So this is it.

The last blog post on Matts American Adventure.

There are a few things to mention.

Firstly, thanks to everyone, both in the UK and the US for helping make it possible, being good friends, and everything else.

Secondly, the lady to inspect the apartment will be here in a minute, so I've got to stop.

Thirdly, she's probably going to take my internet card away, so I might not be able to post any more..

Baseball

So I've finally got around to going to a Knights game.

OK, so I actually got around to it a long time ago, but I just haven't blogged about it yet. I've actually been to three now.

Charlotte Knights lost the first two, but we trounced the visitors on the third match. :)

I'll upload some pictures sometime.

Last two messages on a cup... For now...

"You might not want to go back... Your futball team isn't doing so hot!"

Oh so true. But we did make it through to the next round, with the USA. This is what happens when you support 2 teams.

"This is not your last cup message... There will be more insightful things to be said on cups. Just wait y'all!

:)

Messages on cups

"A tanned Brit - Ha!"

was the first. Apparently, I'm officially tanned..

"Camren, do you realise that if we played by the rules we'd be in the gym?"

Can't remember about this one.

Hello from Amber's (and Rebecca's) Place

So, tonight me and a few friends are going up to Charlotte for a concert.

We're all meeting at here, and going out for dinner.

Laterz!

Moes was broken...

As I've just stated, myself, Dan and Steve the new guy went to Moe's on Wednesday for lunch, and it was broken.

All the beer had gone, so I guess they've lost their liquor license. And the carbonator was broken too, so no fizzy drinks. Maybe it had gone pop like the one at Hooters.

And as if that wasn't enough, it seemed like they were a man or two down.

Rumour has it that Moe's might be closing down. That's fine as long as they wait until I've gone. I like Moe's

This week's cups

So this week was a little odd...

Apparently, the CO2 whotsit at Hooters had a hissy fit, and made a hole in someone's car. This lead to the first message on a cup...

"CO2 is lethal"

Understandable. If someone had been in the car at the time, I expect they'd be severely injured.

Anyways, on Wednesday, Dan, myself and Steve the new guy went to Moe's instead. Mainly because everyone else mentioned that they were going to Empire, and well, we prefer it when it's not so busy, cause Amber has time to socialise. Anyway, Amber had already pulled the drinks, so Ben kindly brought them back for us. Mine said...

"Lame"

I can understand that.

Speed Street

It's suddenly dawned upon me that I haven't blogged about Speed Street yet.

Speed Street is annual event for Charlotte, and, as the name suggests, is themed around Nascar Racing.

Jon invited me, and I thought it'd be nice to go, so we all piled into my Jeep.

Jon thought that it wasn't so goodthis year, but having no been last year, I had no comparison. It was OK, I guess.

And then it was June...

May seems to have flown by. Last month, less than four weeks to go until I'm back in Blighty. The flight is booked, but the bags aren't packed. Yet.

Two messages on cups for this week.

Firstly "The Bartender throws things, and has suggestive office supplies."

So Amber was throwing things. Pens to sign credit card slips with, IIRC. Three at me. Mainly cause the first two didn't work. Must get you a Sharpie...

Secondly "Silly Americans! Mr. Wonder. I mean... It's in his name! Come on!"

Another reference to the Juke box. I think.

The week's messages on a cup....

So I was taught to use an apostrophe to denote possessions. Since these messages belong to this week, then week has an apostrophe. Am I wrong? "Messages" is just plural. So no apostrophe.

Anyway....

"Sexy is back ... like ray bans"

Amber has been away for a couple of weeks. It's been nice chatting to Emily instead. I'm not sure if Emily has been mentioned before, but either way, Hi Emily!! Ray Bans, it would appear, are a brand of sun glasses. Maybe Amber is dropping a hint?

And from today....

"Anything but lettuce"

It would appear that someone has made Amber think she needs to lose weight (or inches). Err no. Please stop. Now. You're looking good. Like really good.

A diet of just lettuce is unbalanced and bad for you.

Or have I misunderstood something??

Getting better

So I'm starting to feel a bit more human now.

