I have just re-read the posting from last night. I do not mean to dwell on it, but some people are really tossers!
Today is my last day here for the trip. I leave for the US early Saturday morning. Today I have meetings scheduled for most of the day and when not in meetings I have a lot of projects to complete. This will be a short entry but I will write a nice one on the plane on my way home.
I am looking forward to getting home to my friends, all the people who are special to me back home, my home, my car, my dog, everything that makes my life at home what it is. I love coming here, do not get me wrong. I just love going home too. I wish there were some way I could take everything and every one that makes this place so special to me back to Denver with me. But then, there would be some other place to fuel my wanderlust. I have always been someone who needs to travel periodically.
One last thanks then to those of you who extend your kindness and hospitality to me on my travels here and everywhere else! To those of you back home, please remember, you are what makes it home! I'll see you all soon.
I hope that wherever you are and wherever you are going you find people who make the journey worthwhile!
Don Bergquist - 13-May-2005 - Thames Ditton
13 May 2005
12 May 2005
Birthday Greetings
This evening I was invited to a birthday celebration from one of my friends from the pub.
What a great country! With the exception of a notable few, everyone here has been so friendly and polite! After such a short association with the people I have met, to be invited to celebrate an auspicious event as if we were old friends makes me feel really special. I thank everyone who has been so kind to me in my time here in the UK. Thank you for making me feel at home!
So, now, back at the hotel after the birthday celebration I want to make sure that I extend one last set of birthday greetings to Stephen. Happy Birthday, guy and thanks for inviting me to the party. Many happy returns of the day! Not everyone would have invited me to take part in their celbration. Let's face it, some people are just not cool.
To those of you who are, in the words of your countrymen, complete wankers I have only this to say: Get a clue!
Those of you who have been following my blog since December may remember the post I made back then about the two rude people I met on the road to Kingston. At least they were ambiguously rude. There were ways, in some alternate reality, that what they said to me could have been taken as other than an insult. I now have no doubt that there were truly unspeakably rude people here.
One of the people at the party, granted one that has a tendency to become too drunk too often and is not at all a happy drunk, made a comment that could be taken no way as anything other than unspeakably rude and confrontational. Luckily, everyone else at the party was cool and pretty much ignored this person who, as I said can best be described as a wanker. The epiphyte "tosser" is also appropriate. But now I am slipping into wankerism.
Well, I guess I had best complete this entry and get to packing. Tomorrow is my last day here on this trip and I have an early Saturday flight so I will want to get packed so I can spend some time with people at the pub tomorrow night.
I hope wherever you are today your day is relatively wanker free!
Don Bergquist - 12-May-2005 - Hampton Court
What a great country! With the exception of a notable few, everyone here has been so friendly and polite! After such a short association with the people I have met, to be invited to celebrate an auspicious event as if we were old friends makes me feel really special. I thank everyone who has been so kind to me in my time here in the UK. Thank you for making me feel at home!
So, now, back at the hotel after the birthday celebration I want to make sure that I extend one last set of birthday greetings to Stephen. Happy Birthday, guy and thanks for inviting me to the party. Many happy returns of the day! Not everyone would have invited me to take part in their celbration. Let's face it, some people are just not cool.
To those of you who are, in the words of your countrymen, complete wankers I have only this to say: Get a clue!
Those of you who have been following my blog since December may remember the post I made back then about the two rude people I met on the road to Kingston. At least they were ambiguously rude. There were ways, in some alternate reality, that what they said to me could have been taken as other than an insult. I now have no doubt that there were truly unspeakably rude people here.
One of the people at the party, granted one that has a tendency to become too drunk too often and is not at all a happy drunk, made a comment that could be taken no way as anything other than unspeakably rude and confrontational. Luckily, everyone else at the party was cool and pretty much ignored this person who, as I said can best be described as a wanker. The epiphyte "tosser" is also appropriate. But now I am slipping into wankerism.
Well, I guess I had best complete this entry and get to packing. Tomorrow is my last day here on this trip and I have an early Saturday flight so I will want to get packed so I can spend some time with people at the pub tomorrow night.
I hope wherever you are today your day is relatively wanker free!
Don Bergquist - 12-May-2005 - Hampton Court
11 May 2005
The Bell
This evening I went to a pub in East Molesey that is too cool!
The Bell is a wonderful old building on a quiet back street across from a church. The really interesting thing about it, though, is it looks as if it is frozen in time; caught half way through complete collapse. The walls slant, the floor tilts, there are no truly square windows. The slant is not great in any single surface, but the net effect is incredible. It is just enough to notice, not enough to really be worrying.
I am certain if the building were really falling down and dangerous it would be condemned, or perhaps made a landmark and preserved. I am told that the way to tell you have had a pint too many at The Bell is when the walls and floor look normal, it is time for you to leave. When it was described to me I thought it would be like a carnival funhouse. It was fun but it was no funhouse.
Afterward we went out for Curry. It was a pleasant evening. On the whole, what a nice group of people I have fallen-in with here in the United Kingdom.
I hope wherever you are is as pleasant!
Don Bergquist - 11-May-2005 - Hampton Court
The Bell is a wonderful old building on a quiet back street across from a church. The really interesting thing about it, though, is it looks as if it is frozen in time; caught half way through complete collapse. The walls slant, the floor tilts, there are no truly square windows. The slant is not great in any single surface, but the net effect is incredible. It is just enough to notice, not enough to really be worrying.
