Houston - Day 2

Up early for breakfast at iHop - International House of Pancakes, where we had...pancakes! Of course, as we're in Houston, this was preceded by Ham & Eggs, Hash Brown & Toast. I've never seen so much food! Still, it set us up for our meeting which started at 7:30!

We met all the US Sales Team and had our meeting. Lunch was in the hotel and was OK. The hotel itself is a bit tired and it only had 7% occupancy so they wouldn't open the bars! Anyway, we had about another 5 minutes after the meeting finished before we were whizzed off to what the Americans called "mini Formula 1"...Go-karts to you and me...

This Go Karting lasted six and a half hours though! I was knackered by the end of it with a seriously aching right arm (there were only left turns on the track). We had dinner there (fajitas) and got taken back to the hotel about 1:00 am...of course, the bars were shut...

Houston...Day 1

So this weekend I went to Houston. Arrived on the Sunday quite late after a pretty early start on Saturday morning from Gatwick. The flight was OK...a bit long (nearly 10 hours) but I caught up with some reading and some videos. I went with N & D fro work but we hadn't got seats together. Funnily enough we saw another of our work colleagues on the plane! He was going to Monterray in Mexico...small world.

We got picked up by M S, the US Sales Manager who took us back to our hotel. After a stop to drop our bags off (about 3 minutes), we were whisked off to an Italian restaurant called Carrabba's. I had a Steak which couldn't be faulted really. It was just a shame we were all so tired...Houston is six hours behind so we'd been up ages! He took us back to the hotel where we had a quick drink and then bed..

London

Spent a couple of days down at SJ's as I'd got some work to do in London. I took Sj to bristol to me (there are HP offices there too) and then we carried on to Londod. Traffic was a nightmare but we got there in the end. Had a takeaway and watched TV for the first night. Second day I caught the tube to Paddington where I met my work colleague. We spent the day at CB & I and had some dinner at Fuel in Covent Garden. I bought a new biking top from Oakley as well. I met SJ in the afternoon and we went for a drink in Coq d'Argent. This is a pretty exclusive restaurant/bar just by the Bank of England. A couple of weeks ago, a guy committed suicide by jumping from their balcony...infamous springs to mind...

We had a couple of drinks and some nibbles and then went to an Indian just round the corner from SJ's - The Bengal Tiger. Was really nice food and not too bad price wise - great places, both of them...highly recommended.

New Zealand or bust

So today was the last day that SJ had to spend with her parents before they go to New Zealand on the 1st August (next week SJ can't come up here). We spent Saturday looking for some houses in Harpenden, St Albans and the surrounding areas. On Saturday night, we went for a Chinese around SJ's parents house followed by a few drinks at The Elms.

On Sunday, I invited them all over to my house for some dinner as they hadn't seen my house and I guess they'd be wondering about where their daughter would be spending most of her time whilst they're away!

All seemed to go well, I think they liked the house and approved so that's good.

On Sunday night, SJ and I went to see the new Transformers movie. We went to Gold Class at Star City. It was really good. I was a bit unsure as to what SJ would make of it - she's not exactly a film buff - but she quite liked it I think. There's not a lot of plot but the action is unstoppable. I'll be getting it on DVD when its out anyway!

Follow the dog

Did the Follow the dog trail again today...this is the 3rd time I've done it and the 2nd time SJ has. Was much quicker this time and the whole thing seemed a lot easier...I guess practice makes perfect! We also went out for a meal at The Horse & Jockey over in Ironbridge. Both sets of parents went so it was the first time they'd all met. Everyone got on well so it was a nice meal and a good day. Poppod over to my sisters in the afternoon...I'm trying to think of a way to get my numberplate transferred into my name without me having to buy a car..think I might just have thought of it...

Birthday -Safari Park

So, today is my birthday! Yay! Weather is pretty rubbish, absolutely throwing it down with rain but never mind...

We decided to go the West Midlands Safari Park. At least here, it doesn't matter about the weather as you're in your car. Well, it took us ages to get there, the traffic was dreadful. Anyway, we got there and headed in to the Park. I enquired as to the monkey's but was informed that there isn't any anymore so my car aerial was safe. The first section was the zebra's and antelopes. It was funny actually as they suss out whether you have any food or not...if you haven't they ignore you and move onto the next car! Following that, you move round to the wolves, tigers, lions and elephants. The white tigers and the white lions are the big draw here and youc an see why, They are absolutely stunning. I didn't realise that the white lions and tigers are not albino, they are a recognised type of cat. The best/worst part was the African Wild Dog section. Now, as we came through the gate, these dogs looked a bit lively but as soon as we got into the section, they swarmed round the car, surrounding it front, sides and rear...I couldn't move forwards as I would have run over them and I thought that was probably a bad move!! Eventually I inched forward and escaped the mob, but even as I was driving away, one of them was hanging onto the exhaust! It took a ranger driving up behind me to scare it off. I checked round the car later and despite the noise of teeth on metal and the general manhandling of the car, there didn't appear to be a mark on it! Amazing...

Following that we went to the Wolseley Arms for a meal and then out into Cannock on the night. Was a great day and made all the more enjoyable as I was sharing it with SJ...ahhh...

Sales Meeting - Milton Keynes

The 9th and 10th was a Sales Meeting this time held in Milton Keynes. We've appointed a new distributor and their head office is in MK so it was held at their premises. Nice premises they are too, I must say. Much better than ours! We went out for a meal in MK at a place called Sam and Maxie's The meal was OK but nothing special I didn't think. Afterwards we went for drinks in the hotel bar. The hotel we stayed in was The Jury's Inn. This was a nice place, pretty new and very well furnished. The meeting itself was pretty ordinary, nothing revolutionary. I'm not entirely sure about the new distributor's...they seem a little like wide-boys for my liking...we'll see...

July - the birthday month...

July is basically a month of birthdays for me and my friends...the first of which was Mark's on the 7th. We caught the train into Birmingham, something we should do more often actually as its pretty convenient, and met the others in Brum. We started off in the Joint Stock. Not been in there before but it was a nice place. Apparently it was a bank prior to being the pub it is now. It also has a theatre within it which I couldn't quite get my head around but still....

After Joint Stock we went for a meal at Bella Italia, I think this used to be called Bella Pasta but for whatever reason its now called Bella Italia. I had pizza...surprise, surprise. It was really , really nice and I would go their again. After here, we went to Bachus, a bar underneath The Burlington Hotel. Again...very, very nice...

Mountain Biking

On Sunday morning, SJ and I decided to do The Dog Trail over Canock Chase. This is a purpose-built 7 mile trail designed for intermediate riders and starts from Birches Valley Vistor Centre. Its a great track! Not too many steep climbs, just a lot of flat, trail riding...perfect. We went round in about 2 hours and a bit. Not bad for a first attempt!

Problems, problems...

Well, my so-called amicable divorce is no longer amicable. To cut a long story short, S has found out that I am now seeing someone. This is something she is not happy with! Never mind the fact that she has already been seeing someone! It caused me a bit of trouble in terms of wondering what the hell was going on, but I checked with my solictor and there isn't a great deal she can actually do, despite the threats. Anyway, I thought the best thing to do was go to see SJ. So, off I trotted to London. Always nice to see a friendly face!!

New Suite, new TV

At last, the long awaited suite arrived! This is the one I ordered from DFS 13 weeks ago. I have to say its very nice...more to the point though its just nice to be able to sit in comfort in the lounge! On the Sunday before I bought a new TV from Currys too. A bit of a problem in actually getting the TV...I think Currys basically don't want to see their product...in the end I reserved it on the net and just collected it from the shop. I plumped for a Samsung 37" in black.