THe antibiotics are certainly working, and according to the blerb on the back of the packet, they'll keep working for a while yet.

I've finished off the cough stuff, which isn't really much of a problem, as the cough has more or less gone now.

The nasal spray will be running out soon too, I think. I've got a couple of sprays left for tonight.

On the good side, Amber is back from her trip, so everything is kinda back to normal.

Not long to go now. I still need that one last quarter..

Water

So, having been told by the doc that I needed to increase my fluid intake, I thought to myself this means expensive orange squash (like Robinsons in the UK, but already mixed here...), expensive diet coke, or pipe-flavoured tap water.

None of those are particularly appealing, and none (except possibly the tap water) are probably that healthy. Determined to find an alternative, I went wandering around Walmart.

It seems they sell water that is filtered blah blah blah and costs 37 cents a gallon. So I got a couple of gallons. Remember that the US has smaller gallons. There are two machines at Walmart, so I thought I'd save some time by utilising both machines. So I get two bottles shove one in each machine and press the "go" button. This is when the hilarity commenced.

The first machine seemed to be OK, and a plastic tube with a rubber ring descended, and clamped around the neck of the bottle and started dispensing the water.

However, the the second machine seemed to skip a step, and missed the plastic tube bit altogether, and took to dispensing the water straight off the bat. Unfortunately, my alignment skills weren't quite so hot (probably because I couldn't see what I was aligning to..) and as a result the water started spraying pretty much everywhere. Well, not fearing water, I moved the bottle and caught most of the gallon in the bottle. I told the nearest Walmartian that the dispenser was broken, and he said he "would tell someone". Well, that ain't going to fix it sunshine. And unless you want a flood in the corner of the store, you'd best write a sign up, or switch the machine off. Quickly.

So I went back today, a day and a half later, thinking that they'd have fixed it by now, or at least put up a sign. Well they hadn't done either.

So this time, I let it tip the entire gallon out on the floor. And then told the nearest Walmartian that the dispenser was broken, and he should fix it, rather than telling someone else about it, because telling ain't the same as fixing, and then mop up the proof.

Bad times (health-wise..)

So it seems I've developed a chest infection. And those are the three pieces of medication that I've been prescribed to fight it off.

Firstly, a Z-pack (A pack of Azithromycin Antibiotics) for the actual infection. These, I thought, would make me more ill, but they seem to have been OK so far. I'll add them to the list of "Good antibiotics".

Secondly, some Hydromet cough syrup. Cherry flavoured. Also good at sending me to sleep.

Finally, some nasal spray to keep things clear up there. Works well. Except for the first night when I couldn't inhale enough in the blocked one to get effective penetration (if that's the correct word..) but was OK last night, and should be OK tonight.

I actually slept OK last night, and will almost certainly be fine again tonight.

I was also told by the doc to increase my fluid intake. The rest of that story continues in the next post...

The New List

OK, so after a bit of thought, I've put the list in alphabetical order. This has the advantage that "Work" is at the bottom of the list.

I'm not sure how long it'll take to do the whole list, but I'm going to book some holiday at somepoint, and have another drive around the country.

For those of you that recall, this was supposed to happen last summer but Swine Flu ruined everything.

This time, hopefully, everything will work out.

I should also point out that the list doesn't include everything, and doesn't exclude anything. It's not the be-all and end-all and really is just a reminder for me.

First message on a cup for May

"God save the Queen... and Dick Cheney... and my third grade teacher... and the devil..."

Not sure what's behind this one. Will ask Amber next week.

Time for a new list...

So I need a new list.

This one will be "Things to do when I get home"

The list is not in any particular order...

Coin Collection

So.... I've got one more coin... US Virgin Islands.

This means I have 7 weeks to find the last one - American Samoa.

I've got all the rest, and a 1976 bicentennial quarter. Quite a nice collection, but incomplete without American Samoa.

Fingers crossed...

Last message on a cup for April

"The best things in life are free... But stuff that costs $$ can be pretty neat too. Electricity, for instance, is always a positive".

This one, I think, was pre-meditated. It was already written when I walked in.

It's mostly true. The one thing that's good in my life at the moment definitely isn't free. Hooters later ;)

Message on a cup...

