The Bug Chronicles

A Day In the Life

2011-03-06T16:36:00.001Z

Early shift today meant I was up at 7:00 in order to be at work at 8:30. I opened the practice, and got it ready for the day's work. The two vets came in before 9:00. One of the vets has a dog who has been having some health issues, so I helped her take a blood sample and got it ready to send to an external lab for some tests. Clients began arriving for appointments at about 9:00. I admitted one dog to be spayed, weighed her, and got her settled in a kennel. A cat also came in for an operation, but the vet needed to check her over and have a chat with the owner before admitting her. I took payment from the clients who had come for appointments, dispensed medications when they were prescribed by the vet and gave the vets a hand when they needed an animal held still for an injection. Meanwhile, I got the operating theatre ready for surgery - a soft bed on the table; the oxygen turned on; the instruments and drapes ready; clippers and disinfectant for the incision site; mask, gloves and gown for the surgeon.
Meanwhile, a vet had admitted another dog to be hospitalised and put on fluid therapy. I set up everything needed to place a catheter in her vein. The head nurse came in for the late shift at 10:30. She won't be done until 7:30 tonight. Appointments were over by 11:00. The vet doing the surgeries today told me the drug dosages for the cat and the dog that were in for spaying, and I drew them all up into syringes. We gave the dog a sedative to help ease her into her general anaesthetic, then I held her while a catheter was placed in her vein. (Placing a catheter is one of the things I'll be taught how to do soon.) Then she was put under general anaesthetic, placed on oxygen, and prepped for surgery. The head nurse monitored her while she was under anaesthetic, and I went about getting things ready for the next operation.
While I was doing that, an owner phoned in a state of shock. He said he had just checked on his rabbit and found that his ear had been torn off! I got his name and told him to bring the rabbit straight to the clinic. The head vet examined the bunny when he arrived and admitted him straight away to be fixed up. A fox (they're everywhere in London) must have grabbed the ear when it poked out between the bars of the rabbit's cage. It was completely ripped off at the base of the ear, with no ear to be found anywhere. The poor bunny was being brave as could be, eating and drinking and acting happy, but that's just what bunnies do. As prey animals, they hide any sign of sickness or pain, or a predator would get them in a flash. That makes it really tough to tell if a rabbit is well or not. Anyway, I soon had the drugs drawn up for his anaesthetic and the vet and I set out to help him feel better.
When he was sedated, we clipped all the hair from around the wound - no easy task, as the blood was matted into the fur and dried. Then the vet began cleaning and debriding the wound. She cut out any necrotic tissue that was there and applied a gel that will keep the wound moist and help it begin to heal. She decided not to put in any stitches at this stage, but to let the wound drain for a day or so before she does. We will keep the bunny in hospital for another day, at least. Meanwhile, the other vet and the head nurse had finished with the dog and had prepped and spayed the cat, as well as getting the hospitalized dog on fluids. As usual, all the animals woke up beautifully from their operations - no distress. We all helped clean up the operating theatre and prep room and then we nurses got to the usual tasks that keep the clinic running from day to day. We vacuumed, mopped, filed papers, ordered supplies, cleaned, did the wash, scrubbed and sterilised the instruments. We took turns having our lunches, and the vet took her dogs out for walks. Evening consults began at 5:00, with it's usual rush of taking payments and dispensing drugs. I headed out the door at 5:30. The cat and dog that had been spayed would go home later, having recovered fully from anaesthetic.
I had dinner with the Koalaman when I got home, then sat down to study for a test on muscles that's coming up this week at college.
And that's what a normal day is like for me.

A Ride in a Dalla-dalla

2011-01-24T21:30:00.000Z

Many 3rd world counties have an efficient ride-sharing transportation system, and I had not experienced it before our visit to Tanzania. The dalla-dalla takes to form of a minibus, pickup truck, or other vehicle with lots of space for people to squeeze in. They have set routes, and passengers simply board as one would a bus, ride until their destination is reached, and pay according to the distance travelled. Dalla-dallas do not operate on a fixed time schedule, but depart from their starting point only when they are full. So if a would-be passenger arrives at the dalla-dalla hubs in a city and the dalla-dalla going to his or her destination is empty, there could be a long wait before it departs.

The dalla-dalla we rode from Stone Town to Nungwi was a bit like a covered military transport. It had benches running down the length in the back which could comfortably seat 8 people per side. However, they squeezed about 12 per side, plus people sat in the center aisle among the baskets of fruit, plastic buckets containing the day's catch, and whatever shopping the occupants happened to be caring with them. When it was too full to squeeze another person in, they would stand on the back bumper and cling to the roof rail. Up on the roof were some of the larger items the passengers were taking with them, including our bags, a giant stiff swordfish, a bundle of timber, a coil of small gauge rebar, and numerous boxes wrapped with pieces of cardboard box and binder twine.
There is an operator who rides at the back with all the passengers, taking payment from them and ensuring the driver does not take off before everyone has boarded. He also speaks with the police stationed at the numerous, seemingly useless checkpoints. The police always just seemed to have a short conversation gave we passengers a cursory scan, and then waved us on. Our operator spoke English, and told us to pay in advance the fee of $3.30 each for the 1.5 hour ride. We thought this was a good deal, because hotels charge upwards of $60 for the same distance in a private car. But as we travelled along the journey and saw money changing hands, it became clear that most passengers were paying a tiny fraction of what we had been charged. Proof that our operator was lining his pockets came when, on our return journey 5 days later, our operator charged us a fee in line with the others at $1.30 each. It is an extremely small difference to most of us, but the thought of having to deal with corrupt people stings nonetheless.
As for the comfort of the trip, it could not be described as plush by very many people's standards. The bench was thinly padded, but after sitting on it for an hour it felt like nothing but a stiff board. There were so many people squeezing my legs against the edge of the seat the circulation was cut off. The bucket under my nose containing some smelly, stiff little fish was not pleasant. But to the locals, this is their main method of transport, and they don't complain. Some of the small children in their mother's laps slept through all the jostling and rearranging as their fellow passengers got on and off.

