We were invited to spend New Year’s Eve with some our new Expat Friends Sarah and Keith.
With our two kids you defiantly need a game plan if you think you can get them to be in any sort of good mood in order to last the duration of the evening. Run them ragged in the morning, let them sleep in the afternoon, and then let the chill out late at night. This works pretty well I have to say, as when they get tired they are REALLY grumpy and not at all fun to be around.
Armed with the works Android Phone, (strictly for testing purposes of course) I entered in the Address to the Google Navigation application. The phone is worth getting for this alone. It’s like a SatNav, but you get a satellite view, and a street view of where you are meant to be going. V Cool!
We arrive at about 7:30 and there was a party going on…just at a different house. My darling wife, Sarah was trying to find the invite on the phone to make sure we had the right address. Is it at the quiet house with no lights on or the house with all the cars parked outside?... too late, Zack had pressed the bell on the house that was quiet. The door opened and there stood our new Expat friend Sarah.
“We are all downstairs” she said. We take our coats off and continue downstairs to the cellar. As I am writing this I am probably not painting a very good picture of their house. Believe me when I say their house is beautiful. VERY Beautiful… and massive! You know those show homes you get?… Imagine that but on a grander scale. There were little Christmas trees on the path up to the front door, and where you walk into the grand entrance there was a life size Santa by the door. There were classy Christmas decorations all over the house (not the “it’s a gift” tat that you might see elsewhere). This place should be on MTV cribs!
We continued downstairs to the games room/pool room/gym/bar. This place was massive (in fact probably twice the size of our apartment).
…when I grow up I want to…
As the night went on, they had pub quizzes and games building up to the of the ball dropping. Just in case you didn’t know there is a big twinkly ball in Times Square in New York that gets raised up and drops at the stroke at midnight to bring the New Year in. This was the first time I had been with both kids (awake) to bring the New Year in.
I spent most of the time propping up the bar, but I was designated driver. :0( I suppose it was my turn. One thing I would say about USA is that because everyone drives everywhere, you need to have a designated driver most of the time. Either that or know a cab company, and expect to remortgage your house to get home.
I have to say it was one of the best New Years parties I been to in ages.
Thank You Sarah and Keith, if you are reading this.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
Sunday, December 27, 2009
Snow comes crashing down
What a day! Yesterday it started snowing again. It snows quite a bit compared to the UK, but every time it has snowed so far I have been at work and not been able to play in the snow with the kids. The plan was to go to Wal-Mart to buy a sledge (or sled as you need to describe it here) and a snow shovel. I love Wal-Mart it is bright and you can get everything you want at a reasonable price.
There is a park just behind the store that has some cool slopes to play on too! Result!
We all get in the car and take a gentle cruise across to the other side of the road to the park. The snow plough hasn’t been in this bit so it is a little more difficult to see the road, but there are plenty of tire tracks to let you know where to drive. At the bottom of this hill there is a bridge to the top car park. We gently trundle across it and get an idea of where we could go sledging later on.
Back down the hill we go…
At all of 8 miles an hour, I see another car crossing the bridge… I turn the wheel… the car doesn’t change direction… I apply the brakes… the car doesn’t reduce speed… I want to not slam into this car… the car doesn’t listen… BANG!
Shite!
My Car
His Car
The corner of my car has hit the corner of his. The corner of his car looks quite dented… the corner of mine has disintegrated. Everyone was OK, in both cars.
Sarah picked up the bits smashed car from the floor as not to drive over them and get a puncher too. She put these in the back of our car while waiting for the police to turn up. I have to say that I was very surprised at the speed they got there. Considering the snow and all, the officer met us just four minutes after the accident.
I was really glad that I had an Indiana driving license and vehicle registration with the insurance documentation there with me. I can only imagine what it would have been like with a UK license, International driving permit and temporary plates!
My poor car limped home with fog light dangling inched from the road. 4 weeks from new before wracking a car… now that has to be a record! At least it feels like my car now. I’m not used to having a car that is not damaged!
