Not for nothing, the Free Credit Report ads are really starting to piss me off. Now more than ever people need not to be ripped off, especially by companies that purport to help those who have been, or are in fear of being, ripped off. Here's a good spoof of one of the worst offenders:
Via Mark at BoingBoing. If you want to obtain a credit report that doesn't actually cost you anything or come with any strings attached, you'll want to go here.
Still not rested enough, but I'm getting Stuff done, albeit a little more slowly than I'd like. Had a doctor appointment this morning, and this afternoon I reluctantly parted with most of my t-shirts from the '80s and early '90s. Lots of them are comic-related, a few are even autographed, so if any comics fans out there want slightly- to well-used extra-large bits of industry history before I dump 'em into the charity bin, do let me know. The shifting of the t's has made room for my non-work-appropriate tunics (even though Fridays are casual we need to dress nice from the waist up), which now leave the closet permanently, making tons of room for my blouses once I iron them. Definitely don't have the energy for that yet! But I fed thr cats twice, did the washing up, have cooked brunch and readied dinner, and actually spent time with my husband, so overall it's been a great day. Lastly, my AeroGarden has been replanted, with Robin's help, so I'm definitely in food mode. Here, have a sushi-cam!
Makes me want to visit my favorite conveyor-belt sushi place again. Via David McCandless and lots of other.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Silly Site o' the Day
Today my brother reaches a milestone, and that's big news!
While the cats weren't traumatized by our absence, Robin tells me they seemed especially needy yesterday. And Datsa's woken us up in the early hours two days in a row now, but then he was doing that before we left. Anyway, I figured if I need to get up earlier than my alarm, I'm going to snap a photo of him bothering me.
And so I have. Now off to work!
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Silly Site o' the Day
What a great "homecoming" I got from everyone at work! It's so totally unlike my last job! I haven't stopped jabbering to all my coworkers about England, and now have to put all my viewable photos in an online album since so many of them have asked to see them. I've been super-busy though, only just got the time to breathe and get some lunch, and I can now feel myself sort-of crashing so I hope I make it through the workday okay! Here, have a Periodic Table of the Elephants (via Peter David). As Joel Veitch would say, "Elephants, yeah!"
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Home Again
King-sized bed and kitties! All unpacked already, and looking forward to a shower and bed. Great holiday but not really a restful one!
Silly Site o' the Day
Off to the airport in about an hour to return the rental car and catch our flight home across the ocean. Since I doubt the first thing I'm going to do upon returning home is turn on the computer, I might as well blog now. And I'm very pleased with today's site, a handy Definitive List of "The 99 Things You Should Already Have Experienced On The Internet Unless You're A Loser Or Something." Yeah, only losers don't use initial caps on every single word in a title, even "a" and "the"! More importantly, those of us who aren't cutting-edge early adopters of silly viral videos and such. Via Cute Overload (#27 on the list). It's a pretty long list but, at first glance, I'd say I'd heard of maybe a quarter of these things, and have actually seen around a dozen. So I'm apparently a loser in hip-net terms, not exactly news to me.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Silly Site o' the Day
Called Mom for her birthday today, my second call using my UK SIM chip; at least I know it works! In tribute, I've also decided to "dress" Mom up in Aretha Franklin's now-famous Obama inaugural hat, via a page I found on Sheila Lennon's blog:
The interesting thing is, it kind of works in this photo!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Our Day in Lewes
We started off towards the top of the High Street. Not sure you can tell how much this street slopes downhill; I tried to give an idea of it by capturing the distant hills in the background.
A pair of Robins.
The aforementioned River Ouse, with the aforementioned Harveys brewery on the right.
A pretty and doubtless very old church. Well, old to Americans, fairly recent as far as English sensibilities go.
Look, it's all villagy and picturesque!
Picturesque, I tells ya!
I don't know that this photo proves I was in Lewes, as it's a bit close-up, but I didn't care for the more medium shots that Robin took, so there you are. Picture me in Lewes.
Spring in the Air
And on the flora 'round here.
By which, I mean along the River Ouse (pronounced "ooze"), on our way to the Tesco there along the right side in the background. As usual, clicken to embiggen!
More Lewes pics anon.
Silly Site o' the Day
I can tell. What you really want is to see Urban Camoflage's famous Paper Man of Ikea (via BoingBoing), isn't it?
See, I know these things...
Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign
Aside from spelling differences and quaint expressions and such, I like English signs because they're just that much more interesting than American ones. Here are some I photographed today down in Lewes:
"We mean it! Shush, now!"
This one intrigued me. What do you suppose happens when the Fog Bandit is activated? Robin was imagining a great grey Victorian mist out of which steps Sherlock Holmes to nab the would-be jewelry nickers and once again solve the Case of the High Speed Security or somesuch.
This sign details the construction and beautification going on around where we walked. I think the area is quite pretty as is, actually.
