23 June 2005
I'm just back from Toronto after getting my L-1 visa
extension. Beautiful city. Didn't have much time to be a tourist, but got a
view from the
CN Tower, watched a
Blue Jays baseball game, and rode an
open top bus.
The Blue Jays have seen better days according to my American colleages. They won two World Series back to back in the early nineties, but haven't done anything since. I arrived 10 minutes late, and they were already 5-1 down in the first inning! They were playing the
Baltimore Orioles, a good team (apparently). The Jays made it a little exciting when they pulled back to 6-4, but the the Orieles then pulled away for an easy 9-5 win.
Couldn't get a hotel in the downtown area because of the weirdly named
SNM conference, nearly all the hotels were booked, pushing the residual rooms to over $500USD per night. That'll teach me for booking on the day! I found a
place in Don Valley, a considerable
commute to downtown.
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ChrisJones
9 June 2005
We had the big hospital (19 week) scan this morning which was very reassuring (baby seems to be developing well and healthily) and very exciting. It wriggled around and made the nurse's life difficult, but in the end they managed to get some great
pictures - including an amazing portrait shot of its face which is halfway between cute sleeping baby and alien.
Otherwise not much news which is definitely how I like it. I'm well and not sick at all now. So well, in fact, that we're off to Belize for a holiday in a month (with my lovely doctor's blessing). It'll be hot, but then so is New York already - hitting 90 degrees (32 degrees C) which is a bit too much for me.
Don't forget to vote for a name below! We still haven't decided...
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JanetBall
26 May 2005
Coming back to the discussion on the baby's name, we have a selection of favourites, complete outsiders, and some not so serious (or at least according to anyone but Chris). Feel free to vote:
boys and
girls. If we get too desperate we might use this as a democratic way to choose. More likely of course, we'll just completely ignore you.
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JanetBall
25 May 2005
I got to stay on for an extra week, going to the
Lake District with Katie, John, Beth and Amelia which was lovely. Thanks to their delux pushchair we managed to clamber over rocks and up hills far better than I could ever have imagined. For the first time I'm now thinking of having two kids just so I can get my paws on it. Then it was off to
Martinstown to see Alec, Gill and the boys. The trip included getting to see Godson Matthew save some vital goals in his football tournament and a lesson in the making of rice crispie cakes. Unfortunately only Gill proved a good student, but the boys were very helpful when it came to tasting.
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JanetBall
19 May 2005
Just back from a weeks holiday in the UK.
The week started with a couple of days in Glastonbury, mainly recovering from jet lag. The McCourtie's drove up from Dorchester for the day. We all walked up the
Tor together - it reminded me of our wedding day last year, although the weather wasn't half as good this time around. Fran and Clare drove down from Bristol to see us, they were very pleased to hear about Janet's pregnancy, and wanted to know all the potential names we were thinking about, girl or boy.
Then we set off for Wales where we had a hectic schedule. First day was spent driving around visiting family, mainly aunties - Hilary, Teresa and Vicki (plus Rachel). The next day we went on a 10 mile hike with
Ian and
John over the Black Mountains, Brecon Beacons. The weather was great (for Wales) with wonderful views of Llyn y Fan Fach. Navigation was left to yours truly, with only a little help from our newly qualified Mountain Leader (congrats Ian). We did manage to accidentally roam onto private land, much to the disgust of a local farmer (or yuppie, it was hard to tell the difference), but apart from this minor indiscretion we stuck to our intended route fairly well, and were amply rewarded for our day's efforts with a warm pint at the Gwyn Arms.
Next, we had a day with my parents, driving to Carmarthen on our way to Pembrokeshire. Went for a walk around
Bosherston with its beautiful lakes and coastline.
The week ended with a drive back to London. First stop was Beckenham to see John and Pauline; where the short bread and posh jaffa cakes were very welcome after a long drive. Then we went to see our house in Thayers Farm Road (the inspiration for
our domain name). It's still there and in pretty good nick, not bad considering we haven't seen the place in over 3 years. Janet's map reading skills were pushed to their limit on our way to Peckham to see Theo, Dawn and their new arrival Oliver (thanks J&P for the A to Z). Then it was off to see Helen and Ben for
Freya's naming ceremony in Greenwich park. Despite the forecast the weather managed to behave, we even had the odd spell of sunshine by the end. I spent the afternoon eating, drinking, taking photos, and talking to old friends - lovely.