I am certain if the building were really falling down and dangerous it would be condemned, or perhaps made a landmark and preserved. I am told that the way to tell you have had a pint too many at The Bell is when the walls and floor look normal, it is time for you to leave. When it was described to me I thought it would be like a carnival funhouse. It was fun but it was no funhouse.
Afterward we went out for Curry. It was a pleasant evening. On the whole, what a nice group of people I have fallen-in with here in the United Kingdom.
I hope wherever you are is as pleasant!
Don Bergquist - 11-May-2005 - Hampton Court
10 May 2005
I am a Rain God!
I suffer from no delusions of mediocrity. I know myself to be in charge of the weather. There is no need for shock and awe, anyone able to call forth a change in the weather at will and do so repeatedly is a weather god. I came to this realization this Sunday at the pub over drinks. (C’mon! You just had to know that there was alcohol involved in this story.)
After the parade and the afternoon at the park, the group of us returned to take turns wearing historic military hats. Well, during this time the occasion arose to use one of the quotes from a movie that I use rather a lot, really: “It could be worse, it could be raining.” And within seconds, it was raining.
No, seriously! The pub, which was crowded to begin with, was suddenly absolutely jam packed because people were dashing in and they were dripping. We all looked out at it and it was pouring. “Sorry.” I said, “I thought you wanted the rain here. You were complaining about the drought.” They jokingly made comments about how the rain was entirely my fault and so I played along and said that if they didn’t like the rain I’d just make it stop. And again, within a minute, stop it did.
We all just laughed it off and later as one of the gang was getting up to leave I said that they had better stay for another round or I would make it rain again. I swear that I am not making this up but, rain again it did! As I was saying it it started coming down again. My hand which was pointing out the window dropped and I turned back to the crowded table and said “do not displease the rain god or he will bring forth the hail.”
As an aside – Treavor, the new publican, asked me last night if I had been caught-out in the hail Sunday. He said he looked out the window about seven o’clock and there were ice pellets in the planter outside the kitchen window. He had been in the kitchen all day Sunday and didn’t know that we had spent most of the later part of the afternoon there. So, unless Angie, Bev, Kevin, Paul or Terry told him about the freaky coincidences that I am now relating to you, he had no reason to make-up the hail so I am guessing it actually did hail.
Everyone at the table now was a bit taken aback by the fact that I seemed to be causing weather changes by simply pointing out the window and mentioning the kind of weather that I wanted. They all asked me to make it warm and sunny. I told them that unless the pleased the rain god he would call forth S – N – O – W. They all told me to put the finger away and quit showing off. So I said “Sunny and warm” and pointed out the window.
It really is easy being a rain god if you, from where you are sitting can depend on bands of rain and sun to be passing over with some regularity. Sometimes you get lucky. Or perhaps I am a rain god.
I hope the weather where you are is pleasant; if not, let’s see what I can do about it!
Don Bergquist – 10-May-2005 – Thames Ditton
After the parade and the afternoon at the park, the group of us returned to take turns wearing historic military hats. Well, during this time the occasion arose to use one of the quotes from a movie that I use rather a lot, really: “It could be worse, it could be raining.” And within seconds, it was raining.
No, seriously! The pub, which was crowded to begin with, was suddenly absolutely jam packed because people were dashing in and they were dripping. We all looked out at it and it was pouring. “Sorry.” I said, “I thought you wanted the rain here. You were complaining about the drought.” They jokingly made comments about how the rain was entirely my fault and so I played along and said that if they didn’t like the rain I’d just make it stop. And again, within a minute, stop it did.
We all just laughed it off and later as one of the gang was getting up to leave I said that they had better stay for another round or I would make it rain again. I swear that I am not making this up but, rain again it did! As I was saying it it started coming down again. My hand which was pointing out the window dropped and I turned back to the crowded table and said “do not displease the rain god or he will bring forth the hail.”
As an aside – Treavor, the new publican, asked me last night if I had been caught-out in the hail Sunday. He said he looked out the window about seven o’clock and there were ice pellets in the planter outside the kitchen window. He had been in the kitchen all day Sunday and didn’t know that we had spent most of the later part of the afternoon there. So, unless Angie, Bev, Kevin, Paul or Terry told him about the freaky coincidences that I am now relating to you, he had no reason to make-up the hail so I am guessing it actually did hail.
Everyone at the table now was a bit taken aback by the fact that I seemed to be causing weather changes by simply pointing out the window and mentioning the kind of weather that I wanted. They all asked me to make it warm and sunny. I told them that unless the pleased the rain god he would call forth S – N – O – W. They all told me to put the finger away and quit showing off. So I said “Sunny and warm” and pointed out the window.
It really is easy being a rain god if you, from where you are sitting can depend on bands of rain and sun to be passing over with some regularity. Sometimes you get lucky. Or perhaps I am a rain god.
I hope the weather where you are is pleasant; if not, let’s see what I can do about it!
Don Bergquist – 10-May-2005 – Thames Ditton
09 May 2005
Hats
It has been said that a man wears many hats in his lifetime. If this is the case, then Kevin is more prepared than usual for life.
Kevin is a mate of mine from down at the King’s Arms. He is the one that got me into a bobby’s helmet at the parade yesterday. I had not actually ever thought about getting a bobby to let me put on his helmet until Kevin said to me “Do you want a picture of yourself with a real bobby’s helmet on?” What does one say to that?