"We have abnormally small produce".

So, Giada was on TV again. She was doing something witha cauliflower, and I made a comment along the lines of "Either Giada as got huge hands, or y'alls have small cauliflowers".

Apparently, America has small produce.

Two messages on two cups...

"Does the Cookie Monster need milk?"

This one stems from Dan's cookie eating skills. After hearing about the amazing cookie eating skills, Amber asked the question "Did you have milk?". Dan just replied "No..".

Secondly (because I can't be bothered with a new post...)

"Who is this Mr. Jones you speak of?"

Aidan finally returned the remote for the Juke Box, so Amber was catching up on all the tunes she'd missed out on. I forget the exact title, but it was a song about Mr Jones. I'd never heard of the song before, but can only assume that it's Mrs Jones' husband. Poor guy.

Bloopers on the web

OK, So I found a typo in a news article. It just made me laugh, so I figured I'd share it with y'all...

"Americans who have not gotten themselves vaccinated against the condition should go in for a shit now, or get a nasal spray, as has been stressed by the team of experts at the U. S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

(my bold)

The full article, by TopNews US, can be found here.

(And I'm not sure what the picture is. I just put "blooper" into Google, and it threw that whateveritis back at me)

A tardy message on a cup...

"Amber for President!"

A bit late, this one. Just been a bit busy.

So, I don't think Amber was on her 'A' game with this one.

Unless there are some elections coming up that I wouldn't know about.

Either way, Amber would probably make a good president. She certainly has the willpower to see difficult policies through to the end. And beyond!

Anyway, I've gotta get on. Cleaning, fixing the Jeep and a Walmartian battle are on the todo list for today.

Message on a cup...

"I ♥ spicy cocktail nuts"

There's at least three parts to this one. The first one I can't tell, as it's kinda personal, but the rest is fair game, I think..

So, at Empire, you have lunch with the Sports Channel on one screen, and the Food Network on the other screen. An interesting combination..

Anyway, there's a rather nice looking (although, not a patch on Amber..) woman called Giada de Laurentiis, who can cook up all sorts of things. Today, she was making some nutty titbits.

So there was Giada, chatting away about how much she loved nuts, and well, lets just say that everyone found her enthusiasm for nuts rather amusing.

Warehouse 13

Apparently, the new series is coming back to syFy.

But not until I get back to the UK.

It was the one fear I had when I started watching television over here. I'd find something I like, and it'd start just after I left.

Hey ho. I think it's being shown in the UK, just a month or two (or a year) behind.

That'll give me time to get the new telly sorted out then :)

Jeep

So, it lasted quite a while, but guess what.. The Jeep is broken again.

This time it's something with the central locking / alarm / wireless entry system.

The keyfobs seem to be OK, since the boot / trunk release works fine, but the lock and unlock buttons are non-responsive. Also, the alarm will randomly arm itself during the day (or night).

Back to the dealership soon, and in the meantime, I just have to resort to locking all the doors manually. How tedious.

Trees

You either love them, or you hate them.

It seems, though, that me and trees are having a bit of a love-hate thing going this week.

See, it's pollen time, and the parking lot at work has been covered by a fine greeny/yellow/brown powder. Same for the parking lot at the apartment.

Except that I live next to a very woody area, so the prevailing wind dumps a rather substantial amount of pollen right on my windscreen. I wash it off, and there's more by the morning. Irritating.

I've given up on the carwash for a bit. It's just not worth it.

Thankfully, my car looks as mucky as everyone elses around here. Picture shortly...

Message on a cup...

"Today is the first day of the rest of your life... Until tomorrow!"

That's a good thing. For the most part, I look forward to tomorrow. Although the guys are back on Friday, so Friday gets even better. It's good anyway, because it's Friday.

I should't rule out a Hoot on Saturday... Depends what else is happening...

Message on a cup...

"Airport gifts are the best"

Amber bought a gift for Tiny (First mention for Tiny there, I think...)

It's just a mug, but apparently it symbolises something.. Not sure what.. Will have to ask someone...

