An Ordinary Day

Ann, Karey, Lisa and I wondered around the Royal Mile and Princes Street and, once again, used the only smoke-free zone for 25 sq. miles, Starbucks, as a meeting place. Ann and Karey went shopping because their luggage is lost and Lisa and I went to the Hog's Head for a pint. The horrible exchange rate prevented the two girls from buying too much, but there was a pair of boots purchased from a Princes street store. Lisa and I had some quality time catching up on the last six months our lives and what it was like living abroad. She decided she wants to sell her house and move here next summer. Nah, she's not dramatic or anything! We'll see...

Whilst on our way to a haunted tour, the four of us decided that carrying bags and taking a tour didn't sound like too much fun, we went to the Tron to enjoy some meat flavored crisps and have a pint. We spotted some 'Ikea' and had another...

At about half six, I left the girls to join Tim at our friends, Richard and Cath, at their place in Dumblaney for a little "Happy Christmas" cheer. We had a fab time enjoying great food and good company. Richard always has great wine. Catching up with Henry and Ann was a highlight of the evening. We are excited for the next program to start so we can see Henry every day again! A few rounds of Men vs Women in "Who wants to be a Millionaire" demonstrated that the both sexes equally intelligent and able to beat the other team but not able to win the £1,000,000. Collectively, we did climb up to the £250,000 mark!

Lisa, Karey and Ann conversed at the Tron for a while before making back to Dalkeith. Ann and Karey went back to the house, Lisa made her way to Coach & Horses, met some locals, and waited for Tim and I to join her. The 4 of us loaded a taxi from Dumblaney to Dalkeith, and Tim and I met up to find Lisa with all kinds of attention from some locals, including a drink being bought by one cute boy! A good night for everyone.

Yesterday was a long week

That pretty much describes the first day with the girls! Working on very little sleep and countless second winds, we caught up with the girls and exchanged travel stories and laughed about how much we love losing luggage and eating airplane food, not because it is good, but because it is there. Lisa shared a story about getting smacked on the plane by the guy behind her on the flight over (don't worry, Ann played interference and prevented Lisa from hitting back!) and having the flight attendant play babysitter with the rude gentleman.

We toured the house with the girls. It was and IS bloody cold in this place. Colder than usual. I found out that the heaters are all off, due to some timer wiring situation, and Scottish Energy will be out sometime today to fix it. They enjoyed seeing the place, enjoying the 'faded elegance' of Dutchess Anne's glory. They are staying in 106, and looking forward to hearing the faint noises of babies' crying, as they are situated next to the haunted nursery.

After letting the girls shower off the grime and filth of 4,300 miles of travel, we headed up to the Is bar to grab some lunch an a pint. Okay, make that 5 pints. Now, of all the pubs on High Street, the Is bar is probably the last place we want to be getting tanked and being loud. (Wha! Us! Loud?) I knew it was time to leave when I'm at the bar, ordering, and Lisa shouts, "I have have more PESOS! Let's get another drink!" Okay Stevie K, that rivals the 'Tea & Crumpets' comment at Benvenido's in Alnwick earlier this month. We headed down to Sam's, closer to the house, and a little more friendly to drunks.

We had 2 or 3 pints there, played some music--well, some of us did. On Lisa's run of the jukebox, what she thought was a music box ended up being a gambling machine, but not before slugging £2.00 into it!! So, we played the silly games and lost. Bowling and a snowball fight on touch screens are difficult, don't waste your money.

