A quarter of the way there!

I've just realised something.

It's the 31st of May today.

That means I've been here 3 months. That's a quarter of the way through the year.

It's been good so far, and none of it would be possible without the property support team in the UK. So special thanks to Marie, Paul, Tom, Rob, Jack, Joe, Gill and Keith.

Also, special thanks to the personal support team, my Mum and Dad, for looking after everything else, from the junk mail to the gas bill.

And finally, more special thanks to the vehicle care team (Aunty B) for keeping my car for me. :)

OK, that wasn't quite finally, because there are more thanks to everyone else back home who've kept in touch, espoeciallly my niece Chloe. Somehow the 4000 miles doesn't seem so far.

Much as I don't really want to, I should thank Microsoft for MSN Messenger.

Lazy Dayz

At about 3 O'clock, I decided that I had had enough of playing Scrabble on the Nintendo DS, and went to laze next to the pool. Just like the other week. I got caught up on my facey-spacey but eventually, the sun washed out the laptop screen, so the bligedy blog had to wait until now.

Well I've now managed to turn the top side of my arms even more brown than they were before, and since I was actually wearing a T shirt at the time, I've also got a band around the tops of my arms.

After a while, I thought I'd better go back inside, but then I thought what the hell, go for a dip on the pool. I walked back to the apartment, found a pair of shorts and went back for a splash or two. Well, I got out at about half six, laid back in the sun for a bit to dry off, and now I'm back inside. Not much else to do this evening, so I might watch the Transformers DVD that's been sitiing around since last Sunday.

It's raining again

Yes, it's raining again.

Thunder and lightning too. Well, techincally, the lightning comes first.

It's going to be a while hanging around, this weather I think. I can't complain too much, because it was a really nice weekend for the most part.

I went bowling last night, mainly to expand the social side of things. It worked, but I've really lost my game. I shall have to get some practice in, I think.

Roaring Creek Falls

So, I thought I'd have a trip out.

Another friend at work suggested I drive up to the mountains. Apparently, it's nice country up there.

So out of bed at seven o'clock this morning, and on the road for two and a half hours, and I got to The Falls. It is really nice countryside up there, with a lot of bendy, hilly roads.

Photos are on The Bucket. I also tried to upload them to Facebook, but it's having a hissy fit at the moment, and I've ran out of patience with it.

Roaring Creek Falls are somewhere in the Blue Ridge Mountain Range. There is a Blue Ridge Parkway, but I crossed it, rather than drove along it. Not my fault they built it in the wrong place :D

Anyway, it's been a nice 3-day weekend. I have a film to watch later, and back at work tomorrow.

State Quarters Collection

Been to sort some stuff out at the bank, and decided to get a roll of quarters. 40 to a roll.

I've now added Arizona, Wyoming, Nebraska, California, Nevada and Ohio to the collection, and also found a better Connecticut and a better Hawaii.

That brings the total to 35 (including District of Columbia)

Hooters

Things are going really well at work at the moment.

We reached a major milestone in the project that I'm working on, and it was decided that on Thursday evening, the team would go out for a celebratory drink. It was decided that "Hooters" would be the venue.

I've never been to a Hooters before, and having seen clips on "Big Daddy" it looked a nice place to go.

Well it's good. They have nice, cold beer, and they make nice food too. The price is OK, and of course, the waitresses are very nice!

In view of my efforts to banish the "Spare Tyre", I didn't go out last night.

Probably take Mum and Dad up there sometime.

Oooh... Nearly forgot.,..

As part of tradition, Friday night is eat-out night. I've not been anywhere new for quite a while, so I thought I'd try Outback Steakhouse. It's a 10 minute drive or so from here, up towards Cherry Road.

All in all it was OK. A slight mis-understanding about the table, and a 10 second power cut made it a 7/10, but the steak was really good. cooked just how I like it.

See, I'm scoping out places to take the family to when they come over. I don't want to have to cook every night...

To boldy go where no-one has gone before...

It's cinema time again, and this time I went to see the new Star Trek film.

Nice film, with some funny moments from Montgomery Scott. Also nice to see Leonard Nimoy in it. I'm not quite sure how many Star Trek films he's been in now, but it must be more than any other member of the original cast.

All in all a good film, although I can't help but wonder if there is any relationship between red matter and Omega.

Starved myself all day, so I actually managed to eat all the popcorn without exploding, but it still would have been better to have a significant other with me. Patience is a virtue as they say....

Some more on The Collection

Well another special thankyou to Sherri, and I've got Alabama.

Also, I've been to The Pub, and I've picked up New Hampshire.

27 now!

Keep it going at this rate, and I'll be done by the time I go home for the summer break!

Anyways, it's Friday tomorrow, so I'll nip out at the weekend and get the presentation folder, and I'll clean all the coins I've got.

The Collection (continued)

Well, I've got five more quarters today!!!

Special thanks to Diane in Marketing for 3 them, and to the vending machine for the other two.

That brings the total to 25, so officially half way after less than a week.

Gives me plenty of time to get the rest, I guess.

The Collection

Sometime over the weekend, and I forget exactly when, I noticed that one of the quarters in my hand was some sort of special quarter. It had some ships and "Virginia" stamped on it.

"That's nice", I thought. I looked through the rest in my wallet and found North Carolina, South Carolina, New York and Alaska too. Then I thought a bit more, and I'm going to try and collect an entire set whilst I'm here.

Well, over the course of the weekend, I managed to collect Georgia, Vermont and Rhode Island.

A trip to the vending machine at work yesterday lead to Iowa and Illinois.

The lovely Debbie who sits a few cubes down from me at work has also been helpful in the quest, and today I've got 18 coins.

I'm going to create a list on the main page of the blog, so that I can track my progress. I've also got to go and get a display book / case for them all.

Concert

Sometime during the week, although I can't remember exactly when, Ben mentioned a concert at the Neighbourhood Theatre in Charlotte. Rolling Stones tribute night. General format is a dozen or so bands, two or three songs each. Tickets were $10 each, so not expensive by any means.

The venue was rather unique, I think. I can't decide whether it's like that on purpose, whether it's in the middle of being refurbished, or whether the ceiling just fell down one day. I guess I'll have to ask Ben tomorrow.

Other than that, a relaxing weekend. Went to Sagebrush last night, and then thought it's my 63rd night in America. Funnily enough, I had the same as I had the first time I went in. 11oz New York Strip with Fries and Macaroni Cheese.

Also had a good week at work too.

I'm going to have a bit of lunch, and then maybe go for a drive somewhere. Not sure where, but there's a book full of ideas in the drawer.