More for Less

2011-01-24T21:29:00.000Z

On our return from Zanzibar to Dar es Salaam on the mainland, we had a bit of time to kill before we needed to leave for the airport. We decided to get a bite to eat and found a restaurant on the 2nd floor of an office building. We scanned the long menu and decided on something from the burger page. Tanzanians serve fries with just about anything, but after the abundant seafood of the island we were hankering for a main dish that tasted a bit more normal. We both decided to order cheeseburgers - strangely, cheeseburgers were listed on the menu as cheaper than hamburgers! We chuckled at the way these strange Tanzanians do things and placed our order. Our waiter made a great show of placing our cutlery in front of us in just the right place, and twisted all the condiment bottles so their labels faced us - we figured this was his way of vying for a great tip. Surely he couldn't be expecting much on a $2 meal? Despite much clattering coming from the kitchens, no food came out for the next hour. We got a little concerned because it was approaching the time we should leave for the airport. The patrons at the next table seemed unconcerned, and when their bowl of potatoes arrived we figured our meal couldn't be far behind. Finally our cheeseburgers appeared, with extravagant swoops of the waiter's arms to place the dishes before us in a carefully considered orientation. Upon first sight, it became obvious to us they did not have and burger buns, for the top and bottom were circles cut from pita bread. With Dan's burger it appeared they had run out of pita so they had fitted together a little puzzle of pita scraps and one complicated shape of cut bread to top his burger. It was so comical we burst out laughing. When we peeked inside them we discovered there was no patty; instead there was a jumble of tenderized beef pieces. There was also no cheese in our cheeseburgers. Dan mentioned this to the waiter, and the waiter joined in our laughter, saying "Oh, the chef must have been confused and forgot the cheese. Don't worry, I will make sure you only pay the cheeseburger price!"

It's a Mad, Mad World

2011-01-24T21:27:00.000Z

Our ride from Dar es Salaam to Julius Nyerere International Airport outside the city limits was an excellent example of what transportation in a 3rd world country can be like. The trip is normally a 30min journey and follows the aptly named Julius K Nyerere Road. This is a multi-lane, divided highway with occasional stoplight intersections and many dalla-dalla pullouts along the route. We expected our 8pm journey to be quick as we made our way out of town into the unlit industrial outskirts, but soon found out otherwise. The 3 lanes heading out of town suddenly became jammed with cars, trucks, and overstuffed dalla-dallas. The reason for there being a jam out here, we found out later, was some sort of police checkpoint at one of the intersections ahead. Our driver, perhaps in his own impatience or perhaps realizing we did have a flight we needed to catch, steered onto the potholed shoulder and began to pass the stationary mess. A short distance later he exited onto a little access road leading to the industrial estate. We carried on there, next to large, whitewashed concrete buildings, with other cars and we moved at a good pace parallel to the main highway. But this road, too, became jammed with cars and we sat for a while without moving again. Between the road we were on and the main road to the airport, there is an elevated sidewalk. Pedestrians who cannot afford their own transportation still have to get from A to B, and this sidewalk keeps them off the road and out of harm's way. A steep, dirty bank was all that kept drivers from rolling up and onto the sidewalk and utilizing the open space. After our driver observed one SUV charging up the bank and onto the sidewalk, he decided we would follow in our little Corolla. We had a good laugh as we motored along the elevated sidewalk, pedestrians dodging when they appeared in our headlights. Progress was good... until we encountered the police checkpoint. Not wanting to be caught on the sidewalk, our driver made a 5-point U-turn and headed back the way we had come. This time we weren't just encountering pedestrians, but a line of cars who had decided to follow our lead. It was a tight squeeze getting past everyone, back to the short access road we had first used and onto the jammed Julius K Nyerere Road again. This time, our driver decided to rip along the shoulder, braking quickly to avoid plunging into the deepest potholes and edging back onto the pavement.between gaps in cars where necessary. It was a hair-raising experience but we arrived in one piece at the airport an hour later. Thankfully, Swiss Air let us check in even though we were past their advertised cut-off time.

The Great Blue Sea

2010-12-16T12:42:00.000Z

Zanzibar was the sort of relaxing holiday location I never dreamed I would get to visit. I can see why it is a popular honeymoon spot, and known well among Europeans. The white sandy beaches, the clear turquoise water, the always-warm weather, and friendly natives - you can't tick all of those off anywhere in the UK.
I really enjoyed snorkeling and scuba diving. It is another whole world down there, and such a treat to see exotic wildlife in their natural habitat. I took a Discover Scuba Diving (DSD) course on one of the afternoons we were in Nungwi. We first watched an instructional video to learn about the diving, the equipment, and the safety elements we would need to observe. Then we had some classroom time with a Dive Instructor to learn how the equipment works and how to use it. Finally, we spent an hour in one of the hotel pools practicing our breathing, equalizing, buoyancy control, and some safety drills, like clearing your mask of water while underwater, and breathing from another person's octopus (backup regulator). Dan also was with us for the course because he hadn't dived in a few of years and they required him to take a refresher course, which they ran alongside ours. The DSD course includes an open water dive, but some of the students in my course elected not to continue with this because they either couldn't get the hang of equalizing, or the pool dive was about all that they could hold their interest for. But diving in the ocean was the best part! For the ocean dives we went out the next day on a 20 minute zodiac boat to Mnemba Atol, a marine wildlife reserve. The boat was positioned at the edge of the reef, and before hopping in the water we had a bit of a briefing on the dive site by the Dive Master. Since the water was a bit choppy and the boat was moving up and down a lot I started to feel a bit sea sick. I was glad when we got in the water because under the surface you don't feel the effects of the surface conditions at all. The scenery was spectacular - many kinds of coral made up the reef, and hundreds of fish were swimming around. I saw some amazing lion fish, some clown fish hiding in their anemones, dory fish, a sea snake, moray eels, trumpet fish, giant trevally, and many many types I could not begin to identify. The experience was so incredible, I've signed up for a course back here in the UK to get my open water diving certification!

Zanzibar, Friday evening

2010-11-14T09:53:00.001Z

The Koalaman and I dragged ourselves out of bed at 3:30a.m. on Wednesday. We had to get a taxi to the airport because not even the Tube runs at that time of night. We hopped on a plane to Zurich, Switzerland, then changed planes and flew to Nairobi, Kenya, let a few people off the plane, and then on to Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania.
This is a crazy place. You can't walk down the street without someone, sometimes several people accosting you. They say,"Jambo! How are you? Where are you from?" and they walk along beside you, but they are not only being friendly. They want to sell you something. They want to take you in their taxi. They want to show you the way to your hotel for a tip. They want to sell sunglasses to you. Or necklaces, or handkerchieves, or artwork, or carvings. I haven't bought anything yet simply because I hate being pushed like that. But I will. I really need sunglasses, actually.
We got to the hotel on Wednesday night just fine, but we were so tired after our long day of travelling. The next morning we got up and ate breakfast and then headed to the ferry terminal. The guy that sold us the tickets scammed us - he sold us economy class tickets for the price of first class. I'm sure he pocketed the difference. I got slightly seasick on the two hour journey across to Zanzibar, but not too bad. We got off in Stone Town, once again to be greeted by a lot of people wanting to give us some sort of service, but we managed to eventually shake them off and wander through town a little bit.
Stone Town is full of sights and intense smells. The meat market, in particular, I hope to never smell again. Or see, for that matter. They don't seem to care whether flies land on the meat and fish or not. But the fruits and vegetables are beautiful.
We decided to go to our destination village of Nungwe the way the natives go - by daladala. It's most like a flatbed pickup truck with a low roof on it and hard benches around the edges, and it functions as a bus. At one point we had at least 30 people in ours. It seemed a long ride to Nungwe.
When we arrived, we had a bit of a walk to get to our hotel. It seemed impossible that there would be a hotel in this place. The 'roads' are such that you need to have a four wheel drive vehicle in order to navigate them. The houses are cinder block, and very very basic. But we followed the signs to the hotel and then entered a different world.
We were greeted with cold, wet towels to wipe the sweat from our faces. It was the most refreshing thing I have ever felt. They brought us fresh cookies and guava juice as we were checking in. Our room overlooks the swimming pool and the Indian Ocean, and there are coconut palm trees. The sea is turquoise and warm, with clean white sand. Of course, this changes as soon as you walk down the beach. It's dirty there, covered in litter, and we even saw a boy pooping in the sand today.
Today we wandered the beach in the morning. We found a company to go diving with, and this afternoon we went back for the training bit. I SCUBA dived! In a pool, but still. We'll go out to Mnemba Atoll tomorrow in a boat and do some real diving. I can't wait.