Anyway, it reminded me of when I used to fly from the UK to Antwerp fairly regularly, and someone would always ask me to get chocolates on the way back. Unfortunately, most of the time the taxi got stuck in traffic, so I had to rush through the airport with no time for shopping.

Other Stuff

So last weekend was a bit busy.

Friday night was the "Pizza and Wings" dinner at the clubhouse. This was lovely, and was followed by around an hours fooling around in the sand with some friends.

First thing Saturday morning, myself, Jon, Zach, Chase and Max all went fishing. Well, I couldn't fish, because I haven't got a license. But all the same, a good time out. Saturday afternoon, we all went to Concord Mills shopping centre. It's on par with Meadowhall, I think. And lastly, on Saturday night, we all went to Hooters. All in all, a very nice day. The weather was really nice too.

Sunday was equally busy. Started off on Sunday morning doing some of the cleaning, and then went into work to finish off a few odds and sods. Got back, and had a webcam with England, and sorted out some bills. Then, about half 1, Erin and Chase appear at the door. Erin and Max were going to a party, and both Jon and Zach were at work, so I ended up watching Chase for a few hours. Got the cleaning finished off, and had a walk around the park and Manchester Mall. Also found Dairy Queen :D

Message on a cup...

"No, I didn't change my phone number...

Damn phone company"

Seeing as though Amber is single, I thought she might enjoy a "Pizza and Wings" dinner put on my the apartment management crew last Friday. So I sent her a message, and called later in the day. Both the text and the call were un-answered.

So I assumed that when Amber got her new phone a few weeks ago, she also got a new number. Apparently not. It just seems that the phone service is not so good.

Message on a cup...

"Who needs a day off?"

Amber is working too much this week. Although, she's working on Saturday. Might go up to The Hoot on Saturday.

Otherwise, it's been nice at work now that I've been moved out of the Lab-to-be. It's still a bit too hot, but there's another AC unit on the way. Other than that, I walked out of the office with two lovely ladies from ASAP; Chelsea and Melinda. Hi girls!

Message on a cup...

"I charge for the use of my voice services"

Aidan is one of the regulars at Empire.

He asked me to record an answerphone greeting on his cell phone. It's the whole English accent thing. I duly obliged, and apparently, people have left a few messages since.

I'd really like Amber to do mine. Must remember to ask her about that.

Coin collection

It seems like forever since I posted an update on the coins. Really, though, nothing has happened. Until today.

By random chance, I didn't have enough small change to get a drink out of the machine at work. Yes... I worked on a Sunday... So I stuffed a $5 into the quarter machine, and got 19 boring un-interesting quarters, and a Northern Mariana Islands quarter.

It's been placed in the collection. Only 2 more left...

The Sammies

So Friday night was gig night.

Venue? Visulight Theatre, Charlotte.

Band? The Sammies (Yes, that's a link...)

There were a couple of really great supporting acts, and as usual, Frank, Donnie, Bobby and Conrad made great music! Definitely one for the MP3 player, I think!

Was a bit sad that Amber couldn't come. Had to work. Dan, and a few other chaps from work are fans too, so we all met up and had a great night.

On Saturday, it warmed up quite a bit. We might have even hit 80 degrees F here. I managed to do a few lengths in the pool, but soon realised it might just be a bit too cold. Later in the evening, Jon and Zac came out to grill, so I went back to my place and got some beefburgers out of the freezer, and we tossed them on too. Mmmmmm... Then we all watched Saw 6.

Today has been miserable. Rain, rain and more rain. Supposed to be better in the week.

Message on a cup...

"I'm Back
You're Back
We're Back
We missed Us"

You are.
I am.
We are.
We did.

Amber's been on holiday. She's back. :) :)

It's not only "Hump Day", but it's also St. Patrick's Day. A good excuse to buy Guinness.

There's a gig on Friday night. Are you coming Amber?

Message on a cup...

NYC is on a grid... How clever.

This, I think, is in response to me saying that I don't know New York all that well, and not quite understanding the meaning of the numbers. I know they are street numbers, but exactly which one is 31st, and which one is 7th, or 34th, I don't know.

