Monday, December 17, 2012

Goooooooaaaaaaaal!



Drat!  I awoke around 8 am after another good night's sleep, facing a day in the office rather than experiencing more of this great city.  Oh, well.  This is not a vacation I suppose, so I figured I should go earn some bacon.

When I arrive at the office, the guards now hand me my badge and greet me by name.  The young blonde in a proper British accent, and the Scot always utters something, but I'm not exactly sure what.  He smiles, so I smile back and say good morning.  I proceed to set up my computer and make my way to the cafeteria for my morning tea.  Three or four people say a cheerful good morning during the brief walk as I retort in kind.  I've always enjoyed a cup of tea during the workday, but find that I enjoy it even more since it's free here.  I've had probably 2 or 3 cups a day since I arrived.  :)  Today I got a case of the munchies toward the end of the day, so I threw in a dark Swiss chocolate bar.  As I was eating it I realized that though Swiss chocolate seems so exotic to us in the US, here it's comparable to Minnesotans buying a treat from Missouri.  Yum!

I had a very effective day at work.  I left my Instant Messenger off so that the US team would have a tough time interrupting me day, and as a result I was able to stay focused and get a lot done.  Tomorrow we will start testing all of the stuff I've built, and hopefully show big dividends for the London team.  Feeling very satisfied, I left the office around 6:30 and quickly changed clothes and headed back out.  After all, Arsenal was playing tonight, and I couldn't miss it!
Arsenal is, of course, one of the most popular Futbol teams here in the UK.  They were playing a team called "Reading," who played as if they had their nose in a book most of the night.  I traveled to Leicester to experience a pub during a big match with the locals.  Leicester is a township bordering London (which to the natives is actually a very small section of this very large metropolis) to the north, and was exactly what the doctor ordered.  I ended up at a pub named Porterhouse, believe it or not (also the name of the restaurant in Lakeville), where there was a raucous crowd.  However, it seemed that most were fairly ambivalent to the match, and were there solely to eat, drink, and be merry.  No on was eating.  

For those keeping track, Arsenal ended the victor, stomping their opponent 5-2.  Over the night my hand found itself holding a Temple Brau lager, as well as an O'Hanlon's Red Ale.  I discovered around 10 that the kitchen closed an hour prior, and my stomach notified me at its displeasure that I'd only had a small sandwich and the aforementioned chocolate over the course of the day.  And, my ear notified me of its displeasure to the very chatty British woman who apparently was my long lost best friend.  As it turns out, she was an intensive care nurse, so it made sense that she would seek out a computer nerd like me.  I excused myself to use the restroom and left for home.

Along the way I spotted an interesting little club that piqued my interest, especially since my belly was still without food.  Fortunately, the kitchen was still open, so I ordered a pizza and my staple beverage, a Jameson and ginger ale.  While there I made friends with a couple of gentlemen from Corsica, a Mediterranean island a few hundred miles off the coast of Spain, France, and Italy.  They spoke very little English, and I kept using Spanish words instead of French, so communication was difficult.  But, they seemed very eager to talk with me and insisted on giving me their number so that I could call when I visit.

I also made friends with the bartenders, who felt bad about the long wait, so they gave me a couple of drinks on the house.  I was pleasantly surprised when the pizza came.  It was hot, delicious, and very badly needed.  I gobbled it up and rode the tube back to my hotel just before midnight.

Tomorrow night my coworkers have arranged to go out for Peking duck at the best place in town.  I can't wait, 'cause I absolutely love duck!  I'm not sure how the after party will be (if any), but hopefully we'll have a good time together.  Today I saw a video of my boss on a mechanical bull the last time he was in town.  We'll see what kind of trouble we get into.

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