Happy Holidays!

2010-07-29T15:09:00.000+01:00

The Koalaman and I leave for North America tomorrow! We'll be gone for two and a half weeks. A week in Canada, a little over a week in Washington, plus travel time. I'm so excited to see family and friends again. And I love having days when I don't have to be somewhere at a certain time, especially if that time is early in the morning.

I'm only sorry that I don't have enough time to visit ALL my friends around the country.

We Can Stay!

2010-06-26T08:22:00.000+01:00

So yesterday the Koalaman and I were granted Indefinite Leave to Remain by the UK government. We can stay here for as long as we want now, no more visas required. It means that next year we'll be eligible to apply for UK citizenship. Citizenship will give us access to work and live anywhere in the European Union. Oh, the options!

A Bummer of a Tail

2010-05-27T22:27:00.000+01:00

The other day I went into the operating theatre to help out with an operation to remove a dog's tail. When I went in, the dog had a piece of tape on his forehead with his name written on it. I asked the other nurse why in the world it was there, and she said, "It's to remind us to take the stitches out of his arse before he goes home." They had stitched him up so that he couldn't poo in his incision during the operation! It would be bad news if the stitches had been forgotten and left in.

Veterinary Nurse Overload

2010-02-06T11:36:00.003Z

I've just completed the first week of vet nurse training. For these first four weeks, I'm learning the basics so that I can then "float" around the eight branches to which I've been assigned. So far, I have learned so much that my brain is going to explode. There's a very large gamut of tasks that a veterinary nurse should know how to do. And safely - there are an awful lot of drugs, needles and wet floors at a vet clinic.

Some of it is very familiar. I'm good at answering the phone (although I don't always like it), and learning new computer software has always come easily for me. But most of it is brand-new to me, and I sometimes feel like a ninny when I have to ask questions that are obviously very basic.

Some of the more interesting things I've learned so far:

Calculating dosages for injections, drawing them up and then giving intramuscular or subcutaneous injections (there are at least two more ways that I haven't learned yet)
Monitoring an animal under anaesthetic
Sterilizing and setting up instruments and drapes for operations
Holding an animal so that they can have blood taken, have a catheter put in a vein, or be intubated for oxygen

I've also scrubbed kennels, vacuumed, mopped, answered the phone, taken sales, made appointments, walked dogs, washed dishes, made phone calls, filed paperwork, put new stock away, and all the other little not-as-interesting things that make up the vet nurse's professional life.

All in all, I've really enjoyed it. Yes, I'm tired from learning all of these new things and being on my feet all day, but there are so many things that make up for that. Obviously, helping and being around the animals is very rewarding to me. And then I also have a wonderful, friendly team that's training me. The head nurse is a patient, thorough teacher, and the vet has been great about telling me when I'm doing well, which is very reassuring to a newbie. The other trainees have taught me a great deal, too. So I think it's all worth the toil. And soon I'll be competent enough to undertake most of the tasks without immediate supervision, which will make things much easier.

Meow for now!

Scotland

2010-01-26T12:59:00.002Z

It's a dream come true! The Koalaman and the Bug went to Scotland for Christmas. I have wanted to go to Scotland for a very, very long time. We drove (by we I mean the Koalaman, since I didn't have my driver's license yet) for seven hours at a good clip to get up to Glasgow. And then I think everyone decided to leave work early because of the snow, and it took us two more hours to drive three miles across town.

Glasgow is very near where the Buchanan clan originated, so there were a lot of things named Buchanan. Buchanan Street is the main shopping street, and there's a Buchanan Shopping Center on that street. We did a bit of exploring around there on foot that evening.

The next day we drove up to a village called Drymen to look for the Buchanan Castle. We found it with no trouble, as it's situated on the Buchanan Castle Golf Course. It's in ruins now, but it's still a beautiful fairy tale castle. It was built in 1854, after the previous one burned down. The roof was taken off in the 1950's for tax purposes, which is why it's in ruins.

This is what it used to look like.

There are signs posted everywhere warning people that it's a dangerous, derelict building, but we went inside anyway. Can't go all that way just to see the outside. We were very careful where we stepped, as the floor was caved in through to the cellar in several places.

After Buchanan Castle, we drove toward Loch Lomond and saw more Buchanan things on the way. Buchanan Church, Buchanan School, Buchanan Smithy, etc. Loch Lomond was beautiful, and we went for a walk along the shore.

We headed back for Glasgow and spent our evening there eating shortbread. The next morning we headed towards Yorkshire, England, where we spent the night before heading home. The Yorkshire Dales are really something to behold. And the city of York is a wonderful place. It still has its medieval city walls around it.

It's too bad the trip was so short, but it just made me look forward to the next trip even more. Coming up this summer, one camping and hiking trip.

The New Career

2010-01-22T14:52:00.003Z

I have been offered a job! My new title will be Veterinary Nurse Trainee. I'll be training on-the-job as well as going to college one day per week for two years. I'll have tests to take at the end of each of the two years, as well as creating a portfolio of tasks that I'll need to be able to perform. After that, I'll be a qualified vet nurse!

My position is a floating one - meaning that I'll be covering for holidays and sick leave between eight different offices around Southwest London. Good thing I got my driving license recently.

I'm really excited about having the opportunity to work with animals. As most of you know, I've always loved them and that doesn't seem like it's about to go away. The bad news is, it sounds like a vet nurse trainee is generally treated as the slave labour at the office. But I'm hoping the good news outweighs the bad news in this case.

I start on February 1st. I'll have a day of introduction at the head office, then a month of shadowing a head nurse at one of the branches. Then the real stuff begins. I'll let you know how it turns out!

Two Used L Plates For Sale

2010-01-05T14:28:00.001Z

I passed my UK driving test! I guess the third time's a charm, because that's how many tries it took. That test has been a weight on my shoulders for over a year, and I can't tell you how glad I am to be done with it.