I'm British OK.... We give our streets names. Like "Park Lane", and "Strand", and "Picadilly Circus". "18th St." is well, just a bit boring.

Also got to meet Chelsea today. She's nice.

Hump day again today... All downhill to the weekend....

Another day at the office

As a result of the renovations in the office, I've had to move desks. My new desk isn't a proper desk, just a fold-up table in the new lab.

It's not a very big room. just big enough for the two of us - Ben has been moved in as well.

Unfortunately, it gets rather warm in there, as there's no air conditioning, 2 persons, 2 computers 4 monitors and a load of other electronic stuff heating the air up.

Luckily, Ben's brought in a fan from home, and that, at least, moves the air enough to keep it all bearable. Thanks for that :)

The old block of cubicles was being taken apart today, and hopefully the new dogbones will be up very soon, and we can move back into the main office. Yay!

Also, my little gadget from Hong Kong has arrived. It's a small adaptor that allows me to use standard headphones with my phone, and charge it up at the same time. A kind of splitter. It works well, and contrary to some reviews on the internet, it does output stereo sound!!

Message on a cup...

"My stapler is on probation"

Amber's stapler has been behaving much better, so it's no longer destined for the trash can.

Message on a cup...

"THe abuse of office supplies is wideley accepted in the US. Especially in bars. This is why we're not given desks!"

So Amber had a fight with the stapler at lunch today. It was misfiring, and getting blocked up. Not good.

Anyway, today was hump day. Wednesday. THe middle of the week. Over the hump, downhill to the weekend. Apparently supposed to be in the high 60's this week. Odd, as it snowed yesterday.

And I love guitar hero on the Wii. Beat Chase too!!! Will have to get that when I get home. Along with a copy of Avatar on DVD, plus a few other movies I've seen over here. HMV in CHesterfield are going to love me...

Message on a cup...

"Smirnoff is for girls"

OK, so when I worked behind a bar (a long time ago...) we were given promotional T shirts to wear.

My favourite was a "Smirnoff Ice" shirt. I liked it so much that occasionaly, I'd wear it when I went out too. And occasionally, the person behind the bar would give me a free bottle of Smirnoff Ice.

Movie of the year?

So... Uncle Buck is on Nick tonight.

It's like the 5th or 6th time I've seen it, but it's still a good movie.

There's a few movies coming up at the cinema that look like they're rather funny too.

Watch this space.

Message on a receipt...

"It's not a cup... but - Hooters: What a great invention"

Definitely.

And tonight is my 1st anniversary of my arrival in the US of A.

All that time away from home. I'm kinda sad, because I realise that it's all going to come to an end soon, but also happy that I'm going home. I've missed my family.

However... Moving on... I've made lots of friends over here, and although I should write everyones name here as a thankyou, I'd be here forever. There are a few special people who I would like to thank, though.

Firstly, to everyone back in the UK who made it possible. Secondly to Ray at the office who invited me over. Then there's Ben, Richard, Jeffrey, Jon, Brian, Jonathan, Mike and Tom (all at the office) who've been really great in helping with everything. Then there's Debbie, Sherry, Belinda, Sandra, David, Chad, Dan, Sandy, Jim and everyone else from work who are all great friends. (OK, so I'm still a little bit pished at this point, and I'm starting to ramble)

Outside of work, there's been Whitney at the village, who's always kind. Jon, Zach, Chase, Max and Judi, and The Loves, who are great friends too. There's loads more folks from the village who's names I don't know, but thankyou all the same.

Finally, there's the team from the former Sagebrush at Rock Hill, who were like a second family when I first arrived. And Amber, who is the nicest bartender I've met. And finally (I think) Jackie Wrestler from The Hilton Garden, Rock Hill, who made the first couple of weeks a lot easier.

Thanks Y'all!!!

Delayed message on a cup

OK, so this one is a little bit late. It was supposed to be posted on Wednesday, but I left the cup at work, and I got in Thursday morning, and the cleaners had taken it. And I couldn't remember what was written on it.

Amber did, and after a visit to The Hoot, I can now publish...