Once we got back to the apartment it started snowing again. I need to fix this thing as best I can, as the last thing I need is snow getting snow in the hole where the light & bumper used to be. After assessing the damage it became quickly apparent that I need duck (gaffer) tape and super glue.
Back to Wal-Mart I go/limp. I hate Wal-Mart with those glaring lights and tons of stuff you will never want… “Duck tape & super glue… HOW MUCH!... bloody rip off” I hate this place!
“Thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart. Have a nice day” – oh p**s off.
I get back home and the snow is really coming down now. Using the bits of car that Sarah picked up I start putting together the 3D jigsaw of my car bumper.
Have you ever wondered “does duct tape lose its stickiness in sub-zero temperature?” Let me tell you. YES! I’m carefully pushing bits of plastic together and painstakingly putting superglue around the edges and gluing them back together. I say painstakingly, as I’m actually gluing my fingers to the car and ripping them away before it sets to quickly. It definitely is my car now. It has layers of my skin glued to it! I’m sure it would hurt if I could feel my hands. After 2 hours in the cold I come in to defrost, bringing the drivers light with me. That will be my 3D puzzle game when the kids are in bed later.
I finally did get to play with Katie in the snow. She loved it! We walked about a half mile circuit of our housing community, and when we go back to the beginning, our footprints were snowed over!
Once the kids were in bed I manage to put together the driver front light pretty well. I think it helped that I had some extra bits from the other guys car. Screw it! I have glue those on as well. The more the merrier. I now have borg-like headlights!
I have just finished getting the superglue from my fingers. I found the best way to remove it is with a razor blade.
Yet again I find myself looking in the mirror (while shaving the palms of my hands) thinking how do you get yourself in these situations?
There is a park just behind the store that has some cool slopes to play on too! Result!
We all get in the car and take a gentle cruise across to the other side of the road to the park. The snow plough hasn’t been in this bit so it is a little more difficult to see the road, but there are plenty of tire tracks to let you know where to drive. At the bottom of this hill there is a bridge to the top car park. We gently trundle across it and get an idea of where we could go sledging later on.
Back down the hill we go…
At all of 8 miles an hour, I see another car crossing the bridge… I turn the wheel… the car doesn’t change direction… I apply the brakes… the car doesn’t reduce speed… I want to not slam into this car… the car doesn’t listen… BANG!
Shite!
My Car
His Car
The corner of my car has hit the corner of his. The corner of his car looks quite dented… the corner of mine has disintegrated. Everyone was OK, in both cars.
Sarah picked up the bits smashed car from the floor as not to drive over them and get a puncher too. She put these in the back of our car while waiting for the police to turn up. I have to say that I was very surprised at the speed they got there. Considering the snow and all, the officer met us just four minutes after the accident.
I was really glad that I had an Indiana driving license and vehicle registration with the insurance documentation there with me. I can only imagine what it would have been like with a UK license, International driving permit and temporary plates!
My poor car limped home with fog light dangling inched from the road. 4 weeks from new before wracking a car… now that has to be a record! At least it feels like my car now. I’m not used to having a car that is not damaged!
Once we got back to the apartment it started snowing again. I need to fix this thing as best I can, as the last thing I need is snow getting snow in the hole where the light & bumper used to be. After assessing the damage it became quickly apparent that I need duck (gaffer) tape and super glue.
Back to Wal-Mart I go/limp. I hate Wal-Mart with those glaring lights and tons of stuff you will never want… “Duck tape & super glue… HOW MUCH!... bloody rip off” I hate this place!
“Thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart. Have a nice day” – oh p**s off.
I get back home and the snow is really coming down now. Using the bits of car that Sarah picked up I start putting together the 3D jigsaw of my car bumper.
Have you ever wondered “does duct tape lose its stickiness in sub-zero temperature?” Let me tell you. YES! I’m carefully pushing bits of plastic together and painstakingly putting superglue around the edges and gluing them back together. I say painstakingly, as I’m actually gluing my fingers to the car and ripping them away before it sets to quickly. It definitely is my car now. It has layers of my skin glued to it! I’m sure it would hurt if I could feel my hands. After 2 hours in the cold I come in to defrost, bringing the drivers light with me. That will be my 3D puzzle game when the kids are in bed later.
