Tues, Sep 30th

I haven't mentioned it before, but Dawn has had a pretty nasty cough the last few days. Well today she decided to stay at home so she could see her GP. All the doctor could tell her was that she had a virus and that it would go in a week or two. Thankfully she left with a prescription for some medicine so hopefully that will help.

I, on the other hand, was chauffeured to Hertford North so that I could get the 6:35am train into town. I felt like an executive. That was until I was tripped as I got off the train at Enfield Chase by another passenger as they got on. I did a pike somersault and forward roll, springing alertly to my feet. Sadly, the umbrella in my hand resulted in grazed knuckles, while the impact of my knee on the platform left the same result under my trousers.

Sun, Sep 28th

Sunday is the day of rest. But, like most households, it ain't in the White House. And I don't mean the one in DC. The one in Hertford. As always, Dawn did the laundry, vacuuming and ironing. Again I gave the spare room a miss, but I did tackle the back yard. I finally got the sheers and spade out and hacked and dug out a ton of roots, weeds, and other things that were beginning to take possession of the area next to the shed. The hardest thing was getting bamboo roots out. And I thought the stuff I dealt with in Florida was hard enough.

Then, with aching back, I showered and sat down to watch Portsmouth versus Spurs. I wish I hadn't bothered. As usual now, Spurs lost. This time 2-0. Oh well.

Sat, Sept 27th

Today Dad celebrated his 81st birthday. After running out to the grocery store, Dawn and I caught the train to Finsbury Park before walking the rest of the way to Dad's. The four of us, including George, then walked down to the bus stop and caught the number 4 to Waterloo. We had lunch at the Fire Station and then walked to the Imperial War Museum. After wandering around the the exhibits, including a Blitz simulator, we headed home via Trafalgar Square on two bendy buses. That's a bus that has two halves joined in the middle by an accordian-type material to allow it go around corners. Dawn did not like the fact that the 29 bus on the way to Holloway was packed like Sardines. She also wasn't pleased that we arrived at Finsbury Park just as hoards of Arsenal fans were leaving the station for the early evening football match.

Dad seemed to enjoy the day with us. Especially as we were able to pass on a birthday card from his granddaughter Hayley. Hayley also called him later to wish him happy many returns, which no doubt was the icing on the cake.

Fri, Sept 26th

It was Big Bang Day for the Property and Facilities Department. At the meeting, attended by Dawn and everyone else in her department, the news was that is was planned to eliminate four positions, merge two, and create several completely new positions. Dawn has her heart set on one of the new positions, which would mean her getting away from being a PA and working full time on environmental issues. However, that is still to be seen. A consultation period will start now and after that applications for the new positions will probably be received, followed by interviews. Keep your fingers crossed that it works out for Dawn.

As for my job, we can celebrate that we have managed to pay the salaries again. Steve and I are performing miracles at present. However, watch this space.

Wed, Sept 24th

No change at work for the two of us. I am still getting a bus to and from work. My knee is feeling better, but as it's still aching I decided to see the week out and start walking back to the station from Monday. Again, the two of us don't really relish the thought of going to work at the moment. However, at least Dawn knows that come Friday her situation will change and she'll know exactly what's happening with her office and everyone's jobs.

Tonight I stayed up to watch the 3rd round Carling Cup match between Newcastle United and Spurs on Sky. Thankfully, we won. Our first competitive match of the season. However, it's nothing to crow about as Newcastle are only one place above us in the Premier League, and we're bottom.

Mon, Sept 22nd

Back to work and I have to admit that I got a bus to and from work today. I seemed to have jarred my left knee over the weekend (or on the way home on Friday) and didn't want to do it any more damage. Otherwise, it was much the same as normal for the two of us today. Dawn having to deal with the impending meeting regarding the restructuring of the Property and Facilities Department on Friday, while I was wondering how my company was going to deal with our own problems.

Sun, Sept 21st

This morning I headed out early to the recycle center in Ware to drop off a couple of bags of cardboard, glass and plastic bottles, and a pile of newspapers.

