Didn't we have a lovely time....

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Originally uploaded by stevenjude

So today was one of those cold winter days that begged to be allowed to drive you inside. It was bitterly cold in the wind and yet, on a whim, I decided to drive to the Detroit zoo for some pics. The drive was good, the zoo freezing and most of the animals had been replaced by signs that said "too cold for me"... all in all rather an abortive attempt at tweaking the black nose of jack Frost.

Tomorrow it's out at 4am and to the airport (30 mins away) for another week in Mexico. I'd been hoping that Jude would be able to join me for the week and work on the roof as I went off into the streets to sell peanuts - but of course she sometmes needs to be in the office and so has elected to stay (close to the fire I hope)

Why I'm being asked to give up all of Sunday for a meeting that doesn't start until Monday and all of next Saturday to get home is another question entirely and one that can be easily answered with the word of the week 'fuckwittery'

Still I'm packed for the trip, the Touch is loaded with CSI Miami and some new Glenn Close thing and the TomTom is promising to guide me to airport parking. Here's hoping that all goes right with the flights and that I don't get stuck in Atlanta with nothing to eat but Turkey (which they seem to think is a vegetable)

Okay back downstairs and to Jude, who I can hear is typing too.

Black Friday

October Moon and Amethyst Rayne Day 25 of 365 Days
Originally uploaded by Pink Sherbet Photography

It's Black Friday today. The day after thanksgiving all of the stores have a huge sale and tend to generate lines longer than those in communist Russia around the time of bread delivery. It's insane. Earsly bird specials start at 4am. Stores offer free wake up calls. People go mad. The roads are blocked. Just madness; a perfect storm of boredom, consumerism and the need to fill 'family time'.

It's cold here too. The sun may well be shining down from a sky of brilliant blue but the temperature gauge is saying minus 9 centigrade and having taken the dog down already I have no reason to disbelieve the digital mercury. In fact there was a warning last night on the weather that went something like this...

"Well Friday may be black tomorrow - but your toes shouldn't be, so if you're going out remember to wear...."

Yup early frostbite warnings and yet I don't care. Thanksgiving dinner last night was full of geneticists, architects, economists and sustainable strategists. Arguments ranged from the biophilic through to the usefulness of happiness as a metric for anything and I have to say that I enjoyed it all tremendously. The temptation of course is to be Neanderthal and claim that you're to busy making things to actually think about things but it's something that I avoided. After all I'm in the business of creating desire - so when people start talking about how desire is a learned construct you really do have to listen or I do anyway.

Right, enough of this - Jude is out of the shower and we have some Black Friday wandering of our own to be doing. Happy post Thanksgiving all.

Happy Thanksgiving

It's shaping up to be a perfect day. We woke up this morning to a light dusting of snow, with flakes still gently wafting in the chill air and every house suddenly a potential cover for Victorian confection. A walk with the dog brought many cries of admiration and a few sweet conversations - the dog was beside herself with excitement at the perfection of it all, the people with th esweetness of the dog. Home and there's Judith wrapped in bed with a coffee and a good book (and a banana, worryingly?) Today we have no plans other than to join some people for dinner tonight and hit th egym in preparation for excess tonight. Like a perfect Pinot I am chilled to zen like perfection. I could get used to this.

Our first couples thing...

Vinology.
Originally uploaded by vinni ♥♥

... last night we 'entertained' for the first time... well we opened a bottle of wine for a couple of new friends then walked into town for more wine and the best food I've had here so far.

The big difference between Jude and I (I think) is that she knows interesting people while I tend to know interested people. The former are people out doing things in the world that are new and pushing boundaries (one of our guests last night had recently headed up the digital lab at Harvard) the latter are people who have read about, attended and studied things that are interesting, The former gave stories, the latter have annecdotes.

What they have in common is an interest in the world and a determination to see patterns. Last night's people were both interested and interesting. Which was great. And once again I was the most stupid person in the room (Including all of the staff in the restaurant) which was even better.

Hoping to get my plates and registration today from Ford (my new license wasn't in the system yesterday)

vroom vroom vroom

well it took forever and I still don't have valid plates but I am now the 'proud' owner of a Mustang. 4.0L of rumbling V6 muscle car that's pretty much as American as it's possible to be without actually attending a rodeo.

It's a guilty pleasure. It looks great, it feels great and it sounds amazing but as you floor it and watch the fuel economy drop and drop you start to wonder whether a Honda Fit wasn't a better idea after all. But as Jude would say 'screw it' - I work on a car brand I should drive a car - rather than a shopping trolley.