Knowing that we needed to get back to the house soon, we decided to get some pizza; naturally, we ended up in Coach & Horses to have "just one more". Tim decided to show the girls our favourite pub while I got the pizzas. Well, Lisa came with me, and I persuaded her to join the others and I'd be there soon. "Just take the first right turn". Damn, I meant SECOND! So, as I walk into the Coach, I see Tim, Karey and Ann, but no Lisa. Shit. It's dark, it's getting late (although in the scheme of things, only 8:00pm; sun sets at 330pm really make for a long evening!) and I have 3 drunkies and 3 pizzas to mind. I set the 3 pizzas with the 3 drunkies and tell them I'll meet them back at the house and looked for Lisa. I found her, back at the Is bar. We had our final pub pint and made our way back to the house, however, we found no people and no pizzas, at first. Then we discovered that they were sitting in the dining hall with John(Santa, to the girls, who all took turns on his lap) Mary, Jim & Susie and Rick, their guest, enjoying the fire. Too much Jack Daniels, 3 cigarettes and a Carling later, I left the fray for bed. I heard that the others stayed up for a few more hours before making their way to room 106, or our couch, for the scared one.

Today: Edinburgh, the city. I'm going to give the girls the lay of the land, so to speak, and introduce them to the Royal Mile and Princes Street. I'm sure we wont' have any fun. ;)

Parable of the Blind Men & the Elephant

Got this little story from a friend and it it definately something that I want to remember and pass on, so I had to put it on here. It pretty much sums up my thoughts on the matter of religion quite succintly and great insight. Thanks Jamie.

American poet John Godfrey Saxe (1816-1887) based the following poem on a fable which was told in India many years ago.
It was six men of Indostan
To learning much inclined,
Who went to see the Elephant
(Though all of them were blind),
That each by observation
Might satisfy his mind
The First approached the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
“God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!”
The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, “Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me ’tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!”
The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a snake!”
The Fourth reached out an eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
“What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain,” quoth he;
“ ‘Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!”
The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: “E’en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!”
The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Than, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
“I see,” quoth he, “the Elephant
Is very like a rope!”
And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!
Moral:
So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!

I'm not bitter... I'll tell you why I'm bitter!!!

I'm not sure if it was the 24 hours of being in transit with little or no sleep or being broken down on the A1, 50 miles from our destination and 50 miles from home, on a typical cold British Christmas Day, or (for the SECOND time this month) awaiting the arrival of 3 friends who never got off the plane this morning) that I enjoyed the most over the past 3 days.

After 10 wondeful days in the US, Tim and I made our way to the Minneapolis Airport and started our 4,300 mile trek home. We arrived at O'Hare and discovered that our flight had been cancelled, due to mechanical errors. Another BMI flight would have put us into Edinburgh about 8 hours later than we would've like, so they set us up on BA airlines. This, of course, meant changing our ticket over, at the BMI desk, and then going to the BA desk for boardinng passes, and passing through the O'Hare Airport security again. (Don't worry, it's gotta be like the largest airport in the world, so, as you can imagine, there were hardly any people there on the penultimate day for Christmas travel. ;)

We had an additional wait, but the BA flight took us into London Heathrow, which went pretty good. There was of course, a layover here for several hours. We were greeted, about 10 minutes before our flight's departure, with an intercom annoucement that Flight # 1*H£ , heading for KASLDFESD, will SELKOODAFD LASDK SEDLKIFDJ WOIER. Yeah, if you can make that out, please let me know, because the woman speaking must have had a towel in her mouth when she delivered the message. Even the local Brits hadn't a clue. After clumsily asking around, we found our bus which would eventually taxi us out to the plane. We arrived in Edinburgh 24 hours after our ordeal began.

We cancelled our xmas eve plans due to our exhaustion and called it a night by renting Shrek II and promptly falling asleep 15 minutes into it. (watched it the next day, good movie! Jennifer Saunders stole the show.)

Happy Christmas as the Brits say. The day for our car trip south 90 miles to the beautiful city of Alnwick (pronounced Annick--Aln is celtic for "bright river" and wick translates to village.) We leave with enough time to catch up and visit before our hosts served dinner, but, just north of Berwick, our little Fiesta decides she's TOO hot to drive any further. We pull over in a lay by and open up the bonnet to see steam and hoses with steam coming out of them. Good fun! There was an exchange with some four letter words which I'll spare you, but you can imagine. We call our hosts and they graciously offer their assistance in picking us up. We left the little green Fiesta to the safety of strangers and passers by on the A1 until further notice.

