I have three drafts that will never see the light of day. But writing blog entries is supposed to be easy. Plus, I am supposed to be writing them for myself (and the family) as a record of what is going on in our lives, etc. What's the matter with me?
It's been 2 1/2 months since I last wrote! Or longer, now! I just must get this stuff down before it disappears into my past.
NHS throwing me curveballs
So I got my appointment, met with a nice young lady who took one look at me and said, "You're too skinny to have sleep apnea." Not exactly like that but pretty much like that. I told her that I have already been diagnosed with it from Stanford. She was not impressed. She said, "Well, if that is in fact the case, then you are in the right place, unfortunately our sleep study appointments have an 18 month waiting list."
HAHA - I knew my right-wing nut case friends would have a field day with that, and I was resigned to going the private route, paying out of pocket if I have to. Because it is getting quite bad I am afraid.
(In good news, I have had more than one person say to me recently, "You look so relaxed!" People who know me might be quite impressed with that. Nobody has ever said that to me, ever.)
Then the NHS sends me a letter about 10 days later saying, "You're appointment for an at-home sleep study is in two weeks." Huh? So in I go to the sleep center, get wired up to look like a suicide bomber, and then get sent back home on public transportation with just a few wires showing …. They assured me nobody has ever been arrested or … killed … as a result of heading home all wired up like that. But, it was great, doing the sleep study in my own bed, where I would very comfortably not sleep very well.
It took about another 10 days before the next letter arrived saying, "Come in to the NHS to discuss your results." So - who knows?!?!? So far I am impressed with the service I have received for free.
And now, because this post is taking me forever to write, I have an appointment at the NHS to get a teeth impression made, so that I can get a mouth piece that might help me with my sleeping problems. I'd say this is amazing, methodical progress. If this mouth piece has any impact at all then I will look into a fancy machine and see if that helps more. If not, well, we'll have to see.
But there's more to life than sleep apnea
I started one of my three drafts with the subject "It's a great time to be alive and in London!" I was feeling particularly good. I think that particular time Sue and I had just come home from seeing President Bartlett's wife - I mean Stockard Channing - in a little play in Islington. Islington is down one branch of the Northern line and up the other, OR, about 50 feet to our east ;-) We were bordering on late so we had to walk very quickly, but it was 7 or 7:30pm, the streets were full of people, the side walks were Champs-Élysée wide, lots of bars and clubs, etc.
The small theatre was very cosy, the play was excellent, and the walk back to the TUBE was more relaxing. This time it was 10pm and it was still warm and people were eating on the side-walk cafes, etc, bustling with energy. I just thought it was fantastic. That evening put me in a good mood for two weeksat least!
And then a few weeks ago Sue and I went to watch King Lear with Sir Ian MacKellin. We were in row B. He and the whole team of actors were incredible. I mean, King Lear … and I stayed awake! I'll admit that I was struggling to stay awake for the usual reasons, and then Lear pulled up his shirt and pulled down his pants, and there he was in all his glory. That woke me up a little bit: he was incredible … and his acting was amazing, too!
All kidding aside, Ian MacKellin's performance was incredible. I was as exhausted watching him as he looked putting on the performance. And then in the end, after everyone took a bow, he came out to the front of the stage and gave a little speech about AIDS and how it is customary on this day each year to ask for donations from people in the theater on the way out.
In the battle of British X-men alumni, Ian MacKellin's performance in King Lear wins by a landslide over Patrick Stuart's performance in Antony and Cleopatra. They were both good but only one was amazing.
And then there was my birthday
I turned 43 this year. Sue took me to Greenwich Mean Time where I have a certificate showing I was standing on GMT and GMT + 1 at the same time on my birthday. Um - worth every pence I paid for it. The National Maritime Museum was an amazing place to visit. Here's a view of it from the bottom of the hill:
The four or five seaworthy clocks that John Harrison invented were all there in the museum, along with great demos of why standard pendulum clocks of the day couldn't cope with seas travel (rather obvious once you see it). Coincidentally, Madeline and I had just done a little geo-caching a week or so before that, and one of the items was to find John Harrison's grave stone at a church in Hampstead. I'd never heard of him until then …
I think we're pointing (the camera, that is) south, which would put Sue at GMT + 1 and me at GMT. But … I could have it backwards:
After, we ate at a pub where I had "something wonderful" for the second time in a couple weeks. I can't even remember what it is anymore, but there's a piece of ham as thick as a burger under the two eggs, peas, tomato and fries:
Aperitif Revisited
Our friends Bob and Sheila came out to stay with us on and off for a week or so. Bob's birthday was the day after mine, so we had a joint celebration at the Scene of the Great Aperitif Incident. Yup - we went back to the place where I was in over my head, but this time I was prepared, although a little anxious. When the waiter asked us if we wanted an aperitif I hesitated only as long as it took to wiggle my eyebrows at Bob to show him I knew what was going on.
