The Promise of Spring

I know that the vernal equinox is still nearly two months away, but the early signs of spring are showing in Bushy Park.


This weekend I rode around the area to see what signs I could see of the end of Winter being on its way. While there were none of the huge expanses of flowers that I remember from last Spring here, it is evident that it will be a good display again this year.

The only bulb flowers that are showing are the snow drops. There are a few patches where the flowers are intense, like this. Mostly, however, the bulbs have sent up their shoots, but they will not set flowers for at least another week.

The weather was excellent for a ride. A bit cold, but not too windy and at least it was dry! Walking through the woodland garden, I can see huge clumps of shoots where the daffodils will be blooming soon. There are not as many obvious crocus shoots, but then, they look so similar to the grass they would be planted in that it is unlikely I would spot them without pretty close examination.

So, I guess I will close this last entry for January with the wish that your day is blooming wherever you happen to be today!

Don Bergquist - 31-January-2006 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, United Kingdom

Home ~ home

The other night, as I was getting ready to leave the office I commented that I was heading home for the night. "Home?" one of my co-workers from the UK asked, "I thought you were here for a couple more weeks." The confusion that my coworker seems to be suffering under is that there is a definite difference between "home" and "Home."

There was a time that I used to hold the opinion that "Home is where the luggage is." Of course, back then, I was living three-hundred nights a year in a hotel somewhere and there was little for me to do when I got "Home" other than to get ready to go out on the road again. I can remember the exact moment that I came to think of Lakewood as "Home."

In 1999 I had more-or-less come off the road. I was the training coordinator at work and was at home far more than I was on the road. I was dating on-and-off, and had a large circle of friends around me. (I still have a large circle of friends - one that is transcontinental, in fact...) Life had settled into a comfortable routine when I was approached to go on a six-week install.

I returned to the Denver International airport and was met by the car service I used at the time. My bags in the trunk, I was sitting in the back of the car relaxing and thinking of the things I had to do when I got home. Roy, the driver, welcomed my home and asked if it had been a good trip. It was at that moment that "home" as applied to Colorado became "Home." I realized that I was glad to be back and was feeling that this was where I belonged.

With no offense, intended, in London (Thames Ditton) I do have a home, but not a "Home." Should the opportunity arise, I am certain that I would not mind the opportunity to live and work here in the long term (would but that I could only afford it - the cost of living here is impossible!) but I think it would be quite some time before London became "Home."

It's more than just the fact that I am still learning my way around, I can't tell what exactly it would take to capitalize "home" as applied to anywhere in the UK. Perhaps some day, I'll write another column telling what event triggered my thinking of London as "Home."

I hope that you are safe and happy at "Home" wherever that may be.

Don Bergquist - 30-January-2006 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, United Kingdom

Sunday in Surbiton

Having another great day in London, I decided to get on my bike and head around the area with my camera. My First stop was Surbiton.

Surbiton is about a mile away in the opposite direction to the one you would take if you wanted to go to the office. It is on the main railway line into London and is a fairly good sized town. It is also where I go to do my marketing. One of the cool architectural features is the clock tower in the town square. It is a lovely, Edwardian building that does not really fit-in with the more modern buildings around it.

Speaking of modern buildings, the train station in Surbiton is perhaps the ugliest I have seen in the United Kingdom. It is an attempt at post-modernism. It is just plain ugly. All straight lines, not a bit of embellishment.

It is in stark contrast to the clock tower. The clock tower is covered with carved stone gargoyles, filigree, faces, and all manner of interesting things to look at. There is even an entire angel orchestra surrounding the top of the tower, one angel playing the harp, another with a pair of cymbals, still others playing drums, pipes and horns. It is really a cool tower!

There are also stone faces surrounded by wreathes. I spent about an hour circling the tower and getting shots from every angle I thought interesting. I wish I could have gotten the modern buildings out of the background, though.

I am sure that I gave the locals a bit of a chuckle, as in the entire time I was there nobody so much as glanced at the tower (except to wonder, I suppose) what the crazy tourist was taking pictures of.

I hope that your day will bring you something of interest, wherever you are!

Don Bergquist - 29-January-2006 - Surbiton, Surrey, United Kingdom

Quiet Day At Home

What a week!

I got the chance to start working on the project I have been training to start for the last couple weeks. It has been a couple weeks of getting ready for the project to start and then a really busy weekend in Oostende. So when I actually started, and started getting the scope of what I was here to do, it was daunting.

