Weekends Come and Weekends Go

Weekends here are like weekends everywhere else, they tend to get eaten up very fast. Last weekend was a little different. After the Friday and Saturday two weeks ago when we just seemed to go out every night and visit with friends then stay up too late, this last weekend we were more reasonable. I think it made both Jane and I happier and more tolerant with Isabelle and Maggie. Plus, we got up relatively early and got things done. Friday night was the Fall Fair at Isabelle's school. It was fun. I worked the "Pin the hat on the turkey" booth and Jane did face painting. We were so busy we didn't even manage to get any pictures. Isabelle dressed up in her elephant suit an played with her friends. She even got her hair painted blue. (You should have seen the bath water that night!) Saturday we got up early, had a little breakfast, and headed for the YMCA. Jane did Yoga, I did a cycling class, and Isabelle had some time in the care center (cartoons, colouring, drawing, & books). Afterwards Isabelle and I had a swim and did some shopping while Jane hit a local book sale. By lunch it felt like we had done more in five hours than we do in some weekends. Sunday we went to Sky Top Orchard (check out the pictures on their website). It wasn't like the apple orchards in the Valley back home, but the view was incredible. The road to get there was pretty intense too. We picked a few apples, had a snack of apple cider donuts, and bought our pumpkins for Halloween. On the way back we went to the Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair. It was the biggest bunch of knitters, spinners, dyers, and general animal fiber lovers I've ever seen. Jane had a great time and kept raving about how her mother would love it. I enjoyed looking around but I can only get so much out of wool and yarn. Isabelle was enthralled. She didn't want to leave the spinners. She would just stand there and watch. I don't think I've ever seen her so into something as much as this. In the end she was given a small spindle (used to spin thread) and some yarn by two of the vendors. Now she needs to practice. We'll see how it goes.

Short and Sweet (In more ways than one)

Just a short post to say hello and share some of Isabelle's work. As I mentioned earlier she is really into art and coming up with some very imaginative stuff. She also learned a few songs at school and never ceases to surprise us.

Here is a taste of the artwork.

Boo in the Zoo last week.

A well decorated house in the subdivision (the picture is a little blurry).

And finally a little music for the finish. Jane will have more posted on her Blog soon. Keep an eye on it.

Back to Georgia and Home Again

I've been back to Georgia again, this time for work. The best part of the trip was probably the food at RL's Off the Square. It' s a little New Orleans style restaurant in the middle of Covington. The place was great and had some interesting characters on the wall. Ronald Reagan apparently liked the food there, Stevie Wonder had been there once or twice, and Billy Crystal from City Slickers was there too. The famous New Orleans chef Paul Prudhomme was pictured all over the place. The food was great. We ate calamari and fried green tomatoes along with spinach dip as an appetizer. After that I had a shrimp boil. The boil is pronounced without the L and sounds more like "boy" than anything else. It was like a clear stew with corn on the cob, shrimp, andouille, zucchini, potatoes, all spiced up nicely. Apparently a boil down here is like a church supper back home. The meal I had was good but I can see how making 10 or 20 gallons of it would be even better. Now for next subject you have to understand how seriously they take Halloween down here. Somebody got in early here and made this minor event/holiday into a huge deal. There are as many or more decorations here at Halloween as I've seen in some places for Christmas. (Which reminds me I have to go out and get some Christmas decorations before they all sell out! I know it seems early but it's the not a complete exaggeration.) I'll try to post some pictures once I get them off the camera. On Friday night we took Isabelle to the Greenville Zoo for Boo at the Zoo. For $4 you get a bag and get to walk around the zoo and "trick-or-treat". Well when we got the the line-up was about 500 people long. It moved fast enough but was almost as long when we left. The whole zoo was decorated and it took about an hour to walk through. Isabelle enjoyed it and we got to meet some people including a woman who works in my department and her family. There were kids dressed up in all sorts of great costumes-princesses, Spidermen, lots of Star Wars characters, and off course animals. Isabelle went as an elephant but unfortunately the elephants at the zoo were in bed when we went by. We also ate out on Friday at the India Palace. The place was nice enough and certainly felt like a traditional Indian restaurant. The service on the other hand was a little sketchy. We were passed over several times when it came to order and it seemed like our servers had a tenuous grasp of the English language. The food was good, although yet again Jane won (she always picks the best thing on the menu). I had a meat platter with tandori chicken, seekh kabob, chicken tikka, and boti kabob. Don't ask me what it all was but it was good. Jane had the lamb saag which was lamb in spiced spinach. It was better than mine and I don't usually like lamb. The bread basket we ate was also very good. There was naan, prantha, roti, and onion naan (my favorite). In the end, based on my system, I'd say $$ for price, ** for the food, and only one :) since the service was less than average. We'll try the other Indian places next before we go back. On Saturday we met up with some friends to go to another local restaurant. The Bohemian was a neat Little place attached to a classic record shop. The food was from all over the world and the chocolate fudge cake for dessert was excellent. I had steak with beans and rice in a Caribbean jerk sauce. It was spicy and very good. Jane had lamb lasagna (she can't get enough lamb) but I think she was let down. The duck spring rolls we got as an appetizer were nice too and the place also makes their own chips which they serve with blue cheese dressing and spicy cheese crumbs. The whole thing was very nice with a bottle of pinot noir. $$ for price, *** since I liked the food, and :) :) :) since its one of the better places I've been in Greenville yet, although I doubt too many people know about it. The best part was the relatively new friends we went with. I want to get together with them again. It's nice to meet new people who are of the same generation and share common interests. It seems like even after almost six moths here it's still hard to make friends. Its too late now for pictures but I promise more artwork and some shots of our adventures soon. Isabelle is really turning on the creative juices and has been coming home with all sorts of great drawings and paintings. I can't wait to share. We also have some good video of Isabelle signing some of the songs she's learned at school. Keep an eye on the blog for more.