We arrived a bit late to dinner, but the food was amazing of course. Roasted vegetables, mashed potatoes, turkey, roasted potatoes, cranberries, wild rice stuffing (to make the Minnesotan's feel at home) brussel sprouts, apple sauce and Christmas bread pudding for dessert! Oh, of course, lots of great red wine. Thank you Archibalds for an absolutely brilliant time!

Boxing Day brought us to visiting a few people and sending our holiday greetings. We ended up in Preston Main with good friends and more drink to watch the days horse races. Of course we were betting--but dont' worry, mine didn't win. I'm not bitter, yet.

So, I am aware that Ann, Lisa and Karey are flying into Edinburgh at 8:30am, and with a stranded car, I needed to make some alternative travel plans. We call the TravelLine, and one operator says National Express doesn't serve the Alnwick area, and another quoted a 5:05am departure from the bus station. Now, I should've taken this as a BIG clue of, "Hello Idiot, do you really think this is for real?" But no, being the optimist that I am, I went to bed earlier than my counterparts and got up good and early, at 4:00am on Monday. Well, I had a cup of coffee, sufferred through the devasting news of the earthquake off the island of Sumatra, counted my blessings, and head out the Castle doors to the station. I waited from 4:45 to 5:30am, nothing. No busses. I saw exactly 7 cars and one girl doing the walk of shame, but no bus. Cold, headache sitting in, I headed back to the barbican where the castle guard was nice enough to let me back in (with out the our friend, Wade, the director, to sign me in) This would be THEE Harry Potter Castle. Again, I need to count my blessings that I have these experiences at least.
After waking Tim and exploring useless bus and rail web sites for busses and cotemplating £120 cab fares to Edinburgh, we woke Wade and he brought us to Dalkeith.
I have since called the airport to page the girls and have them call our mobile phone since we can't meet them at exactly 8:30am. Turns out, there flight was a half an hour early, and so I thought, okay, they should call any minute. Well, that was one trip to the airport, 4 cigarettes and 8 hours ago, and still no word. I think they missed a connecting flight through Newark, but, of course neither the airports nor airlines can say. Can't say, Can't say... (Little Britain reference)

So, as of 4:30pm, they are still not here. Liz at the airport has been great to help me and page them ever so often. So, for the time being, its a pot of coffee and another cigarette.

It's going to be a good week, but beware travellers, I think the haunted palace we live in has cursed our travelling ways.

Surprise!

Being surprised for my 30th birthday party (over a month EARLY!!!) was fantastic! I want to thank Chris, Randy & Cam, Tammy, Stevie K, Amy, Melissa C, Candi, Kim, Jamie & Jenny, Jennifer & Josh, Melissa S, Stacey, Kate & Tim, Lisa, Ann, Jennifer & Bill, Stephanie, Nikki & Troy, Maura, Kris, Girl Cori, Tracey & Drew and my Tim for making it such a great party and a big surprise. Like I said a million times that night, I am the dumbest f*cker alive! I had no idea. THANK YOU ALL for the good times, great memories and gifts (even the 'teacher' gifts).

The trip back to MN went fine. It was a long flight, but that is to be expected. We were greeted to a very loud and very Minnesotan flight attendant. After only four months abroad, I noticed the big difference in volume control of people's voices.

It was extremely cold, considering the climate in Scotland, but, something we all know too well in Minnesota. See everyone's faces this past week has been truly a gift. I am blessed to know so many great people. The biggest hurdle has been our bouncebackability (actually a word, who knew?) from the jet lag. I heard that it takes one day per time zone crossed to adjust. It's been 6 days, so, we should be adjusted now. And, we fly back in 3 days, having to re-adjust again, joy. But, it is worth it.

I was impressed to see how very different my old school felt, but how much remained the same. I miss teaching and the camraderie, but I don't miss the weekly meetings and the constant buzz of having to run all the time from function to function. My pace has slowed down greatly, which will probably save me from a heart attack at the age of 40.

