Category Archives: Thoughts

I Slept Eight Hours Last Night!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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With the help of pills, but I feel *great*!! Well, great is an overstatement. I am still nauseaus and have a headache (although that went away yesterday for a bit, the headache at least), but awake wise? I.Feel.Great!!

After what happened at my office a few weeks ago, the thing that made me lose some respect for my SMT, which I have decided to *not* blog about in detail, I have been thinking a lot about living in this country but not growing up here. You see, the thing that happened very much had to do with the religious aspects of this country. And how things can be taken by people with strong religious beliefs.

And I thought that maybe I was overreacting to the thing that happened at work since I didn’t grow up here, but I took a short poll around my office, and no, the SMT *were* being idiots. It had nothing to do with growing up during the troubles.

There are *so* many things about living in Northern Ireland that are different from living in the US (and even the rest of the UK). I have T-shirts from when I lived in the US that I would never wear here. I would also never wear my Star of David. And I would love to own and wear this t-shirt but I never would. Heck, I used to get weird looks when I wore a T-shirt I used to have that had a picture of Margaret from Dennis the Menace on it saying “Someday a woman will be president!”

So, in some ways I feel oppressed here in Northern Ireland. Which is not a good feeling. At all.

What A Difference

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a decent nights sleep makes. I slept from about 10 to 6. I still feel headachy and am naseaus, but I still feel about 10000000000x better than I did yesterday. Rest some more today and hopefully be right as rain for work on Monday.

I don’t talk about politics on this blog much, if at all. I am not really all that interested in politics. I vote (well, when I remember to send in my absentee ballots) but that’s about all I do.

However, being an Ex-Pat I have been watching the US presidential election process much more closely than I used to. Part of the reason is people keep asking me about it, like I’m some analyst on CNN or something, or like ‘you’re an American, you *must* know what’s going to happen!’ Yeah, not so much.

But I have been following it. I didn’t vote in the California primaries, because I’m a registered Independent. Even if I wasn’t, I am not sure I would have voted in the Democratic Primary. And it would have been the Democratic one, not the Republican one, as I am more a Dem then a Republican.

Why wouldn’t I have voted? Because I don’t think either Clinton or Obama can win the Presidential Election. I think, as usual, the Politicians have been thinking what looks best as opposed to what is best for the country overall.

I think there are still 100000 of people in parts of the US who are saying “I am not voting for a bitch or a n**ger.” I think the Democratic party shot themselves in the foot with the two options to run against McCain.

I hope Obama can win, I really do. But I honestly don’t think he can. I think the US is going to have another four years of Republican Rule.

And that’s a big reason why I have no plans to move back to the US any time soon. Its much too scary there these days.

Please, America, prove me wrong. I would love it.

What Made Them Think Of It?

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What made the first person who smoked a pipe think to a. create a pipe, b. dry some tobacco or herbs and c. put those dried herbs or tobacco into the pipe and light it on fire?

How did the first person who painted on a cave wall think to a. crush some berries or use the charred end of a stick to b. use the side of the cave as a canvas.

Was the first cooked meat an accident, or did someone stand in front of the fire, stare between the meat and the fire and decide to see what happened?

I wonder if we’ll ever be able to trace (time travel? maybe?) from the first moment that man walked erect to now, to me sitting in my nice comfortable flat, using the latest technology to type this to a bunch of strangers in the world, each advance.  Each EUREKA! moment.

I, of course, realize that that will probably never happen.  But what I hope our lack of understanding of man’s early years leads to is great record keeping.  So that in 10000000 years, the people of that time will know how they got from me sitting in my nice comfortable flat, using the latest technology to type this to a bunch of strangers in the world, to them, sitting where ever they sit, doing whatever they will be doing.  They should be able to track each EUREKA! moment, even if we can’t.

The Images from the Chinese Earthquake

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are just chilling.  Whole villages destroyed in, what, 5 minutes? Less?

Having spent 7+ years in Northern California, I am no stranger to earthquakes.  Felt my first one when I was at work in the Silicon Valley.  I was on the phone with a client when my boss comes barreling into my cube “Its an earthquake!” she shouted, with something that sounded like glee.  I turned back to my call “Can I call you back? We’re having an earthquake.  Its my first one, I don’t want to miss it!”  By the time the sentence was out of my mouth, the earthquake was over.

I was also at the epicenter of one once, when I lived in Richmond California.  At the epicenter an earthquake is like this: – BANG!!!

They are scary.  Nothing stays still.  Not the ground, not the air, not the buildings, nothing.

So my thoughts go out to the people of China.  Who have lost their loved ones, their houses and their sense of security.

More UK versus US…

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It seems odd to me that the British are considered, historically, more formal than the US, but the language isn’t necessarily so.  Elevator seems more formal to me than lift.  Escalator more so than Moving Staircase.

In the US you would probably not hear someone ask, in a shop or a restaurant, where the toilet is.  In the UK its the most common term.

I think UK slang is just more interesting than US.  Quid versus Buck.  Wanker versus Idiot.

