Archive
Back in London
We are back home in London after being in the US for 17 days, which was too long of a trip. We mised Milo and now we have to re-adjust to GMT. London most certainly feels like home now. :-) At least we are back in time to see the stores getting ready for Christmas. The Peter Jones store at Sloan Square is all lit up with strips of small white lights and the square has big blue lights in the trees. It seems to be the only area set up that’s on my bus route home, but I’m sure that will change next week.
Sunshine in Berkeley
While we are generally having far too much food and there is a bit of crazyness with so many people to visit, we are at least enjoying the sunshine in California. I had so many back-to-back meetings in Redmond last week and will again next week, that this is the only chance I get for fresh air. Notice the haze in the view across the bay. :-)
Start Counting the Birthday Parties
This evening, we went 10-pin bowling (not lawn bowling) with a bunch of friends here in London. I actually don’t remember the last time I went bowling, but it has certainly been quite a few years. I still got at least one strike though… a few gutter balls too though.
Since Lorie and I are basically having our birthdays in two countries (US & UK), it looks like we will be having a few parties. This is the first.. the rest will happen in the US. I get an extra long birthday day this year, since we are flying to Seattle from London on my birthday. I hope British Airways gives me free first class upgrades or something.
Our Improved Garden
Over the last couple of weeks, I have pulled up 15 of the slate slabs in our garden. Last weekend Alan and I got a pick-axe and pounded out the concrete that was below the slate slabs. Over the last couple of evenings (somewhat in the dark), I have put down some turf (I always called it sod in the US). It was sunny today, so I finally took a photo of the almost finished work. It isn’t quite done because there is still a pile of broken concrete to deal with, which is against the brick wall in the back. Some of it is already hidden away in the slate boxes that I built, which we can now use as a bench. The one uncompleted box sitting on its own will get moved, but after it is full, we will still have some left over concrete chunks to do something with – not sure what yet. And yes, this is mostly so the dogs (Milo and Daisy) can have a place to use for… whatever it is dogs do on grass.
Please start sharing your photos and stories
Hi everyone, Brian here. If you have been enjoying my photos and stories that I publish here, then I ask that you (my friends and family) start doing the same. It’s easy and fun:
Go to http://get.live.com/ and download everything (in one install). This will give you:
- Windows Live Photo Gallery to edit, create panoramic photos, and post your photos to Spaces photo albums (like I have on my site here)
- Windows Live Writer to write blogs like I have been doing here, complete with photos, videos, maps, and lots more.
- Windows Live Messenger to chat with me via text, voice, and video (full screen too!). We can also play games and other fun things with it.
- Windows Live Mail to create great Photo E-mails so you don’t have to send e-mails with a bunch of attachments. You can also work on your Hotmail when you aren’t connected to the Internet.
- Windows Live Toolbar which gives you quick links to Hotmail, Spaces, and Messenger, plus news, weather, and other items
- OneCare Family Safety Settings so you can let your kids use Messenger, Hotmail, but only with people you approve. It also lets you control the web sites they can see.
- And of course, all of these things work great with the Windows Live sites:
- Windows Live Spaces to share photos and experiences like I do here
- Windows Live Hotmail to get your e-mail anywhere – plus the spam problem is much better now too
- Windows Live Events to organize events with friends and family, then share photos and stories about them after the event
Yes, this is the stuff I work on at Microsoft and we just released new versions today. You can read more about them on the Windows Live Wire blog.
Car Show
I went to a car show today to see what they are like compared to the US, even though it has probably been 20 years since I went to a car show in the US. Most of what I saw were very expensive cars that a normal person can’t afford and many of these were built by small car companies in the UK and Europe. I have a photo album with more of the cars I saw with descriptions below some of the photos. The one pictured is from a French company called PGO. The only cars from the US I saw were two new Ford Mustangs and one new Corvette, but they just don’t compare to the German, UK, Italian, and French cars.
The Tardis at Earl’s Court
There is a great TV show in England (the only one as far as I have found) called Dr. Who. It has been around since 1963, but I am most familiar with the new shows. Outside the Earl’s Court tube stop there is a 1950’s style police box. In the TV show one of these is called the Tardis, which is the doctor’s time machine and space craft.
Also see more pictures of the Tardis.
The BBC has a bunch of sounds from the TV show too.
Random Skiing Thoughts
It must be getting close to ski season somewhere by now!
This picture is of my dad when we were helicopter skiing in Utah in March of 2006.
The video is of our helicopter landing and taking off to pick up the other skiers in our party.
The map shows roughly where we were skiing.
The Adventures of Lorie and Brian Groth 