Last night I was up late with friends. We had dinner at Kevin and then a quick pint or two at the pub. I did not get in until early this morning. Today, I have no plans except for doing some laundry, working on my taxes, and getting my batteries recharged. Next week is going to be hectic.

Maybe this afternoon I'll ride my bike into the park. It is a really nice day outside.

I hope you have an extremely pleasant and relaxing day wherever you are!

Don Bergquist - 28-January-2006 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, United Kingdom

Being Bad ~ Being Good

When considering the food and beer and fun I have had since my last weigh-in last week, I cannot imagine what my weigh-in at Weight Watchers is likely to be. It will most assureadly not be in the negative areas.

When trying to think of a word to describe how I have been on my diet this week, the word "bad" springs to mind. But not just any version of the word "bad." Specifically I can hear my old friend Kelly in her imitation of a child waggling her finger at me and saying "you wer baa-aa-ad!"

But it was so good! The beer in Belgium is ubiquitous; and there is certainly no dearth of good (uh, I mean 'bad') things to ear. I can excuse that - I was on vacation...

But since I have gotten back, I have not really been much better. I have had dinner in the pub once this week, skipped dinner the next night because my coworkers and I went out for beers. went over to Molesey for dinner with my friends there. They wanted to introduce me to a dish that Terry makes with Cauliflower, Broccoli, and Stilton. If I pretend that cheese is a vegetable, I may have less trouble thinking of that wonderful meal the other night as anything but 'bad' but how can it be bad when the meal was so good - and when the company was better than the food!

Then last night, my coworkers and I drove into Esher to have dinner at this wonderful Mexican restraunt (Mexican - over here? They can get excellent Mexican back in Colorado!) that they had been told about. Apparently, it was so good that they could no longer bear to sell it off. The restaurant has been closed for the past few months.

I'm so confused! Another friend over here, Dave, and I were chatting last week and I had told him that I have a bad habit of gaining weight over here every time I visit and I was determined not to do so this trip. I was going to be good! For reasons unknow, Dave decided this was to be taken as a chalenge. He bought me another pint.

With friends like mine...

I hope that today you can not worry about being bad or being good and just enjoy your day wherever you are!

Don Bergquist - 27-January-2006 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, United Kingdom

Belgium: A Wrap-Up

Angie & Terry
Beer
Chocolate
Dancing
Food
Enjoyment
Friends
Getting There (!)
Hotel Bero
"In the lift(!) In the lift(!) In the lift(!)"
Just one more
Kwak Bier
Lovely Buildings (!)
My(!) My(!) My(!)
No beer for me thanks, It's before noon(!!)
Okay, it's afternoon (somewhere)
Panakoeken
"Quack it's pronounced 'Quack'"
"Real Cheese(!!!)"
Sea Side
Tim's Bar
Underwater in the Hotel Pool
Very Late? No, Very Early(!)
Walking in Brugge
X(!) Nothing about Belgium Starts with "X"(!)
Yes, We played charades on the train on the way home
Zounds, that's all twenty six(!!!)

When trying to get my thoughts in order to write a quick follow-up for my trip to Belgium, I thought of how to best do it. Alphabetical is as good as any, I thought so there it is.

Of the things that impressed me the most about Belgium, I would have to say it was the beer. It is everywhere. And, no! It's not just me and my friends, though, those who know me know that I do like the occasional beer! It is everywhere. The bars (and restaurants that serve alcohol) all open in the mornings and are serving beer at breakfast. I remember seeing the restaurants open on every one of my morning walks.

They do not even blink when someone orders beer at breakfast. I think that perhaps I caused more of a stir on Sunday morning when I ordered Coffee for my first round rather than beer.

The food was also excellent on my visit (I dread the thought of seeing what I weigh on Friday!) as was the company. I am glad my friends invited me. the people I met were so warm and friendly.

I hope you are having a warm and friendly day where you are!

Don Bergquist - 26-January-2006 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, United Kingdom

Lessons Learned

Today would have been my mother's seventy-first birthday. As a tribute, I'd like to share some of the lessons I have learned from my mother.

1) Given enough anger and frustration, anyone can spontaneously generate hardware fasteners to issue forth from their orifices. "You children make me so mad that I could spit tacks!"

2) The most infamously cruel and horrid prison in history was apparently so bad because my dirty clothing and toys were laying strewn on the carpet that floored it. "Donald! Clean-up this room, it looks like the Black Hole of Calcutta in here!"