Holidays at dad's and with the Tim's parents were wonderful. I miss watching the kids grow up on more of a daily basis, but I'll be "home" for good in due time. The big christmas at the Hodel's was another surge of good energy. How crazy and large the family is getting!

Good to be "home". It will be good to go home too.

Looking forward to 2005--should be a big year with lots of changes--both personal and professional.

If homosexuality is a disease, can I call into work 'gay'?

Okay, I may have stole that, but don't ask me from where, because I have no idea. But I love it. It is an interesting connundrum. I am guessing the answer is no. Damn conservatives don't want us to marry, raise children or call into work gay. How does that go, damned if you do, blah blah blah.

There's been quite of bit of press in the Blade about gay couples though. The world's views are progressing, even if some parts of America are not. As my brother would say, "Gooooooooo Gays!" I miss that little shit. He's one of the most kind hearted and tolerant human beings that I know. I wish I could be more like him. I'm like the older, fatter and more bitter version of him. Wish you all the best D, hope all is well and that you are free soon to live life the way you want to.

It is that damn time of the year again. I've got this huge holiday chip on my shoulder. I am not "well" during this time of the year. Perhaps it is my secular views of the world, call me an athiest or an agnostic or whatever, but I tell ya, I am a little disappointed that many folks who seem to be like me, on the surface anyway, pretend to be someone else during the holidays. That someone else is usually a god-fearing, midnight-mass attending zealot. I struggle with reconciling religion and "celebrating" life during this time of the year.

Perhaps it is because I am so hypersensitive, like this puppy, that my emotions get the best of me. Family that you haven't seen for a while come back into your life and quickly exit again.

Perhaps it is because I know that I won't see some of that family again (mom, grandpa, grandma) and that is what is stressing me.

Perhaps it is the expectation that everything in the world and life is good and there are only hundreds of reasons to celebrate, and all the reasons not to celebrate are given permission to be ignored. Perhaps I need to stop "worrying" about so many sad or regrettable events of the world that I have little to no influence over.

Perhaps it is the morose feelings that winter brings. Season of cold, death, desolate. I really like the sun, and there isn't much of it during the winter (especially NOW in Scotland!)

Perhaps it is a combination of all of these, and my ego needs to genuflect to the power of my psyche and move on.

I do consider myself a very optimistic person and yet sometimes this time of the year really gets the better of me. However, I frequently rely on humour and the company of good friends to help it all pass. This little "seasonal" site from a funny blogger helped me a bit. Enjoy.

Hoping to take Action

"A life of reaction is a life of slavery, intellectually and spiritually. One must fight for a life of action, not reaction."
- Rita Mae Brown

I submitted my application today for the University of Edinburgh. I am excited to start working on the International and European Politics degree. And, I recognize that if for whatever reason I don't get accepted, I will pursue other options. I guess I really enjoy drinking beer. Seriously, a chance to study at a prestigous university like this one would be great. I am hungry for the challenge of a rigours research program in a area I just can't get enough of: political science. Perhaps it will land me a new career! Although I do thoroughly enjoy teaching high school and miss it dearly.

It's cold in the palace today. It's cold in here everyday. More visitors left this morning. Edinburgh was just a midpoint for their London trip before they had back to Wisconsin. Tim's friend Eric is here today to visit. He arrived at 10am this morning and is away tomorrow morning--No time for jet lag, just a whole lotta jet.

Monday will be the first trip back to Minnesota since I moved to Scotland. It will be an absolute thrill to see the homeland and friends and family again, but I am sure that I will be ready to come "home" when the time comes.

Only let the Smart ones in... Good idea.

More reports are coming out decry how poorly American students are doing on tests in the areas of math and economic applications, and Rod Paige's great insight says "It's more evidence that high standards and accountability for results are a good idea for all schools at all grade levels." Okay, yes, knowing how high or low we score in reference to benchmarks is a good idea, but, what about the meaningful financial, structural, federal, state, local, and parental support that is needed to accomplish this goal? Just say you have to score 90% on an exam (high standard) and then reporting it in the newspaper when a school scores 80% (accountability) [as has been the case with these two buzzwords] is not enough. The further one is from the classroom the less one know's about the real problems and solutions.

