Happy Holidays

PR


I know I said that pictures of our pub would be next.  I keep forgetting to actually take the camera to work.  So I promise as soon as I have the pictures, I will post them.  It was a little sad not to see family for the holidays, but it will be that much more fun to see everybody in February.  Anywho Jess and I decided that we were not going to be doing Christmas gifts for each other this year.  Instead we would go on a short trip between Christmas and New Years together.  Orignally the plan was Paris, this proved to be too expensive, as did Amsterdam.  SO We shortened it toLondon.  We had the hotel and the trains picked out and everything.  At the last minute Jess suggests that we go somewhere warm.  I know that it is unlikely as the cost prohibits it.  Anywho we decided to check out what Ryanair has on sale for that time period just to check.  This is how we wound up in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands for our trip.  It was amazing.  Spanish, tropical, colonial, urban, European, beaches, 72 degrees f and a respectable 12 hours of daylight. (Glasgow is quite dark. on the 21st sunset was at 3:30pm)  Anywho here are a few photos from the trip....

Our Hotel.  The AC Gran Canaria.  Primarily a Business Hotel, had some amazing prices due to the season, it was also 3 blocks from the beach.  Our room was on the 11th floor and was fabulous.  

 

A Christmas Nativity Scene made on the beach in town.  It was pretty cool.  You had to pay to see it, but you could see it from the boardwalk for free.  Does that make me cheap?

 A street in the city of Las Palmas.  The whole city was nice and it was just great to be able to walk around in flippies or to catch a bus.  This was actually the same neighborhood as our hotel, and was where we spent most of our time.

The second day we were there the Queen Victoria was in port.  It's the sister ship of the QM2 which we took to England in August.  It was cool to see it not a bit sad that we weren't on a cruise.  Basically we went to see it cause I am a huge boat nerd.

This is the plaza in front of the Cathedral.  It took us quite some time to get there it was like a 4 mile walk.  But we stopped had a beer, went back for dinner, saw so much of the city and then took a bus back.  We did not stay for services, they were in Spanish, and my spanish is garbage.

The third day we took a bus to the south of the Island to the resort town of Maspalomas.  Full of Germans.  The main attraction is the Maspalomas national park (Spanish park)  It is basically the southern tip of the island covered in acres of sand dunes and German people.   It was really cool to see, and the beach was gorgeous, but we were both glad we stayed int he colonial area.

More Dunes.  It was quite the hike to the beach, or at least to the water.  I decided to pick a land mark on the horizon and lead Jess and I to it.  It worked, we made it to the water in no time.

The landmark led to an interesting beach picnic.   If you can't read the sign, it says "zona nudista"  I'll let you translate, and remember the Germans.

The happy holiday makers on their last morning in the sunshine.  Self pic taken by me.

It was primarily a beach vacation, but we took several walks, and loved the streetscape.

--Till next time

Pete

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Bath Time!

So really this is kinda messed up as we didn't even have shampoo, but it is so funny how afraid of bathtime chase is.  So we got home and wanted to see if she was still afraid of the tub.  See for yourself.

Eventually I will figure out how to put the video of this up, it is equally as priceless.

Cheers,
Pete

The Green

So the Glasgow Green is supposedly one of the if not the biggest city park in the UK.  I can't back that up, but I know that it is the biggest park wholly within a city in Scotland.  Who knows what those limey bastards are upto south of here.  Anywho the Green is fairly important to us as we go there every morning to take the dog to get some exercise and do her business.  She only poops on concrete if she really has to go, she much prefers the grass, she is a princess.  So most days we go together some days only one of us goes, but the monster goes every day.  It is quite a nice place its where they shot off fireworks for 300 odd thousand people on Guy Fawkes Day the 5th of November, which the best I can tell is commemorating a guy that attempted to assassinate the house of commons and the house of lords several hundred years ago by blowing up the Westminster parliament.  Now in England and all of the UK official stuff the holiday is to celebrate the saving of the government and the prevailing of the king.  In Scotland the best I can tell it is a celebration of someone actually getting that close to killing a bunch of English aristocrats.  Either way both sides celebrate with fireworks bonfires and 4th of july like atmosphere.  Good times.....On to the photos.

Chase along the Clyde walk on the way to the park (probably 3 blocks away)

Old Railway crossing they Clyde, Made of Iron and Steel with stone Caissons

Another old Clyde crossing, this one for cars and people, the oldest clyde crossing is the one that we live next to on Stockwell Street

A shitey picture of the Glasgow Nautical college, its hard to take pictures while the Dog is going crazy.