3) It would be better to suffer alone than to seek assistance for an injury. "Donald! If you fall out of that tree and break your leg, don't come running to me!"

4) It is possible to the auditory orifices to be put into agrarian production. "Donald! You did not wash behind your ears! I could grow potatoes back here!"

5) Almost anything that can be eaten (if not enjoyed) is sorely lacking in Asia. "Donald! Don't you let that entrail and carrot scraping soup got to waste. There are starving children in Asia!"

6) Offering to be magnanimous and humanitarian is not always appreciated. "No, Donald, you may not have an envelope to mail it to them!"

7) Despite a complete lack of rational reason why it should be so, curses work. "One of these days, you children will have kids just like you!"

8) One's visual receptors can be worn out by using them for their intended purpose. "Stop watching so much TV, you'll ruin your eyes!"

9) A good descriptive name can cover a really bad recipe. "It's called 'Glorified Rice. Just eat it!'"

10) That to this day, I am a far better person for having known her. "One of these days, you'll thank me for this."

I do, Mom. I do! Every day.

I hope that you are making memories today that you will keep with you always, wherever you are!

Don Bergquist - 25-January-2005 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, United Kingdom

Editor's Notes:

1) Sometimes the proffered item was a candy bar... Some times she would have to 'stand on my head' to spit out tacks.

2) If that is what made the Black Hole so bad... It's a good thing they were never sent to The Black Hole of the credenza in Mom & Dad's Room.

3) Okay, this is just a stock parental axiom, but I think that it must be from Doctor Spock. Everyone my age remembers their parents using this chestnut occasionally.

4) The only cure for potatoes behind the ears was spit on a Kleenex.

5) Okay, there was no entrail and carrot scraping soup, we had something even worse: (and I shutter as I recall this) Beef and Barley soup.

6) I know we must have offered at least once...

7) There is a reason that I was in no particular hurry to be the first to become a parent. It has now become apparent that the curse is working.

8) Though, I still contend you can ruin your ears by listening to Rap.

9) Glorified Rice: Minute Rice (prepared without salt), Canned Fruit Cocktail, Walnuts, Flaked Coconut, Miniature marshmallows, and Cool Whip.

10) I cannot count the ways.

Twenty-Three

Editor's Correction:

The editor of this blog wishes to enter one correction to the posting above. In speaking with the subject of the blog entry via seance, it has come to our attention that today would have been Jeanne Bergquist's twenty-third birthday. The editor wishes to beg forgiveness of Mrs. Bergquist and offers sincere apologies for the factual error in the above entry.

Don Bergquist

Editor in Chief

Back to Reality

It is another lovely day in Thames Ditton!

I got to the office early this morning to upload all my entries that I have been writing on my PDA for the last few days. I hope that you will enjoy them. I am sure that there are lots more stories that I could write about my trip to Belgium, but I think some of them I would prefer to share some evening with you over a beer. So some night, get me to the King's Arms, buy me a Tanglefoot and ask me to tell some stories.

Those of you who know me know that it does not take too much encouragement to get me to tell a story or two.

Well, I'd best get to work.

I hope that your weekend has been memorable as well!

Don Bergquist - 24-January-2006 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, United Kingdom

Return to London

I am sitting in The King's Arms writing my blog entry for the day. What a day it has been! After a bit of a lie-in, I woke-up at 09:00 but then I was out 'til well after three this morning.

We did a bit of shopping in Oostende (I stopped at the chocolatiers for presents for my housemates and friends back in the UK) and then checked-out and packed up for home. With a brief stop at the border for provisions, we made the crossing back to the UK via the tunnel.

The only thing of note in that was that I was stopped at passport control and questioned again (as I was a few weeks when first entering the county) about why I was in the UK. I now have a new visa stamp in my passport. We had sandwiches on the train over and made good time back to Surrey. I unpacked quickly and made my way to the King's Arms for dinner. I hope it will not be too late! I am completely knackered!

It was a good trip, though and I am glad to have had the opportunity to do go! Oh, and one thing that I have missed - the running tourists!

Angie and Terry show how to comply with the Tourisme signs in Europe.

I hope that your day has given you something to remember as well!