I am fairly certain that every tourist would love to have such a picture but how many of us (at least how many of us with manners) would walk up to a stranger (even one in uniform – or should that be especially one in uniform) and ask to put on their hat? I wouldn’t!
Anyway, Kevin asked the bobby at one of the booths that he knew if I could try on the helmet, Terry took the picture and here it is.
Self Portrait with Bobby Helmet
After we got back to the King’s Arms, we all got around a table where Kevin got out his duffle bag of hats. There were Russian military hats, US, UK, and German helmets, and a couple from China and North Korea. I guess all told there were about ten to pass around. We all put them on and took our pictures. Please follow the link above to find pictures of all of us.
I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!
Don Bergquist – 09-May-2005 – Hampton Court
Kevin is a mate of mine from down at the King’s Arms. He is the one that got me into a bobby’s helmet at the parade yesterday. I had not actually ever thought about getting a bobby to let me put on his helmet until Kevin said to me “Do you want a picture of yourself with a real bobby’s helmet on?” What does one say to that?
I am fairly certain that every tourist would love to have such a picture but how many of us (at least how many of us with manners) would walk up to a stranger (even one in uniform – or should that be especially one in uniform) and ask to put on their hat? I wouldn’t!
Anyway, Kevin asked the bobby at one of the booths that he knew if I could try on the helmet, Terry took the picture and here it is.
Self Portrait with Bobby Helmet
After we got back to the King’s Arms, we all got around a table where Kevin got out his duffle bag of hats. There were Russian military hats, US, UK, and German helmets, and a couple from China and North Korea. I guess all told there were about ten to pass around. We all put them on and took our pictures. Please follow the link above to find pictures of all of us.
I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!
Don Bergquist – 09-May-2005 – Hampton Court
08 May 2005
V E Day in Bushy Park
Today is the sixtieth anniversary of the Victory in Europe. One of my mates from the King’s Arms told me about a German Chancellor who is reported to have said to a reporter when asked about the pending celebrations: “It has been sixty years, get over it!”
The weather was gorgeous! We could not have asked for a lovelier day for the festivities. A group of us met up at the pub and went over into Bushy Park to see the parade. I guess I should be honest. It was not much of a parade. It was fun, but nothing spectacular. They had a number of people in period costume, old bicycles, and a marching band.
Victory in Europe Day as Celebrated in Bushy Park
They also had a number of cars and other army vehicles that did not fit the period of the 1940’s.
I took pictures of all the groups as they came past and will post them when I get to the office. But now I am off to try on various military hats that Kevin has brought to the pub.
I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!
Don Bergquist – 08-May-2005 – Hampton Court
The weather was gorgeous! We could not have asked for a lovelier day for the festivities. A group of us met up at the pub and went over into Bushy Park to see the parade. I guess I should be honest. It was not much of a parade. It was fun, but nothing spectacular. They had a number of people in period costume, old bicycles, and a marching band.
Victory in Europe Day as Celebrated in Bushy Park
They also had a number of cars and other army vehicles that did not fit the period of the 1940’s.
I took pictures of all the groups as they came past and will post them when I get to the office. But now I am off to try on various military hats that Kevin has brought to the pub.
I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!
Don Bergquist – 08-May-2005 – Hampton Court
07 May 2005
Saturday in the Parks
What a Saturday it has been! The weather was lovely. Like many days that I have been here, the clouds have hung over the city with the threat of rain. But today with the temperatures being mild, and the air relatively dry, rather than feeling oppressive and pendulous, the clouds have given a bit of an interesting sky texturing effect.
I grabbed my cameras early and headed over to Bushy Park, last seen in the throes of the springtime bulbs; it is now colorful with a host of new and interesting flowering plants. I walked the lawns loving the interplay of the light with the surrounding greens and browns of the earth and the trees. The shadows and the reindeer in the park played hide and seek among the lawns at the base of the trees.
In the woodland gardens, there was all quiet and solitude as I walked among the paths I had discovered on my last trip and rediscovered them as clothed in new and more colorful boughs. After walking for a few hours and taking many shots of the gardens, I decided to hunt-out a secluded spot and just meditate on the loveliness of the gardens. I believe that this may have been a mistake.
Bushy Park on a Cloudy Day
This afternoon, you see, I had planned to see the British Museum. I took the train into the city and, on the suggestion of a mate of mine from the pub; I changed to the Victoria tube line at Vauxhall. This was the last set of directions I was to get today that ended with my actually arriving at my intended goal. After alighting from the tube, I asked directions. By dint of following these, I became lost. So I stopped a bobby and asked for directions again. These I repeated and attempted to make sure I had them. The problem is that the part of London where the British Museum is located is not one that lends itself easily to navigation by out-of-towners. Apparently the locals have a time with it as well.
After walking for hours, I found myself in a lovely park with shady trees and benches. I decided to sit for a while and watch the children play. Unfortunately, my earlier relaxation had primed me for enjoying a quiet, contemplative, serene… Okay, I admit it!
I fell asleep. I was so relaxed (and tired) that I just sit there, comfortably reclined on the bench and slumped into slumber. I awoke around sunset and tramped back to the nearest tube stop I could find for the trip back to Hampton Court. By the time I arrived at the pub it was after ten and I had time only to say “Hi” to the few people still there, have a quick pint and head off to the hotel. Of course, my nap means that I am not ready for bed just yet so I have time to write in my blog.