"Americans are silly. They consider loving someone giving them your last red starburst"

All down to the fact we were discussing candy, and I said I'd save Amber my last Rolo. Apparently, the last Red Starburst would be a better bet ;)

Message on a cup...

"Curling is a science...

... in which the Americans have not studied!"

Apparently.

I've watched a bit of curling, and remember a Scotswoman-lead TeamGB doing reasonably well not so long ago, but today, we had China vs. USA on at lunch. They lost. Having just checked the tables, USA have lost 7 out of 9 matches in the men's curling, and 6 out of 8 matches in the women's curling.

Sadly, TeamGB aren't doing much better.

Walmartian Worcester Sauce, Part 2

Well, I had the Cheese on Texas Toast this morning, complete with the Walmartian Worcester sauce.

It doesn't have the tang of Lea 'n' Perrin's, but it certainly adds a nice flavour.

It'll be nice to have some L&P when I get home.

Walmartian Worcester Sauce

So... I've finally found some.

In Walmart.

A few weeks ago, I spent a while wandering around various aisles in various shops on a fruitless quest for some Worcester sauce. I had looked around Walmart in the course of this quest. I even enquired to the Walmartians themselves, and they didn't seem to know if they even sold Worcester sauce, let alone where it was.

Well, today, in the course of avoiding a trolley crash with a rather hot chick, I came face to face with some Worcester sauce. Without further hesitation, I grabbed a bottle, then dashed back to the bakery and got some Texas Garlic Toast (It's made from proper bread, rather than the yukky sweetened stuff) and some cheese.

Breakfast tomorrow? Cheese on toast with Worcester sauce! Woohoo!!!!

It remains to be tasted whether Walmartian Worcester sauce is as good as Lea 'n' Perrin's.

Message on a cup...

"Fat Tuesday? Try Skinny Wednesday!

Let's promote a thin holiday in this country for Christ sake.."

All to do with today being Ash Wednesday and therefore the start of Lent, when people are supposed to give things up.

Some people give up chocolate, some people give up meat, fast food, or cookies. Some people give up soda or alcohol, and some folks give up sex.

40 days without sex? How would you cope?

Message on a cup...

"Never mix drugs + dinner plans! Bad news."

So, Amber and I had planned dinner. I would cook cottage pie, one of my favourites, and Amber would bring the wine.

The first time, I'd got a cold, and thought it would be a bit unfair to cook dinner and spread germs everywhere. So I cancelled.

We re-scheduled, but then the snow came, and Amber couldn't get out of her apartment.

So we re-scheduled again.

Then someone rolled a cart over Amber's foot at work, and she ended up in the ER. And now she's drugged up on pain killers and antibiotics. Lots of big hugs for Amber :)

Eventually, we will have cottage pie and wine.

A big flash...

No, not lightning, or any of the flashing that would end you up in jail, but a nice new SB600 speed light flash for my camera.

I've been meaning to get one for a while, but up until about 10PM last night they always looked expensive. Until I looked on the best buy website.

Then I decided that it was an opportunity too good to miss, so I ordered one late last night, and drove over to the shop (in a place called Blakeney, just around I-485) tonight pick it up.

Chase decided to come along too, so I had someone to chat too in the car. It was getting late (by Chase's standards, anyway) by the time we got back to Rock Hill, so we stopped at Chick-Fil-A on the way past, and had a chicken sandwich.

The flashgun itself works perfectly, and will come in really useful for taking portraits and so on.

I have a plan to test it, but I can't tell y'alls about it yet. Subject to certain permissions, the final results may well appear on here in March.

Message on a cup...

Today's message was definitely pre-meditated. I had only just sat down at the bar, and taken the smallest sip of DP, and the cup had already disappeared....

"Being British is a recipe for disasterous fun. We have kick-ass music, awesome hair do's; we trend set across the whole world and we have Gordon Ramsey!

Bo-yah!"

The hair has been mentioned before (see here) so I'm guessing Amber likes the hair.

Note to self... Do hair on Friday night.
2nd note to self... Buy the stuff for the Cottage Pie night on Friday.

Message on a cup...

