion Gate.

I stopped to take a picture of the tracks as they cross summer road because I liked the way the disappeared off into the distance. It was a busy day at the sport ground with a bunch of the local kids playing soccer or rugby or something.

That being said, it is off to the office.

On the way to the office we start-out crossing the yard at The Mews at the Lion Gate Inn in Hampton Court. The day is sunny and warm and the sky is absolutely blue and clear. Rounding the wall around The Mews courtyard, we get to the Lion Gate. I took a number of pictures of the columns and the gate before entering The Wilderness.

By the way, you’ll notice in a number of these pictures some vignetting. Unfortunately, this is caused by the inclusion of three filters that I had on the front of the camera. I should have taken one of them off, but I didn’t see the vignetting as I was taking the pictures. Oh well.

As mentioned, I decided to take some time and some pictures in The Wilderness before continuing on to the office so there are a number of pictures of the daffodils and other flowers in the garden. I also took a number of self portraits. I am not really happy with any of them, but I decided when I started this blog that I would upload all the photos I am taking – even the bad ones – so that you could see the process of taking pictures the way I do. Having tarried a while, I continue south, through the tilting yard and past the castle itself.

Spring in Bloom

I am assuming that the ball-shaped foreign vegetation growing high in some of the trees on the palace grounds is mistletoe.

Exiting the castle grounds on the south side, I walk along the Thames River for a short piece, and then turn left and walk along the A309 though East Molesey to Summer Road. This stretch is a bit the longest, most boring stretch of the walk.

Once on Summer Road, I head east back toward the Thames and into the village of Thames Ditton. I walk past the narrow street with too many cars parked on them and up to the Ferry Works, where the office is located. The Ferry Works is in an old factory that at the turn of the last century was in the business of making parts for the ferries that ran all up-and-down the Thames. There is a cool view of the roofline that shows the serrated line of the roof with the huge banks of windows.

On the way back, I spotted something that took me aback. If this is what it appears to be, it is the largest Spanish Bayonet that I have ever seen! I had not expected to see tropical plants in England; I had thought this was a temperate climate rather than a tropical one. Well, it is lunchtime and I am off to the pub for a bight and then into Surbiton for some shopping. More on this gorgeous weekend tomorrow.

I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!

Don Bergquist – 19-March-2005 – Thames Ditton, United Kingdom