Continuing the vacation

And now I’m in an internet cafe in Sarlat, in the Dordogne valley in southwestern France. Among other things, there are two castles here that we visited: Castelnaud and Beynac. The two families were rivals for over two centuries, and we went to each one and shook our fists at the other across the valley.

And today we’re off to Paris.

On the road

This is a really quick post. I’m in an internet cafe in San Sebastian, Spain. Hooray for vacation! I have only 2 minutes left, so this is all for now, but I’ll post occasionally while I’m away.

The final stretch (for now)

Despite that my friends were in town, I have done nothing—more or less—except stay in the office. So, in keeping with the art theme (sort of), here’s a picture of the picture that hangs in my office.

And to respond to a few of the comments on the V&A exhibit, I want to point out that it is not comprised entirely of chairs. You can also see a set of ball bearings and a desk lamp in there.

Importing

Before she headed over here, Debbie asked me if I wanted anything from the U.S. In fact, there are a few things I can’t really find acceptable substitutes for in England. Here she is proudly displaying the bounty she brought me:

Austin City Limits

Yesterday, Carter and Debbie arrived from Austin to begin their European vacation. It’s always good to have people in town, because it means I’ll go out to see things as well. And yesterday, we went to this museum. The main exhibition was sold out, but Carter, Debbie, and Jaynna will go back today.

I’ve encouraged them to go to the Tower of London. I don’t know that they will.

They’re not as durable as you might think

As it turns out, these things do have their limits:


When I turned it in, the woman from PC support took it cheerfully and without any hesitation, and then told me that she was sorry, but the substitute, at least at first, would have to be one of the older models.

I get the feeling I’m not the first person whose blackberry has met a bad end.

Variation can be difficult

We had a work event last night, after which some of us went to a bar. Not a pub, but a bar—this bar. The last stragglers are pictured here.

Weekend summary

Wow, so I have nothing to show for this weekend other than pub pictures. So here’s one from Friday night:


And here’s one from Saturday:


The weekend wasn’t totally devoid of culture. I also went to this exhibit. But still....

Have you ever had this?

We have a cafeteria at work that serves breakfast—there’s a hot breakfast, which usually includes sausages, eggs, and that sort of thing, and there’s also a cold breakfast bar with yogurt, cereal, bread for toasting, and things like that. There’s an assortment of breakfast condiments, too, including butter, jelly, and this:


I don’t know if you’ve ever had this. I would describe the taste, but words simply fail me.

It worked out badly for Tom Cruise

Yesterday at work we got an e-mail, directed at those of us who travel outside the UK at least twice a month, about a new immigration system at Heathrow. Am I way too paranoid? Is it wrong that I find this to be kind of creepy?

Back to the London pubs

Last night I went to this pub with Jaynna. Her friend Laszlo joined us a little later. It was a warm day, and a not-too-cool evening. We sat outside at first, although we had to sit under the heat lamp.

(I know it’s blurry, but I had to hold the shutter open for 5 seconds).

As they were closing the place, one of the bartenders came out and very unceremoniously turned off the lamp. We moved inside to finish up our drinks.

A New York pub bar picture

It was a beautiful weekend in New York. This is the library in the sunshine. I did not go inside the library:


I miss many things about New York. This is what I miss the most:


(To be clear, there are a lot of people I didn’t get a chance to see, at all or for more than a few minutes, who are not in this picture—I miss them, too).

And just to calm any worry you may have been feeling, I should let you know that the airline delivered my luggage yesterday before lunch.

Very quick trip

We had this Monday off for “May Bank Holiday.” This was a very quick trip, but it’s manageable: if you leave straight from work Friday evening, you arrive a little later on Friday night. Then if you leave Monday evening and fly overnight, you get back Tuesday morning and can go straight back into work.

The trip was well worth it:


And once the airline returns my luggage, the trip will finally be complete.