thirtysomething...

So, it’s my birthday month! Would you believe that we are still in jeans and long sleeves here in the UK. It is also still wet. Not much different than the weather when my in-laws visited. I can’t imagine what June 21st, the first day of summer and my birthday, will be like. Did I mention my birthday was June 21st…

Every day here brings something different. When I picked our house in Headcorn, I liked that it had a nice little yard. It was small and green with a little boarder around the edges where we could plant various flowers. When spring started, plants started popping up all over the place. Most of them looked like weeds to me, so I asked this gentleman from church to come over and point out the true plants. Would you believe the only weeds we actually had were dandelions and grass!! Unfortunately, I couldn’t pull out the dandelions, because Drew, my cousin Emily and Lance’s son, actually has a strong bond with these little yellow thingies. When they visited in April, everywhere he travelled, he had to pull up a few handfuls for the road. How big is Drew? THIS BIG!

So, before I jump back to the plant kingdom, I need to set the scene. I’m sure you have heard us mention that we love traipsing off through the country on footpaths. I’m a little more adventuresome than Dee. He is always like… Can we really cross this fence?, Stay on the path, Don’t pick the flowers, Stop feeding the sheep!... jeez you would think he was my Dad. Anyway, our last adventure took us out through this huge crop field where the crop came up to our shoulders. It is a yellow flower called rape, yeah I know. They make a sweetner out of it…I think. (Ed. Note: Check the banner at the top, that's Rape.) Anyway, at the end of the crop we had to walk around another field. Well JD, our good friend from Charleston who is staying with us for a few minutes, make that months, starts whining about how he can’t walk through the field because these plants have stingers that really itch. Of course, Dee and I ignore him and keep going. JD is in shorts and we are in jeans.

So back to our yard, these wild plants, not weeds, start coming up all over the place. I’ve been so excited waiting to see what happens. You wouldn’t believe all of the different varieties! Please don’t ask me to name them. It really does look like we are on another planet! So tonight I’m out there picking some flowers to make an arrangement for the dinner table. We have this vine that has gone in multiple directions and climbing up all over the place. I bend down to unravel it and the plant it was around BIT ME! You wouldn’t believe how much it hurt. There were no stingers or scratches. Three hours later my fingers are still hurting. I went back to try to find the sucker, but I couldn’t figure out which one it was. So sorry JD, you really aren’t a wuss.

So, I'm sitting out back on the grass having a cigarette and off to my right I hear a rustling over in the bushes. I turn & look and this little round shape emerges out onto the lawn about 2 feet away from me. There are TONS of rabbits around here so I'm thinking, "Do I roll over and grab it real quick? Or do I get up slowly and go get a flashlight & the camera..." I couldn't tell Exactly what it was, cause it's quite dark out. I get up slowly and go get the gear. Come back out, shine the light around, Nothing to be Seen. Walk over to where I thought it came out and peer into the bushes.

Good thing I didn't grab it. It was a hedgehog.

Be on the lookout tomorrow for another Guest Blog from The Wife!!

Finally made it over to St Ives this last weekend. Also finally rented a car & drove around South-West England. That was an experience of itself, having never driven on the left side of the road from the right side of the car and shifting with my left hand. Especially in the Dartmoor Forest. Most of the roads in the Moor were quite narrow. About a lane & a half wide with cars going both directions. Luckily we didn't come across too many people coming the opposite direction. There were places where you would have to back up quite a ways to let someone pass. Now imagine doing that for 30 or so miles with 8 foot hedges on either side of the road. I know why American drivers are Teh Suck in Formula One. We have straight roads in the US. There are no straight roads in the UK. Zero. Nada. Zip. Everything is a curve. Especially in the Moor. I connote it to driving the Tail of the Dragon (US 129 in NC & TN) or driving on track. Constantly looking ahead. Constantly driving the line. The only difference being there Are blind driveways & roads that spring up and the ever present threat of livestock on the road. And they won't move if you honk at them. The "A Roads" were fine. Quite like Hwy 17 in Coastal South Carolina. Didn't drive any "M Roads" which would be I-85 in the US.

I only got honked at once in a roundabout (cause this jackass was trying to fly up my ass) and only drove on the wrong side once, for about 50 feet. Oops. Put about 500 miles on the rental. It was a 5-speed Vauxhall Astra 1.4 Life 16V Estate (read: stationwagon). I did brush a few curbs with the left side tires on a few in-town curves and put the passenger side into a few hedges in the Moor (those roads are TINY!,) but no damage. :)

So yeah. Saturday morning we all piled onto the train at 7am to start our journey. A 4 hour ride to Exeter, switching trains & stations in London. Got into Exeter around 11 or so and picked up the car. From there the Adventure begins. Heather is in the back seat sporadically calling out directions and I'm doing my best to figure out driving in the UK while trying to comprehend what she's yelling from behind me. We head down to Dartmoor & drive through the Moor, stopping off in a tiny village that is reported to have the best scones and tea in all of Britain (I wasn't too impressed with the stuff.) From there we drove (read: got lost a few times) over to Tintagel where the Tintagel Castle is located. Reportedly the birthplace of King Arthur.