Artwork, Fall for Greenville, Pumpkintown, and the Irish Cough

Before I went to Ireland we talked about it at length with Isabelle so it wouldn't be a surprise for her when I left. She in return made a few drawings for me to take along. Here they are. They sure have progressed from the days of colours on a page. I kept these in my notebook while I was away.

Now that I'm home and back to a somewhat normal routine I need to get to the gym again. My problem is what one fellow in Ballymena described as the "Irish Cough". I have this sore throat that I can't seem to shake. I'm not feeling any other symptoms but if I'm going to get a cold I wish it would just get here already. This weekend we took in two big events in and around Greenville. The first was Fall for Greenville. It is a downtown street and food festival that also includes music and kids activities. We went without Isabelle on Friday night and ate a whole bunch of things from Thai to barbecue to Indian. It all works a little like a carnival. You buy tickets and then use your tickets to buy from the vendors. Most of Main Street is shutdown for it and pedestrians pretty much have the run of the place. They serve beer and wine too but you have to buy a bracelet to have some. It costs one dollar and makes things easier when it come to checking ID and controlling who can and can't drink. Saturday we went to a small place (I can't even call it a town) called Pumpkintown. It's in Pickens County about 35 miles and one hours drive northwest of Greenville. The Pumpkin Festival takes place every year at this time on the grounds of the community hall. There were maybe 150 or more craft and other vendors mostly geared up with fall decorations and produce, with a few getting into Christmas stuff (It's too early for that yet!) Food and drink were provided by local service clubs and the fire department. The foods included barbecue, the usual burgers and fries, fried fish, and fried pies and funnel cakes. The music was pure bluegrass. They had a stage for the bands and then another for the dancers, both young and old. Here is a little sample: Sunday was quiet day with a little work in the garage and a trip to the playground. Hopefully I will be up to my old self soon. I have another short trip this week to Georgia on Tuesday and should be home Thursday night. No flights this time. Thank goodness!

