Polo

This weekend we went to the Polo with Alex and Jo. It was such a sunny day, bright and hot. On the way to the park we picked up all sorts of picnic goodies to go with our picnic blanket.
We found a little patch of grass to put the blanket down and spent the day munching on cheese and olives and crackers and chips.
The horses where great to watch thundering down the field after a ball flying towards the goals. It must be so hard to hit that little ball at that speed with a little mallet whilst on a horse with other horses coming toward you at ramming speed! But these guys did it well.
For me the best thing about it was the food and sun and company. But the polo was a good backdrop I must say.

Drinking a few beers in that sun really hit us. When we got home we all had a lie down.


A good day out.

week end

Ive had a weeks worth of London work now, and to be honest, I'm quite happy to rest.
Work is busy. There's a lot to do. Heaps of projects, heaps to clean up, and lots of constant user support calls. Ive been working 8am-6pm every day with 10 min lunch breaks. I pretty much get home at about 7 each night and before you know it, its time for bed.

I guess I'm going to start really appreciating weekends again.

Since I've gotten here, I haven't watched anything on my PC and haven't played any games. I have normal sleeping hours and am being quite active.

I saw Indiana Jones the other night. It wasn't great, ok though, definitely worth a watch... just not like the old classics. I cant wait to see the up and coming movies this month though, looks like theres going to be heaps of good ones.

Nicola got a job! Congrats!! It's going to be a fun role for her, and now money isn't a problem.
We went to a French restaurant to celebrate the other night. First time Ive ever been to one. It was pretty cool. I wouldn't mind going to Paris now, nice food, nice people. Besides, its only a 2 hour train ride.


Wow I'm tired. Almost time for bed.
This weekend we might have a braai, might see Scott for his leaving drinks, might have a picnic. Who knows how things will unfold.

I'm sure Ill let you know! ;)

First day at work

Hi everyone. Well as you know, Glen hooked me up with his old job in Putney(thank God for Glen!). Its a really nice area. Very close to Central London, but in a suburban setting on the River Thames. The workplace is literally a 45 second walk from the tube station. Its also on the bus line. The building has a subsidized cafe in it as well. My manager seems pretty cool as well, seems to know his stuff too. The network is big enough to not be boring. Looks like I might just like it here :p

The day started out with me racking a server and then slowed down to me just learning all the systems and reading documentation. I start at 8 and finish at 5:30-6, depending on whats going on. The tube ride from Wimbledon is really easy and only takes 15 mins. Wimbledon would really be a good spot to find a place.

We're going to check out a place that sounds really nice this coming weekend in Clapham, which would be a bus ride instead of the tube. I definitely like the tube better than the bus, but if the place is nice enough I might have to settle for the bus.

Wow its already 8pm. Dinner time, see ya.

Last weekend before starting work

On Saturday we met up with Scott to do some sightseeing. He's going back to NZ soon so he wants to get a few ticks on his list.

First thing we headed to was the London Eye. Out of the tube station and over the bridge and onto a promenade. There where more performing busker's here than I've seen in one place before. People doing tricks with hula hoops to tribal drumming, those guys that dress as various things and stand perfectly still until you put some coins in their hat, a chameleon guy on a multicoloured bike, someone playing the guitar behind his back while flaring his legs in the air, Cap'n Jack Sparrow, some guy painted all gray and being such a convincing statue that a pigeon landed on his head and sat there for a while (poor guy) and much much more. Cool place, crawling with people, entertainment, statues and shops.. all with a view across the Thames of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
The line the the Eye was very long, but we got through it in good time. Once on board, we noticed that the compartments move very slowly. Its quite enjoyable to be up there, in the sky, looking down on a vast cityscape. The people down on the promenade all looked like ants swarming around various scraps of food. I took some pics too, check 'em out.

After the Eye, we went over a bridge to get a closer look at Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. It was cool seeing the tall clock tower I'd heard so much about. All the buildings around there were quite impressive. The most impressive being the Westminster Abbey. Wicked building with holy scenes carved out in the archways. I would like to go back and actually go inside, I can imagine its quite spectacular.

After a walk around that area we headed to Hyde Park. A long walk in a nice park brought us to some paddling boats docked on the side of the Serpentine River. Giving in to this temptation was almost instant. Nicola, Scott, his friend Arran and I paid and jumped into a paddling boat. We spend half an hour terrorising ducks and other boaters. We also managed to save a boatload of girls who'd lost their oar.

Back on land we walked on to Regents park, where we enjoyed more walking through the park :)

I'm not sure where, but somewhere along the way we looked at the monuments to New Zealand and Australia. They where creative and it was nice to see homage to NZ.

From the parks, we walked on to Buckingham Palace. The palace itself wasn't all that impressive, but all the posts and fences around it were. They all had a lot of gold trimming and a royal look to them. Nice flower gardens and a big statue with a water fountain in the middle. While we were standing at the front gates having a look, the changing of the guards started... what timing! The changing included a little show from the actual guards swapping out for fresh guards, a horse regiment went by and an infantry regiment went for a march. It was great to have just happened upon this at just the right time.

Happy with our site-seeing we set out for the pub, had a pub meal and a few rounds of drinks.
Feeling a little boozed, we went on to various other drinking venues till late in the evening.

What a day!

Today we woke up with hangovers and headed out to Johns brothers house a little bit into the country, just a little past Epsom. At Johns I caught up with him, his brother and two other guys I went to school with. What a trip down memory lane! It was very good to see them again! I'm very happy that I have John and Alex over here, it really makes things feel positive.
Through the day we had a great Braai and with boereworse, chicken, potato bake, salads, potato salad, sausages, breads and beer. We then worked if off by playing cricket in the garden and a quick game of darts.

Work tomorrow which starts a new chapter!