Back home Dawn and I then did a few household chores before sitting down and trying to plan the next three months. We have one or two things we need to get done before Brady and Jim arrive in December and if we don't plan it out, it will never happen. We also discussed what type of things to do while they are here and where to go.

We then spent the rest of the day following Europe's defeat at the hands of USA in the Ryder Cup. As with the last two nights I took my laptop to bed and watched it until the end. Oh well. It was good while it lasted. Hopefully we can go on another three win run again.

Sat, Sept 20th

This morning we did the weekly grocery shopping before heading back into town to get our haircuts and run a few errands. Then it was back home to do some house chores before Hayley arrived mid afternoon. Hayley decided that she'd come down after work, so she didn't get down to us until around 3:15pm.

It was good to see Hayley again. The three of us spent a couple of hours chatting and just catching up on a few things. I then dished out some home made spaghetti for the three of us, which we all cleared. I then dropped Hayley off at the station before Dawn and I completed the day chilling out in front of the television.

Fri, Sept 19th

The old saying is "Thank God it's Friday." Well that's exactly how I felt today. I've already mentioned that we had two late nights due to Dawn's trip to Guildford and the train problems. What I didn't mention was that twice this week I also logged onto my network at work (from home) to post sales invoices for one of my colleagues. And this was after I had worked on the redesign of timesheets at the weekend, too. So today I decided to leave a little early to meet Dawn and headed to Morrisons to do a little grocery shopping and grab a skinny latte at Starbucks, too.

However, the week wasn't a complete washout. Later this evening I got a text from Hayley asking us what we were doing on Saturday. She said she was thinking of coming down to see us. What a nice end to the week after all.

Thur, Sept 18th

Following my comments regarding us not wanting to have long days, today seemed to come along to rub my words down my throat. All appeared to be fine until I got a phone call from Dawn around 3:30pm. She had checked the First Capital Connect website to make sure our train line was free of problems for the journey home only to find out that there were major delays because of power problems around Alexandra Palace.

We immediately flipped into ad-lib mode. Dawn headed to Liverpool Street Station, instead of Old Street, to catch the Hertford East line. I left a little later and headed towards Southbury instead of walking to Enfield Chase. I met Dawn on the train as usual, albeit on a different line, towards Cheshunt. Then we had to get off the train and wait another 20 minutes or so for our train to Hertford East. When we eventually arrived there, we caught a cab from one side of town to the other so we could pick up our car. By now, I had pretty much made up my mind that I didn't fancy cooking when we got home, and I am sure Dawn didn't want to have to wash up after me either. So we stopped of at Charley's near Sele Farm for some fish and chips. Dawn's journey home took almost three hours. Just what she needed after Tuesday.

Tues, Sept 16th

Dawn may be a PA to several directors at City University. However, her role has developed over the last year and now she is doing more and more non-PA related work and more and more on environmental issues. Today she traveled for the second time in less than two weeks to the University of Surrey in Guildford. This time to attend a HEBCoN seminar. The problem with days like this is that she is on the road from 6:30am until gone 7:00pm. I know that a lot of people who commute have days this long, but this is not something we choose to do. Thankfully we are able to keep these kinds of days to a minimum.

Sun, Sept 14th

Today was one of those boring days you have now and again when little or nothing happens out of the ordinary. We do the weekend chores and just chill out. However, as boring as it sounds, both Dawn and I love days like this now and again after a hectic week and busy Saturday. Although by the end of the day, we are both dreading the next five days ahead and feel a little frustrated that we never made more of the time.

Sat, Sept 13th

Today we ventured into London to see Cathy Eberhart. Cathy, who we used to work with at Schiller in Dunedin, was in London on business. This usually means that we try and catch up with her while she is here. This time we had lunch at the Anchor and Hope on The Cut, just around the corner from the Schiller campus in Waterloo.

The conversation was as always enlightening as we caught up on what had changed in Dunedin since we'd left. The food, however, was a little odd. Rated highly in several publications, we left feeling that although the food had been tasty, it had been more adventurous than we may have preferred. It was okay though. But, I doubt if we'll be going back there again any time soon.