I now have to wait three weeks for my license to arrive in the mail. Meanwhile, I have a handwritten certificate saying that I passed and am now a legal driver.

I am again allowed to drive by myself, without L plates, and on the motorways. I was without a full license for only two months, but it seemed an age. It's over now!

[Happy dance]

The Biggest Scam in Britain

2009-12-11T22:06:00.008Z

Well, I've posted a good customer service story on this blog before, but now the other shoe drops. I just had a terrible experience with a company called UK Naric. I gave them the opportunity to make it better, but they wouldn't. So I'm going public.

I'm on the job hunt, and after a telephone interview with a prospective company, they asked me to provide proof that my education from high school in the US was comparable to what a student in the UK would get. They needed this because they would be sending me to college part-time. They suggested UK Naric.

UK Naric is "the national agency responsible for providing information and advice about how qualifications and skills from overseas compare to the UK's national qualification frameworks." It's managed on behalf of the UK government.

They said that they would be able to process my enquiry within 10-15 working days. With an asterisk to note that it couldn't be guaranteed and if there were any delays I would be notified.

They required faxed copies of my grades and diploma. Emailing a scan of the papers just wouldn't do. So I tracked down a faxing service and paid for faxing my documentation. Then the tracking page on their website informed me for three weeks that all of my documentation and payment (£46) had been received and was with an Information Officer. When I didn't receive the promised result within three weeks and had had no communication from them, I emailed to ask about it. I was informed that a letter had been sent in the post (during postal strikes - hence no letter in the post, hello) to request clearer copies of my documentation. (A scan would be much clearer than a fax, hint hint.) When I immediately called to ask what was needed, I was informed after further investigation that the documents I had originally sent were indeed fine and nothing more was required from me. By the time I received the results, four weeks had passed. This was far beyond the promised period of time, and during that time the job and training for a wonderful career were given to someone else. To top it all off, the resulting assessment from UK Naric was so generic that they didn't need to see any of my documentation in order to make it. It's obvious that no research whatsoever went into their assessment, not even to look at the grades of which they so desperately needed a clearer copy. They said (after 4 weeks, mind you) that "A high school diploma is considered comparable to GCSE (grades A*-C) / Credit Standard Grade standard provided an average of at least C is obtained in subjects which have counterparts in the GCSE sylabus and have been studied to Grade 12 level." Dude, I'm so glad they cleared that up. Seriously, anybody with half a brain in their heads and internet access could do a bit of research and figure it out in half an hour or less. For free.

So I emailed them and asked for a refund, in light of the fact that their mistake had cost me the job. Ten days later they refused, saying, "The assessment fee is a non-refundable administration charge." Wow, what a good reason to refuse good customer service to an unhappy client. AND! "The work has been carried out in accordance with the general information and terms and conditions provided on our website." To which I cry, "Horsefeathers!" They unnecessarily delayed my results. And they didn't let me know about it. Well, they tried, but not in any sort of sensible fashion. Sending a letter in the post during postal strikes, my foot. [snort]

Thanks for listening to me rant. I hope you don't ever need to use UK Naric. They stink.

On Faith and L-Plates

2009-11-02T19:06:00.006Z

I failed my driving test. Yep, after 13 years of driving without any tickets or accidents, I failed the test. It seems I couldn't back around that corner well enough. And I didn't look in my mirrors enough, so they say.

I could try to blame it on the system. They claim not to have quotas for their pass/fail rate, but each examiner's rate has to be approximately at the national rate, which is about 50/50. Seems like a quota to me.

But instead I think I'll do my best to be thankful. After all, I did learn some things from this first experience with a driving test in the UK. I learned that I need to practice backing around corners. I learned that for the next test I'll need to turn my head a bit every time I look in the mirror so that the examiner can see it. And I learned that it's so much better to trust God for the outcome rather than dread the test just because I don't know what the outcome will be.

See, I scheduled the test about several weeks ahead of time. And for the first few weeks, I got scared every time I thought about taking the test. I nearly panicked. I lost sleep, paced, cried, and was just silly over it. Because if I didn't pass, our car insurance would go up by 40% and I'd have to have those silly L-plates on my car! Then I came to the end of my rope, threw my hands up, and said, "All right! This is dumb and getting me nowhere." I decided that I would just do my best on the test, and have faith about the outcome. Meaning that, whichever way it went, it would be all right, and the Koalaman and I would pull through.

Ahhhh... peace. I completely relaxed after that. I didn't lose any more sleep, I didn't panic, I didn't cry. Well, I almost cried when the examiner told me I failed. But I wasn't nervous before the test, or even during it. It felt like I was taking someone out for a drive on a sunny day in our lovely little yellow Mini. It was wonderful. And it still is! Even though I didn't pass, I learned a great thing about faith and trust. And as it turns out, the insurance did not go up by 40%, since I'm in the process of getting my license.

I firmly believe that God plans the absolute best for his children. It's up to us to take it or not. Just remind me of that next time I freak out.

First Ladies

2009-10-19T19:03:00.011+01:00

Istanbul! The noisy, crowded, busy, dirty, exciting city that bridges Asia and Europe. The Koalaman and I were there for a four-day weekend - only enough to see a few highlights. Our first encounter with the people there was when we were going through customs on our way in. "First ladies," the customs agent said as he took my passport. We looked at each other and tried to figure out what he meant. "Pardon?" asked the Koalaman. "First ladies!" said the agent. I smiled and said, "Ladies first!"

We took the metro from the airport to the Old City section of Istanbul, where our hotel was. Or so they said. We wandered about in the rain for half an hour or so before finally locating it. We had missed it the first time by because we had our heads down away from the rain.

We spent our first afternoon in the Grand Bazaar, just trying to take all the sights and smells in. They have everything for sale there. You can buy shishas (hookahs), scarves, jewelry, belly dancing outfits, shoes, food, tea sets, typical tourist T-shirts, hand-beaten copper-ware, you name it. And that's only one bazaar in the city. There are dozens more. The Spice Bazaar is another fun and famous one, and they mostly sell (obviously) spices and Turkish tea.

The food was great. We ate baklava by the box, bought fresh rolls stuffed with interesting herbs and spices from bakeries, and pretzel-looking things from street vendors. We ate doner chicken kebaps, Turkish rice, doner beef sandwiches, and I drank Turkish apple tea. The Koalaman does not appreciate tea. At every restaurant, there were one or two cats. They would beg from the patrons and sometimes they'd get something.

On Saturday we met up with some friends who were there to run the marathon the next day. We went around to the Hagia Sophia, built 532-537AD, once an Orthodox basilica, then a Muslim mosque, and now a museum. It has a mosaic of Mary and Jesus side by side with Muslim inscriptions.