I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!
Don Bergquist – 07-May-2005 – Hampton Court
I grabbed my cameras early and headed over to Bushy Park, last seen in the throes of the springtime bulbs; it is now colorful with a host of new and interesting flowering plants. I walked the lawns loving the interplay of the light with the surrounding greens and browns of the earth and the trees. The shadows and the reindeer in the park played hide and seek among the lawns at the base of the trees.
In the woodland gardens, there was all quiet and solitude as I walked among the paths I had discovered on my last trip and rediscovered them as clothed in new and more colorful boughs. After walking for a few hours and taking many shots of the gardens, I decided to hunt-out a secluded spot and just meditate on the loveliness of the gardens. I believe that this may have been a mistake.
Bushy Park on a Cloudy Day
This afternoon, you see, I had planned to see the British Museum. I took the train into the city and, on the suggestion of a mate of mine from the pub; I changed to the Victoria tube line at Vauxhall. This was the last set of directions I was to get today that ended with my actually arriving at my intended goal. After alighting from the tube, I asked directions. By dint of following these, I became lost. So I stopped a bobby and asked for directions again. These I repeated and attempted to make sure I had them. The problem is that the part of London where the British Museum is located is not one that lends itself easily to navigation by out-of-towners. Apparently the locals have a time with it as well.
After walking for hours, I found myself in a lovely park with shady trees and benches. I decided to sit for a while and watch the children play. Unfortunately, my earlier relaxation had primed me for enjoying a quiet, contemplative, serene… Okay, I admit it!
I fell asleep. I was so relaxed (and tired) that I just sit there, comfortably reclined on the bench and slumped into slumber. I awoke around sunset and tramped back to the nearest tube stop I could find for the trip back to Hampton Court. By the time I arrived at the pub it was after ten and I had time only to say “Hi” to the few people still there, have a quick pint and head off to the hotel. Of course, my nap means that I am not ready for bed just yet so I have time to write in my blog.
I hope you have a wonderful day wherever you are!
Don Bergquist – 07-May-2005 – Hampton Court
06 May 2005
...in the interest of fairness...
Here is a rare second entry in the interest of fairness.
A Pleasant Day Outside
There are some truly lovely days here in Thames Ditton. It is not oppressively foggy and overcast every time I look out my window. On lovely days like today, the warfside seating area at Ye Olde Swan (in the lower right-hand corner, just beyond that wall) fills-up fast.
It is really a lovely day out and although I do have work to do, I have to take just one more minute and wish I was next-door with a pint. Okay, a pint of Diet Coke... It is after all the middle of the day and I have a meeting starting in a few minutes.
I hope wherever you are you are having a great day!
Don Bergquist - 06-May-2005 - Gazing at the Thames from my office in Thames Ditton
A Pleasant Day Outside
There are some truly lovely days here in Thames Ditton. It is not oppressively foggy and overcast every time I look out my window. On lovely days like today, the warfside seating area at Ye Olde Swan (in the lower right-hand corner, just beyond that wall) fills-up fast.
It is really a lovely day out and although I do have work to do, I have to take just one more minute and wish I was next-door with a pint. Okay, a pint of Diet Coke... It is after all the middle of the day and I have a meeting starting in a few minutes.
I hope wherever you are you are having a great day!
Don Bergquist - 06-May-2005 - Gazing at the Thames from my office in Thames Ditton
__ U __ __ L E D
A busy day always seems to fly by. Conversely slow days are slow because you are not busy. I saw a science program at one point (I think it was a Nova episode called It’s About Time) that explained this phenomenon. I believe the explanation goes something like this:
When you are busy, your mind has no time to register time passing so when you are done with your day, your mind says “Wow, that day went fast!” When you’re not busy, your mind notes the passing of time far more often and after so many recognitions that time is passing, it gets to noticing that the time is not passing as fast as it does some time and you are left wondering if the day will ever end!
Today flew by. I had meetings to discuss the development that I am over in the UK doing, as well as meetings to discuss tangential duties I have. These last meetings were held by conference call with people back in the states so they were rather late in the day. Between the meetings, I had a couple writing assignments to complete and, oh yes, I snuck out to sit in the memorial garden at St. Nicholas’ church for a few minutes to eat some lunch. It is a lovely day out, as I notice every time I have a chance to look outside.
Nicely punctuating the day (and filling-in around the edges of some of the other projects I have had today) were the calls from one of my co-workers in this office.
“Don,” she said on one of these calls “I need a word that means: To Have Faith In.”
“Believe?” I asked?
“Okay.” She said, hanging-up.
Later, she called and needed the name of A Large Group. “Cherry Poppin’ Daddies?” I suggested. “No,” she said, “one word. Preferably a short one.”
“Oh, okay. How about swarm.”
“What is A Main Port in Yemen ending in an ‘N’?”
“Are you doing a crossword puzzle?” I asked (while quickly Googleing “main port in Yemen”)
“Ah…” Came the response “It’s a slow day.”
“According to Google it is Aden.”