Hanging store signs are veddy English. I had no idea what this establishment sold, though. Nuts? Magic supplies? Nope, turns out it's way cooler than either of those.
I love pub signs. Here's the Dorset, where we had a lovely lunch of fish & chips and, of course, Harveys (I had mine shandy-style, mixed with British lemonade).
Okay, it's not technically a sign, but neither is it technically a clock. I'd never seen a sundial on the side of a building before! It wouldn't be working so well at the moment, as it's all clouded over and possibly coming onto rain (amazingly, the first rain we'll have had since landing in the UK).
Up to Pat's
Again for the family, photos from yesterday's trip up to the Guildford area to visit Robin's sister Pat and her family. I didn't do too badly on the drive, until we got off the main motorways and onto the narrow country streets; even then I only grazed the curb a couple times, so not that bad!
And here's Pat herself. Naturally, Robin took this one.
Pretty sure this was my photo of Pat's husband Major.
And Robin got this of his nephew David; it was the first time I'd ever met David, which must mean Rob hadn't seen him in a good number of years. David's an aspiring photographer, but I didn't get a chance to take a photo of his and Robin's dueling cameras. David also claims to be an occasional Pen-Elayne reader, so it was kind of cool that he "knew" me from here!
Unfortunately, we had to leave before Pat's daughter Nicola, her husband Paul and son Callum (3 years old yesterday!) showed up, as I was leery about driving in twilight. Here's Dad coming out of Pat and Major's lovely new home.
And Pat and Major obliged us by posing in front of said house. Thanks for the hospitality and the lovely lunch, Pat & Major!
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Silly Site o' the Day
Via Athenae at First Draft, "Are you or someone you love dating a banker? If so, we are here to support you through these difficult times." It's Dating a Banker Anonymous, which I figured was an obvious goof site from the moment they said "free from the scrutiny of feminists."
Saturday, March 21, 2009
England March 2009 Part 3 - Things
Spring has come to England!
The time when trees burst into beautiful pastel hues!
When lovely little buds appear on the bushes!
When cheery windowboxes dot the city streets!
And the graceful cranes emerge to show off their bright metal plumage!
Okay, here are some actual birds, flying around a nest.
Animals by the side of the road are fairly common around here -- cattle, sheep, horses, even llamas.
More than a few local residents probably wish this didn't look so much like a mailbox.
England March 2009 Part 2 - Places
This is more a family visit than anything else, but we still got to go into a couple cities on Friday (London) and Saturday (Brighton). Here are some snaps from those places:
A back alley of sorts in London. Lots of workers and other locals cut through these alleys to avoid the main touristy streets; Budgie took us through this one on our way to lunch.
One of the aforementioned main streets, Tottenham Court Road.
And from the other direction. I love the building styles, so quaint and posh and, well, English!
Coming back from Lewes Station on Friday, as well as to and from Brighton on Saturday, we rode the local double-decker bus. Top level, right in the front, naturally. And sometimes I had to hold on for dear life! I now understand the humor behind J.K. Rowling's Knight Bus in the Harry Potter books. Those things really go into hairpin turns and such. But when they slow down I can get nice shots of town vistas you really can't get any other way, because you're that much more elevated from the main road.
Lewes is one of my favorite towns. I love the shopping there, and the whole ambiance is just so nice.
I don't know that these photos do justice to its hilliness, though.
This is actually a prison, believe it or not.
A pretty nice church in Brighton. We just went in for some shopping, we didn't venture down to the seaside or do anything too touristy. How boring of us, all the way to Brighton and we wind up in a mall.
Lastly, the Lewes cliffs on the way home from Brighton on Saturday afternoon.
England March 2009 Part 1 - People
My aim is to present the photos I've taken so far as People, Places and Things, but as we'll be seeing more family both tomorrow and probably Tuesday I'll probably have a Part 4 update. Ah well, ne'mind, eh. Here we are with mostly Dad but also a bit of Robin. This one's mostly for the relatives, so I appreciate your indulgence. As usual, click to embiggen.
A lovely portrait of Dad Riggs, taken by Robin.
I love this shot I got of Rob and Dad in the living room, with the photo of Rob's Mum between them and the photographer (inadvertently, I admit) caught in the mirror.
I suppose turnabout's fair play; here's a shot Robin got of me and Dad.
Dad's a faithful Pen-Elayne reader; it makes me wish I had more time to post here when not on holiday! Here he is checking out my blog on the desktop in his computer room (which used to be Rob's bedroom).
He even peruses it in the living room on his laptop.
As Dad's hearing isn't what it used to be, Rob writes a lot of messages to him. Much of today's conversations had to do with upgrading the aforementioned laptop and bringing it into sync with the aforementioned desktop.
At this point I think Dad was starting to get a bit exasperated by me and my camera.
But honestly, it's not like the both of them aren't shutterbugs as well.
And here's Rob on our way back home from Lewes Station, posing in a charming side street just beginning to show signs of spring. Back later (or tomorrow) with Places and Things.