After the Hagia Sophia, we went across the square to the Blue Mosque. We were allowed to go in, but only after we were admonished to remove our shoes and advised that women should wear long skirts and a head scarf. I wore one of the provided scarves, and the experience made me very thankful, on a few different levels, that I have been blessed not to have to wear one. For one thing, just the physical annoyance of the thing was something I wouldn't like to deal with on a daily, hourly basis. And more importantly, I am so very blessed to know the God of the Bible on a personal basis, and out of choice, rather than be forced to pray to Allah because there's no other option. I was reminded every time the calls to prayer went out from every minaret in the city several times a day.

And on Saturday afternoon we all went on a tour that included a cruise up the Bosphorus River, a trip to the Spice Market, and the opportunity to go up in the Galata Tower for a view over Istanbul. We didn't go up, but spent a bit of time wandering around the shops and restaurants in the area.

Istanbul is half in Asia, half in Europe, and the next morning we got up early and got on a bus headed for the Asia side of town. We were planning to take part in a 5-mile "fun" run. Unfortunately it was raining again, and we got soaked as we headed from the bus to the start line. I think everyone in town participated in the fun run and it was a huge party atmosphere as we all started off. Lots of people were waving Turkish flags and people were running around handing out free boxes of Turkish Delight. The course took us over the bridge between Asia and Europe, over the Bosphorus River, and the view was great.

But while we were going over the bridge, there was a commotion and everyone headed to the side of the bridge. I saw a raincoat lying by the railing, and we found out later that someone had committed suicide by jumping off the 210 ft bridge. If I had been looking to my left as I went by, I would have seen it happen. Normally the bridge is closed to pedestrian traffic and there were police patrolling it to prevent this very thing, but this man was determined. It made us both feel sick.

After we finished the race, we then walked another 4 miles to the hotel. We would have taken the tram or a taxi, but the streets were closed for the marathon. We had one more look through the Spice Bazaar on our way, but we were too tired for any serious shopping. We spent the afternoon resting up, and then met our exhausted friends the marathon runners for dinner.

We spent our last morning in Istanbul at the Grand Bazaar looking for memorabilia to take home. I haggled with a shopkeeper over a beautiful velvet scarf, and the Koalaman picked out a duduk - a woodwind instrument that sounds a bit like a saxaphone, but it's smaller than a recorder. I was tempted by the copper-ware, but didn't have room for it in our luggage.

We headed home with wonderful new memories of old places.

Halfway there

2009-09-10T10:24:00.002+01:00

I passed the theory part of my UK driving test! Fifty questions, fifty-nine minutes to complete. I took ten minutes and missed one question. Not bad! But then there was the hazard perception part where they showed fourteen video clips and I was supposed to click the mouse button when hazards "developed." They don't exactly give great instructions on this part, plus the video clips nearly gave me motion sickness, but I managed to get 61 points out of 75 possible.

That leaves only (!) the practical part of the driving test. Not looking forward to that bit. Lots of practicing to do!

North America

2009-09-04T15:27:00.003+01:00

And so the Koalaman and I are just back from two weeks in our home countries of Canada and the United States. Unfortunately I left my camera there, so I have no photos to post as of yet. They are on their way, I promise.

But we had a wonderful time! We got on the Tube at the station near our flat and rode for an hour, then flew from London to Geneva to Montreal to Toronto, and then we got in the car and drove for about 10 hours to my parents' place. We stopped to get some sleep at a hotel in the middle of the drive. Incidentally, the stop in Montreal was a surprise to us. We bought the tickets thinking that there was only one stop in Geneva, but when we got there, the sign at the gate said, 'Toronto, via Montreal.' So at Montreal we had to get off the plane, go through customs, collect our luggage, drop it off again, go through security, and then get back on the same plane to fly to Toronto. And we were very glad we looked on the carousel for our luggage because they had assured us in London that our bags were checked through all the way to Toronto, but they were not!

Wedding preparations were going on at Dad and Mom's house. My brother got married that weekend in the backyard, and yours truly was Coordinator-In-Chief. Meaning that my job was to boss everyone around and then be picked on by my brothers for being bossy. Anyway, the wedding came off beautifully and with nice, cool weather for it. One expects heat and humidity in the Midwest in August.

Everyone started packing up and leaving at the end of the weekend, but the Koalaman and I stayed on with my parents for a couple of days. We went to the southern tip of Illinois for some walking in the beautiful National Forest there. And we ate some of the best sweetcorn in the world!

Midweek we packed up and started driving north. We stopped in my hometown so I could show the Koalaman some of my old haunts. We stopped at the house that I lived in for 23 years and the current owner let us wander around inside and all around the yard and buildings! It was so kind of him, and so nice to see the place again. We continued northward until we got to the Koalaman's sister's home. She and her family live on a boat, and we got to spend the night there before heading toward the Koalaman's mum's house.

There we spent the week visiting family, kayaking, four-wheeling, and having a bonfire. The bonfire was actually thanks to some neighbors who had set up (on my in-laws' property) several paint-balling hideouts in the form of sheets of plywood a couple of years ago. They had all fallen down and were rotting, so we collected them up into a stack and torched them. It was great fun!

Neither of us was very ready to make the long journey to come home. It was four hours of driving to get to the airport, then the obligatory two-hour wait for the flight, then the flights from Toronto to Montreal to Geneva to London, and then of course an hour on the Tube back to our flat. I was exhausted and jet-lagged, but very glad to have been able to make the trip.

I don't like fainting

2009-07-30T10:00:00.004+01:00

I fainted yesterday. Here's the story:

I was invited back to the vet's office to help out as a receptionist while the vet and the nurse did an operation on a bunny rabbit to lance and drain a golf-ball-sized abscess on its jaw. They let me watch operations if there are no clients coming in the door and no phone calls. This was my third operation to watch - the first two were dog castrations.

***If you're likely to faint or barf while reading about a bit of blood or nastiness, stop reading now!

The vet and nurse worked together to give the bunny an injection in a vein in its ear to put it to sleep and the nurse put a gas mask over the bunny's face to keep it that way. They shaved the area around the abscess and put the drape over it, and then the vet started cutting with her scalpel through the skin and tissue toward the abscess. Eventually she got through and the pus started draining. Bunny pus is about the consistency of cheese whiz, and it's creamy colored with blood speckled in it. The vet squeezed as much of the pus out as she could, then poked around inside with Q-tips to get the last bits out. Remember, the abscess was about the size of a golf ball. She also washed inside with a anti-bacterial liquid. All this time, I was feeling fine. It never crossed my mind that I wasn't OK with any of it. I've never been the slightest bit queasy at the sight of blood or wounds, and I watched the other two operations with nary a blip. But the next thing the vet did was pull out a bit of the 'capsule' of tissue that had enclosed all the pus and she said, 'I think I want to get rid of this.'

That's when I said, 'I'm getting a bit lightheaded, I think I'll go upstairs,' and then got tunnel vision and the next thing I knew, I was waking up on the floor. The whole thing took about 15 seconds. The nurse had thankfully been right there to catch me and let me down gently.