Anyway the 'Stang is already nicknamed Death Star (black exterior, black interior, the low rumble of Darth Vader somewhere at its heart) and is turning heads wherever we go. Very cool - and at about GBP12k rather a bargain.

Of course I wanted to buy satellite navigation for the Death Star (there's nothing worse than accidentally destroying the wrong planet) but (and this is true) I couldn't find the store that sells them. Must have driven past it. Which could make a decent campaign - the last time you'll ever be lost is on the way to buy one.

Also went to a dentist yesterday in a bid to sort out and exploding (or rather imploding) tooth. While I was there the dentist took a drill to my uneven front teeth and in a matter of minutes had me looking more American and less Dickensian.

5 years in - saying too-na without even thinking about it, straighter, whiter teeth and now a muscle car. I think that this place is finally getting to me

Mistico

So Mexico was a welcome respite - despite the fact that I was up at the crack of dawn each morning, get lagged to hell from the previous week and generally in need of sleep. The clients were lovely, the weather great, the sessions not bad at all and the Mexican wrestling all that you would imagine.

Yes they got us corporate tickets to tegh wrestling - where we saw kids ripping off their shirts to celebrate the victory of the good guys, a lot of grown men in masks and even the obligatory angry granny. But the highlight was Mistico. He's the #1 wrestler in Mexico, his white mask was by far the most common in the crowd and as the time for him to enter the ring neared he was the one that had the already over-wrought kids in tears with excitement.

We asked the guys in front of us what made Mistico so special. "oh" they said "he is the best. He can fly."

And he could, sort of. He was certainly limber enough - right up to the point where he got pinned by a bad guy and lost the fight. Shock from the kids, despair for the 100s of Mistico rip off merchandise sellers outside (paper belts with his crudely cut out head scotch taped my favorite) and for me in the crowd - cause I'd fallen for the myth of Mistico rather hard.

Still there's always next week... and the week after that.

Good to be home. Have topick up driver's license, test drive Mustang and do some work tomorrow.

Entendre

Giant Robot swag 2/2
Originally uploaded by massdistraction

So I'm in Mexico to talk about Nuts and Seeds. Oh dear. It's entendre central and the poor clients let it all float about around them. Today was pretty good actually talked with nutritionists, anthropolgists, psychologists, food journalists, flavor profile inventors, chefs, traditional store owners and had people come in with their shopping. All a good base to look at what we should be looking at next time we're here.

The hotel continues to attract indie movie starlets Chloe, Sienna... erm.. Paris and the chocolate lab that they have adds a homely touch to what could be something very impersonal.

Hard to believe that there's snow in Ann Arbor.

Feeling knacjered, in need of a break, bloated and generally like a businessman abroad - even the 4 handed massage seemed more likely to end in sleaze than relaxation (it ended in neither)

Anyway 11pm to bed with me and something more worthy of your time afer tomorrow's Mexican Wrestling (!!!)

fuckwittery

Condesa DF matches
Originally uploaded by jm3

so I'm closing out my contract with ?! by taking on a project in Mexico City. And of course this being ?! the travel was completely balls'd up from the off. Business flight on Delta is booked back to New York. Too late for a Detroit connection. So they book coach on air mexico,,, then an impossible connection in Atlanta and a switch to American, No blame is taken.

As I leave I'm handed a travel sheet that has the wrong flight details, the wrong hotel details, the wrong terminal information and the wrong time for the car service. And some chocolate - with a note that says "I hope that this make your journey sweeter"

A nice touch but what would really make my journey sweeter would be the knowledge that I could trust people on flights and a nice big seat on a 1st world airline that gets me home in time to have a weekend with my wife... rather than a 'get up at four to check in for shitbag air and worry about delays the whole way to Atlanta flight"

Proof, if proof were needed that amateurs, no matter how nice or talented really shouldn't be handling jobs better done by pros.

That said hotel booked by client for us is nice and the matchbooks are cool

Odd couple of days

Eating My L Plates (Day 64)
Originally uploaded by Darkle Dagbar

Well the flight back from London took forever. Mainly because it went via Chicago - a giant airport with nothing other than overpriced pizza in it. Maybe that explains Oprah's new "thyroid problem"

Anyway 22hrs and I was in - at 2am and in a car that erroneously told me that my tyres were about to explode everytime I hit the Cruise control - but in.

Sunday was a day of shopping for Cashmere sweaters at a posh mall and on Monday I took the dog to the groomers, had lunch with my lovely wife and headed for my driving lesson.