The high court of justicary right next to the Green, one time saw this surrouned by the Armed Response Unit Guys (Think British SWAT)

Chase, always excited to get to the grass

Swans and Geese hang out by the Clyde, Chase is terrified of them, it is hilarious

The St. Andrews pedestrian bridge, its a suspension bridge using no cables (it uses iron or steel bars instead)

The People's Palace, its a sociology museum, lots about red clydeside and a greenhouse cafe with palm trees, it is awesome.

The formal gate entry to the Green, What is it with the British empire and building gates without walls

A little taste of home courtesy of the Glasgow Common Council, its a real John Deere

I keep forgetting to take my camera to the Pub, but that is next on my list....Till then

--Pete

Before and After

PR-

I just noticed that our photo of the 2.5 of us under our profile is titled "Before"  I think that might be because of the drastic difference in the before and after from our travels in India.  So I thought I'd throw that one up here.

Lets call this Before...Getting dropped at the Buffalo Airport 5/08

After, Getting off the Train in Galesburg IL (1 Chipolte Burrito and a Cinnabun Later) 8/08

School

PR-

So its been a month, keeping up a blog is hard.  It never seems to make it to the top of the to do list.  Here's why.  School.  I've managed to spend less physical time at school in class than I did at Buffalo, which is amazing.  However the amount of time not in class spent working on school is crazy.  School is still really good though, it is fun to get a more European perspective on things.  One thing I am finding both in School and at the Pub is that Scots seem to have a very bizarre kinship with Florida.  It must be because of the whole sunset at 3:30 pm thing this time of year.  So I don't really have that much to say about school, it is a lot of fun, it is challenging, my profs seem to like me.  I like them as well, they are mostly Italian, which was unexpected but at least the language barrier is the same for the local kids.  If the profs were all Scottish, I might be the only one who had trouble understanding.  The local dialect is interesting, though I think I am getting it.  If I can't talk like them yet, at least I can understand them, its like being in Costa Rica all over again.  Anywho the point of this entry is to be more about posting some photos of school. so I'll get on with it...

The Architecture Building....where I spend all day on Tuesday, and usually one other day of the week.

The Royal College Building, I don't think I've been inside yet, but it is the historical centre of the University

This is the Colville Building, its for Civil Engineers, its attached to the Arch bldg, I have class here on Monday, for three more weeks, maybe just 2, not quite sure.

Just want you to notice the hill, I walk up it most days, and sometimes twice a day.  It is so steep by the Colville building the sidewalk has stairs.  It has yet to get much easier, and in the rain, there is not a single nice word to say about it.

Thats it for now, I hope to have one up about the Park where Chase goes every day and the Pub where we work in the next few days.

Cheers People,

PETE

Humble Apple Pie

Pete Here---

So this entry has little or nothing to do with life or living in Glasgow.  In fact it could just have easily happened over the previous three years in Buffalo.  But anywho first the background to my little story.

About a week ago, I was pressuring Jess to update her computer as we had gone all summer without, because our backup drive never got hooked up.  Once here with internet in the flat and such we finally get around to backing up our computers and proceeding with the update portion of the show.  Mine went fine, nice and easy.  Jess' did not.  It slowed down her computer to the point of a lack of function.  With the help of mi amigo Ahren back in the states and the good people at skype for their handy mobile phone, I was able to get Jess' computer back.  It required erasing everything and starting anew.  We had the backups so no data was lost, except for internet browser bookmarks.

For 24 hours all was happy in the land of Pete and Jess Computing.

Following our grace period, one morning I was at home surfing the web, and I closed the lid on my MacBook Pro to take the dog for a walk in the morning.  Upon returning from our 40 minute sojourn to the park, playing a little "chase me and sniff my butt" with the Lexi, our dog pal (Chase enjoys this more than I) we came back to find my computer had passed.  Despite my best efforts for the past three days we have been unable to resuscitate it.  I am certain it felt no pain as it appears to have died from natural causes.  Not a few hours ago I discovered it is more or less unrepairable.

Now for the ironic part.....

Flash back to a day or two before Jess MacBook went on the fritz.  I applied for and was invited to a group interview at the apple retail store not far from our flat.  The interview was odd, it was about enthusiasm, not knowledge.  All in attendance, including the manager giving the interview bought their first macs because they thought they were pretty and couldn't resist the impulse buy.  1000£ on an impulse buy, keep these people away from the American car dealers, they will be eaten alive, "This one has a flux capacitor for only 8,000 extra dollars, ... I'll take it!!!"  

