27 July 2000
It finally happened. i got some publicity for my business. Just check ou this link to the Washington Post
4-Mar-99
It's about time I wrote again. Nobody has written back and complained about me sending them email so I'm going to carry on, only they might get further and further apart. I had another idea though. That is to only send a message that my web page has been updated and put my news on that. I would include a link of course. Any comments?
For those who know him, my friend Pete Doherty has turned up. He is now living in a castle in Germany, near the Austrian border. He says it really is a castle. Apartments in a converted castle; why not? He seems all right. I think he said he is working in a bike shop and riding some. He is living with his girlfriend, Sabrina, who was with him in Santa Rosa. He hasn't got email, of course, but promised to email me using someone else's computer. Nothing yet Pete!
Guess what, Lori got a bike! It's black. It is a mountain bike and looks very nice in the living room where it has been for some time. She has no time to ride it cause she does aerobics four times a week. I might take a picture of it and put it on my web page one day.
Speaking of cycling, I am still not riding much. I had a cold and the weather has been crappy and I don't have to go out if I don't want too. Pete hooked me up with a friend of his from Santa Rosa who just moved here and John Gatch's friend Frank has met a couple of likely lads, so , one day, when it's not raining, we may get quite a group together.
Races start soon and I want to get fit enough to survive cat 4. Once again, the USCF has downgraded me. They do this every year. I once had to apply to upgrade from cat 5 to cat 1! The racing scene doesn't seem to be as developed as Cincinnati is, at least not in the Spring. There seems to be some big races later on but I haven't found the extensive community organization that is in Cincinnati. You should be quite pleased with yourself.
Lori and I have been partying quite a lot lately. We've been to at least three Irish pubs, one of them twice!. The late nights are starting to catch up with me. The culprits are the limeys I've hooked up with. Leon and Steve. Steve is from Yorkshire and Leon is from Shaw so of course, we both give Steve a hard time. Leon, though, is a bit of a racist; that is to say, he hates scousers (people from Liverpool) to the extent that he nearly sent his passport back when Kevin Keegan got the job of England football manager. (I don't even think he is from Liverpool) Anyway, they are both great fun and full of stories of England and stuff.
Some of you may have noticed that I have managed to put most of my Dad's old pictures on my web site. Some are still missing and may be lost forever, although my dad assures me that he has them all safely stashed somewhere. They're probably going moldy in my old cupboard. If you haven't seen them yet go to http://www.Geocities.com/Eureka/Promenade/5632/Dad/pictures
Brian's been busy lately. He has just had an exhibition of his paintings at Oldham Art Gallery and is in the process of putting together a recording of his "Lancashire Dialect Monologue". Should be good for a laugh.
I came across a great Manchester site called Manchester Online. It's full of news and includes a great photo gallery of Manchester sites. Some the pictures are the same as my Dad's. I even found a picture of Malboro Mill which looks as if it was almost taken from my bedroom window!
I showed my dad's pictures to the guy who runs the gallery bit and he was so impressed with them that he is going to put some on his site or a link or something
I also found a link on there to a Fred Dibnah page. He's a character from North of Manchester that keeps getting on TV. Check out his page at http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/dibnah he's dead funny. He's a bit like my dad only famous.
Lori and I are offering free accommodation to the first two visitors we get from anywhere. Even people we don't know qualify. We have been here five months and haven't seen any of our old friends yet. Where are you all? This is a great place to visit, loads to see and do. So get on your bike and come for a visit.
That's about all for right now. Next time I write I should have done my taxes, got hammered in a cat 4 race. Made millions from my lighting business and had fifteen people visit from out of town. Next letter should be a corker!
1/28/99
Hello,
I've not written for a while (you're probably relieved) so I thought I'd say hi.
I have sprouted another web page! This is my "personal" web page for my friends and family. If you are reading this, you can assume you qualify. It is at http://www.geocities.com/Eureka/Promenade/5632/ .
Sorry it's a bit long winded but it's free and that's very important. On this site you will find a load of rubbish mostly about me and what I have been up to. I will post all my email letters like this one, to it. I don't know whether to just update my page, or continue to write everybody. Just updating seems somewhat impersonal but I wonder whether telling everyone I've updated my page might be a little pretentious. I don't know, why don't you let me know what you think. You don't write to me enough anyway.