Spent the last night with Ian and Steph in their new home in Knockholt. Very nice too, tempted to move to the
country myself now!
Finally, a mad rush to Heathrow, which included dropping bags off at Steve and Amy's (and little'un), a spot of lunch at Rumella, Rahul's and Rishy's (hope I've got the spelling right) and saying goodbye to Janet as she was staying on for an extra week. It was a shame I hadn't more time, I felt so rushed.
The flight back was uneventful. US immigration was dismal - plane touched down at 7pm (ish) I got home 10:30pm! Anyway, I'll leave the ranting for another time.
PS I've started the long process of converting hard copies of 'The Camarthenshire Historian' to electronic format. My grandfather was the Historian's editor for many years. Thanks Hilary for digging out those old copies of TCH.
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ChrisJones
6 May 2005
Baby cooking nicely. Janet feels less sickly now, and so is slightly less stroppy - much to everyone's relief.
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ChrisJones
5 May 2005
I read in
Cycling Weekly that London has seen a large increase in the numbers cycling. Hurray. Apparently it's all due to the introduction of the congestion charge. I imagine people must feel encouraged to cycle in the City due to the reduction in motor traffic?
Anyway, if a significant number of people are getting on bicycles because of the friendlier environment surely this should send a signal to the government? Apparently not. An extra five million pounds, over the next three years, has been set aside for
Cycling England by the Department of Transport. Five million? Five million doesn't build many cycle paths, parking areas, or better access to public transport. I don't know the cost of a decent national marketing campaign these days, but would 5 million cover the cost of a concerted effort to persuade people to leave their car in the garage in exchange for a healthy two wheeled mode of conveyance? With such a pitiful increase in funding I'm left wondering how much budget each of the major political parties assigned to their month long General Election campaigns; I wonder how they compare, pro-rata, to 5 million over 3 years?
Maybe I should have voted for the Green Party.
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ChrisJones
4 May 2005
I did my first bike race in three years last night, and finished 6th! Before the race I kept telling myself not to do anything silly, first race an'all; what did I do? Got in a two man break after the first lap - needless to say I got dropped within half a lap and spent the next three laps hanging onto the peleton. I hung on though, for dear life, and managed to wind it up for the sprint, and surprisingly found myself passing quite a few riders before hitting the finishing line. Pleasantly surprised.
The race was held at
Floyd Bennett Field an old disused runway, organised by
Kissena Cycling Club. Credit must go to the organisers for a very well run event. I arrived 45 minutes before race start and found sign-in well under way; racing started promptly at 7pm; and each of the three races had a lead vehicle. Not bad for a mid week event. Oh yes, and a copious amount of safety pins to attach race numbers. Bravo.
The circuit consists of a
2.3 mile loop with wide roads (or should I say runways?). The road surface isn't smooth, so I'm hoping not to crash; the riders seemed a sensible bunch though, so I have high expectations, although I don't want to tempt fate!
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ChrisJones
21 April 2005
I was doing research on the name Iadicicco, my grandfather was Simmaco Iadicicco, and in doing so came across the
Ellis Island web site. I found some very interesting immigrant
documentation regarding possible distant relatives that travelled to New York from Naples around the turn of the century. What an amazing site! They have the original ship manifest, which includes details of how much money they were carrying, their final address in New York, what skills (calling) they had, and strangely, if they were an Anarchist (isn't everyone?). There are even pictures of the boats they journeyed in.
Closer to home, I found some of our relatives listed on
Ancestry's website.
Rachael, Sarah and my grandfather Simmaco are all listed. Also, there appears to be some people looking for other Iadiciccos on the
message boards.
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ChrisJones
20 April 2005
So it's official, we're expecting a
baby! Janet is already getting fat and has started whinging. As a loving and supportive husband I've given up watching Premiership football on TV.
At the moment, the current due date is Novemeber 3rd - I've got a book running (don't tell the wife), so if you want in, drop me a line ;-).
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ChrisJones
11 April 2005
Just arrived back from Florida, here are the
photos.
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ChrisJones
Check out news buzz:
The
UK's 2005 General Election is coming up. I've applied for a proxy vote, so my mum is going to vote for me (as I'm currently working in the States). I took a
test and found that I should vote Liberal Democrat. I've never voted LibDem, always Labour. What should I do?
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ChrisJones
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