The Longest Flight Ever

So I'm now sitting in Newark Airport, it's 5:30 AM on Thursday. As I told jack my travelling companion in all of this: I didn't think I'd miss this connection with a seven hour layover in a million years! In the end I did miss my connection last night but that's not the half of it. Here goes... Yesterday we got on in Belfast and everything was fine. We boarded early and were off to a flying start. We were about halfway between Newfoundland and Iceland when things started going wrong. I had been moved form my assigned seat to another seat with more room. It turns out I'd have the "front row seat" for the show. The 83 year old lady across the aisle started to turn white. Her blood pressure had dropped, here pulse was erratic, this wasn't good. Luckily there were two nurses on board who did a wonderful job with her. One in particular was an interesting fellow who was built like a truck, had lots of tattoos, a pierced lip, a haircut not unlike mine, and a wonderful bedside manner. They laid her down, got out the defibrillator and monitored here vitals. It's amazing what they carry on the plane for just such an emergency. Things looked good for a while but she eventually took a turn for the worse. When they hooked her up to the IV and moved here to the front I knew things weren't going well. We turned and headed several hundred miles back to Iceland for a medical reroute. That wasn't bad enough, although I'm OK with it, it had to be done, and everyone on the plane was fine, except... In Iceland we weren't allowed to get off. We were not going to clear customs there so they thought it would be a quick stopover. Now, before the lady started her medical issues there were two American women who were acting strangely up front. (It turns out they were refused boarding on a flight out of Belfast the day before, now I know why.) Anyway, they had been acting out for a while and when they were refused more alcohol, the flight crew asked the Iceland Police, who were on the plane anyway, to escort them off. A few questions arise from this: why didn't we go to Newfoundland if we were so close? Well it turns out there were serious headwinds so Iceland was the faster way to get down. Also, what would have happened to the two women if we had not had to stop? Well, lets just say I saw one flight attendant with a plastic bag that had what looked like restraints in it. Remind me not to cross the Continental crews in the future! So we are on the ground in Iceland (a very pretty but desolate place) and are negotiating oxygen bottles, fuel, and maintenance checks. Because of the language barrier, differences in airlines, and the fact that the ground crew didn't want to take the pilots credit card (really), we spent another three and a half hours on the ground. Once we got back into the air everything went fine. In the end we spent thirteen and a half hours on the plane. I have to say the flight crew were excellent and I need to remember to write a letter to Continental (although I don't think I'll be flying with them again for a while because of other reasons). Arrival at Newark went OK. I got through customs and immigration without any issues. The airline put us up in a hotel but getting a shuttle out to it was another 45 minute wait. It turns out the Crown Plaza where we were supposed to go was full so at the last minute we were taken to the Sheraton. It was a nice room but it was 11:00pm local time (4:00am Irleand time) by the time I got to bed and my new flight in the morning meant I had to be up around 4:00am. So much for those meetings today. I think I'll stay home and get some sleep. That is my adventure. Add that to the delays in Greenville trying to get to Ballymena in Northern Ireland in the first place (see previous post) and I see why some people (you know who you are) don't like flying through Newark.

Update from Belfast

I'm sitting in the airport just waiting for my flight. We got here early to make sure everything went smoothly. I can't wait to get home even though I'm certainly not looking forward to the flight. Eight hours is a long time to be in the air. The picture attached is not me at the airport but rather me at the Crown in Belfast. It seems I uploaded the wrong image the other day. That was Jack and David.Wikipedia has a nice little history on the bar. Check it out here.

Other than that the visit here went well. I spent two extra days in the plant and got lots of good information. The weather was the same however, with rain all but one day of the whole trip. I will be changing the way I pack for the next trip here in a month. I need more sweaters and no short sleeved shirts. A nice hat and a scarf, along with some gloves will be along with me too.

We took another trip up the coast yesterday after work. By the coast, I mean the large lake called Loah Neagh that along with the River Bann cuts Northern Ireland in half. It was very much like driving through Cape Breton and going up towards Lake Ainslie and the Margaree River. We ended up at the Glengorm Castle Golf Centre for some supper but the service and food was only OK. The bar named The Pavillion was lovely but they need to work on the food. One the other hand the little place we ate the day before was very nice. The BallyRobin is a traditional English inn near the airport. It had a great menu and the service was excellent. I think we will be returning.

Belfast and the Antrim Coast

Friday night in Belfast was hoping. We wandered down about 6:00pm and walked around. The first stop was the Crown Liquor Saloon. It is owned by the Heritage Trust and is a tradition city pub, complete with ornate carvings, a beautiful bar, little booths with doors that close for privacy, and lots of local characters. We managed to get into on of the booths and enjoyed some drinks.

Next we wandered around downtown and enjoyed the sights. City Hall was impressive. There was a large Ferris wheel standing there, like a little sister to the London Eye. We ended up at a more modern pub and had some snacks. We ate the largest fries (chips in the UK) I've ever seen and prawns on salad.

Saturday we headed up the Antrim Coast. The three things we wanted to see were the rope bridge at Carrick-a-Rede, the Giant's Causeway, and the Bushmills Distillery. All in all we were not disappointed. Both the Giant's Causeway and the rope bridge are part of the Heritage Trust and had admission charges. The weather was not pleasant as it rained, at times very heavy.

Sunday was a sunny day-my first since arriving here on Tuesday. Jack and I took another spin into Belfast. As touristy (is that a word?) as a bus tour sounds it was well worth it. The wind was still chilly but we sat in the top of a open air double decker bus. The tour covered the Holland & Wolfe shipyard where the Titanic was built (my favourite part of the tour). We also went by the parliament buildings, some historic sights, and spent quit a bit of time driving through the Catholic and Protestant parts of Belfast. The history surrounding what the Irish call The Troubles was interesting, along with the bombings, the courthouses, and the jails.