There is slang that still gets me in trouble.  Blow someone off has a totally different meaning here.  I’ll you figure out what it is.

Fanny is not your bottom in the UK. It is a woman’s front bit. 😉  Want to get a bunch of UK natives chuckling?  Tell them you own a fanny pack.

Interestingly, a penny is a penny all over the UK and US.  In fact, I found an American penny at work one day and our accounts manager refused to believe it was also called a penny.  I had to prove it to her online.

I still call potato chips chips.  And I still call french fries french fries.  Except when I don’t!!

And in other news, the lift in our block of flats announced the third floor again as we went by.  Silly Lift.

Reading

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Reading is one of my great pleasures.  Anyone who has seen the pictures of our flat will realize that my husband and I are *huge* bibliophiles.

So, what is on those shelves?

A plethora of things.  I like Mysteries, with Laurie R King being one of my favorites.  Simon likes Alternate Histories.  We both read Science Fiction.

Some of the books on our shelves are unmitigated trash.  And we know this.  Occasionally we like to read trash.  No romance novel trash, but adventure novel trash.  A big favorite is Matthew Reilly, the man of !!! and 2 sentence chapters.  And the 59th Minutes of the 11th Hour Saves.  We both enjoy him.

Some of the books on our shelves are first editions.  I have several Firsts by Robert A Heinlein, my favorite Science Fiction Author, hands down.  I have every book he ever wrote, including the ones written for him posthumously.  And I have several of them in both cheap paperback and First Edition.  If you ever come to my house, please ask before reading any of my Heinlein books, thanks.  I am trying to keep the Firsts in good condition!

We also read humour.  Simon likes UK political humour.  I am a huge Dave Barry fan.

And we have comic books, all kinds of comic books.  Graphic Novels, single issue, you name it, we have it.

We both read, constantly.  I always have a book with me.  And so does Simon.

Reading is, indeed, fundamental.

Playing Games

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I like games.  Puzzle games especially.  But I am also a big Feeding Frenzy fanatic.  We have it for the XBox 360.

What I like about it is that it starts slow and builds up in good stages.  First level is just you and the fish who can eat you.  Then they add additional predators and things to eat, until there is so much going on the screen you are dashing around like a maniac!  A lot of games ramp up too fast, but Feeding Frenzy is just perfect.

But mostly what I play are puzzle games.  Picross for the DS is my favorite, hands down.  I play it over and over, trying to beat my times on each puzzle.  I also play Denki Blocks for the Game Boy Advance, which can be played on the DS.

And I have recently purchased Crush for the PSP.  Also a lot of fun but HARD!

And in case you’re wondering, Simon and I own: a PS2, an Xbox, an Xbox 360, Two Nientendo DSes and a PSP.

Yes, we are geeks, thanks for asking.

Maybe I Am Not As Smart As I Think I Am…

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So I am currently reading The Boomerang Clue (aka Why Didn’t They Ask Evens?) by Agatha Christie. It was written in 1933.

In the book, the main character gets offered a job in South America. For £1,000 a year. And he is stoked about it.

£1,000 a year was a good salary in 1930s Britain, obviously. So the part I don’t get is how, in 72 years, basically one generation, we can go from £1,000 a year being a good salary to £1,000 a month being not quite enough.

Simon says part of it is decmilization. And, of course, inflation. But I still don’t get it.

Its like I also don’t get exchange rates.  Theoretically, if something costs about £20 in Belfast, shouldn’t that same something, based on the approximate current exchange rate, cost $40 in the US?  But it doesn’t.  For example, a book I just found on both Amzon.com and Amazon.co.uk. .com is $7.99.  .co.uk? £6.99.

So maybe I am not as smart as I think I am…cuz I just.don’t.get.it.

Spring Might Have Finally Arrived

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At least I think its fairly nice out this morning.  It is at least very still, which it hasn’t been for weeks.

I may bite the bullet (and why on earth would anyone actually bite a bullet?) and wear my spring cape today rather than my big winter coat.  I may get a bit cold waiting for the bus, but at least I won’t be hot waiting for the bus this afternoon.

Which reminds me about something I wanted to write about…

The other day I was walking home from the bus stop.  It must have been last Thursday because Simon works late on Thursdays and, therefore, doesn’t meet me at the bus stop when I get home.  So I was walking alone.  And watching the people.

All of them were in a hurry.  Just rushing down the street to get to their next activity.  Why? What’s the big hurry?  Isn’t the journey worth the trouble to slow down?  I always walk a bit slowly, especially on my way home from the bus after work.  I like to look around.  See what’s new.  Are there leaves on the trees?  How’s the construction on the neighborhood church going? Wow, that’s a cool car.

People really don’t watch the world.  I find that sad.  It is ever changing, even in the middle of City Centre of Belfast.  The other day I was looking out the window in our front room and noticed that out of 10 cars parked on the street, 9 of them were red.  When I looked again about an hour later?  9 of them were blue.  I find that fascinating.

So.Stop.Look.At.The.World.  Who knows what you might be missing…