Tintagel was quite interesting. The island where the castle stood was quite beautiful. If you have any interest in the Arthur legend/myth, you should definitely walk the grounds. I positively felt transported back in time. Be prepared though, you'll think you're working out on a StairMaster for the entire visit. Unfortunately we did not have alot of time to spend at he Castle, we needed to be at the B&B by 7pm, and we were about an hour away.

Sunday we woke, ate a hot breakfast of sausage, egg, toast, and 2 rashers of bacon, then headed down to St. Austell to see The Eden Project. That place was very cool. HUGE, and I mean Gigantus greenhouses (read: Biomes) covered the property. One one side was the "Tropical" Biome and the other was the "Warm Climate" Biome with a restaurant/info area in-between the two areas. The main grounds of Eden Project, not in a Biome, were covered with plants of Britain. The whole "project" sits in the bottom of an old abandoned clay pit mine. The majority of the flora in the project were I guess what you could call "working plants", not just pretty flowers & whatnot. Rubber, cola, cocoa, banana trees & the like. Definitely a must see if you come to the UK. From there we drove over to Mount St. Michael. Same idea as Mont St. Michel in France, but not really executed as well as the French did. The tide was in and the weather wasn't permitting ferry transport, so we didn't actually get to expore the Mount. Hopped back in the car and ventured further down to St. Ives.

St. Ives rests around a natural harbour on the Atlantic side of England. Very close to Lands End. It's a quaint sea-side resort type village with a few pubs, lots of art galleries, and a few touristy type shops. I rather liked the place, but I imagine it could get very hectic during the "on-season". To me it felt like what Charleston could have been like 50 to 75 years ago. Not that I was there, but I just had that feeling.

Check out the Pics by clicking any of the thumbnails!

Last Sunday Heather, JD and I went into London to take a "Flight" on the British Airways London Eye. When we got into London it was as cloudy as ever and didn't look to promising for a clear view on the Eye. Our train arrived around 1:30 and our ticket time was for 4:30. We walked up and down the Thames until about 4. Snapped a few photos along the way, but nothing of importance. Around five after 4 we got in line and were amazed that the sky was beginning to clear up. Sweet!

Once our flight was over (it takes about 30 to 45 minutes per trip) the sky was clouding back up and a storm was about to roll down the Thames. Walked over to Charing Cross Station, grabbed a Pint & a magazine, then headed back home.

You know the drill.. Click the thumbnail to see the photos. :)

In the immortal words of Ice Cube, Today was a good day.

It was a gorgeous day outside. 68°F by the thermometer. Clear skys, no rain (but we need it). Anyway, I finally collected all the Tri-Force pieces in Zelda, mailed off a package I have been putting off, did at TON of laundry, and bought a £20 BBQ grill for £15.

Lately I've been wanting to go back to the US. I miss my family. I miss my friends. Surprisingly, I miss my customers at the hardware store. I guess I never realized how much I enjoy solving their problems and putting them on the right path. Maybe I've been in retail way too long. :shrug: But not today.

Today I was quite content to do the same things I've been doing since we've been in the UK, and was happy to do so. It was weird. I really didn't do anything different today than I do every other day, but I didn't think about going back to the US at all today. Strange.

Maybe I'm becoming British. I do notice that the more I've had to drink, the more a British accent comes out...

Anyway, today was a good day, and I'm thankful for that.


Crikey.

Sorry for the delay again in keeping this up-to-date. I've been playing Zelda and I'm almost finished. :) Regular posts to commence shortly. In the meantime, here's something to think about.

Inbetween battling Peahats & Wizzrobes I've been doing laundry all day. Why is it that lint in the lint trap is almost always blue? Other than when you're washing a red blanket or all the green towels at once it usually has a bluish tint to it.

What's up with that?

So I had this whole book written about what's been going on the last couple of weeks. After reading it through a couple of times, correcting grammer, spelling & the like I came to a realization. It Sucked. So you'll have to do without my crappy epic.