Thankfully the Koalaman was on his lunch break and was able to come pick me up and take me back home. I spent most of the rest of the day in bed, as I was feeling wobbly and queasy.

I felt so silly about the whole thing, but the nurse and the vet assured me that it's a very common thing with newbies and that it'll probably only happen once. Sounds like most people get used to surgeries happening in front of them and have no trouble at all. I hope that's the case for me!

Customer Service, at it's finest

2009-07-26T15:52:00.005+01:00

A few weeks ago, the Koalaman received a letter from his bank stating that they were switching to a new debit card company. I reproduce the letter here:

Dear Mr. Koalaman

Going forward first direct will be using Visa for both debit and credit cards. Shortly you'll receive you new Visa Debit card which will replace your current Maestro Debit card. Once it arrives, please destroy your existing Maestro Debit card and start using your new Visa Debit card. To make sure it's easy to recognise, your new Visa Debit card has the word DEBIT in the top right-hand corner of the card.

Your PIN number will remain the same
We have simply replaced your card, so you won't need to change your PIN number. Your card is ready to use at over 24 million outlets worldwide. You can also use it to withdraw cash from over one million ATM machines displaying the Visa logo and guarantee cheques up to £100.

Online protection
You can register your new Visa Debit card online with Verified by Visa(TM). If you've never tried this free fraud prevention service, and would like to know more, then you can register your card details online when you use a participating organisation. For more information go to www.visaeurope.com/personal/onlineshopping

If you have any further queries, please contact us on 08 456 100 100.

Yours sincerely

Jason Sharpe
Customer Services Director

Naturally the Koalaman, having a pet peeve against redundant repetition in acronyms, emailed the company about the phrases (in red above) that he found to be incorrect. "By Mr. Sharpe's reasoning," he said, "My body is made of of DNA Acid, I watch BBC Corporation television, and I live in the UK Kingdom." He also wondered why the switch to a new card had been made, as it was not explained in the letter.

A few days later, upon arriving home after a day out, we found a large box in front of our door. We opened it and found 12 bottles of wine. There was no accompanying invoice or letter of explanation, so we assumed it was a prize from one of the (many) competitions that the Koalaman has entered.

And a few more days later, the Koalaman received the following message:

To: Mr Koalaman
Re: Visa Debit

On behalf of Jason Sharpe, please allow me to respond to the points you raised in your recent communication.

first direct took the decision to change to VISA Debit cards based on the much wider coverage VISA has throughout the world. VISA Debit is recognised internationally and accepted globally. Countries such as the USA are now much better represented through the move to VISA than was the case with Maestro.

Regarding the language used in our correspondence, you are of course correct. Whilst it has become common practice for examples such as PIN number, ATM machine (and others such as ISBN number or HIV virus) to be used in everyday speech, their use in the written format should be avoided. I note with some amusement that the term describing such acronyms - Redundant Acronym Syndrome syndrome (RAS syndrome) is in fact itself a redundant syndrome and an excellent example of self referential humour. Sadly, whilst I will strive to ensure that such grammatical anomalies are removed from our correspondence, I suspect that like many things in the English language they will eventually, through everyday use, become the norm.

Thank you for your message, it did make me think (and smile), something I hope you too will be able to do when enjoying a glass of wine from the case I have asked one of my colleagues to send you.

At first direct we are passionate about providing all of our customers with exceptional service so we're fully committed to proving prompt and accurate resolutions to any complaints. If you are not completely satisfied with our response, please tell us any time within the next eight weeks. To do so, you can telephone us on 08 456 100 100, send an electronic message via firstdirect.com, or write to customer relations. Otherwise, we'll consider this matter closed.

If we can't offer you a satisfactory resolution, you can refer to the Financial Ombudsman Service (but we really do hope it doesn't come to that). Further details about how to do so and about how we respond to complaints can be found on our website at www.firstdirect.com/howtocomplain.

Thank you for taking the time to write to us.

Kind regards

Graham Smith
Head of Marketing Planning

Wow! Humor AND expensive gifts from a bank! And in response to someone pointing out errors (albiet in a funny way)!

May your bank be as nice as the Koalaman's bank!

Pets and Vets

2009-06-22T12:19:00.002+01:00

My latest adventure is having a temporary job in a veterinary clinic. I'm the receptionist for two weeks at Pet Check Vets. It's a fairly new place, so business is a bit slow, but it's picking up a little at a time.

I'm learning a lot here! Besides the computer system and phone and fax and all the normal office stuff, I have learned how to hold a dog still so that drops can be put in its ears and how to raise a cat's or dog's vein so that the vet can take blood. I'm learning about pills and injections and fleas and ticks and worms. I've also gotten to do a little bit of creative stuff with their marketing efforts.

There is a method to my madness. I'm hoping that after this job is over, I can look around for a vet office that will take me on as a trainee veterinary nurse. I think I'll be more likely to get a position now that I can put a vet's office on my CV. (That's the same as a resume in the US) The program takes about 2 years, and it's a combination of on-the-job training and class time. I'm really excited about the chance to work with animals, as I didn't really realize just how MUCH I love animals until I didn't have any.

The Most Beautiful Place

2009-05-08T13:25:00.008+01:00

Just back from our attempted camping trip in the Lake District. It's the most beautiful place I've seen. I only wish the photos could do it justice.

I call it an attempted camping trip because, while the Koalaman and I left London in sunny weather, by the time we drove the six-or-so hours up to the Lake District, it was pouring down rain. And evidently had been pouring down rain for several days. We looked at a swamp of a campsite, then, as per the directions on the sign, headed down the road to check in at the farmhouse. They said they had a camping barn we could use - an old barn on the end of a house that had been converted into a bunk house. We were glad not to have to set up the tent in the rain. And the camping barn had electricity and hot water and a heater, so it felt like luxury.

The next morning it had cleared up a bit, so we headed up into the hills for a hike. The streams were all full to the brim, so the waterfalls were fantastic. The hillsides were wet, too, and the trails were effectively turned into stream beds. We were quite thankful for waterproof hiking boots.

As we got nearer the top of Green Gable, though, the nasty weather started to roll in again. We walked into the low clouds and it got windy and started raining again. We got to the top, couldn't see anything, and so started down the other side right away. Partway down, my pantlegs started to getting wet. I had a waterproof jacket on, so I stayed mostly dry on top, but the pants were only water resistant, so they eventually soaked through. Which got my socks wet, which got the insides of my (up-till-then-waterproof) boots wet, so I squished the rest of the way back to the barn. We had some yummy sausages and hot chocolate when we got there and put all of the wet stuff over the heaters to dry - couldn't have done that in a tent!

We had a drive that afternoon and took in some more scenery around the lakes, plus some funny signs, after which we had a barbecue of steak and more sausages - so delicious.

Packed up and left the next morning. I drove part of the way - good practice for my test. We stopped in a town called Ambleside and got some fudge. Eventually made it through the traffic and got home in time for dinner.