Later in the day we said goodbye to our old television. Well, not really old, but the oversize 36" that we had bought when we moved over here a few years back had passed its sell by date. We sold it after placing an advert in the Hertford Mercury. At least it covered the cost of our lunch today.

Wed, Sept 10th

Today Dawn was able to escape from the daily drudgery that is work at the moment. She met Mavis and Margaret at The Steam Passage pub at the Angel. It's amazing that despite us spending 7 of the last 10 years in America, Dawn's friendship with these two retirees from Schiller has remained in contact all these years and she still meets up with them now and again. I think deep down Dawn aspires to their lifestyle of enjoying retirement by jumping on a London bus and seeing where it takes them.

Mon, Sept 8th

Back to work again after a nice weekend. However, it was the activities out of the office that I need to report on today. Dad had a cataract operation on one of his eyes. It went well, but it will be a few days before we know how it really went. He was happy with it, though. Tonight, I stayed up late to watch the US Open final between Federer and Andy Murray. Not surprisingly, Murray lost in three sets. But, at least he made it there. Well done Andy.

Sun, Sep 7th

Today we drove up to see Dad and visit the cemetery. Monday is the 11th anniversary of the day we lost Mum, so we took Dad and George with us as we were going there to lay some flowers on Mum's grave. After laying the flowers, I wandered and found myself among several headstones that had been overgrown with weeds. It just made me feel strange to think that we make such an effort to install memorials to commemorate the lives of those no longer with us, only to neglect them years later as their importance wanes.

We then drove over to Spaniards Inn so we could enjoy a lunch with Dad and George. They treated us to a nice meal and some good company. However, time was limited as we had to rush back home as someone was coming over to take our treadmill off our hands. We placed an advert in the Hertford Mercury and fortunately someone needed a treadmill for his mother. By the end of the day the treadmill was gone and, although a steal for the guy who bought it, Dawn and I were so relieved to get it out of our shed.

Sat, Sep 6th

"Michelin Guide" Dawn found a new pub for us to try out. So, after doing the grocery shopping this morning we headed over to Stevenage and then onto a new pub listed for the very first time in the latest Michelin pub guide. The pub was called The Tilbury at Datchworth. Located in the middle of the countryside and surrounded by farms, we came across a gold mine. The food and ambience were worth searching out. I know that we'll be back. Hopefully it won't be too long. We spent the rest of the day talking about how excellent the food was.

Thur, Sep 4th

Dawn had a long day today. As usual we were up at 4.30am, showered, fed and out the door by 6.30am and on our usual train to work by 6.50am. However, today Dawn didn't go to CU; instead she had to make the journey to the University of Surrey in Guildford. Dawn was attending another seminar on sustainability. It's even harder when she is on her feet all day and doesn't get home and sit down to her dinner until nearly 8pm. Especially seeing we are usually in bed by 9pm. However, Dawn is not complaining. At least it got her away from her PA work. She she dislikes with a vengeance.

Tues, Sep 2nd

Nothing out of the ordinary today. However, I had to post a picture of Dawn's latest award. She received a specially engraved plaque to honour her accomplishment of passing her driving test at Stevenage last week. No, this isn't the norm for everyone who passes their test over here. Just something a husband arranges to say "Well done, you did a great job!"

Mon, Sep 1st

We may live in Hertford, but a little of our heart was left in Dunedin when we left America. This means that when the hurricane season comes we end up glued to Fox News on satellite to follow the progress of any deadly storms about to make landfall back in the USA. This morning we put the television on at 4.45am (we usually wake up this early, don't worry) to follow the progress of Hurricane Gustav. It felt like we were back in Florida again and nothing had changed. I suppose after the summers of 2004 and 2005, neither one of us will forget just how dangerous hurricanes can be, and neither one of us will forget, but for the mercy of God, how different things could have been for us. We missed the bullet with Charley on Aug 13, 2004. Our prayers go out to everyone that finds themselves in the path of mother nature's vengeance.