Don Bergquist - 23-January-2006 - Hampton Court, Middlesex, United Kingdom

Dinner with Friends

After our return from Brugge last night, we headed off to Den Arteste for a wonderful steak and then had a few beers at the bar. Today has been fairly sedate. After a continental breakfast an a beer with Tim and Janet and a gathering of the other regulars from the bar, we went and did a bit of shopping and then headed back to the hotel for a swim and a nap.

This evening we had a big bowl of pasta at de Waterhoose and had a Panakoeken (Mine was with Ice Cream and Chocolate sauce!) before heading over to the bar. The restaurant was still done-up with its Christmas Decorations and it was lovely. The place looked like Narnia with polar bears, white and fleecy decorations, everything!
The last night party was good, there was time to win a beer from Tim at cribbage, and then to have a grudge match with Terry. The point is not who won or lost in the two matches that Terry and I played, the point was that I got to play cribbage!

It was a late night and the whole crowd was feeling no pain by the close. After the bar closed, I went to go for a walk and get some fresh air (again, what is with all the smokers in Europe? Has nobody over hear every heard of emphysema?) and on the way back to the hotel, I passed a dance bar that had some wonderful music coming out the door. I went in to dance... but that is another story. Suffice it to say that it was after 03:00 when I returned to my hotel.

I hope that your day was as pleasant!

Don Bergquist - 22-January-2006 - Oostende, Belgium

Brugge by Rail

This morning, after a leisurely lie-in (okay, I was up pretty early) we had a walk into the Leffe Cafe to have breakfast. Croques Bam Bam (if I have misspelled that, I am sure that I will be told) for breakfast.

But I am getting ahead of myself. For reasons I cannot account for, I was up at 05:00 local time. I tried getting back to sleep and failed miserably so I grabbed my coat, dropped my key at the front desk and set-out for the sea front. It was lovely and still this morning as I walked by the sea; a but cold, but otherwise, not bad. I stopped at a little all-night store to pick-up some post cards for friends back home and then took a winding way back through the city to the hotel.

Along the way I passed a number of bars that were still open (I was to learn later that some of them had actually just opened for the morning.) and had patrons being served mugs of Leffe, De Konning, and Trappist. Beer at 07:00! Welcome to Belgium.

I arrived back at the hotel as the Continental breakfast was being served so I got a pot of coffee and a croissant and sat writing post cards. I then returned to bed and napped until we had arranged to meet for breakfast. The Leffe is named after the beer of the same name and serves quite a lot of it, yes, even at 10:00.

We stopped at a chemists shoppe on the way over to the restaurant so I could get some naproxium sodium because I missed a step last night because I was looking up when I stepped off it. I didn't fall, but the sudden jolt didn't do my knee any favors.

So, the breakfast was ordered and I got to try a regional favorite that Angie had been telling me about. It is a croques monsieur sandwich which has been covered in bolognese sauce. I have to admit, it was quite good.

Breakfast finished, we did a bit of shopping in Oostende. First off was the Cheese Shoppe. I understand, now, why my friend Brian makes fun of the cheese shoppes we have in the states. They are nothing to the cheese shoppes over here. What a selection!

I did get one really good picture this morning. I really lucked into the picture of the seagull flying past the tower in the Oostende town square. I had to shoot a few until the bird I was watching flew into my camera's sights. After our shopping we headed into

What a lovely town! It was a quick trip into Brugge and then a quick walk into the town proper from the train station.

There are beautiful old buildings everywhere and there is certainly no dearth of bicycles. At the train station, there was a sea of bicycles (see the pictures at the link above) all padlocked. There must have been a few hundred of them!

We walked about for a while looking at the scenery before feeling the need for a beer. (It had been a few hours since Breakfast, after all!) We found and retreated to a quaint little cellar bar. The beer was cool, the conversation was good. It was a good day.

On the train on the way back, we entertained ourselves with a game or charades. Well, it actually started on the platform waiting for the train. The fun was shared by all. We kept playing all the way back to Oostende and although the people around us tried not to let us know that they were watching, it was obvious that they were. Glad that we could make them smile!

Back in Oostende, I was able to get a couple shots of the cathedral and a building with a truly interesting paint job.

I hope that your day has been filled with new and wonderful experiences!

Don Bergquist - 21-January-2001 - Oostende, Belgium

The Local Area

For those of you who have asked for more details on where, exactly, it is that I am living, Here is an aerial view of the general area. The King's Arms Pub is at the top (north) of the map. The corporate house is at the lower, right of the map. The center of the map is the actual village of Thames Ditton. My office is marked by the words "Thames Ditton and a little office building icon.

