Wednesday, April 30, 2008
You know, gas prices are going up here, too
I've noticed that just in the past month the price of a litre of petrol has gone up from about £1.01.9 to £1.05.9. Headlines are shouting that gas will reach $7/gallon in the States later this year but we're already paying $8/gallon (at the cheapest pump I can find) here.
My trip to work from home is about 23 miles, which works out to just over $12 round trip each day. I paid $80 to fill up my little Corsa this morning.
4/30/2008 02:48:00 PM
Saturday, April 19, 2008
Golly can I have your autograph Ms.?
As one of my former colleagues, SK, was performing, a few friends met up on Thursday night to see Neil Simon's "Plaza Suite" at the Oxford Playhouse.
I enjoyed the performance, especially that of my friend, of course, and was impressed with the relative mastery of the New York accents! After, we got to meet the cast in the theatre's bar which was bonus.
I was off from work Friday, which meant it didn't matter that NKC and I were home way after midnight & then decided to have an full English fry-up for dinner.
4/19/2008 10:30:00 PM
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
there are in fact only so many notes the ear can hear in the course of an evening.
Last night NKC, NKC's friend MG and I grabbed something to eat before MG and I went to the lone performance of Verdi's La Traviata and the local cinema. It was the first of a series of performances that were filmed at La Scala in high definition with Dolby 5.1 audio.
The tickets were more expensive than regular movie tickets, but the performance was worth it. I hadn't seen La Traviata before but of course some of the tunes were familiar. MG enjoyed it as well but, slightly embarrassingly, thought the performance was over at the end of the 2nd act, and got up to leave.
4/16/2008 02:48:00 PM
Monday, April 14, 2008
I don't want to drive anymore
I definitely didn't take this photo. That would be illegal to use a mobile phone while operating a motor vehicle while driving on the M40 to Banbury to visit the Gran yesterday. But it was nice scenery, no?
On the way to work this morning, though, with a similar vista, I was surprised to see an SUV two cars in front of me (and one lane over) start swerving & then ram into the central barrier before coming to a stop in the fast lane. All the cars around slowed down in time (and it seemed as if everything was moving in slow motion). No injuries, and strangely the SUV's airbags didn't deploy. Can't imagine what the tailback was like after, though.
Tonight, while driving into the Asda parking lot another car's driver (so totally not looking) nearly plowed into my passenger door. I swerved and she stopped just in time, hand to mouth in surprise.
4/14/2008 10:29:00 PM
Friday, April 11, 2008
Katherine Who?
I've been occupying my own time lately. Today I decided to go see a movie after work. It's the first one I've seen on my own in over a year, perhaps two.
I hadn't hear much about 27 Dresses but had seen a quick preview on TV. I'd no idea who Katherine Heigl was (but now know she's won an Emmy for her role in Gray's Anatomy) but I'm very familiar with the ...work of James Marsden and Edward Burns.
Fun and light, if just a bit predictable, and just what was called for.
I've got plans for two other nights out next week, and a third next month in Southampton, so I'm certainly not bored.
4/11/2008 09:51:00 PM
Monday, April 07, 2008
I didn't vote
The Royal Mint is releasing a series of newly-redesigned coins this year. I'm not too impressed. As Overyourhead pointed out, "in a very tourist unfriendly step they will have no numbers on them. You'll have to be able to read English to tell what they are."
[T]he Shield of the Royal Arms has been given a contemporary treatment and its whole has been cleverly split among all six denominations from the 1p to the 50p, with the £1 coin displaying the heraldic element in its entirety. This is the first time that a single design has been used across a range of United Kingdom coins.
The new designs will enter circulation gradually throughout the year. It is normal practice for banks to order coins from the Royal Mint to satisfy public demand, which fluctuates over the course of the year. The current coin designs will remain in circulation and as legal tender for the foreseeable future.
4/07/2008 12:40:00 PM
Saturday, April 05, 2008
Block
The thing about not having posted in so long is that it makes posting again a rather daunting task, as there's been (you'd think) so much that's happened in the intervening time.
There hasn't really. At least not other than the trip to the US which most people who read this already know about.
So I might as well just get the first post out of the way, and perhaps come back to it tomorrow to post some mundane, mildly amusing anecdote.
4/05/2008 08:37:00 PM
