And Now, The End Is Near....
Old Frankie just keeps popping up, although he was a bit of a tart for major American cities I think. He sang songs about New York, San Francisco, and of course Chicago, amongst many others.
I have returned now from skiing, it was great fun, and it is now my last week of work in the UK, and only 8 days till I get on the plane. I came back to a new tenant, my very nice South African lady teacher. Unfortunately I also came back to a hefty repair bill, courtesy of a failed gas inspection. So my very nice lady is having to use fan heaters and the immersion heater for hot water.
I had a boiler company out yesterday, and have a nasty feeling it is going to cost the best part of £2K ($3600, bet I could get a new furnace cheaper than that!). Lorraine and I spent Sunday getting her place ready for the removal men yesterday. It already feels like we have never been away.
We did have a great time skiing though, and the weather was fantastic, if a little on the warm side..hotter than Tenerife don't you know! So I have a great tan to start my new life with. The snow was a little slushy in the afternoons, and rock hard in the mornings, but we managed to put that to one side and drink heavily, as is the tradition. Lorraine, who hated skiing last year, and wasn't much more enamored this year, found her ski legs on the last day, and ended up not wanting to finish, so that bodes well.
Lorraine had a great time, working her way through all of her favourite French foods, as it is the last time she will be there for a while, so she had Croque Monsieur, Creme Brulee, Chocolate Mousse, Croissant, Pain au Chocolat, Raclette, Vin Chaud, etc, although not all at once!
The trip home was another story, with one screw up after another. Starting out with a short notice cancelled flight, followed by a diversion to Switzerland (over 3 hours to transfer), a 2 hour delay in Geneva, the world's smallest and most expensive airport, another hour on the plane before we left the ground, and eventually getting home at 4pm, over 3 hours later than scheduled. This meant that my new tenant had to fend for herself, but more of a worry was that I had accidentally left my "Chicago Fund", the money from selling my stuff, in cash and travellers cheques, under the drawers in my bedroom! (for safe keeping). Frantic calls to the agency found it, and I collected it on Monday night, all intact..that was a near thing!
Anyways I will post a few pics of our trip last week, some beautiful shots of the mountains and the not so beautiful (only kidding) shots of the gang. I might not get another chance to post before I head off into the unknown, so watch for my first US entry some time after the 29th.
I have returned now from skiing, it was great fun, and it is now my last week of work in the UK, and only 8 days till I get on the plane. I came back to a new tenant, my very nice South African lady teacher. Unfortunately I also came back to a hefty repair bill, courtesy of a failed gas inspection. So my very nice lady is having to use fan heaters and the immersion heater for hot water.
I had a boiler company out yesterday, and have a nasty feeling it is going to cost the best part of £2K ($3600, bet I could get a new furnace cheaper than that!). Lorraine and I spent Sunday getting her place ready for the removal men yesterday. It already feels like we have never been away.
We did have a great time skiing though, and the weather was fantastic, if a little on the warm side..hotter than Tenerife don't you know! So I have a great tan to start my new life with. The snow was a little slushy in the afternoons, and rock hard in the mornings, but we managed to put that to one side and drink heavily, as is the tradition. Lorraine, who hated skiing last year, and wasn't much more enamored this year, found her ski legs on the last day, and ended up not wanting to finish, so that bodes well.
Lorraine had a great time, working her way through all of her favourite French foods, as it is the last time she will be there for a while, so she had Croque Monsieur, Creme Brulee, Chocolate Mousse, Croissant, Pain au Chocolat, Raclette, Vin Chaud, etc, although not all at once!
The trip home was another story, with one screw up after another. Starting out with a short notice cancelled flight, followed by a diversion to Switzerland (over 3 hours to transfer), a 2 hour delay in Geneva, the world's smallest and most expensive airport, another hour on the plane before we left the ground, and eventually getting home at 4pm, over 3 hours later than scheduled. This meant that my new tenant had to fend for herself, but more of a worry was that I had accidentally left my "Chicago Fund", the money from selling my stuff, in cash and travellers cheques, under the drawers in my bedroom! (for safe keeping). Frantic calls to the agency found it, and I collected it on Monday night, all intact..that was a near thing!
Anyways I will post a few pics of our trip last week, some beautiful shots of the mountains and the not so beautiful (only kidding) shots of the gang. I might not get another chance to post before I head off into the unknown, so watch for my first US entry some time after the 29th.
Comments
Look forward to seeing you guys soon and bring some spring.