I finally did get to play with Katie in the snow. She loved it! We walked about a half mile circuit of our housing community, and when we go back to the beginning, our footprints were snowed over!
Once the kids were in bed I manage to put together the driver front light pretty well. I think it helped that I had some extra bits from the other guys car. Screw it! I have glue those on as well. The more the merrier. I now have borg-like headlights!
I have just finished getting the superglue from my fingers. I found the best way to remove it is with a razor blade.
Yet again I find myself looking in the mirror (while shaving the palms of my hands) thinking how do you get yourself in these situations?
Saturday, December 26, 2009
Ice Skating
As the kids had done all their jobs for the week, it was time from a treat. This week it was Ice Skating at the Pepsi Coliseum. Based at the Indiana State Fairground, the Pepsi Coliseum is a very nice art deco building that houses the ice skating rink.
The kids had never been ice skating before, so were a little wary about getting on the ice. Once Zack realized that you couldn’t actually fall through the ice he grew a little more confident, but preferred to hold on to the side. I haven’t been skating in donkey’s years but I tried to act as if I knew what I was doing to encourage the kids to keep on skating.
There were some traffic cones that children were using to hold on to keep their balance, while pushing along with their feet. Zack soon gave up and decided it would be more fun to lift his feet up on to the base of the cone and then be pushed by me. I didn’t mind, at least he was moving and enjoying it.
Unfortunately he got bored quickly and decided he would rather watch the skating rather than actually do it. Katie (my future rollercoaster buddy) on the other hand loved it. She will try anything… she’s fearless! All was going well until her feet started to hurt. That is the sign to drop everything and let her rest. Believe me it is better for, well, society in general!
She took off her skates and decided to get some ice cream dippin dots. This is very weird stuff as it is like hundreds and thousands but ice cream!
While Sarah and kids were getting changed, I thought I would have a go on my own. “Come on knees you can take it”. I take it slow and try and get away from doing the small tripping action and progress to a more “glidey” movement that lets me go faster with less effort “Leeeeefffffftttttt… rrrriiigggghhhhtttt… this was going well. I’m not holding onto anything. I’m looking pretty good… Wow this is quite easy.” Just as I am getting up confidence, a 10 year old kid skates past me… going backwards. He cuts me up giving me no option other than to slam into the side of the wall. Little bugger!
Needless to say I called it a day at the ice rink!
The kids had never been ice skating before, so were a little wary about getting on the ice. Once Zack realized that you couldn’t actually fall through the ice he grew a little more confident, but preferred to hold on to the side. I haven’t been skating in donkey’s years but I tried to act as if I knew what I was doing to encourage the kids to keep on skating.
There were some traffic cones that children were using to hold on to keep their balance, while pushing along with their feet. Zack soon gave up and decided it would be more fun to lift his feet up on to the base of the cone and then be pushed by me. I didn’t mind, at least he was moving and enjoying it.
Unfortunately he got bored quickly and decided he would rather watch the skating rather than actually do it. Katie (my future rollercoaster buddy) on the other hand loved it. She will try anything… she’s fearless! All was going well until her feet started to hurt. That is the sign to drop everything and let her rest. Believe me it is better for, well, society in general!
She took off her skates and decided to get some ice cream dippin dots. This is very weird stuff as it is like hundreds and thousands but ice cream!
While Sarah and kids were getting changed, I thought I would have a go on my own. “Come on knees you can take it”. I take it slow and try and get away from doing the small tripping action and progress to a more “glidey” movement that lets me go faster with less effort “Leeeeefffffftttttt… rrrriiigggghhhhtttt… this was going well. I’m not holding onto anything. I’m looking pretty good… Wow this is quite easy.” Just as I am getting up confidence, a 10 year old kid skates past me… going backwards. He cuts me up giving me no option other than to slam into the side of the wall. Little bugger!
Needless to say I called it a day at the ice rink!