Here's a shorter version:

My mother, her husband and my grandparents came over for a two week stay. It was Mom's first trip off the North American continent, and I think she did pretty good. Her husband Jim had been over about 20 or so years ago, and my grandparents came over, if I remember correctly, 25 years ago for their 25th wedding anniversary. Heather and I had a few things planned for everyone to do, and then they took side trips during the week as well. The main places we all went to were Sissinghurst Gardens in Bendenden, Stonehenge & Salisbury, and London. Closer to the end of their stay we took an old steam train from Tenderden to Bodium and wandered the grounds of Bodium Castle. When we went to Salisbury we stayed overnight at a B&B on an old farm, which was pretty cool. Parts of the house dated back to the 1600's ,1700's & 1800's. The owners kept adding on and adding on. Very interesting. Drove by Sting's house on the way to Stonehenge from the Salisbury Cathedral. Sorry no pics of that.

I say this knowing that it will be read by those involved...I love my family, but damn, they can wear you out. :)

Once everyone left, Heather and I had 2, count'em, 2 whole days to ourselves before getting on a plane to the US. Originally the trip to the US was scheduled to be two weeks for a wedding we wanted to attend, but the bride and groom decided on a tiny (read: courthouse) wedding, a family dinner afterwards, and a Family & Friends Get-Together sometime later TBA. We missed all those things. :/ Oh well. We had other stuff we needed to do anyway.

While we were there, I picked out all the tile needed for the House Renovation. Confirmed plumbing fixtures, flooring options, re-supplied the renovation bank account and generally milled about taking pictures of the renovation. It's coming along!! Heather said all we would need to stay at the house was a tent and a cooler. There was already a Port-o-let on the front porch. Took care of a few household upgrades for a friend, worked a SCCA Club Race in the middle of everything... It was Non-Stop the WHOLE time we were back in the US.

Speaking of the Club Race. Well, let's have some backstory. On the plane ride over, I had trouble with, well, my plumbing. Kept feeling like I had to go ALL the time, and when I actually got up, there wasn't much coming out. Back on the ground, it continued, but no troubles now with flow. I figured it was just travel & stress issues. Jump forward one week to the next weekend. A bud of mine and I took his parent's RV to Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, SC. It's Saturday, I'm working Corner 9 in the middle of a straight-away, just before the ass-puckering "Kink" at 10 and 11. I'm drinking tons of water to stay hydrated cause we're out there all day. Also having to run off to the woods by the Corner Station to take a piss between EVERY Practice Session, and Qualifying Session. At this point I really didn't think much of it because of the amount of water I was drinking. We (the SCR autocrossers working the event) went out that night to a Greek/Italian place, have a few beers, then head back to the track.

Sunday morning. During the morning constitutional everything seemed fine, and then BAAAAAAAAAM! I'm literally bent over in half, sitting on the toilet in EXCRUCIATING pain. I really thought I was gonna die/explode. This was no "Lactose Moment" that I'm occasionally prone to have. This was something else Entirely. Sad thing about screaming in pain while sitting on a toilet in an RV that's parked about 200 yards from a very active racetrack. No One Hears You. AT ALL. Even if you do it for 3 or 4 hours. I must have passed out cause when I came to Practice & Qualifying were over, and it was lunchtime, and I was (relatively speaking) in no pain. Walked over to one of the Ambulances in the Paddock, explained what happened to the EMT and he goes, "Kidney Stone. That's what you've got. And I can't help ya."

WHAT?

He said he didn't even have an aspirin to give me. I gave him the "You're full of Shit" squint look and walked back to the RV.

Crap. What now. Well, I summoned up the courage, explained to my friends what was going on and slid into the MINI and drove to Charleston. The next day, went to my doctor's office, got some antibiotics and pain meds. By the end of our stay in the US, it was all over. No Pain, No constant need to pee. Only the dread of getting on a 9 hour plane ride and having the gravel begin again. Back in the UK, still no problems. I will tell you that I had my bottle of Lortab VERY close by on the plane.

I must have passed the stone at the track, but I never saw it. :shrug:

Well, that's all I've got for now. If you don't see anything written here for extended periods, it's cause what ever I wrote sucked. I've realized that I can't force myself to write something and if I do, it's not enjoyable to read, IMO.

As always, click the thumbnails to view the photo journals. Be sure to read Heather's Guest Blog & her photos!!

Easter is one of my favorite days. Flowers are blooming, people are smiling, and David goes to church. Unfortunately this Easter, David didn’t go because he went last week for Palm Sunday. So, off I tread to my, I mean God’s, local Baptist church in Headcorn. During the announcements they announce that the Easter Parade will start at 12:00 with singing and balloons. We would walk down the High Street, Main Street for the Americans, announcing the risen Lord.

Home I go full of the excitement of a parade but tinged with the sadness of going alone. When I get home the words just pop out of my mouth, “Hey David, do you want to go to the Easter Parade?” Would you believe he actually said “Yes”? Okay I confess, I neglected to tell him we would be part of the procession. I also left out the part about the balloons, singing, and announcing the risen Lord.

We head off to the church, but half way I start feeling a little guilty and tell David that I’m not quite sure what is going to happen. I don’t remember being in an Easter Parade, but I can definitely imagine it is something David is not going to enjoy.