A few weeks ago the local weather forecaster succumbed to the Cincinnati syndrome; i.e. they predicted a HUGE ice storm that would devastate the entire area beginning in the middle of the afternoon and continuing till the next morning. Well, if you went to bed before 10pm and slept in till 9 you'd have missed it. It was the consummate non event. Nothing. Nowt, bugger all. I felt sorry for all the poor sods who'd rented six videos from Blockbuster and bought all the milk and bread from Shopping Giant. There was nobody in the grocery stores for a week after that; they were all at home munching through their snow supplies. They really do seem weather paranoid round here.
Two weeks later the storm arrived. I mean, we got walloped. Ice everywhere. Tons of trees came down which meant that thousands of people were without electricity. We were, er, fortunate. We lost power to only half the house. I don't even know how to do that intentionally. We had an extension cord running the fridge from the bedroom and had to buy a space heater 'cause the heat went out, and of course, the hot water. We have a gas stove, so we used that to heat water and the kitchen, We had to heat a lot of water as our power was half out for five days! I think we were the very last wires to be fixed. Of course, they fixed the important places first like the malls and traffic lights, even the light at the end of our street that never gets any traffic that I'm going to start running 'cause it absolutely doesn't need to be there.
Actually, it was quite interesting to see how well people coped with the lack of traffic lights. The only problems I encountered were at intersections controlled by police officers. Backups everywhere with them. No, everywhere else, people just sorted themselves out. It was really very encouraging to see people working together in such a manner. I really enjoyed the synergistic interactions required to get to the other side of the intersection. I hated boiling water for a bath. Now the power is back and everybody is happy because they don't have to deal with each other. Now we're back to brain dead sitting at lights avoiding each other. No wonder society is a mess.
Well, that's my tirade for this letter out of the way. Now down to the serious business of Soccer. We played our last came of the season during the power outage. Of course we got hammered again; only this time, I got hammered even more literally than usual. It was the first game I've had that I had no wear and tear, overuse, too old for this game type of aches and pains but I did get, what felt like, two broken ribs! This team was over zealous to be kind. They were about ten goals up and playing like it was the world cup final. For the next season, we have moved up to an even better league. Apparently, we are not getting trashed convincingly enough, strange as it may seem. The reasoning, so I've been told is this; the lower, less talented teams (sounds like us) are apt to be a little too aggressive and kick you a lot (cat 5 syndrome maybe), they call 'em Doc Marten teams here. The odd thing is, now we are playing, supposedly better and safer teams, we are doing much better. We even won a game last week, and the other team did turn up this time. I still got hurt, Some guy who had forgotten his soccer shoes kicked me in the shins with what, I swear, were Doc Martens.
I'm still kind of employed by the government. My "team" all buggared of to San Francisco for a meeting and left me in charge. Trouble is, they didn't renew my contract in time so I'm not supposed to go in. They already owe me one day. I've supposed to have been there all week taking care of stuff in their absence. Oops.
Meanwhile, I've filled my time getting Limey-Light going again, which is good but I promised NIST I'd do another hundred hours for them if they ever get the contract renewed. With all the Limey-Light work I've been doing, it's only a matter of time before I'm inundated with lighting work (I wish) and I still have work at NIST to do. Also, the previous place I worked want me back while someone there has a baby. Nice to be wanted. I wish they'd pay me more.
I may actually have a lighting job. It's an hour away but that isn't considered far round here, except by me of course. It's a sub division (housing estate in English) entrance on Chesapeake Bay that the developer wants to make real nice. Get this though. Somebody recommended me to them! I don't even know this person. I hope they didn't make a mistake. Well, maybe I hope they did. Well , I don't know. I'm just glad to have an opportunity to drive all over the East Coast.
Plus this! This is really cool. Well, I think it is anyway. I bought a CD writer. Now I can make CDs. Not the ones with music on, oh, I can make them too. No, data CDs. I can download my web site or other files onto CD and give it to clients or friends or people in the street. I have used it so far , to give a presentation/slide show to a couple of landscape architects. It's dead cool, honest. When it works.