Friday, December 25, 2009
That's a SIRIUSly good present
Happy Christmas everyone!
It took 4 hours to wrap everything from start to finish (so Santa tells me), but it took approx 12mins to unwrap everything. Next year I might let the kids have a go at unwrapping them.
Although we didn’t go out, it was a very nice day where we spoke to all of our families via skype. Obviously it is not the same as the real thing, but it is good to know that they can see and hear us at a drop of a hat… (after a fiddle of wires.. unplug it.. reboot the machine… ring technical support).
My favorite present was the Sirius (XM) radio and subscription I got. One thing I have really missed here is to wake up to commercial free radio. If you like country music, lots of talking or adverts every 3 minutes, then you are on a winner. The closest thing they have here to decent radio is i94 or radio now, but they have a play list of about 6 songs that go round and round.
I can now get BBC Radio 1, delayed by 5 hours so that when the DJs do a time check is the correct time here. It is defiantly money well spent!
It took 4 hours to wrap everything from start to finish (so Santa tells me), but it took approx 12mins to unwrap everything. Next year I might let the kids have a go at unwrapping them.
Although we didn’t go out, it was a very nice day where we spoke to all of our families via skype. Obviously it is not the same as the real thing, but it is good to know that they can see and hear us at a drop of a hat… (after a fiddle of wires.. unplug it.. reboot the machine… ring technical support).
My favorite present was the Sirius (XM) radio and subscription I got. One thing I have really missed here is to wake up to commercial free radio. If you like country music, lots of talking or adverts every 3 minutes, then you are on a winner. The closest thing they have here to decent radio is i94 or radio now, but they have a play list of about 6 songs that go round and round.
I can now get BBC Radio 1, delayed by 5 hours so that when the DJs do a time check is the correct time here. It is defiantly money well spent!
Thursday, December 24, 2009
I’m king of the Castleton
Christmas Eve and I have the day off. Sarah wanted to do shopping at the Castleton Mall, while I look after the kids. Dan told me a few weeks ago that there is a play area near there that you can go to that has bouncy castles and ball pits etc. I dropped off Sarah and then drove to the end of the car park and did a Google search for “play area Castleton”. It came back and said the play area was in the mall itself.
As it turns out, it was more of an indoor soft area where kids can run in circles, rather than ball pits etc. It didn’t really matter, as the kids loved it… that saved a few quid!
In the evening we went around to Kevan & Angela’s for a quick drink, and then followed them on to Chris & Tracey’s house for the party. We had a great time and met chatted to quite few of the different expats there. It was also good that there were so many kids there as we could leave Zack and Katie to their own devices.
Thanks everyone, if you are reading this!
As it turns out, it was more of an indoor soft area where kids can run in circles, rather than ball pits etc. It didn’t really matter, as the kids loved it… that saved a few quid!
In the evening we went around to Kevan & Angela’s for a quick drink, and then followed them on to Chris & Tracey’s house for the party. We had a great time and met chatted to quite few of the different expats there. It was also good that there were so many kids there as we could leave Zack and Katie to their own devices.
Thanks everyone, if you are reading this!
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
RIP Mark Knight
Today has been a bit of a shocking day. I could talk about the snow and the fact that they cleared the roads within an hour, but instead I want to write a few lines about Mark Knight.
Mark Knight was a friend I knew growing up who passed away today. He was just a year or so older than I. I knew him mainly from the 6th Northampton Boys Brigade where he was always a key figure. He would always be up for a laugh and would make you feel welcome where ever you may meet.
As my life went on, we went our separate ways. I left Northampton and went to the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, returned to Northampton and now live in Indiana in the USA. Whenever I did bump into Mark, it would seem we would just pick up where we left off, as if no time had passes at all. In my experience, there are very few people you can do this with, as some friends look at you as if you were someone they used to know once-upon-a-time. We lost contact a little while ago and found each other on facebook again, and the banter picked right up again.
I will remember Mark as a key figure in the BB (in my day), the biggest Liverpool FC Fan and an absolute top bloke.
RIP Mark Knight. You will be greatly missed!