I really didn’t mind the clues… I wish I had been able to do more of them, but it was a busy day. On the way back from lunch I did take time to help with a puzzle that I have never worked before. It was pretty cool, actually. They take a completed crossword puzzle and divide it into twenty five even pieces with three letters to a side (nine letters in each block) and then scramble the pieces. They then give you the clues for all the horizontal words (but none of the vertical ones) by line. So it might say:
Line One: The Queen’s Seat; Early Day
Line Two: Not Big
Line Three: Mosquito-Borne Illness; Wagner’s Work
You then have to find the correct square pieces in the jumble to fine one that on line one gives you both “Throne” and “Morning” while (without moving the five pieces after you have those words) also spelling “Minute” on line two and “Malaria” and “Composer” on line three. Additionally, the completed solution cannot have any additional words on those lines and must have blank spaces after and/or before the words as placed. To further confound you, there may be more than one block of nine spaces that will fit in any single place on the grid and give you valid horizontal words for the clues but not fit so that they spell valid words vertically. It is challenging. It took me about half-an-hour to get the twenty-five pieces of the puzzle into the correct orientation.
It was only later that I discovered that over here the book these puzzles came from offered cash prizes to people who successfully completed the puzzles. I told my coworker that I wanted a cut should they win anything.
Anyway, after my last meeting of the day I took a stroll back to the hotel and sat down to get a few things done. I have now, that I have finished all the final paperwork of the day, I can get my computer shutdown. I’ll post this when I next get online. For now, it’s time to get the heck out of here and go have…
Uh… what is a three letter word that means Fermented Alcoholic Beverage Containing Malt And Hops, Similar To But Heavier Than Beer?
I hope you have a great day wherever you are today!
Don Bergquist – 05-May-2005 – Hampton Court
When you are busy, your mind has no time to register time passing so when you are done with your day, your mind says “Wow, that day went fast!” When you’re not busy, your mind notes the passing of time far more often and after so many recognitions that time is passing, it gets to noticing that the time is not passing as fast as it does some time and you are left wondering if the day will ever end!
Today flew by. I had meetings to discuss the development that I am over in the UK doing, as well as meetings to discuss tangential duties I have. These last meetings were held by conference call with people back in the states so they were rather late in the day. Between the meetings, I had a couple writing assignments to complete and, oh yes, I snuck out to sit in the memorial garden at St. Nicholas’ church for a few minutes to eat some lunch. It is a lovely day out, as I notice every time I have a chance to look outside.
Nicely punctuating the day (and filling-in around the edges of some of the other projects I have had today) were the calls from one of my co-workers in this office.
“Don,” she said on one of these calls “I need a word that means: To Have Faith In.”
“Believe?” I asked?
“Okay.” She said, hanging-up.
Later, she called and needed the name of A Large Group. “Cherry Poppin’ Daddies?” I suggested. “No,” she said, “one word. Preferably a short one.”
“Oh, okay. How about swarm.”
“What is A Main Port in Yemen ending in an ‘N’?”
“Are you doing a crossword puzzle?” I asked (while quickly Googleing “main port in Yemen”)
“Ah…” Came the response “It’s a slow day.”
“According to Google it is Aden.”
I really didn’t mind the clues… I wish I had been able to do more of them, but it was a busy day. On the way back from lunch I did take time to help with a puzzle that I have never worked before. It was pretty cool, actually. They take a completed crossword puzzle and divide it into twenty five even pieces with three letters to a side (nine letters in each block) and then scramble the pieces. They then give you the clues for all the horizontal words (but none of the vertical ones) by line. So it might say:
Line One: The Queen’s Seat; Early Day
Line Two: Not Big
Line Three: Mosquito-Borne Illness; Wagner’s Work
You then have to find the correct square pieces in the jumble to fine one that on line one gives you both “Throne” and “Morning” while (without moving the five pieces after you have those words) also spelling “Minute” on line two and “Malaria” and “Composer” on line three. Additionally, the completed solution cannot have any additional words on those lines and must have blank spaces after and/or before the words as placed. To further confound you, there may be more than one block of nine spaces that will fit in any single place on the grid and give you valid horizontal words for the clues but not fit so that they spell valid words vertically. It is challenging. It took me about half-an-hour to get the twenty-five pieces of the puzzle into the correct orientation.
It was only later that I discovered that over here the book these puzzles came from offered cash prizes to people who successfully completed the puzzles. I told my coworker that I wanted a cut should they win anything.
Anyway, after my last meeting of the day I took a stroll back to the hotel and sat down to get a few things done. I have now, that I have finished all the final paperwork of the day, I can get my computer shutdown. I’ll post this when I next get online. For now, it’s time to get the heck out of here and go have…
Uh… what is a three letter word that means Fermented Alcoholic Beverage Containing Malt And Hops, Similar To But Heavier Than Beer?
I hope you have a great day wherever you are today!
Don Bergquist – 05-May-2005 – Hampton Court
05 May 2005
Politics
It is interesting to travel to other countries to see how your country is perceived outside its own boundaries. There are the obvious slaps at the land of one’s birth that one needs to be prepared for; such as being told every day for the first week of my trip that the US President is a “Total Wanker.” (No duh, guys! Really?)
Then there are the more subtle ways that one learns how their homeland is perceived. These ways include such obscure ways as going to the pubs or watching the television. Today I give you two examples of how the United States is viewed in the United Kingdom as evidenced by 1) an overheard conversation at a pub and 2) a television program of last night.