Anyway, all the parishioners from the local churches are gathering. There are several large banners, small flags for each person, and balloons with Bible verses attached. We march in a procession three blocks down to the Village Center and form a semi-circle. We launch into song, singing 12 glorious hymns the last being Jesus Christ is Risen Today! Hallelujah! A prayer is said at the end and then we launch our balloons with the attached verses.

So what really happened…. Somehow David and I are near the front, but on the back row. About song four I notice a couple of people on the other side pointing at various people in the group one of which being David. I start thinking… they are pointing at people not having fun. My mind starts racing and six degrees later I have come to the conclusion that I have ruined this wonderful witness opportunity by being selfish and inadvertently tricking David into keeping me company. But by song six I have calmed down and have begun to focus on the moment. David starts to look a little more alive and I’m waving my flag and singing with all my heart. I notice the other guy not singing on the back row who also got pointed at getting more into it and smiling my way. Then a mother with a small two year old girl walks by and David and I stop them to give the little girl one of our balloons. You should have seen her face light up and would you believe purple is her favorite color too! Through songs ten and eleven, David focuses on untangling my remaining three balloons. Song twelve comes along and it just happens to be the song I was singing as we walked to the church from our house. We end the parade and David releases the balloons…. You read that right David releases the balloons. I had another brief panic attack thinking the balloons were doomed because they were sent off by a heathen. I quickly regroup, bless the balloons as they fly away, and hand out two remaining verse tags to some passerby’s. They ask what church we are from and I say we are from all churches in the village. The gentleman says oh you are from an American Church…notice the tinge of disappointment. I quickly counter, yes I’m American, but these people aren’t. I introduce my friend and we have a brief bonding moment with the gentleman who asks us to sing another song. As David and I head home, I thank him for attending and I apologized if he was miserable. David surprisingly said he tried not to look too frowny and was glad he could go if it made me happy.

As I contemplate those brief thirty minutes, I’m reminded of the joy of just living and being a child of God. Thirty minutes of sharing the spirit, respecting a husband for who he is, marveling at God’s small wonders, and experiencing the wonders of his creation with strangers.


Editor's Note: Names have been changed to throw off the NSA, and to make the day better, I did see an old Morgan on the way to the torture, and a DB9 on the way home.

I'm working on photos from the past few weeks. It's been kinda hectic, as you can see from the delay between the last posts. All will be revealed shortly.

Woo Hoo! Finally some racing going on here to keep my fix going. Well, it actually started yesterday with Formula 1 qualifying in Bahrain at the Bahrain International Circuit near Sakhir. With the new qualifying rules for 2006 it was Much better than qualifying last season. 3 sessions, everyone on track.

Session 1: 15 minutes. The slowest six: Out, back of the Grid.
Session 2: 15 minutes. The slowest six: Out, back of the Grid.
Session 3: 20 minutes. The top 10 Finishers: Pole Positions

If you cannot finish a session due to malfunction, you're done for the day. Back of the grid on race day. Essentially that's it. Anyway, the race today was pretty cool. Close call a few laps in between Massa and Alonso. Oh, and someone blew an engine, which subsequently caught fire.

On either side of the opening race of the 2006 Formula 1 season I was across the street at the Headcorn Rail Station. The car park was the Service area for the Rally of Kent. Over 60 cars, 2 were WRC cars, and I think they won their class. Oh Really. Thanks to the Maidstone and Mid-Kent British Motor Club for putting this on across from my house and having the Staging while the F1 race was going so I could do both!

Click the thumbnail to see pictures from the Rally of Kent Service. 70 Pics over 6 pages.

Thursday Heather had to over to Bristol for a meeting which is about a 3 to 4 hour train ride. I tagged along because right across the street from where she had to be is the Bristol Zoological Garden. They don't have any large animals anymore because the consensus was the pens were too small, and the animals were getting depressed. The last large animal they had was an elephant that had to be euthanized because of extreme arthritis. Now the Zoo's main goal is endangered species protection. From that I found out something that I didn't know. There are _2_ types of pigeons that are extinct. Passenger Pigeons and...wait for it...wait for it... The Dodo. Yes, you read correctly. The Dodo bird is, rather was, a pigeon. Didn't know that. And after reading in Wikipedia, I found out there are more pigeons that are extinct.. but the Zoo made no mention of that...

The lioness either really liked me & the camera, or the opposite. 'Cause she came RIGHT up to the glass and looked me dead in the eye/lens. The Lion was watching this woman standing about 20 feet away. I didn't think she was all that hot, but the Lion couldn't take his eyes off her. The whole time he was staring at her, he didn't move an inch.

Anyways, on with the show. As always click the thumbnail.