We did the tasting menu again, like last time: 7 course meal. This time Bob and Sheila used fancy words involving wine with our "waiter with a strong French accent" and the next thing I know we had a different wine with all 7 courses!
Four hours of relaxing, fun, incredibly tasty, non-stop conversation. It was just the best, and worth every MIND-BOGGLING penny - I mean pence - of it ;-)
The restaurant, which I highly recommend BTW, is called The Greenhouse, and it's very good.
Out and About in London with Bob and Sheila
Bob and Sheila were of course a lot of fun. We did lots of things with them we maybe should have already done but I am bad …
We spent a day wandering along the Queen's Walk, hitting various sites along the way. We stopped in some sort of theater that I can't remember, which happened to have a photo display that was striking and depressing: it was pictures of a lot of the garbage going on in the world. I will never forget the one of the bride and groom, the saddest looking bride of an Iraq vet whose face was damaged beyond recognition, posing for their wedding photo together.
We hit the Borough Market I believe, which was very impressive. They had everything and it all looked good, and there was plenty to taste:
We checked out one of the official yard measurements in Trafalgar Square (different day of course):
We saw the changing of the horse guard, which is obviously different from the normal changing of the guard, which we actually haven't managed to see in our 18 months here. How strange! Anyway, the horse guard was very cool in my humble opinion:
I tried to take a cool shot but it was dark and hard to keep everything still enough to have the right effect. Whatever. That's statue in the distance is … some dude … whose name escapes me:
Bob seemed … perplexed:
We managed to hit the Royal Stables (or Mews as they are often called):
then the Churchill Museum and the Cabinet War Rooms which was mind-boggling, and then ended up near Harrods at the end of a long day:
At the house we made potstickers, which is always fun. The family that wraps together, stays together, and we have been doing a lot of wrapping lately. It's fun to share. Here Bob has just made some wise-ass comment, which he tends to do, and Madeline couldn't get enough of it:
I'll admit I had more to drink that normal when Bob and Sheila were here, so the kids saw a side of me they weren't too used to: extremely happy and smiling a lot, and really laughing it up with Bob. Madeline was amused, as was Jason. After they left, Madeline and Jason started making cracks about my being a drunk, which I had to set the straight on. You know, out in public saying things like, "Dad are you going to get drunk again?!" Trust me - I talk up the pubs and school drop off perqs but I am just kidding … usually.
Drinking lots of Apple koolaid
I'll just come clean: I am now officially an Apple bigot. I laugh at people who continue to struggle with PCs, even as I continue to help them on a regular basis. Recently I did complete OS re-installs for two of my friends, and helped another with an obscure problem where typing stopped every 10 seconds for 5 seconds (turned out to be related to the size of their address book, if you can believe that).
The iPhone arrived in the UK and I had to have it. And it is, as I said the moment I saw Steve Jobs' keynote a year ago, The best product I have ever held in my hands. It is an amazing product and it is truly boggling to think about the changes, improvements, etc., they will be able to make to the existing hardware let alone when they upgrade the hardware in the next few years. It will be interesting to see if any of the imitations stand a chance, but I think they have an uphill battle.
Meanwhile, I upgraded to Leopard and have loved every minute of it. It's a vast improvement in a bunch of little ways over the previous release, which was everything I had hoped it would be and more. I enjoy my computer in a million little ways, and I look forward to making some deposits into the Apple bank in the coming year ;-)
The Great Secondary School Hunt
Sue is leading the effort in the great secondary school hunt. I may have mentioned this before: it's like looking for a college. And depending on how well you do in your tests can mean the difference between going to Harvard and going to community college in Alabama. These are the schools that Prince William and Harry went to, etc., and they are serious schools. When I was growing up my father used to say that the education we were getting in our posh little town in Massachusetts was horrible, vastly inferior to the one he received here in England. I used to take that as code words for "you're stupid and I'm not" but I have come to realize that he was probably right. The good secondary schools here in London are second to none as far as I can tell, and if Madeline gets into any of her first three choices she will be in good shape.