First the conversation. I was sitting at a table reading a book on Geology last evening minding my own business and sipping on a Diet Coke when I overheard a couple sitting at the next table and deriding horribly, the nerve of an American who had come into their shop earlier that morning. From what I heard, the American had had the effrontery to suggest that the upcoming election was a chance to re-elect Tony Blaire and prove that the war was a good thing. I agree that this comment by one of my countrymen was one that I do not fully share, but please, everyone, quit painting all Americans with the same brush! We know that Blair was not elected unanimously last time! Half of us didn’t vote for our wanker president either.
Then, on the television last night, there was a history of VE Day. This Sunday is the sixtieth anniversary of the Allied Victory in the European Theatre during World War II. The coverage of the anniversary included interviews with people from there and a retrospective of the news coverage from back then. The slant of the program was one that I had not heard before. The coverage tended to blame much of the problematic history of the last sixty years on the American decision to allow the Soviet army to conquer Berlin. It was an interesting spin on the story. I am not saying it was untrue, it was just a version of the history I am not used to hearing.
Well, today is election day here in the UK and I am sure there will be many interesting and active debates tonight in pubs all over the area. I cannot wait to listen to the talk tonight to find-out what else we are responsible for.
I hope you are having a great day wherever you are!
Don Bergquist – 05-May-2005 – Thames Ditton
Then there are the more subtle ways that one learns how their homeland is perceived. These ways include such obscure ways as going to the pubs or watching the television. Today I give you two examples of how the United States is viewed in the United Kingdom as evidenced by 1) an overheard conversation at a pub and 2) a television program of last night.
First the conversation. I was sitting at a table reading a book on Geology last evening minding my own business and sipping on a Diet Coke when I overheard a couple sitting at the next table and deriding horribly, the nerve of an American who had come into their shop earlier that morning. From what I heard, the American had had the effrontery to suggest that the upcoming election was a chance to re-elect Tony Blaire and prove that the war was a good thing. I agree that this comment by one of my countrymen was one that I do not fully share, but please, everyone, quit painting all Americans with the same brush! We know that Blair was not elected unanimously last time! Half of us didn’t vote for our wanker president either.
Then, on the television last night, there was a history of VE Day. This Sunday is the sixtieth anniversary of the Allied Victory in the European Theatre during World War II. The coverage of the anniversary included interviews with people from there and a retrospective of the news coverage from back then. The slant of the program was one that I had not heard before. The coverage tended to blame much of the problematic history of the last sixty years on the American decision to allow the Soviet army to conquer Berlin. It was an interesting spin on the story. I am not saying it was untrue, it was just a version of the history I am not used to hearing.
Well, today is election day here in the UK and I am sure there will be many interesting and active debates tonight in pubs all over the area. I cannot wait to listen to the talk tonight to find-out what else we are responsible for.
I hope you are having a great day wherever you are!
Don Bergquist – 05-May-2005 – Thames Ditton
04 May 2005
Another Overcast Afternoon
It is cliché to talk about the UK and rain. I know it! But I must say at least the UK has the good grace to do most of the actual raining over night. The streets have been wet every morning when I got up, but I have not been rained on this trip. Luckily (as well) there has been lovely weather on the weekends. I hope my luck holds.
Well, that is all for today! I have been in meetings all day and want to get home. I promise a longer entry tomorrow. But since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is a thousand words from outside my office window.
I hope you’re warm and dry wherever you are!
Don Bergquist – 04-May-2005 – Thames Ditton
Well, that is all for today! I have been in meetings all day and want to get home. I promise a longer entry tomorrow. But since a picture is worth a thousand words, here is a thousand words from outside my office window.
I hope you’re warm and dry wherever you are!
Don Bergquist – 04-May-2005 – Thames Ditton
03 May 2005
Gregariousness
gre·gar·i·ous (gri-gâr-e-us) adj.
1) Seeking and enjoying the company of others; sociable. Synonym: Social.
2) Tending to move in or form a group with others of the same kind: gregarious bird species.
3) Botany. Growing in groups that are close together but not densely clustered or matted.
I received an email after I posted the last journal entry pointing out that I seem to always be visiting people, being invited out to their place for dinner, or inviting them to mine. I guess that is true, but it is really nothing new.
One of the few stories that my Dad tells that is more truth than exaggeration is the story of how I used to make friends when I was a kid. I have never been an introvert. As Dad tells it, I was always gregarious. That’s me a regular social butterfly. In a nutshell, Dad tells the story of one of my many early excursions this way.
A Toast to Friends!
1968, Blue Ridge Mountains
The Bergquist family awakes to find one of its members missing. In a fit of panic the eldest Bergquists, Denis and Jeanne, leaving the remaining children in the camper with strict orders not to move or for any reason leave the camper, set off in opposite directions around the campground circle. They stop at each camp site asking if anyone has seen their number two son, Donald. A six-year-old towhead who apparently wandered off from his own campsite in the early morning hours and now could be anywhere.
At each site they stop at, they get the same story: “Oh, yes! We’ve seen him, he was here earlier. We had him over for breakfast.”
They return to their site some time later to find me sitting at the picnic table waiting for them to get home and put breakfast on the table.
That is, at least the way that my Dad tells the story. He has never actually seen the problem with the way that he tells the story. He tells it in a way that leads the listener to believe that this was a fairly regular occurrence. If this was such a regular occurrence, why would they be freaked. And why would they not know I would be back?