Well, that's seems to be it for inspiration. Go check out my web site, please.
12/22/98
Thanks to all of you who wrote back with toe nail advice, encouragement or sarcastic comments.
Anyway, regardless, it came off. I promise I didn't play with it. It was ready. There was a nice, shiny new one underneath and I'm sure we are going to get along just fine.
One small point though. I did take Rob Westendorf's advise first, to amputate the toe.
Can anybody sew!
12/20/98
Just a quick request for advice.
My big toe nail is falling off. I damaged it about five weeks ago playing football and it's finally got fed up clinging on to my toe. Should I pull it off or what? Is it going to hurt a lot once it's off? How long will it take for a new one to grow and what will life be like in the meantime?
Anybody help?
Paul the nail
12/10/98
I thought it about time I should write and let anyone who cares know what I've been up to. I must say, It's been great to here from people who have kept in touch. Isn't email great! Even my sister has it now. I didn't even think they had electricity.
I finally started my new, part-time job. It was delayed about two weeks due to some bureaucracy. It was a big shock after the last place. On my first day, after finding the right building in this massive complex, I marched confidently through the front entrance to ask directions to my new office only to be confronted by a brick wall. I was expecting a lavish reception area manned by a knowledgeable receptionist to guide me on my way. Instead I found my nose pressed up against a poster for Federal Retirement benefits or something. It was a dingy place to encounter on your first day. They certainly aren't out to impress anybody. I found myself in a gloomy yellow concrete corridor with no real sense of flow to it. No suggestion of where to go for assistance at all. I decided to go right because……… I'm right handed. I only had the name of my supervisor and a building number. I'd found the building. My only hope now seemed to be that she would be famous and somebody might know where she hid out in this dungeon.
Eventually I came across an open office in one of the darker corridors and was informed I should be one floor up and looking for room A249. It's a good job they use room numbers as once I got up one floor, it looked just the same as below…..only slightly gloomier. I eventually found the office I was supposed to be in but my new boss had decided to go to New York for the day, so I hung out with her secretary, who, surprisingly, seemed to be expecting me. She was off the next day too, although she calls it "telecommuting", so I didn't really get to do anything till Wednesday. Good job actually, as I didn't get a computer till Wednesday lunchtime.
Now I've been there a couple of weeks and have figured out my job and I really like being there. This place coordinates the writing of International Standards for computer manufacturing I think. Anyway, whatever these things are, they send them out at various stages to each country who then vote on whether they like them or not. My job seems to be to distribute the standards and collect the votes. Sounds simple, but they also seem to want me to develop the computer systems to do it. Apparently, they got the impression that I was a computer consultant on the side, not a landscape lighter.
I have been neglecting my business though. I did get my new web page up and running. You can see it at http://www.limeylight.com. Please check it out and pass the address on to anyone you know, especially if they live round here. Next week, I should get my new brochures done and start contacting landscape architects. I still have one small project to install which will help me blow out the cobwebs I'm sure.
I still haven't found any good group rides. I'm beginning not to feel like a real cyclist as well. I'm not doing any coaching either, though I did build a database to collect training data from riders. I want to put it on a web page so riders can enter daily training logs which I can download into the database for analysis. This way I can coach people who are not in the immediate area like Cincinnati.
I did come across a team from Virginia that seemed a little more sensible. They ride to where I live every Sunday but meet at 9am. Bit early for me. They have a lot of masters though, so maybe I'll race with them next year.
My new soccer team sucks and I'm the worst player they have. I did score a goal last week, but I probably gave away about five. I think we are all a little old. We all seem so sluggish and always look like we are playing a man down. Should be called "Blue Mondays", not "Happy Mondays". It was fun getting hammered for the first three games but the last one wasn't so enjoyable. I was surprised how disappointed I was afterwards, as I actually scored and I could still walk. Usually I'm crippled for two days afterwards.
Actually, I didn't spend the preceding week in peak condition. I was actually very ill. On Tuesday night I went to bed with a slight pain in my back but by the next morning I was in agony. I went to work but by 9am I could hardly breathe cause of the pain. I skipped a meeting and went to see the on site doctor but they couldn't do anything except determine that I was not going to drop dead on the premises. They gave me a heat pack and sent me on my way.