The city is divided up by Peace Walls that divide the two sides. In some cases the walls are over 70 feet tall. Even now the walls still stand and serve to keep the peace. There are also lots of interesting murals all over the place depicting fighters, victims, organizations, and others involved in The Troubles. They stand as a memory and a reminder to what happened. Another interesting point is that the Belfast Giants, the local hockey team, was brought to Belfast as a neutral sport to help the locals get behind a common team.

I'm going to try to post some pictures too but if this doesn't work it will have to wait until I get home.

 

Working, Eating, Driving, and Staying Warm in Northern Ireland

Ireland is great. I've enjoyed my trip here so far although I miss the family back home. I feel like I'm missing Isabelle's growing up even though I'm only gone for a little over a week. I also know that Maggie isn't the same when one of the family is missing. She just can't seem to relax sometimes, while other times she's just silly. Anyway, I'll be back in less than a week.

Now, the plant in Ballymena here is relatively old. The people on the other hand are very friendly and seem very dedicated and willing to get the job done. My project went well and wrapped up today. After that I'm spending a few days getting to know the plant and some of the people I'll be working with on a regular basis. That will be Monday and Tuesday, then it's back home to Greenville.

Food here is very good. We've mainly been eating at pubs. Tuesday was Ellie Mae's, a quiet little inn and restaurant just outside of Templepatrick where we are staying at a Hilton. I had a lovely pork chop dinner with beans on the side and an order of champ. Champ is one of the best ways to eat mashed potatoes because they add green onions, butter, and cream.

The Hilton here is attached to a large convention centre, it has two restaurants, a bar, and a golf course. The fitness centre is private but open to guests. It has a full gym, pool, sauna and multipurpose room. The breakfasts are first class with everything you'd ever want including black pudding, beans, kippers, porridge, and the usual American fare.

On Wednesday we ate at the a small pub on the way back from the plant called the Ramble Inn. The fish and chips was huge. It also came with mushy peas. For those of you who don't know it's like mashed peas. Tonight we ate at a golf club just outside of town at a Restaurant called Barnaby's. I had curry but one of the guys had a chicken dish with fried banana and pineapple that we delicious. Jack had a chicken Caesar that had 3 chicken breasts. They sure don't skimp on portion sizes here.

To finish, one of the best things about being here is that I can get a glass of hard cider no matter where I go. As most of you know I don't drink beer but I love cider. The Stongbow was perfect last night. I don't think I've had a Stongbow from the tap since I was in Newfoundland.

Pictures

These are the pictures to go with the post.

On the Road Again, & Again, & Again...

We made it back from Atlanta with little difficulty. Isabelle did have a meltdown once or twice but we are chalking it up to too many activities and not enough rest. She had a big weekend, and so did we. The hotel we stayed at in Marietta was very good and the price was good too. The only thing that could have been better was the temperature of the outdoor pool. It was like swimming in the Atlantic in Nova Scotia. Atlanta itself was amazing. It is as large as it is said to be but getting around was mostly fairly simple as long as we used the GPS. We went downtown twice-once on Friday and once on Saturday-both times traffic was a little heavy but not too bad. Parking was easy. Friday we saw the Georgia Aquarium. It was absolutely amazing! It is all indoors (which surprised me after visiting the Vancouver Aquarium) but was huge and very well done. We didn't get to see the penguins due to some construction but the rest of the place was great. Food was a little expensive and the admission seemed a little high but in the end I can't wait to go back. The aquarium is set-up with seven or eight galleries and each has a theme. By far the best one is the one we saw last. The tank in the Undersea Discovery holds hundreds of fish including hammer head sharks and whale sharks. It was very impressive. I will try to post pictures. (They should be here if this works) I am writing this from Ireland as I am here on business. The hotel I'm at doesn't have a very good internet system but I'm trying to keep up with the blog and my email. The weather here is typical Irish weather. It's rained everyday since we got here and the temperature is hardly ever over 10 degrees C. It feels like Nova Scotia in November. Having said that it is lovely here. Getting here was a bit of a challenge. Hurricane Ike blew up the east coast on Sunday and delayed most of the flights through Newark, NJ. My connection was through Newark so I spent three hours on Sunday at Greenville airport waiting for the flight, and then when I finally got on they said it would be another hour before we left (we didn't have clearance to land in Newark!). In the end my colleague and I got off and went home to try again the next day. That went well but made for a long day on Tuesday as we went from the airport straight to the plant. I was happy to see my bed on Tuesday night. I will try to keep up the blog as I have more time this week. I hope to get out to do some sightseeing on the weekend with a friend form Nova Scotia who is also here.