But I digress...

The floor manager who gave the interview had extensive retail experience at Tesco (a supermarket), but admittedly did not know what RAM stood for, my chances were not good.  They said we would hear back in a week, I found out in two days they were not interested.  Shite.  Then the computer problems start.  I decide to make an appointment with an Apple Genius, though they are all booked, it says to check in the store.

My triumphant return to the Apple Retail Experience.

I swear to god, I was very polite the whole time, and was in no way trying to be assy in the least, or at least not too assy.  So I go to the store, dead laptop in tow.  I step inside and two feet away is the floor manager from last week's interview.  She is staring at me like she recognizes me from somewhere but can't remember where, or like my fly is down.  She approaches, I tell her that I interviewed last week, she looks appalled at the awkwardness of our situation, so I assure her no hard feelings, I have found work elsewhere in the mean time.  Then she smiles, "what can I do for you"  I explain the situation about the genius bar, being a manager she attempts to help out.  What is wrong with your computer she says.  

I launch into the diagnosis that Ahren and I have come up with.  "It seems that I am in need of replacing the left I/O magsafe board and the lower shell for my 2007 2GB MacBook Pro, and I was wondering if I could get a quote for a repair, or even for just the parts?"  She retorts to my question with a look of horror.  Either the Hamster that is her brain has just fallen off the wheel or she realizes, that I probably could have handled the rigors of an Apple job.  

Anywho the verdict was that I would be best helped by calling Apple customer service in California and talking to a Genius (I know!!) at the next available time, which she promptly scheduled for me from a big white 3 ring binder.  The appointment was this AM it went better.

Anywho, thats my Apple Story, Cheers everyone, Happy Halloween

The Flat

Hiya-Jess here. Sorry, we're a bit behind on posts. We finally just got broadband in our place so I'll try to update as much as possible over the next few days.

As many of you already know, Pete and I (and Chase) are comfortably settled into our new flat (see video below for a tour). Strangely enough we ended up choosing a place that is right across the street from the Holiday Inn we were staying in. It definitely made the move-in quite easy and convenient!

So far we love our place and the location. We’re about a 3-minute walk from the hustle and bustle of great restaurants, pubs, and theaters. We also live about 5 minutes from the largest public park in the UK, the Glasgow Green. Needless to say Chase loves this. Dogs can be let off leash and there is plenty of space to play Frisbee. Also, on the corner of the park there is this really, really sweet brewery in an historic building. Dogs are allowed in the pub and there is an outdoor fenced in area for dogs to play together. What a brilliant idea….you can walk your dog after work to the brewery, let the dog burn off some steam, and chat with neighborhood friends, all while drinking an amazing pint of locally brewed beer. I have got to get a job with these people…even if it’s just scooping up doggy poo. ☺

The awesome things about renting a furnished flat?

1) I love the idea of creating less waste and reusing stuff. I mean really, do your plates and cutlery have to be a reflection of you as an individual, or can they just be a means to eating without being a total barbarian?

2) Renting a furnished place made it way easier to move in and we didn’t have to spend a ton of money on new stuff…brilliant. It came complete with dishes, furniture, lamps, etc.

3) We didn’t have to carry any heavy couches up three flights of stairs.

The not-so-awesome things about renting a furnished flat?

1) Exhibit A: This is the result of cleaning out our couch. Notice how big the pile is (Pete’s foot for reference) and notice the diversity of items…chap stick, cigarette, a French fry, a piece of chapatti, pens, etc.

Exhibit A: Couch Contents.

2) Using the toaster that comes preloaded with disgusting crumbs and toast bits from all previous tenets

3) The toilet bowl brush cleaner thing. Thanks, but no thanks. I don’t really want to use the same toilet brush that the last guy used to clean his little poo particles off the inside of toilet bowl. I will spend a few pounds on a new one of those.

5) The little toothbrush holder cups. Again, nice thought to include those, but even if I bleached them three times or dunked them in boiling water, I still can’t bear to put my wet toothbrush where some stranger’s toothbrush has lived.

4) And as for the used bedding, complete with sheets, pillows, duvets, and blankets. I really want to be a good re-user and use what was provided in our place, but I can’t. I just can’t. Something about those items touching someone else’s body night after night just really grosses me out. I know I should just wash them and be done with it, but nope, no can do. Not to mention they smell horrific.