Well, I guess the point of my story is that I have always been a social animal and will likely remain so for some time to come.
I hope that you have a great day, where ever you are and whoever you are with!
Don Bergquist – 03-May-2005 – Thames Ditton
1) Seeking and enjoying the company of others; sociable. Synonym: Social.
2) Tending to move in or form a group with others of the same kind: gregarious bird species.
3) Botany. Growing in groups that are close together but not densely clustered or matted.
I received an email after I posted the last journal entry pointing out that I seem to always be visiting people, being invited out to their place for dinner, or inviting them to mine. I guess that is true, but it is really nothing new.
One of the few stories that my Dad tells that is more truth than exaggeration is the story of how I used to make friends when I was a kid. I have never been an introvert. As Dad tells it, I was always gregarious. That’s me a regular social butterfly. In a nutshell, Dad tells the story of one of my many early excursions this way.
A Toast to Friends!
1968, Blue Ridge Mountains
The Bergquist family awakes to find one of its members missing. In a fit of panic the eldest Bergquists, Denis and Jeanne, leaving the remaining children in the camper with strict orders not to move or for any reason leave the camper, set off in opposite directions around the campground circle. They stop at each camp site asking if anyone has seen their number two son, Donald. A six-year-old towhead who apparently wandered off from his own campsite in the early morning hours and now could be anywhere.
At each site they stop at, they get the same story: “Oh, yes! We’ve seen him, he was here earlier. We had him over for breakfast.”
They return to their site some time later to find me sitting at the picnic table waiting for them to get home and put breakfast on the table.
That is, at least the way that my Dad tells the story. He has never actually seen the problem with the way that he tells the story. He tells it in a way that leads the listener to believe that this was a fairly regular occurrence. If this was such a regular occurrence, why would they be freaked. And why would they not know I would be back?
Well, I guess the point of my story is that I have always been a social animal and will likely remain so for some time to come.
I hope that you have a great day, where ever you are and whoever you are with!
Don Bergquist – 03-May-2005 – Thames Ditton
02 May 2005
Dinner on the Thames
One of the things about travel that I love so much is the people you meet. My recent houseguests are just two of the fabulous people I have met over here. There are also the mates of mine from the pub with whom I debate Physics and Statistics.
Even though I am a self-confessed shameless Anglophile, I will admit to not being entirely agog at the people whose island I occasionally have the pleasure of sharing. There was that rude couple from the walk into Kingston I wrote about back in December. But most of the people I have met here are great!
Les and Jen are prime examples of nice people I have met over here.
Les and Jen and I have chatted down at The King's Arms on a number of occasions. He is a brit by birth and the grace of the almighty, she an American who has seen the light and immigrated here. We have always had pleasant conversations and they seen such nice people that it was not a bit when I received an invitation to dinner when I had a chance. They invited me to join them for dinner on the Thames.
This was not to be any figurative dinner on the Thames, either but literally on the Thames! You see, Les and Jen live on a houseboat moored off a small island in the Thames a bit upstream from Hampton Court Palace. The invitation was to meet Les at the pebbly beach just by the boat hire to the south of the palace and he would shuttle me to the island in his motor boat. We met at approximately five and headed to the Island by way of Ye Olde Swan, a pub which, coincidentally, my Thames Ditton office window overlooks.
After a quick pint (or two) we boated back up the Thames, dodging the odd weekend punter or two and an ersatz stern-wheel paddleboat; making our way eventually through the locks and up to the island. On an side note, I believe this is the first time I have ever traveled through a set of locks. I have, of course, seen them before, many times. But I believe my previous experience with locks has all been of a more theoretical nature.
The dinner was superb and my hosts could not have been more warm and accommodating!
We arrived and had a wonderful glass of white port on the deck watching the sun set over Molesey. We then had a wonderful dinner. Onion soup with home made croutons, a lovely stew of chicken, mushrooms, and onions; and an incredible pudding filled with blackcurrants, raspberries, and blackberries. All accompanied by a wonderful red wine I had discovered at a local shop. (I couldn’t arrive empty-handed. It was a wonderful, complex red called Sangre de Torro – Bull’s Blood.)
About midnight they invited me to join them again the next time I have an evening free. Although I had a good feel of where I was and it was not a long walk, Les showed me the way back to Hampton Court. It was a very pleasant time. I cannot wait until the next time I am invited to their place.
I hope that wherever it is your day is as pleasant!
Don Bergquist – 02-May-2005 – Hampton Court
Even though I am a self-confessed shameless Anglophile, I will admit to not being entirely agog at the people whose island I occasionally have the pleasure of sharing. There was that rude couple from the walk into Kingston I wrote about back in December. But most of the people I have met here are great!
Les and Jen are prime examples of nice people I have met over here.
Les and Jen and I have chatted down at The King's Arms on a number of occasions. He is a brit by birth and the grace of the almighty, she an American who has seen the light and immigrated here. We have always had pleasant conversations and they seen such nice people that it was not a bit when I received an invitation to dinner when I had a chance. They invited me to join them for dinner on the Thames.
This was not to be any figurative dinner on the Thames, either but literally on the Thames! You see, Les and Jen live on a houseboat moored off a small island in the Thames a bit upstream from Hampton Court Palace. The invitation was to meet Les at the pebbly beach just by the boat hire to the south of the palace and he would shuttle me to the island in his motor boat. We met at approximately five and headed to the Island by way of Ye Olde Swan, a pub which, coincidentally, my Thames Ditton office window overlooks.