Mark Knight was a friend I knew growing up who passed away today. He was just a year or so older than I. I knew him mainly from the 6th Northampton Boys Brigade where he was always a key figure. He would always be up for a laugh and would make you feel welcome where ever you may meet.
As my life went on, we went our separate ways. I left Northampton and went to the University of Central Lancashire in Preston, returned to Northampton and now live in Indiana in the USA. Whenever I did bump into Mark, it would seem we would just pick up where we left off, as if no time had passes at all. In my experience, there are very few people you can do this with, as some friends look at you as if you were someone they used to know once-upon-a-time. We lost contact a little while ago and found each other on facebook again, and the banter picked right up again.
I will remember Mark as a key figure in the BB (in my day), the biggest Liverpool FC Fan and an absolute top bloke.
RIP Mark Knight. You will be greatly missed!
Saturday, December 19, 2009
ihope?
I’m trying to make the most of weekends as it seems that the weekdays are quite long and I don’t get back until quite late sometimes. Also wanting the kids to help around the house, we now have a “responsibility chart” where they have stickers for tasks they needs to carry out such as: make bed, do homework, take out the trash (yes I said “trash”).
As the kids had done their jobs all week, for a special treat, they decided that they wanted to go to ihop (International House of Pancakes)… Although as far as I am aware they only have branches in the USA… Not quite sure how that works.
We turn up to the restaurant at around 2pm. It turns out that it never shuts. I suppose it is a bit like little chef. I mean you wouldn’t go there on a date… but you would go there if you were really hungry… or... well hung-over.
Sarah and I had the pancakes & eggs while the kids decided to share a smiley face pancake for dessert and chicken with fruit salad for the savory. I think I missed the memo on fruit being savory, but as it seemed to be a fairly healthy option, I shut my mouth and went with it.
When our food came out they bought it out all at once. I found out later that this is pretty standard practice here. If you order all at once you get all the food all at once (regardless if you want it then or indeed if it actually fits on the table).
The kid’s hot pancake arrived with the shape of a happy face drawn on it with whipped cream. My kids take their time eating, (unlike me). As they gently ate their way through their first course, the cream started to melt on their second course. As I ate my dinner, this pancake face just sat there looking at me slowly melting. The once happy face of the pancake now had a melted so the smile turned down at the sides, looking at me as to say “you disgust me, filling you face with your high fat, low fiber incredibly sweet dessert…. Just look at yourself!.. ya fat bas**rd.” OK, maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me that this may not be the most health of places to eat.
Don’t worry though! I helped eat his face to teach him a lesson! The judgmental git!
As the kids had done their jobs all week, for a special treat, they decided that they wanted to go to ihop (International House of Pancakes)… Although as far as I am aware they only have branches in the USA… Not quite sure how that works.
We turn up to the restaurant at around 2pm. It turns out that it never shuts. I suppose it is a bit like little chef. I mean you wouldn’t go there on a date… but you would go there if you were really hungry… or... well hung-over.
Sarah and I had the pancakes & eggs while the kids decided to share a smiley face pancake for dessert and chicken with fruit salad for the savory. I think I missed the memo on fruit being savory, but as it seemed to be a fairly healthy option, I shut my mouth and went with it.
When our food came out they bought it out all at once. I found out later that this is pretty standard practice here. If you order all at once you get all the food all at once (regardless if you want it then or indeed if it actually fits on the table).
The kid’s hot pancake arrived with the shape of a happy face drawn on it with whipped cream. My kids take their time eating, (unlike me). As they gently ate their way through their first course, the cream started to melt on their second course. As I ate my dinner, this pancake face just sat there looking at me slowly melting. The once happy face of the pancake now had a melted so the smile turned down at the sides, looking at me as to say “you disgust me, filling you face with your high fat, low fiber incredibly sweet dessert…. Just look at yourself!.. ya fat bas**rd.” OK, maybe my subconscious is trying to tell me that this may not be the most health of places to eat.
Don’t worry though! I helped eat his face to teach him a lesson! The judgmental git!
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