Ok - couldn't help it...

Changed our home phone number...would've kept me up all night ;-).

HOOORAY FOR BROADBAND!!! And Wi-Fi Too!!

Going to be a very quick post, even though I know I've been neglecting the blog recently :(.

Well, the time has come - after lots of scratching my head in confusion and saying unpleasant things about our ISP and the manufacturer of our router - we finally have broadband and wireless set up in our flat. What does that mean, you ask? Well - I'm making this posting while sitting on the bed, without being connected by wires to anything :). Exciting stuff - well, maybe only if you're kinda geeky like me.

So - there goes that excuse, we really have to stay on top of this thing now :). Also - we get some free webspace, so theoretically we'll be putting some pictures up at some point.

We've had a good couple of weeks recently - but I'll have to recap that all for you tomorrow. Getting veeeerryyy sleeepy.....(ps - for those of you in the US, we hit daylight savings a couple of weeks before you do - so we're now 9 hours ahead of Seattle etc.).

Goodnight!!

PPS - Thanks to Urn for the generous offer of web design tips...funny, I don't remember asking...but they were useful all the same :). Will do something about that stuff soon.

PPPS - Thanks to Dad for pointing out that our home number is the same as my mobile number - will also fix that shortly :). For now, Jeff's a very tired kid.

Added some links --->

Oops - never got around to adding our home phone number to the site. (sorry mom ;-)). So, added some updated contact numbers on the right (home & Penny)- as well as some links to London info and some friends' blogs further down the page.

Not much to report since the weekend really - softball practice was rained out on sunday...which was a bit of a bummer, especially since I traveled about an hour to get out there. Yesterday and today have been fairly nice - spring is definitely starting :)!!

Oh, I forgot to mention in my post about Ozomatli - got to talk to Will-dog, and Jiro from the band a bit...seemed like really cool guys. Also - looks like Reggie Watts will be coming to London to play the same venue...going to have to check on tix soon. Hmm....Kim's friends with him...may be some guest list potential there ;-).

That's a definite bonus of being in London - the arts scene is huge...and most bands come through on tour at some point. A few friends from Oz saw Powderfinger ( from Brisbane!!!) on Friday night. Maroon 5 is also in town. Too many bands, too little time.

Tomorrow is saint Patrick's day - so we'll be going out with work friends & friends from Oz...should be a lot of fun :). Make sure to wear something green!!!

Who's the best band ever??

Ozo-spankin'-matli, that's who.

We went and saw Ozomatli on Friday night at the Jazz Cafe in London & had an amazing time!! The venue was great, and the band was in top form. Easily on my top 5 concerts list....and I know that it was in Penny's top 2 :).

I was a bit concerned that we could only get seats to the show (all of the standing room was sold out) - but it worked out a lot better I think. We were only about 15 (5m) feet away from the front of the stage and about 10 feet above it. They played a good mix of old and new stuff - and the crowd was really into it. I'd like to think that we were the best balcony group they had all week (according to postings on the band's website - pretty much all of us were dancing most of the time (even if only in our seats)). Tried to call Tiff, DJ, & Drew and let you all listen to a bit...but have no idea if it worked at all.

What else did we do this past week...Pretty much business as usual really. I finally got my UK bank account sorted with HSBC...which is a HUGE relief and will make life a lot easier.

Oh!!! We booked flights and tickets for the Olympics in Greece!! Now we just have to sort out our accomodation ;-). Also booked flights for a trip to Portugal over Easter! Pretty exciting that we're starting to get some cool trips planned. Sticky part is that Penny gets a fair bit more PL than I do...so we're working on how to best work around that. I think she has some spa trips planned :)...so maybe that's not so bad from her point of view ;-).