After a quick pint (or two) we boated back up the Thames, dodging the odd weekend punter or two and an ersatz stern-wheel paddleboat; making our way eventually through the locks and up to the island. On an side note, I believe this is the first time I have ever traveled through a set of locks. I have, of course, seen them before, many times. But I believe my previous experience with locks has all been of a more theoretical nature.
Sunset on the Thames
The dinner was superb and my hosts could not have been more warm and accommodating!
We arrived and had a wonderful glass of white port on the deck watching the sun set over Molesey. We then had a wonderful dinner. Onion soup with home made croutons, a lovely stew of chicken, mushrooms, and onions; and an incredible pudding filled with blackcurrants, raspberries, and blackberries. All accompanied by a wonderful red wine I had discovered at a local shop. (I couldn’t arrive empty-handed. It was a wonderful, complex red called Sangre de Torro – Bull’s Blood.)
About midnight they invited me to join them again the next time I have an evening free. Although I had a good feel of where I was and it was not a long walk, Les showed me the way back to Hampton Court. It was a very pleasant time. I cannot wait until the next time I am invited to their place.
I hope that wherever it is your day is as pleasant!
Don Bergquist – 02-May-2005 – Hampton Court
01 May 2005
Things Change
Wow! That was the fastest I have ever made it through Customs!
My plane was early into the UK. I made it to the head of the line at Customs less than fifteen minutes before I had left the plane. I then arrived at the carousel to see my bag already on it. With no delays, I was out into the main terminal before my car service arrived.
Armed with a couple hundred pounds in my poke, I headed to the hotel in Hampton Court. With a slight detour through the countryside to miss an accident that had the motorway snarled, it was a lovely drive. The weather here is wonderful. The wilderness has changed with the seasons. Where a month ago were the profusion of daffodils, snowdrops, and other spring flowers, there are now tall grasses interspersed with tiny yellow flowers, looking like drops of sunlight in the grass. There are also a profusion of daisies, tulips, and other flowers of the early summer. There are lovely yellow and purple flowering vines everywhere.
My plane was early into the UK. I made it to the head of the line at Customs less than fifteen minutes before I had left the plane. I then arrived at the carousel to see my bag already on it. With no delays, I was out into the main terminal before my car service arrived.
Armed with a couple hundred pounds in my poke, I headed to the hotel in Hampton Court. With a slight detour through the countryside to miss an accident that had the motorway snarled, it was a lovely drive. The weather here is wonderful. The wilderness has changed with the seasons. Where a month ago were the profusion of daffodils, snowdrops, and other spring flowers, there are now tall grasses interspersed with tiny yellow flowers, looking like drops of sunlight in the grass. There are also a profusion of daisies, tulips, and other flowers of the early summer. There are lovely yellow and purple flowering vines everywhere.
Hampton Court Palace: The Wilderness
But the more things change, the more they stay the same. The King’s Arms is still the pub I have come to love spending time in. Last night, after doing a few first-minute priority things, unpacking, taking a walk into Kingston, etc., I went to the pub for a pint and a conversation. The topics ranged freely from “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” (in all its various incarnations), to The Simpsons, to Physics.
I cannot remember exactly how we got onto this last topic, but it was the part of the conversation that lasted the longest. We discussed physics, specifically gravity. As is (fairly) commonly known, Newton’s law of gravity states (in practical terms) that when an apple falls to the ground it is really not doing what we commonly believe. Not only is the apple being pulled to ward the earth, but the earth is (no matter how minutely) being pulled toward the apple. The amount of the pull being dictated only by the mass of the objects involved (the apple and the planet) and the inverse cube of their distances from each other. The part of the conversation that was so fascinating was whether the starting state of the apple affects the amount of the pull that the apple has on the planet.
If the apple is on the branch of a tree, does the apple still pull the earth towards it? Is there an action that imparts any inertia to the earth that must be reacted to when the apple falls? Yes, I know that it is a geeky kind of conversation to have at a bar, but this is the kind of thing my friends from the bar discuss while there. Last trip the heady conversation winner was probability. Oh well, to each his own, I guess!
I hope you are having a lovely day wherever you are!
I cannot remember exactly how we got onto this last topic, but it was the part of the conversation that lasted the longest. We discussed physics, specifically gravity. As is (fairly) commonly known, Newton’s law of gravity states (in practical terms) that when an apple falls to the ground it is really not doing what we commonly believe. Not only is the apple being pulled to ward the earth, but the earth is (no matter how minutely) being pulled toward the apple. The amount of the pull being dictated only by the mass of the objects involved (the apple and the planet) and the inverse cube of their distances from each other. The part of the conversation that was so fascinating was whether the starting state of the apple affects the amount of the pull that the apple has on the planet.
If the apple is on the branch of a tree, does the apple still pull the earth towards it? Is there an action that imparts any inertia to the earth that must be reacted to when the apple falls? Yes, I know that it is a geeky kind of conversation to have at a bar, but this is the kind of thing my friends from the bar discuss while there. Last trip the heady conversation winner was probability. Oh well, to each his own, I guess!
I hope you are having a lovely day wherever you are!
Don Bergquist – 01-May-2005 – Hampton Court
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