The guy showed up early - in a knackered old Honda so full of 2nd hand cigarette smoke I could feel the tumors growing. "Wanna just take the test?" he asked. Sure I said. And 24 miles, a few un-reversed over cones and a lot of mirror checking later I'd passed. Hurrah. But the office was closed for Veteran's day, Boo. And I had to leave at 5am this morning for New York (Boo-sucks) and now won't be able to pick up my license until next Monday (Yah-Boo-Sucks)

So Mexico tomorrow... home on Saturday and then on Monday.... shopping for a car

long trip home

all flights delayed
Originally uploaded by Kaká

Visa arrived this morning at 7.15am

That was 1 working day (the warned of 5)

Juggled some flights and am now scheduled to leave Redcar tomorrow morning at 8.30 - get into London at 12.15

Then across town to the Heathrow express

Into Heathrow at 1pm

Flight to Chicago at 3

3 hr wait

Flight to Detroit gets in at middnight (5am UK time)

And then drive home

before getting up and flying to New York for a day

and on to Mexico for a couple more

knackered

a day in redcar

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Originally uploaded by stevenjude

so got up, no visa (it might be Weds of next week) - read a bit, went to the all new and improved Retail Park, went into town, froze, got a couple of decent pics before the sun went down and hurried home to light a fire and open some wine. Slow day but not a bad day at all.

Oh I did some work too

Long Day

Superkid
Originally uploaded by Richard Browning

So a long day today. Up early to get to the embassy... then hours of waiting for the visa interview - which lasted all of 2 mins and saw me being approved (yeah!)... passport will be couriered 'soon' - I'm hoping that 'soon' is this week rather than next week as I'm due in Mexico soon.

Took the train up to Redcar where the neice hid in horror from me and everyone else listened patiently for me to finish up interminable stories about seeing 5 police men wade in to take down one guy outside of the US Visa office (hint to brutal policemen - in future kick the back rather han front of his knees if you want him to fall)

Right now I have a couple of presentations to look at - one to write and no real access to documents. Nightmare.

I'll head off and worry some

A change of heart

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Originally uploaded by aparticularpath

Jude and I have been deliberating over the past few days. The thing is that I'm going to be commuting about 75 miles a day. Which means that we need a car.

The practical "we have a big dog and know people in their 60s" side of our brains was saying - let's get an Escape Hybrid. It's big. It does 40mpg (UK), turns out almost no emissions and has plenty of room for everyone. Issues with that are that it looks like a brick, it's expensive (around 15k GBP) and there's a waiting list for a hybrid that would make it a Valentine's Day rather than Xmas gift.

Then of course was the sensible, McScrooge Duck side of us that pointed out the all new Focus, its many cool toys, 40mpg on the highway and low, low cost of about GBP7,500. Problem with the Focus is that they've nixed both the hatch and the estate and that means that it's less practical for the dog and for carting things around. If we're going to be buying a sedan why would it be the base model?

At which point we ame to a heart over head decision. If practical is expensive and inexpensive offers no real upside let's say 'Screw it" and buy a Mustang.

The Mustang is the car that Steve McQueen drove in Bullit. It's lovely. And powerful. And muscular. The new GT Shelby version is 540bhp. Which is the equivalent of 12 of my first cars (a Fiat Panda). We're not going for the Shelby but we are going for a 4.0L, V6 that's very torquey (240lbs), rather well made and that still will clear 30mpg (UK) on my trip to work. Best thing about it is that this Pony car is cheap by UK standards. Even by American standards.

Yup, a brand new American muscle car, 4.0l engine, sun 7 second 0-60 time and all manner of mod cons comes in at GBP 9,100 (and that's before any discount I might get). To put that into context in the UK a Fiat Panda with 100BHP will cost you GBP 10,160.

Obscene isn't it?

Fort Lauderdale

Fort Lauderdale
Originally uploaded by Zach Klein

Well it seems that we were beaten by a storm named Noel. How shaming. Noel. So instead of being on a boat in the Bahamas we're looking forward to a night at a local cinema (here in A2) and perhaps a glass of wine or two.

We did make it down as far as Fort Lauderdale - but from there out the flights ran out, Noel hunkered down and we decided to head for home. Still we got a day in a decent hotel, the chance to dip our feet in the ocean and some points on North West Airlines.

So disappointing but we're making the most of it... and Alex and Xtiana are safe, sound and hunkered down

Maybe not

Tropical Storm Rita
Originally uploaded by alpoma

So last night we flew down to Fort Lauderdale and then on to an airport motel for the night. Up at 7am this morning and back to the airport to find that all flights to the Bahamas are cancelled due to a tropical storm and that the chances of our getting there at all are slim. Well there's a day of my life and a grand I won't be getting back.