So stay tuned. Almost her entire year 6 (fifth grade) so far has been dedicated to preparing for the exams that are about to start in the next few weeks. Once they are over there will be a short wait, and then we will know what her options are.
Americans in Paris
We spent much of a week in Paris again this year, this time meeting some friends who came during their October break in the States. It was sooooo cold in Paris this time around, very cold, and I was sick the whole time.
We hit the Musee D'Orsay which was I think a great place for all, including the kids. A converted railway station, I love the old railway stations in Europe, although I've only seen a couple in Paris and a bunch in England so far:
See what I mean? Very cool.
The kids were fine listening in to the kids' versions of the descriptions of the paintings. I recommend without hesitation the audio tours for adults and kids wherever you go. Otherwise you walk around with a blank look on your face, having no idea what's going on:
Here, Daryoush and I are enjoying a beer in a little courtyard, while the kids were running around entertaining themselves and the moms were off doing a little shopping:
I love relaxing with a beer in strange places. Makes me feel cool.
We wandered through the Jardin du Luxemburg again on this trip, and the kids had fun in the playground while Sue and I sat and froze our butts off. They have the best playgrounds in Paris:
While we were sitting there we started chatting with a woman who had three kids who were speaking French and English. Our conversation was interrupted by a sudden yell followed by the sound of a woman's head hitting the pavement. Ouch!
Walking the rest of the way through the garden we came across an exhibit showing the history of space flight since it began in the 50s or 60s, whenever it was. One picture per year for the most part. This is a picture of the Sombrero Galaxy, which is 40 million light years from the earth!!!
I love that three of the republican candidates think the earth is only 6000 years old, meanwhile we're looking at a galaxy that is at least 40 million years old just by how far it is from earth! Only in America… Anyway, maybe this shot gives you a feel for the size of the exhibition:
We also checked out Sainte-Chapelle this time:
Impressive, although not all the windows look this nice.
Oh, and this time we made sure to climb Notre Dame. I can't remember how many steps it was now! Maybe the kids remember. It's pretty cool up there:
And where I come from, that's a big bell:
No plans to move back to California
Something I said in onne of my previous posts must have been confusing, because my own mother was very excited about the fact that we were coming home. I think she thought we were moving back to the East Coast or something. Also another friend thought we were heading back to California after our one year here.
The truth is, we love it here and we have no plans at the moment to come home. It doesn't mean we won't come home some day, but it does mean we have no plans to do it any time soon. This is an amazing place to live and we're all getting a great education of a sort. This way of life is just right for us right now.
Jason keeps changing
Jason is really REALLY changing and growing, and it is a pleasure to see. I think it's hard on Madeline who has been used to the spotlight for far too long. Jason is smart, opinionated, good natured and quite funny. He is finally starting to remind me of how I remember myself: a wise-ass who has no idea when to stop. My mom and sisters might remember my dropping a plate of spaghetti on the floor growing up, and Jason is at that stage right now.
Anyway, in honor of Jason, I decided to resurrect an old photo of him that I think is one of my best shots ever (July 6th, 2006):
And here's one I took of him tonight:
I remember thinking Jason has really changed when he went with some school friends to a chess tournament, his first ever. Sue, Madeline and I happened to hop unexpectedly on the same train as he did, and when we finally noticed each other on the adjacent cars, it was quite fun. Then we got off before him and turned to watch the train go, and he smiled, ever-so-slightly uncertain as his train took off into downtown London without us.
Later that day I got calls from the head mistress of the school telling me all about his day at the chess tournament: he had won 2, lost 1 and tied 1. Amazing. I talked to him on the phone where he just told me what had happened, and then he said, "OK Dad, I am going to go back to playing with my friends." It was like, "What I'd really like, Dad, is to borrow the car keys …" ;-) He sounded very different.
And on the flight from Missouri to New Jersey I let him go into the toilets on his own, since it was a very small jet, perhaps a 717 or something. He didn't know how to turn on the lights, but I showed him and that was fine. But then I thought to myself, He might not be able to figure out how to get out! And sure enough he started trying to get out but nothing happened … it was too loud in the plane for me to even hear if he was asking me for help, and I was unsure what to do to help him without causing a scene. And then suddenly the door opened and he came out saying, "I couldn't get out!"
Anyway, back in the seat he said to me, "You know, when I was stuck in the toilet, I started to get scared. But then I said to myself, 'If sit down and start crying I might never figure out how to get out!' so I just decided to stay calm and try to figure it out," shrugging his shoulders as he was saying it.
Awesome stuff, coming from a boy who … might have some genes in common with … me …