I had a message on a cup today, but unfortunately, it's been deemed unsuitable for publication :(

Anyhoo, the good news is, the dinner date is back on again :)

I've also got my work phone reconnected. It's another Nokia.

I'm a bit disappointed, though. It seems Nokia haven't worked out how to charge their phones via USB, and have managed to put some weird mini-but-not-the-same-as-everyone-elses USB connector on it. And as if that wasn't bad enough, the USB lead supplied with the phone is all of about 3" long. And those are not dick inches, by the way.

The final gripe is that Nokia still haven't put on the option to send all your contacts via Bluetooth. Or if they have, it's in a stupid place where no-one could find it without reading the entire manual (and let's face it, who actually reads the manual...)

All in all, it would be pretty useless as a personal phone, but since it's actually a work phone, it only needs to fulfil basic phone requirements. The only saving grace is that it is the same charger as the one I've got. A small miracle in Nokia terms, I think.

I'm glad I bought an Acer.

Poop niblets (as Chase would say...)

Well, I've had to postpone the dinner date that was supposed to be tomorrow evening.

I've caught a cold.

I hate colds. Especially when I'm supposed to be cooking for a good friend.

So I'll have to do the cottage pie thing some other day.

And as if the cold wasn't bad enough on it's own, I've just realised that I've left the box of medicine at work. >:(

No message on a cup...

No message today.

Went to Moe's instead. They don't write on your cups there.

Anyway, our usual lunchmate was off ill today, and had the Dell man in yesterday, so he's been missed at lunch time.

I've got to clean up now. I've got company on Friday, and I need to clean up now, rather than leave it until the last minute.

Ah.. Who am I kidding? I always leave things until the last minute..

Message on a cup...

"Beer is proof that God loves us.....

And Amber is proof that he has a wicked sense of humor!"

So either this one stems from the remarks following a joke, or following the installation of a new beer tap at the bar. I'm not sure which, but Amber now has "Fat Tire" on draught!

Coin collection

There have been no updates lately. Why? Because I haven't managed to get any mroe coins.

These last few seem to be quite elusive.

American Samoa, US Virgin Islands and Northern Mariana Islands.

Hopefully they'll appear soon...

Message on a cup...

"Hangin' out with y'all has really broadened my cultural horizons"

Hmmmmm...

This may stem from the British slang word "bog" (meaning toilet) which I uttered today for some reason.

Or it could something else.

Amber... We need to make a date for some Cottage Pie!

Message on a cup...

"Silly Americans firing brilliant talent!

Don't worry Conan... The BBC will call you in September."

So Conan O'Brien has left the (NBC) building.

More on the crappy virus

So... The crappy virus is still being fought...

I've won a couple of battles, but the war is still going.

I managed to download a copy of some anti-malware software from a reputable source, and eventually got it to remove the malware / virus.

Unfortunately, it's a but unstable at the moment and is prone to hanging. No BSOD, just a complete screen freeze. If anyone knows why it's doing this, and even better, if they've got a solution, please feel free to leave a comment!!

Unfortunately, it still means that I can't video call anyone in the UK. It's just too unstable :( :(

Message on a cup...

"Sportin' the British Rock Star hair today..

Big Sexy."

OK, so I put some gel in my hair this morning to "make an effort".

You never know who you're going to meet at the pizza place!

Crappy virus and crappy music

So my laptop got a crappy virus. I tried my best to clean it off, and did actually succeed. Unfortunately, it seems, neither Windows Firewall, or Symantec Anti-virus know about it, and it's come back again. And it's more clever, and locked me out of nearly everything. I can't be bothered with it again right now.

So now, my computing needs are (mostly) carried out on the PCs in the business centre in the clubhouse. Unfortunately, these are shared machines, so I can't install anything like a webcam and MSN Messenger.

No more webcam back to the UK :(

It also means that at any one time, there could be someone else using the other computer. Today it's some Rap freak, who's headphones are completely ineffective at containing the racket. If I don't leave soon, I'll have a headache, and probably nightmares too.....

Message on a cup...

"Pimpin' aint easy"

This one, I think, is a title of some rap song that Amber is fond of (or maybe not)

Either way, it made quite a few people giggle.