Decided to wait it out a day and switched to a Hilton hotel that has a decent spa, a pool and a view of a very rough ocean. Tomorrow we'll make the decision as to whether we jump on a plane towards the islands or we jump on a plane home and rue our misfortune.

Hoping that we can make it - but fearing that we can't. Gotta dash now as the hotel charges for internet in prices that might neccessitate my selling an organ or having Judith 'harvested' for eggs

We're off

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Originally uploaded by August Rode

So after frantic unpacking... cat minder finding, dog sitter service vetting and a million and one other things we're off to Long Island Bahamas for a wedding. Should be lovely. And just what we need. Once we get past the flight time. And the inconvenience. And expense. Oh what the hell, it's warm, some of our favorite people in the world are there and if this wedding was in Milwaukee we'd be there, even if it meant walking.

Blog entries over the next 5 days may be few and far between

And granny makes Sith

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Originally uploaded by stevenjude

Took this as the Halloween Dog Parade... a whole family, including dog dressed in some kind of costume. Actually it was called Howl-o-ween which is of course pun tastic.

Today was spent unpacking boxes. The bedroom looks great now. The kitchen pretty good, The living room livable and upstairs as though Bobby and Whitney just made sweet lurve there - it's nasty.

Tomorrow I have a guy coming for the blinds, a guy coming to switch my cable box to one with HDMI connectors and I MUST, MUST, MUST fill in my visa form online and get it printed.

Then it's dog to the dog people, Jude to the paper store and us off to the airport for a bit of a trek, schlep and trudge down to the Bahamas.
Man I'm knackered.

Paving the way for a move

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Originally uploaded by stevenjude

So as Jude pulls all kind of flickr viewers with her new hair I started to prepare for the next couple of days and weeks with a spray on tan. Had to show a passport, get finger-printed and sign a waiver just to get permission to stand naked in front of what looked like a garden sprinkler. Then had to brave the overly well lit mirror as I wiped off the excess 'paint'.

What else did I do today? Took the cats to a place where they can stay while we're away - they have a room with a view of goats (who they stalked) and birds (who they ignored).

Also helped a guy remove the landlord's furniture... sitting in an empty room; on the floor with an exhausted dog as I write this.

FedEx brought me my appointment for the US embassy in London - will be there the nights of the 6th an 7th.

And I walked the dog. A lot. She's so happy here. Running in the park, sniffing at the leaves and being away from the BQE traffic. Best thing about the move so far - just how happy Velcro seems to be

Have movers bringing our stuff tomorrow, then flight out Wednesday, back Monday, fly to UK Tuesday for Wednesday meeting. Busy, busy

A L-O-N-G weekend

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Originally uploaded by stevenjude

After a couple of days of packing (see Jude somewhere either left or right swarfed by boxes) and too much running up and down the 63 stairs that served to lead to our apartment (good protection from fat Jehovahs however) we finally managed to see everything on a truck and ourselves heading to what might well be the smallest hotel room in the history of New York hotel rooms. Okay the name 'Petit Double" should have given it away but at $309 a night (the cheapest room in town on the weekend of the NYC marathon) I'd thought that it would at least have room to swing a cat flea. Not so. Ne'er mind though. We had dinner at a vegetarian Korean place with Mike, bough pjamas and slept okay.

Woke up to monsoon style rains, flood warnings, near gales and a general air of 'stay inside'... which we ignored as we loaded up the black Ford Escape with the various bits and pieces required by a long journey with several animals and set off into the deluge.

13 hours, one burger king fish sandwich, too many Starbucks, a scary tuna melt in a scarier Ohio diner (Jude thought that it was a halloween costume party, I insist that it's just Ohio clientel), 250bn gallons of water, four dog stops, too much 80s and 90s music, an average of 23mpg (that's 28mpg to the UK gallon) and one wrong turn later (the wrong turn being the last one - thank heavens for Sophie our trusty GPS) we arrived.

Today the sun is shining, the dogs are out in the park and dressed in halloween costumes and Jude is putting together a bathroom cabinet even as I type (I'll help when it comes time to hang the doors - especially as I do soappreciate the fact that like good freshmen doors should be well hung and accurately mounted)

We're here.

Long Drive

Detroit Rock City
Originally uploaded by anemergencystop

So with the house packed and the guys on their way to take all of our stuff down to Michigan we're girding our loins for the long drive down ourselves. Saturday is predicted to be full of thunderstorms and rain and general nastiness and of course we have over 600 minles to drive - most of it on the same piece of freeway. We've rented a car (you rent cars in America and hire people), we've trimmed the amount that we're carrying and we're ready to rock. Here's hoping it all is as smooth as a Vegas stripper's what-not