Lazing on a sunny afternoon!!!

We had another beautiful sunny day today, which wouldn't have been complete without a trip to the beach at lunchtime. We are so lucky as it is only a 5 minute drive from the office. Unfortunately I couldn't share my lunch with all of you, so I hope these couple of pictures will go some way towards making you feel part of the experience :-)

My sister has raised a few questions that up until now, I don't think I have answered, so here you go Nicky:

• There was snow to start with and it was 18c yesterday. Nearly all the snow has cleared now, although there are a few snow mounds by the roadside where the snowploughs swept the snow after it first fell. Today I went to the supermarket and in the carpark the snow mound was taller than me. Hopefully by the weekend it will all be gone.

• The people I work with are really nice. I hope to get some photos for you soon. They are planning a bowling evening tomorrow evening, which would have been an ideal photo opportunity, but I must start work at 7am on Friday so I think I will have to give it a miss.

• The TV is pretty bad, although there is a bit on English news. I do miss the London news in the morning as I liked to see all the traffic jams! I get the entertainment channel which is always good viewing, and dancing with the stars has just started (same as strictly come dancing). The only problem with this is that it lasts about 3 hours because of all the commercial breaks. They also do a whole programme for the elimination which is a bit tiresome. Heather Mills (McCartney) is on it, and she is awful. The American public are really warming to her though. The only other people I think you will know are Ian Ziering who was in Beverly Hills 90210. He was the annoying one with the blond hair. There is also Billy Ray Cyrus (of Achy breaky heart fame), and Laila Ali who is the boxer and Mohammed Ali's daughter.

• The place I am staying in is a long stay hotel. You have a mini kitchen which means that you can cook if you want to (apparently :-) Here is the link http://www.homesteadhotels.com/minisite/?hotelID=109, although it doesn't provide much information. It is about 12 miles from the office, but only takes about 20 minutes.

• I am actually working, although I thought that no-one would be interested in the details!

Ok that's it now. I think that is enough for one entry. Will write more soon :-)

Week 2

So today, we finally experienced our first real day of spring. We had a beautiful sunrise, as you can see the picture taken from my room this morning, and then the day became lovely and warm (around 18c). Lunchtime was really nice as we grabbed a sandwich and then went down to the coast at Southport. It is a beautiful area with a golf course (links) and very expensive houses. As it is still early in the year you are allowed to park at the beaches, after that it is only possible for permit holders. I think this is definitely the way to spend your lunch breaks!

Day 6

I have now been moved out of the disabled room and into a more luxurious room. They didn't have any normal rooms so they gave me a free upgrade :-)

Today I went for a drive down to the coastline on Long Island Sound. It was quite cloudy, cold and deserted, but I'm sure it's nice down there in the summer. Whilst stopping to take pictures some turkeys starting walking through the carpark infront of me. They were just strutting along so carefree as if they were on their way home after a session sunbathing on the beach! It was quite scary for a moment, although I am still trying to work out whether me or the turkeys were more scared.

I've included a few more pictures as I know people prefer pictures to text, especially the less intelligent ones of you (ha ha)!!! If there are any requests for pictures then please let me know as I am getting very snapper happy at the moment :-)

Day 4

They say that no news is good news. So the good news is that I have no news :-)

Edwin arranged Friday drinks this week and we went to a very nice bar near the office. I managed until about 9.30pm and then the tiredness set in. Unfortunately you have to drive everywhere in the US, so it is harder to stay awake without alcohol!!!

I am really looking forward to a lie in tomorrow. It will be the first weekend in a long time where I don't have to think about packing, moving or cleaning. After that a big shopping trip is planned to a huge outlet centre about 30 minutes away with around 150 stores. I am spending so much money that I will be poor very soon. Oh well, I may as well make the most of the opportunity.

I've now amended my blog so that you don't have to log in to add comments. I hope to see a lot more there soon ;-)

Day 2

So today was my first journey into work on my own. Equiped only with my brain for navigation, and sheer bravery as my shield, I managed to tackle to US highways without incident. I was very relieved that without a map, I had managed to find the office. Unfortunately Gurtie Guzzler has now been traded in for a smaller, less greedy model. I only drove her for a day, but I had got kind of attached. My new car is a Hyundai Sonata and you will see it above. I will save my car review for a later posting :-)

Today was my colleague Warner's last day in the office. We celebrated this at lunchtime by going into Bridgeport to the BBQ restaurant. It was so nice and filling, that I think I will just stuck to the wine for dinner tonight! It wouldn't have been so bad but we also had cake in the afternoon.

I am beginning to miss my bike a bit, although I am walking far more than I used to. I went to the supermarket this evening and the length of the supermarket seems longer than my old journey to work. After 30 minutes walking backwards and forwards I left the shop with only a roll and some coleslaw. There is just so much to choose from that it becomes quite daunting.

I also found a TJ Max (same as TK Max) next to my hotel where I managed to pick up some pretty snazzy 'Guess' sunglasses for $15. So after 2 days I've come to the conclusion that wine, beer and sunglasses are cheap; food and gas guzzlers are expensive. I'm not sure if you're keeping up with my train of thought here, but I think it's steering me towards a bar and a beach somewhere :-)

I just want to say a big hello to my sisters. If your kids are so jealous of me being here then I think the only nice thing to do is to bring them out here. Angela, I'm sure you could do without the dog, and Nicky, your bathroom will last another year. Maybe you can by some cheap sunglasses in TJ Max and it will hide the colour you are so fed up with xxx

So that's it for today. I will try and have some interesting news next time I write.

My Arrival in the US

Well I have finally arrived in the good ol' US of A. It is nice to finally be here after all the months of waiting. I hadn't planned to start a blog site, but after less than 24 hour here, and 36 channels of rubbish on the TV, it sort of pushes you in that direction!

So I picked up my hire car today, although I think gas guzzling SUV would be more relevant. At the liquor store today I managed to buy a 5 litre box of Californian Chablis for only $10. That is about the same price as the petrol for my return journey to work, so I think that the SUV gas got to go!!! Tomorrow I am changing it for something a bit less thirsty :-)

There was very heavy snowfall here over the weekend, and there is still snow piled up by the roadsides. I pass a couple of lakes on my way to work which look so pretty, altough I have not managed to take any pictures of these whilst driving. Instead I have taken a picture from my window which shows the carpark (I know it's not the same, but you get the idea of how much snow there was). Unfortunately despite the size of the satelite dish, I don't think they have managed to pick up the decent TV channels.

So that is it for my pitiful effort at writing today. Here you will find the pictures of the SUV (I'm standing on the wheel plate) and the carpark.

Will write more soon when I have something more interesting to say, or better pictures.