My boots are still drying out.

Learning to Drive

2009-03-04T15:52:00.004Z

I am learning to drive again. From scratch, apparently. I don't think the last dozen years of driving have made any difference. I am driving on the left hand side of the road and the right hand side of the car, and the car is of course a stick shift. Thankfully, my U.S. driver's license is good here for one year, so I am not required to have an 'L' (for learner) sticker on the back of my car. However, most of the time I'm driving I do feel I need an L on my forehead.

I have been practicing in a big park with several car parks (those are parking lots, my fellow Americans) in it. I use the car parks to practice starts and stops, the most difficult and most needed maneuvers, especially in the nasty traffic we have around here. Today I managed to only kill the engine twice. Hooray!

Eventually I may feel confident enough to go take my driving test with a very picky English examiner from the DVLA. I know they are picky because a friend of ours has taken the test seven times and has failed every time. He's got grit; I think I would lose my nerve after the first couple of rounds.

So wish me luck in this whole new world of driving. Of all the new things I've experienced here, I think this is the strangest.

It's Snowing in London

2009-02-02T11:36:00.017Z

It started snowing yesterday and kept on snowing, and this morning the Koalaman and I woke up to this! It's the heaviest snow for the UK in 18 years. Yes, that's our yellow Mini under all that white.

So we went for a walk in the park.

This is what our street looks like.

God made lace today!

Contrary to the evidence in this photo, we saw lots of people out there because they're not at work today - everything is closed down! The buses aren't even running.

I thoroughly enjoyed the snow. It felt like home!

The Rain in Spain...

2009-01-20T10:46:00.020Z

The Koalaman and I took the two-hour flight to Girona, Spain, just outside of Barcelona, on a Thursday in December. We drove to Barcelona and spent the next day looking at all the incredible architecture there, mostly the buildings by Gaudí. We also took in the touristy sights as we walked down some of the main streets in Barcelona. There were lots of buskers, mostly people dressed and painted to look like statues. There were also a lot of street vendors, selling everything from fresh flowers to artwork to pets (turtles, parakeets, pigeons, rabbits, guinea pigs, lizards, fish, chickens, etc).

On Saturday, we drove down the coast on the way to Valencia, stopping in a little town called Amposta for lunch at a Chinese restaurant. On our way out the door, the people working there gave us a can of lychees in syrup. They would have made a good pie, but we never ended up using them, unfortunately. We spent the night in Valencia, and the next day drove down to the teeny tiny village of Mojácar. It's a white village perched on a little hill overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. The Koalaman had rented a flat there for one week, and we had a wonderful time. The weather there was beautiful, and we spent some of the time just sitting out on the deck, reading books. In fact, we ate Christmas dinner on the deck.We also walked around the cobblestone streets of the village quite a bit. Every once in a great while we heard English being spoken, as some people from England have vacation homes in Mojácar. But mostly it was Spanish, so we didn't have too many conversations. My Spanish from only two years of it in high school is very rusty, and the Koalaman doesn't know any at all. But we managed, even when the rental car ran out of fuel. But more on that later. We went to a couple of village markets, which was so much fun. Each village has a day for their outdoor market where they sell everything from clothes and shoes to ready-to-eat food and kitchen items like pots and pans. We also went on a couple of small walks into the hills above Mojácar, where we found this donkey staked out.

We spent one day driving along the coast and going to all the beaches. When our week was up, we drove farther along the coast and a bit inland to Gaucín, another white village, this time in the mountains. On a clear day, we could see the Rock of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea from our window, which was about an hours drive away. Unfortunately, we only got one clear day during our week-long stay there. We went to Gibraltar twice, since we didn't get everything in the first day we were there. Gibraltar has actually been a British territory since 1713, but people have been living there since 950 BC. We learned a lot of history while we were there. We went through a Moorish castle that was built sometime in the 1100's. We got to walk through some of the miles of tunnels that were dug out of the rock in WWII. We saw lots of Barbary Apes, which were probably imported from North Africa as pets or for hunting. Some of them are pretty aggressive since tourists like to feed them. One of them jumped on my back! There's a wall that runs up to the top of the rock, and there are stairs in the side of the wall. Yep, we walked up all those stairs. I was soooo tired. Then when we were at the top, we could see a heavy rain storm quickly heading our way across the Bay of Gibralter from Spain. Sure enough, it hit while we were up there. We were both wearing waterproof jackets, but we got soaked from the waist down.

Another trip we took from Gaucín was to a town called Ronda, where the oldest bullfighting ring in Spain is located. We took a tour of the ring, but weren't inclined to watch a bullfight.
There's also some beautiful architecture in Ronda, including part of the original town wall, and an amazing bridge over a deep ravine that splits the town in two. We were in Gaucín for New Years, but I'm afraid we didn't do any partying. Instead we went to bed and set the alarm for 11:45. How lame is that!? I think we're getting old.

From Gaucín we drove just over the border into Portugal where we toured a beautiful old castle and went to the beach and then to Seville. We spent the night there and drove to Madrid the next day - the Koalaman's birthday! Unfortunately this was also the day we ran out of fuel. Asking for help in Spanish is not easy when you don't know much Spanish. Eventually we found a guy who would help us. He only had room in his vehicle for one person, but it was so tough for him to get that point across to us poor Inglés-speaking people. He took the Koalaman to the nearest fuel station. Unfortunately, the Koalaman didn't bring back quite enough diesel to get the car to start, so we had to walk back to the station to get more. Thankfully, on the way back someone saw us walking and offered us a ride. And we were on our way again. We spent the night in Madrid and drove to Barcelona through a little bit of snow the next day. After a night there, we hopped on a plane back to London and here we are!

Memories of Africa

2008-12-11T09:15:00.007Z

I can't believe I haven't written anything about South Africa! While I was there, I kept thinking, "I'll write about this, I'll write about that. " I think my list got too long and then I couldn't figure out where to start.

So to start out at the beginning, The Koalaman and I rented a car when we got to Johannesburg after an all-night, no-sleep flight from London. We drove five hours to Kruger National Park. It's about the size of New Jersey and is home to an impressive number of species: 336 trees, 49 fish, 34 amphibians, 114 reptiles, 507 birds and 147 mammals. Of those, we saw:

Crocodiles
Hippos
Rhinos
Elephants
Giraffes
Zebras
Cheetahs
One hyena
Impalas
Kudus
Waterbucks
Bats
Baboons
Vervet Monkeys
Warthogs
Cape Buffalo
Klipspringer
Wildebeest
Lizards of all sizes
African Rock Python
Leopard Tortoises
White Throated Monitors
Ostriches and guinea fowl and vultures and lots of other birds, ducks, & geese

Later we got to eat a few of these at a restaurant in Johannesburg called The Carnivore. Interesting food, but I wouldn't say it was all very yummy. I will say that crocodile does indeed taste like a very fatty version of chicken. The wildebeest was good, though.

