As the last thread for abscences and travels got hijacked I'm starting a new one. I think we can see who is away more easily if this thread is restricted just to the abscence notice, with no ramblings, or even "have a good holiday" messages. I'm away now until September 3rd or thereabouts - have a good time. Rod
Irregardless of my wilfully incorrect use of words and phrases in this post, I will be "out of pocket" for the last two weeks of August, but am presently present.
Wow, it was hard to use that phrase that way. Never again.
I might as well announce that my on-and-off attendance will continue for a while as I am concentrating on survival things - like a job and a house in Britain. I'm really only doing I&A and that is partly because I'm still announcing the instalments of the Great Big Travel Thingy ...
But I miss the fun, and I will be back full time ASAP.
Well, I'm getting more and more busy with writing up, organising my move and planning for my near-future, so I might just as well say now that I probably won't be able to spend much time visiting the board over the next two to three weeks. And then I am moving away, and it's anybody's guess when I'll get myself back on the (I)internet... I'll try to keep in touch by e-mail with a few of you, but re-settling down is hard work, so I can't promise anything. I'll be back as soon as it's feasible...
Thanks for the friendship and fun. I miss this place already!
Oh so very interesting - a week of training for work, a day off for my elder son's birthday (he can't really be FOUR YEARS OLD, can he?), and then a work trip to the Arizona desert. Life's usual hodge-podge (and where does that word come from??).
Life's usual hodge-podge (and where does that word come from??)
atomica provides this:
Middle English hochepot, from Old French, mixture, stew : hocher, to shake together; see hotch + pot, pot.
neat =)
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and a very happy birthday in advance to your biggest baby tree frog; hard to believe my own daughter is turning *five* just a day afterward. time's a-flyin, indeed.
I'll be away from my desk at work until Aug 29th, so my posting may be somewhat sporadic (even more so than is my wont) until then. Among other things, I shall be spending time in a place called Barrow-in-Furness, where I am not sure that they have electricity, let alone computers. But I'll appear whenever possible!
Well, add my name to the list of "away for a while". I am on holiday August 28-Sept. 4, followed hot on the heels by a field trip Sept. 4 to 26. I may be able to glance at the Board during my holiday but probably not during my field trip. I'll miss you guys. Hope you all have fun while I'm gone!
Ok, this is really it, folks... we're leaving on Tuesday and I don't think I'll be able to visit the board again before then. I'll be back as and when I can and let you know how things are going. Thanks for everything!
I'm flying south for the winter with my better-half for an extended period, so I thought I'd make it known here - Rod would have wanted it that way :-) The first stop on the journey will be Thailand. Although it's not my first time there, we will thankfully have an insider to give us pointers. Some time later we will end up in Perth, my parent's home town and be in Sydney for New Year's. The time inbetween we'll be somewhere so isolated that I'll have to rock myself to sleep with thoughts of the 32Mbit internet connection I'm currently using. Now that I'm escaping the cold, I sorry to have to admit how beautiful a time of year Autumn is in Europe.... so ..er, take a stroll in your closest deciduously-treed park or forest if time permits. And if you're Bingley, stales, or Paul then ignore that advice.
I spent a great week at my parents' place in Calgary, a week of madness. My Turkish friends came to visit from Edmonton, my brother and his friend joined us from Winnipeg, and my husband flew in from St. John's for a few days to make it a full house. There was much merriment, eating, and drinking - a typical Spanu family get-together.
Then I spent three weeks sitting in a boat on the Fraser river (near, but not in, Vancouver), watching salmon run upstream, both on the surface (incredible!) and with our sonars. We were testing out some new equipment, and the salmon migration on the Fraser is well-studied, which provided a perfect lab for our work, in case anyone asks why we travelled 7300 km (4500 miles) to watch fish swim!
While on the river, we saw salmon jumping - hundreds per day - as well as seals, herons, vultures, grebes, ospreys, and uncountable numbers of seagulls - mostly feasting on dead salmon - yuck! My supervisor saw a six-foot sturgeon jump (I missed that one). We amused ourselves listening to the tugboat operators on the VHF radios. We also took some day trips into Vancouver itself and ate great food - Italian, Greek, Chinese, Japanese, Indian - all the things which you can't find in St. John's. Of course, there was also lots and lots of traffic, people hurrying to be somewhere else, and too much smog. And, of course, the World Trade Centre disaster, which left an indelible mark on our trip.
So I'm glad to be back in St. John's, where life is a little slower, the people are a lot friendlier, and the longest it can take you to get from one end of town to the other is 15 minutes. It may take me a while to get back in the swing of things on the Board, because I have tons of work awaiting me. But I'm glad to be home!
October is my busiest month of the year and this year shaping up to be more hectic than usual ... so I won't be entirely "gone" (I heard that!) but time for the Board severely limited ... maybe just an occasional popping in. Happy autumn all! wow
I, also, will be away from the board for awhile. Nothing drastic but I feel the need to meditate instead of whatever it is I'm doing here. Anyone that has my private e-mail address is welcome to e-mail me but I might not even be turning on my computer for awhile. See you all again when I return.
I'll be going out of town over the weekend for the first time since the bombing. Need to get away from the fire, which still smells quite strong in my neighborhood, and the general fugue of distress and absence of same. Also need to concentrate on work, again--to train myself to concentrate again, period. So I'm going to try to be out of here for a week or so. Here's hoping! ()
Disclaimer: this notice is only valid as of 5:30 pm EST on October 5.
like inselpeter, i too, am getting away this weekend (wash is done now, and I'm off) see you on tuesday.
meanwhile i hope the rest of you are planning your trips to NY.. for years, we have pumped money into US economy, and for a little while now, we are going to be a drain.. come see how your federal dollars are being spend.. ( and we'll let you come and spend, and buy retail too, and fleece you just as we always have.. some things don't change!)
and for all of you in more far flung places, you're welcome to-- we'll gladly take your money too!
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I'll miss you guys. Hope you all have fun while I'm gone!
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