Quick update on the Mexican cooking: The tacos and quesadillas are coming along nicely...as is the Pico. Tried to make baked tortilla chips on the weekend, but they were a bit too thick and turned out pretty hard...will have to work on those. I've been dreaming of starting a taco stand at the sunday market down the road...not that I'd have time to do it....but it's fun to think about. We went to a southwest style restaurant in our neighborhood called Sante Fe on saturday and had some pretty passable mexican dishes. Well, the burrito was good anyway. Plus, they had Negro Modelo...which is always a bonus :).

Right - well, I unfortunately have to keep this posting a bit short. Will try to post again later this week....may have some fun stories after St. Patrick's day on Wednesday :)!!!

Dial up RULES ;-)

So - here I am, connected to the 'net from home for the first time. Supposedly we'll have broadband by next week sometime - but for now we're cruising the information superhighway at a whopping 48kbps. Really - it's not too bad, but it will be nice to be able to go a bit faster, listen to music online, and get the WLAN set up at some pont so we can do it all from the patio ;-).

So - what's new since we last posted.

The flat adventures are still continuing - but we're generally getting close to calling the place home. In the same week that we had our phone line connected (which had dramas all its own...apparently there was an asbestos scare in the transfer station which delayed connection...fun!), we mysteriously lost our water supply for a couple of days. Father Thames giveth, and he taketh away ;-).

Not having running water - unless you expect it, while camping or something - can be very interesting...it does have a way of putting life into perspective. Basically we ended up bringing water down from our upstairs neighbor every day, and using as little as possible. Let me tell you - cold showers (from a big water jug) in London in the winter are NOT fun. Apparently, where the actual water supply was for our individual flat was a bit of a mystery for the water company. So - they ended up having to dig up the sidewalk and install a 'stop-cock' (access point). Long story short - lots of confusion for all - but we had water a couple of days later. Posting our home phone number on the sidebar --->

We have had a fair bit of fun in the past couple weeks as well ;-).

On friday night we got all duded up and went to a ball for Penny's PwC workgroup at the Natural History Museum. Was a really cool venue - and we had a great time. We were a bit worried - as several people in her office said they weren't going, and the general level of enthusiasm was fairly low...but it turned out to be a lot of fun. Free food - free booze - good people - and decent music...not bad. Plus, it's always fun wearing a tux.

We also had our first London theatre experience the other week - which was a lot of fun. Went and saw Chicago at the Adelphi theatre on the strand. The production was really good, very funny w/good music - I hadn't seen the movie before, but will have to check it out now. Next on the list - Lion King, Stomp, and whatever we can score cheap tickets for :).

Penny joined the Gym down the road - which she's been enjoying for the most part - and believe it or not, I actually found a softball league and team to join in London! Went to the team's first practice last week - which was a bit interesting and different to what I'm used to - but a lot of fun. Oh - and just an illustration as to how small the world is - one of the captains of the team is an RHS and UW grad...craziness. Also have a Canuck from Vancouver on the team. So - I think I'm going to be a Breaker for the season ;-).

Other than that - we haven't gotten up to anything too exciting, just having a blast exploring the area. Went to Notting Hill & the markets there last weekend, found a great place for saturday brunch called S&M (for Sausage & Mash ;)), and I'm desparately trying to build up my Mexican cooking skills - as good Mexican, in my opinion, does not exist in London. So - I'm determined to become proficient at it. So far, my Pico de Gallo is pretty good (thanks to Kjersti!), and my corn tortillas (made from scratch!) are good as well. The rest....needs some more work ;-).

In planning mode for our trips right now - shooting for Scotland/Ireland in the next couple of weeks, hiking the Isle of Wight and Portugal in April, and then Majorca in May. All tentative...but that's what we're thinking. We were going to try to fit some skiing in - but the alps aparently got a big warm front off the med - and the snow's not all that great :(. We'll see.

Ok - this is getting rediculously long for one posting. Time to venture out and find a good Sunday roast :). As always - best wishes to all of you in the PNW & Oz! We miss you all.

(ps - Patsy & Brian win the "first to send Jeff a piece of mail" award ;-) Thanks guys ;-))