After our two-day, two-night stay in Kruger, we drove back to Johannesburg. In the morning we picked up CR, one of our rock-climbing friends from London. She hadn't gotten much sleep on the plane either, but we spent the day driving around Johannesburg and seeing some of the remnants of apartheid. South Africa is a fascinating place full of contrasts, sometimes not very comfortable ones. There still seems to be a huge gap between the white upper class and the black lower class, which I think is left over from Apartheid. It didn't end that long ago, after all. We saw mile after mile of shacks made of corrugated tin or wood, with dirt floors and no running water. Somehow, though, everyone's clothing is clean, absolutely spotless. I don't know how they do it. Anyway, there are government programs to get people into better housing, but the waiting list is very long.

I thought the most fascinating part of Apartheid was how it ended. The adults had given up hope of ever being free of oppression from the whites. It was high school students who finally rose up and crippled the government enough to make it change. The last straw was a law that black students would only be taught in the Afrikaans language, and the students recognized that that would put too much of a barrier between them and the English-speaking whites. They organized in a church in Soweto. There were still several years of fighting until Apartheid was finally ended, but it was all due to teenagers!

The other two rock climbers, JS and MR, arrived the next morning, and JS's parents arrived to take us all to their place. They own a holiday guest farm - Wyndford Farm - in Free State, near the town of Bethlehem, and they had invited us to come and stay for a week to set up an abseil route and do some rock climbing. We were only too happy to oblige. Wyndford Farm is home to many animals (horses, dogs, cows, geese, ducks, chickens, rabbits, guinea fowl - and those are only the domesticated ones) and has a ton of fun things to do. They have a swimming pool, horse riding (my favorite), 75 km of hiking trails, some beautiful tree houses, a zip line, tennis, lawn bowling, mini golf, and a rec room with darts, pingpong, pool, and snooker. And to top it all off, the most gorgeous scenery. It was sunny and warm every morning and there was usually a short, terrific thunderstorm in the afternoon. They feed you five times per day: breakfast at 8:00, elevenses at 11:00, lunch at 1:00, tea at 4:00, and dinner at 7:00. Plus they'll bring tea to your room first thing in the morning, if you want. We were never, ever bored.

During our stay, the rest of the climbing group set up two abseil points on a huge boulder, one for beginners (me) and one for the more advanced. This involved drilling holes into the rock and setting long eye-bolts in with epoxy. They also drilled holes to set up a chain railing across the rock so that beginners would feel more safe on the rock, but the railing wasn't finished while I was there. I did go down the beginner's abseil. It was kinda scary, but I'd do it again!

We also went on a couple of hikes at the farm, one to the top of a huge plateau overlooking the farm and way beyond, and one near the river to find the bushman paintings. We also took a day and drove 3 hours to the Drakensberg Mountains for a hike to the top of the Ampitheatre. Two and a half hours up, then lunch at the top, then two hours down. Absolutely stunning scenery, and since it's springtime there, many lovely wildflowers.

We did one day of rock climbing at Wyndford Farms. There are many cliffs and rock faces there that might be good for climbing, but the experienced Koalaman picked out one for us to try. Three of us had never done trad climbing before, and it was my first time to climb outdoors. Trad (traditional) climbing is where there are no bolts in the rock to clip into while climbing. The lead climber has to place equipment in cracks and holes to clip into and make themselves safe. They are belayed by the person below. The second person to climb up takes the equipment out as they go up and is belayed by the person already at the top. I seconded, and it was great fun!

That pretty much sums up our trip to South Africa. It was the best holiday ever!

The New Car

2008-11-10T14:05:00.000Z

We have a brand-spankin'-new car! It's a BMW Mini One, and it's pretty cute. Here, see for yourself:

Thanks to Hovis for giving it to us!

We picked it up on Friday and took it for a spin on Saturday. I haven't driven it yet, I'm too scared to drive it in London. Maybe I'll get some practice in when we get out in the countryside again. The Koalaman says it corners very nicely. :)

The only problem is, there aren't many places to park in London. At least not for free. So we're having to park it during the day at a friend's house. Hopefully when we find a flat, it will come with off-street parking.

It still feels a bit odd to be on the wrong side of the car and the road. I suppose I'll get used to it eventually.

A Note on Keyboards

2008-11-06T18:05:00.001Z

Just a quick post to let everyone know we made it safe and sound. I'm sitting in a library typing this on a UK keyboard, which is just enough different from the ones that I'm used to to make it a bit frustrating. The shift key on the left is too small, and that's the one I usually use. And the @ is not on the 2 key, it's on the apostrophe key next to the semicolon. Every time I try to sign in to my email, I mess it up. Can't wait to be able to use my laptop again. I'll have pictures then!

Sasquatch photographed

2008-10-27T20:46:00.000Z

Sasquatch has been spotted! What's more, he's been photographed! And boy, is he uuuugly. I wouldn't be disappointed to never see Sasquatch again. Anyone want to go hunting?

The Koalaman and I saw him on our very last North American road trip. The last one for a while, anyway. We took a beautiful drive through the mountains to Reno and Lake Tahoe.

Downtown Reno is an interesting mix of the beautiful Riverwalk:

and right across the street, some rather seedy hotels:

The city is nestled in the mountains, which are very brown - nothing green to be seen. Which is all right if you like the high desert, like I do, but not everyone likes it. Maybe it turns green in the spring.

About an hour's drive south of Reno, Lake Tahoe is downright gorgeous. The autumn colors were in full swing. We had been planning on having a little hike somewhere around the lake, but the Koalaman said he felt too lazy (I felt his head for fever, but he seemed to be OK) so we just wandered around the shops and beach in Tahoe City.

On the way home, we stopped in a little town called Grass Valley for a tour of the historic downtown. There are quite a lot of interesting little shops there, but thankfully, we resisted buying anything on the whole trip. Otherwise, we would have had to find a spot for it in the luggage, and it's already looking quite full!

And so it begins...

2008-10-23T06:26:00.000+01:00

Allow me to introduce myself. I am the Bug and this is my blog. My name here is derived from a childhood nickname. (Hi, Mom!) I've been having a lot of adventures lately and there are many more to come, so I'd like to share them with you. I just married my Koalaman a little over a month ago (the biggest adventure of all!) and we're getting ready to move from northern California to London, UK, in less than two weeks. I've lived in/near rural communities all my life, so there will be some big things to get used to! The Koalaman, on the other hand, has lived in London for the last three years, and Sydney, Australia, for three years before that. Anyway, I hope to keep my eye open for the interesting bits and write about them here.

I don't expect there to be much to write about until we leave for London. For example, today I'm just cleaning out some of my cupboards to get rid of unnecessary stuff. I'll only have room in my luggage for my clothes and only a very few other small things. The apartment is already quite empty - all of the furniture is gone. But if anything interesting should happen, I'll be sure to let you know!