One could start with student funding formulas, or aligning curriculum with the tests and "standards" kids are tested again, or, perhaps they could start with looking at how students learn other than a multiple choice test, but now I'm ranting.

And then, the article points out more assinine ideas about immigration:

"The study also comes amid heated debate over whether the US has enough skilled workers for the high-tech industry. At the urging of US business groups, Congress expanded the number of H1-B visas - designed to let US companies hire technology-proficient workers from other countries - by some 20,000 in 2005. The measure is included in a spending bill heading to President Bush this week."

Okay, so, just let the smart ones in? Most of the xenophobes who say close the doors to "foreigners" voted to put in this Congress who will restrict the laws to keep people out, EXCEPT when they benefit us? Hmm, poor people being killed for being different, you stay in your country. Rich, well to do and probably not fairly so poorly in your country, leave it and come to ours. This phenomenon is known as the "Brain drain" and drains the Have-not countries of their skilled workers, many of whom possess the skills to help their countries prosper and get "rich (& selfish)" like the U.S.

God, we just give and give and give, don't we.

Learning a little bit about yourself

Or not. This might just reaffirm what you've always known about yourself! I recieved an email from Brad about a web site on personality types and such and it was SPOT ON about me. Check it out if you'd like.

The Idealists called Teachers are abstract in their thought and speech, cooperative in their style of achieving goals, and directive and extraverted in their interpersonal relations. Learning in the young has to be beckoned forth, teased out from its hiding place, or, as suggested by the word "education," it has to be "educed." by an individual with educative capabilities. Such a one is the eNFj, thus rightly called the educative mentor or Teacher for short. The Teacher is especially capable of educing or calling forth those inner potentials each learner possesses. Even as children the Teachers may attract a gathering of other children ready to follow their lead in play or work. And they lead without seeming to do so.
Teachers expect the very best of those around them, and this expectation, usually expressed as enthusiastic encouragement, motivates action in others and the desire to live up to their expectations. Teachers have the charming characteristic of taking for granted that their expectations will be met, their implicit commands obeyed, never doubting that people will want to do what they suggest. And, more often than not, people do, because this type has extraordinary charisma.
The Teachers are found in no more than 2 or 3 percent of the population. They like to have things settled and arranged. They prefer to plan both work and social engagements ahead of time and tend to be absolutely reliable in honoring these commitments. At the same time, Teachers are very much at home in complex situations which require the juggling of much data with little pre-planning. An experienced Teacher group leader can dream up, effortlessly, and almost endlessly, activities for groups to engage in, and stimulating roles for members of the group to play. In some Teachers, inspired by the responsiveness of their students or followers, this can amount to genius which other types find hard to emulate. Such ability to preside without planning reminds us somewhat of an Provider, but the latter acts more as a master of ceremonies than as a leader of groups. Providers are natural hosts and hostesses, making sure that each guest is well looked after at social gatherings, or that the right things are expressed on traditional occasions, such as weddings, funerals, graduations, and the like. In much the same way, Teachers value harmonious human relations about all else, can handle people with charm and concern, and are usually popular wherever they are. But Teachers are not so much social as educational leaders, interested primarily in the personal growth and development of others, and less in attending to their social needs.

Little Britain

Just getting ready to go out with the boys...Randy, Cam and Stevie K.

A week of fun in Scotland is coming to a close. After some maddening delays in Amsterdam, they made it. We've laughed (CC Bloom's) and laughed (gay pub crawl) and laughed (castle sex) through out the entire trip. We learned that 'Sally' is on fire whilst on holiday.
Nancy offended some of the locals and slept with a few others.
Judy is maintained our social status as loud Americans and made us all laugh.

Little Britain was our inspiration, Edinburgh, Alnwick and Dalkieth was our playground, great memories was our result.

We are off to Wok & Wine to dine this evening. It's been a grand time gentleman. Tim and I thank you for coming over to our new little home on this side of the Atlantic.