I didn't sleep at all on Wednesday night. I couldn't lie down! Lori found me in the morning (5am) screaming in agony in the office, absolutely out of my tree. She managed to calm me down and filled me with Tylenol and at 7am I went to one of those Urgent Care Facilities for people who aren't dying but can't wait to see a real doctor. They were great. They did a chest x-ray, EKG and a blood test among other things, and determined that it wasn't muscular after all. They thought that it was related to the lining outside of my lung rubbing against the lining of my chest cavity! It has a name but I can't remember it. They gave me some extra strong pain killers and told me to dial 911 if I got any worse. Well, Thursday night, I nearly did. I managed to get to sleep, lying down, but at 4am I woke up in agony. All I could do was to slide out of bed onto my knees and lean on the bed. If a full breath is like twelve inches, then I was down to my last inch! I really could almost not breath because of the pain. I knelt there for half an hour, panting like a dog, till Lori woke up and filled me with more drugs. By 7am I thought I might go to work but Lori wouldn't let me. After that I recovered to about 90% until, on Tuesday night, during a bout of painful hiccups, one severe hiccup caused a huge pain in my back, like a muscle tearing and then I felt nothing! The pain was totally gone. It must have been my lung coming "unstuck" from my chest wall I guess. Yuk!
The weather has been ridiculously hot. So nice, in fact, that last week we went to a local State park for a hike and it was full! We eventually sneaked in a side entrance after some "creative parking".
The place was heaving so on our return hike, we decided to take a route marked as "wear proper shoes". It started out ok, but as it neared the Potomac River it became just a scramble over massive boulders. It took us about 2 hours to get back, all the time passing families with little kids and senior citizens floundering between the rocks. It was one of the hardest walks we've been on including those of the Lake District and Highlands of Scotland.
Anyway, that's enough yapping for now. Let me know what's happening at your end.
11/12/98
I thought I would let you know what we’ve been up to lately. Not much.
The job I had has ended. It finally got going after I emailed everyone in my group and pleaded for some work. It was quite interesting after that. I start another one next week. This one is for three months part time. Three days a week. That will be great for getting Limey•Light going. It is at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, or NIST, and is regular admin. stuff. It’s better than a poke in the eye with a blunt stick! It doesn’t pay well of course but I don’t mind as long as 1) it’s not too mind numbing, or 2) they don’t expect too much.
My lighting demo went well last week. They want to do the front only though. At least the neighbors will be able to see it. I’m just glad to be doing something.
I’ve been doing a lot of marketing stuff recently. I thought, now I’m trying to compete in the real world, that I should have some proper brochures etc. It takes a lot of effort though to create all this stuff. I am also trying to come up with stuff for the web page and portfolio before I go charging out into the unknown.
I finally survived the local race/ride. I had decided to stay with them (if I could) till they turned back, and then to go out on my own from there. I got dropped 200yds before they turn so that was close enough. But, they didn’t turn so now I feel like I got really dropped. Oh, stuff’em!
Last week I went out on my own. I went to Sugarloaf Mountain which is not a mountain. I didn’t quite make it as it started to rain and it was too cold to get wet, but I could see it. It looks like a volcano, just sticking up out of the countryside. It’s kind of weird.
I heard from Eric Wetteland the other day. He is nearly a dad and has moved in with his new girlfriend and her roommates. He hasn’t rode his bike for ever but is doing OK. He says "Hi". They are looking for a new apartment and should move again in January. Let me know if you want his new address when he moves.
I finally got to play soccer last Monday. It nearly killed me. I only played for five minutes! Right now, I have two black big toe nails, no skin on the balls of my feet, a stiff back, a sore diaphragm and a sore knee. They keep asking me if I want to play outdoor on Sundays. The team I played for is full so they have hooked me up with a team full of English guys called "Happy Mondays". (it’s a Monday night league) I hope they’re not all from Manchester. Fortunately, they play in a division below the other team, so I won’t look so stupid, however, the p***-taking will be more intense.
We went to Dupont Circle for Halloween. Dupont Circle is a very interesting area of DC. We had dinner in a great pizza restaurant and were served by a transvestite. One of many we saw that night. Unfortunately, we left before it got really going.