The big green patch at the upper center of the picture is the Hampton Court Palace Grounds. The buildings to the left of the picture is East Molesey.

The map is from Google Earth, a cool program that I find myself using all the time. You should give it a try.

Well, I guess that is it for today. (I am posting this in advance since I am off in Oostend, Belgium for the weekend.)

I hope you know where you are and where you are is where you want to be today!

Don Bergquist - 21-January-2006 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, United Kingdom (In absentia)

Traveling East

It would be grossly unfair of me to share my first impressions of France with you in this venue. Saying that France is a pit is as unfair as basing my views of Colorado on Commerce City, or my views of Florida on Opalocka, or the whole of the United States on Gary, Indiana. I will, however say that based on what I saw this evening getting to Oostende, France is a pit. (Oh, how unfair!) I will grant, that all that I saw of France was through the window of a moving car (at night) doing 150 (or so) Kph on the expressway, but there it is. Sue me!

The trip was wonderful! My friend Terry picked me up from the office in Thames Ditton at about 15:00 and we headed off. With a quick stop to grab my cameras and my luggage, then another to get Angie from her office, we then headed east.

The Eurotunnel is pretty cool. After checking into the embarcation area, you can go to the little mall/restaurant area and get a snack before getting on the train. When your departure is announced, you return to your car and drive through Passport Control. In England, they just barely even glanced at the passports and waved us through.

You then queue up for the train and head down to the waiting vehicles. If you have a high profile vehicle (A recreational Vehicle, Bus, or Extremely High SUV) you are waved into a part of the train that has only one deck to it. Otherwise, you are shunted into one of the two-deck trains. There, you drive into a long hall-way that is the train where a Eurotunnel staff member tells you where to stop.

When the car ahead of you is filled, the conductor(?) closes the doors at the head of your rail car, and then moved back telling the people in your rail car where to stop until the one you are in is full. They then close the door behind you and you wait for the remainder of the train to be loaded.

After the security announcements (don't walk between cars during transit, no flash photography, no smoking) you are underway. Although, there is no reason to do so, it seems everyone wants to just sit in their cars. Angie, Terry and I chose to stand and stretch our legs in the tunnel. Dinner was consumed en route. (You can see Angie and Terry with the Cornish Pasties that Angie got in Kingston upon Thames this afternoon before leaving. Mine was still wrapped because I didn't want to get the grease on my camera. After the pasties, we played the Mental_Floss quiz for the rest of the trip.

It goes by pretty quickly considering how long the trip is. In thirty minutes you can actually feel the train start to decelerate.

The trip is nearly over, you are in France.

Strange things about traveling to Europe via the Eurotunnel:

1) They tell you to open your sun roof and your windows during transit. It took me a while to suss. The problem is that the change in the pressure between the ends, and the middle are apparently enough to cause you to have problems with your windows.

2) They tell you to close your windows and sun roofs before leaving the train. What if you want them open?

3) Even though they have told you that there will be a delay between the arrival of the train and the time debarcation actually begins, everyone seems to want to get into gear as quickly as possible so there is always at least one idiot who starts his car the moment the train starts. Or so I am assured. I can believe it because the driver behind us and the one two cars ahead of us did just this, the moment the train stopped, they started their engines.

Once the train stops, they make a quick announcement welcoming you to France, wishing you a pleasant journey, reminding you to set your watches ahead one hour, and DRIVE ON THE RIGHT!

Drive on the right! Drive on the right! Drive on the right. You can hear the chant from all the Brits on the train. It is refreshing to know that they have to do the same thing we do when we visit England!

The drive to Oostende was uneventful. Other than the bits of France that I could see outside the window being oppressively bleak, industrial and just flat ugly, the trip passed without anything to comment on.

When we got here, we checked into the hotel. It was unremarkable. Like all the European hotels I have been in, the rooms are small, the closet space extremely limited, and the bathroom filled with more exposed pipes than are apparently necessary. It is in a nice place, though. After checking in, we went out for beers at Tim's Bar and then I went for a walk in the fresh air. It is nice here but there are far too many smokers.

Well, it's late (or rather early) and I am completely knackered so I guess I will save this to my PDA. As I noted on the blog earlier today, I will upload and publish these entries when I return to the office on Tuesday.

I hope your day has presented you with the opportunity to do something new today!

Don Bergquist - 20-January-2006 - Oostende, Belgium