Another American thing...

45 Days without an accident at work!

We don't really have these things in the UK. I'm not really sure how common they are over here, but I seem to recall a few pictures of them from various places, including the Three Mile Island Nuclear Power Plant, strangely enough.

I'm also not sure exactly what purpose they serve. Is it to show off to visitors? Is it a counter to show the employees how safe they are (and therefore the likelyhood of a possible bonus?) or is it just a waste of effort?

Either way, it's a miracle, because it's been going up ever since (at least up until I left this afternoon) and we have an office refurb in process, with all sorts of things dangling precariously from the ceiling, and electrical wires sticking out here and there, and well, you get the picture.

Message on a cup...

"There are no Sporks in Eating Irons!

Men don't use Sporks... they use Splades"

This was probably as a result of me asking Amber for some "Eating Irons" (cutlery) to eat my lunch with. Apparently, no-one had heard that phrase before.

I must admit, I'd never heard of a "Spork" before either. They are a lot like splades, though. Maybe it's another one of those weird crisps / chips word-crossover things..

Message on a cup...

"I ♥ Matt's giant... Blog!

and Matt ♥'s our spicy sausage.."

The second part of this message stems from the spicy sausage and cheese sub I had for lunch. It was rather delicious.

Message on a cup...

"So a Brit, a Mic and a Scot walk into a bar with a midget...

Stop me if you've heard this one."

Not sure about this one. I thought about editing it for political correctness, but then I decided not to. No offence to anyone, but it would detract from the whole thing if I edited the messages...

Besides, if I did edit things, my next cup may well say "Your Blog sucks", and I wouldn't want that, now would I?

Monopoly

Zack and Maddison invited me around for dinner and Monopoly this evening.

Zack's cooking was good (although Maddison may disagree with that... "Can you smell burning????")...

I was quite pleased, because I WON!!!

It is all about luck, though, because it's only been a few weeks since I was beaten by Chase. Who's only nine years old. I nearly cleaned out Zack, but he got the pot, and fought his way back. I cleaned Maddison out completely, much to Zack's amusement.

After I counted out the best part of $6,000 in cash, plus houses and hotels, and all the property, Zack gave up too.

The dice were kind to me tonight, and I'm thankful for that.

The Journey back...

Unfortunately, the journey back to the US was even more disrupted.

As you newsreaders know, some twerp tried to blow up a plane on Christmas day, so extra security measures were imposed.

These extra security measures slowed things down a lot, so the plane that I was booked on (at 13:15) was running so late that I'd have missed the connection at Orlando. The helpful staff at Virgin transferred me to the 11:00 flight instead, but again, because of the delays, we weren't airborn until about 13:20. This meant that I was still a fraction behind schedule.

The bags weren't automatically transferred this time (although they were tagged through to Charlotte) so I had to wait for them, and put them on the transfer belt. All of this, in conjuntion with the extra wait at the immigration desk meant that I only just made the connecting flight to Charlotte.

Unfortunately, my bags didn't, and after a pleasant welcome back from Jon, Max and Chase, I had to queue to see a representative who told me my bags were still in Orlando, and they would be flown up in the morning, and delivered to my apartment.

Annoying, becuase that reduced the amount of time I'd have to wash everything, and also, I'd have to hang around all day waiting for the delivery guy. Luckily, they turned up at about 2PM, and everyone was happy, more or less.

All in all, the whole frickin' trip has reminded me why I like direct flights. Unfortunately, the pennypinchers at HQ will disagree, and I'll still have problems next time I fly. :( .

The holiday itself....

So I got to my parents house in Lincolnshire about when I thought I would.

Christmas Day was as exciting as ever. Chloe loved her presents from Santa Claus, although we had to resist the laughing, as she ended up calling Santa "Satan" for a short while.

My mum was as stressed as usual with the dinner, and did a splendid job (again, as usual). Turkey sandwiches lasted until the 27th...

I visited some of my friends up in Derbyshire, although I didn't have a chance to visit KP, Vikki, Tracey & Luke, Steve & Les, or Ken & Linda. I'm really really sorry, but I just ran out of time.