I’m going to get in the shower now as I haven’t taken one for two days ‘cause the boiler broke and we had no hot water.
10/31/98
Well, my new job is not very exciting. I’m standing in for an administration assistant who is on vacation for two weeks. I’ve been there a week so far and I haven’t figured out what she does. Some of the people are interesting though. They are from all over the world. This part of the company deals with emerging markets like South America and India so they employ people from those countries. I had to call a guy in London yesterday. He seemed a bit confused. I think he couldn’t quite understand why a Mancunian was calling him from Washington! Yesterday, the entire office went on a retreat and left me to man the place. I think I answered ten phone calls. Only one more week to go. Maybe things will liven up.
The local bike ride sucks. I’ve now decided. I got dropped again and thought I’d ride back with the laughing group but they were all trying to out do each other too. It was like racing in Belgium. I’m going to give them one more chance tomorrow. Hopefully, I will be able to contain myself and end up with some civilized, dropped people and we can go for a pleasant ride.
There’s a secret cyclo cross series on round here. I found out about it by accident. It is a little far and a little late so I don’t think I’ll bother with it. Plus, It starts at am!
I have my first lighting demo on Monday. Lori’s boss. I don’t think he is quite Indian Hill but it will be nice to shove my demo pole up somebody’s tree. Hopefully, He’ll let me leave the demo up for a while for his neighbors to see. He may even want it. I had dinner with the main distributor round here. He thinks there is little competition and lots of wealth. We are located right smack bang in the middle of it too.
My new web site is coming along. I also near;y have my portfolio ready. I have a list of testimonials from my clients in Cincinnati.......really nice people. All I need now are some leads.
Lori and I are going down town tonight for Halloween. We plan to go to Adams Morgan and Dupont Circle to see what’s going on. A very interesting area, lots of males, lots of couples. The costumes should be interesting. We would like to live down there but it’s very hard to find a place. We were told to check out one of the local rags. ".........it’s a gay paper, but they don’t discriminate." we were told We shall see.
To be continued.................
10/25/98
Eggy update #3
I thought I’d let everybody know what I’ve been up to these last two weeks if anyone is interested.
I went for an interview with a temporary agency last Wednesday (11/14). They gave me a test on Microsoft Office applications which was pretty easy and said they could get me a job soon. This is for Administration stuff, office stuff etc. It doesn’t pay too well but it’s not bad. It seems a little sporadic though. I was surprised to here that a lot of their "assignments" are for a day or two. I’d rather work a bit more long term than that but beggars can’t be choosers. Anyway, with getting my business off the ground, it will be could not to have a real job then leave. This way I’ll be able to scale back on the temp work as the business takes off, hopefully.
I also applied for a few of the four million admin jobs in the paper. One was made for me being for a landscape company. I missed that one and haven’t pursued the others yet. I called NIH where Lori is working but, apparently, you have to be a US citizen to work there. Seems strange that, considering that Lori is just about the only US citizen in her lab.
Got a temporary job in a communication satellite company for two weeks though, so at least the bills might get paid. I might learn something about marketing too which will be nice as I’m may have to do some of that here. I was kind of spoilt in Cincinnati.
Went on the local ride race by accident last Saturday. Got lost in a local subdivision and got out on to a main road in front of 50 over excited riders. Got dropped ten miles later though. The next day I went out looking for them. They meet about an hour south of me then turn West about fifteen minutes before my house so I tried to ride to meet them. I met to guys who were waiting for the ride to catch them up so I rode with them but it took for ever for them to catch us. Got dropped again. Today (Sunday) I had the timing down and met them on the rode, but I felt too good and went with too many moves (sound like a race doesn’t it) and got dropped again. This time I waited for the laughing group to catch me but they were racing too! I stayed with them till I got near home and swung off. Nobody said anything to me all day. They seem a bit anti social or maybe a little too competitive. It turns out that they do the same two hour ride every Saturday and Sunday, Same route, same time. Bit dull. I thought I would ride with them for the winter so I could meet people but how many people do you meet IN a race? I think I’m going to go ride on my own. The countryside round here is too nice to waste racing on the same road every week.
Found a soccer team to be on. I went to watch them play last Monday at an indoor soccer pub. It looks a bit more violent than I remember it being some twenty years ago, but I’ve got the kit now so there’s no turning back. I want to get some running in first before I subject my delicate connective tissues to that.
Got my hair cut by my old hairdressers friend. She is Scottish so that was fun talking to her. Her and her husband live more down town and frequently go to the British Embassy which, according to her description, sounds more like a social club than a diplomatic establishment. They have a soccer team, a bar and watch the English Premier League games on satellite. Can’t wait.
Met a couple of lighting reps lately. They say they can give me some good leads for starters.Turns out just about everyone round here is loaded and hungry for landscape lighting but I haven’t met any of them yet. Anyway, looks good for LIMEY LIGHT.
What’s happening in your neck of the woods?
10/12/98
Just a note to let you know that we made it to DC. Well, not quite to DC as we are living some 12 miles outside the capital in a generic but nice apartment complex ( http://www.theregistry.com/MD/MD_RO171.HTM ) in suburbia. Its very nice but we’d much rather be where the action is.
The journey was fairly uneventful. Our truck was not as new as I would have liked but it worked well. The driving position hurt my knees though. Lori was terrified of driving it but she did great. She did get passed by two houses though (they were on trucks). The most amazing part of the trip was going through Pennsylvania. I could never live there. As if their 55mph speed limits weren’t enough, there are stop signs on the entrance ramps! I mean, the problems start when you don’t go fast enough to get on. stopping first is not going to help. The interesting twist to this absurdity is that the locals seem to stop even when there is no stop sign?
Nothing as exciting has happened since we got here. Traffic isn’t too crazy but there is a lot of it. They seem to apply the "snooze you loose" rule so I kind of like that although you have to temper that with kindness and consideration (so far lacking) of course.
Getting in to the apartment took a while. I don’t know whether it’s because there are so many lawyers in the area, or what, but we had to sign about fifty things before they would give us the keys. We read the later, mostly rules and regulations. My God, what a lot. Among the best are that you are not allowed to put things on your window sill, you MUST pull forward into your parking spot, you are not allowed to "repair" cars on the premises (notice they didn’t say "maintain") and you are not allowed to play a piano after 11pm. To the apartments credit though, disturbing your neighbors is at the tenants discretion. I’m going to have fun here.
Once we unpack, I am going to start looking for a job. Lori has one of course, that is why we are here. I have to find some cyclists to annoy and a bike shop to not buy things from. We have to go down town and find an Irish pub or I will die. I have to meet some lighting reps so I can get Limey Light up and running and make some money so I can get "cable" and afford to have someone else "repair" our car.
But that is all next week. I might remember to let you know how it goes.
Paul the Limey.
10/13/98
Finally starting to get this place sussed out.
Went out on my bike for the first time Monday. Found a good bike shop though it is part of the Performance chain. Lots of info on wear to ride and who’s who. Seems that the main are or route is the bike path along Rock Creek Park. This park seems to be about 30 miles long and goes North from Downtown DC on roads and bike paths. It passes less than a mile from our apartment which is good luck. I found it after the bike shop and it’s not uninspiring at all. Near me it’s a meandering, well surface bike path and may be fun to ride on actually. Anyway, it appears that a fifty up "race" takes place every Sunday along this and EVERYBODY rides. Sounds familiar. Eventually they run out of bike path and take to the roads. Apparently, once you get out of the city, which we almost are, there is some great riding to be had. They even have a mountain, which I have yet to confirm but at the very least, the terrain is rolling and the lanes twisty.
Seems to be lots of cycling teams and races etc. I will have to see.
I have almost found a soccer team to play on which I never managed in three years of trying in Cincinnati. They even have soccer stores all over. There is four or five Irish pubs, one of which is called the Dubliner! and loads of seemingly great restaurants.
Tomorrow I have an interview with an employment agency. I hope to find out a lot about the local job market then and maybe get a job too. Lori doesn’t start her new job till next week (although she went in today) so we are kind of on vacation (holiday). No Limey Light business yet but I do meet a rep this week so that might be a step forward. Have found three lighting stores within a mile of our apartment.
Bye for now