HREinternational’s Weblog

well, lazy might not be the right word, but i am clearly not very reliable about keeping up on this site. Anyway, since the last time I wrote – in February – i suppose a lot has happened, but nothing so monumental that you’ve really missed anything interesting. Obviously i’m staying over here longer. That was up in the air for a while I think – not so much that I didn’t want to, but that I couldn’t afford to and i wasn’t sure the company wanted me to stay over here. Well, i’m on expatriate status instead of permanent status in the UK now which makes a huge difference to me. Not that i’m rolling in dough (far from it) but at least I can make ends meet more or less. I still don’t drive, but just yesterday I got my Learner’s Permit in the mail. That is a “learners permit” like you get when you are 15 years old… unbelievable. So, I have to take a written test and a driving test just like I did when i was 16. and, to be honest, i’m probably as nervous about failing now as I was then. The goal is to get it all sorted by the end of the year, but i’ll need to take a couple of lessons first – what with everything being on the other side of everything and all.

I just got back from a little trip – well, two little trips. I did an Around-Europe trip in August/September to meet up with as many of the local teams as I could in our main sales offices throughout the region (Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Spain, Italy). It sounds a lot more exciting than it is, trust me. By the time it was over I felt like i never wanted to travel ever again… but then, two weeks off and I headed to Madrid for a meeting and then went home the way of Paris to go to the Arc di Triomphe. It was such great fun. I love love love the races. I went to Royal Ascot in June (that one is my favorite so far) and i think i’ve got the bug. I want to go to them ALL! i love the hats and looking at everyone all dressed up. I’ve got some pretty lame hats so far, but the next one I get will be a lot more interesting. I just need to plan ahead (not something i’m particularly good at). I don’t have any pics of Ascot, but i have a few from Paris -

When I woke up this morning it was like I remember when i was a kid – i opened the drapes in my room and there was about 4 inches of snow on the ground and still falling heartily. Makes me a little giddy – if I didn’t think i’d hit my head on the ceiling, I probably would have jumped up and down on my bed. Aside from going to the mountains to ski, I haven’t been in the snow for ages – i’ve always lived in places where it just doesn’t, so this is pretty fun. It’s supposed to snow for three days too.  I’m pretty excited. I live in a little cottage in Windsor and it actually feels cozy now.

I took one look down my street and decided that i'm not going to walk to the train station today.

I have my coffee and my giant scarf on (it may be cozy, but my place isn’t very well insulated, so even with the heater on 24/7, it’s still not that warm in here) and ready to get to work – at home today. I don’t think i’m going to attempt to walk to the train and going through all that to get into the office. there aren’t even any sidewalks showing, not to mention that i’ve got my “orange county” wardrobe here – hardly appropriate for snow. I’ve made it work in the grey and the rain, but i draw the line at trudging through this.

The view from my living room window.

The cats are getting a kick out of it too. They usually sit in the window and watch life as it goes by – they get really excited when they see birds and bugs. Today they are seeing the giant snowflakes fall right in front of them and they’re going nuts. Ah, it’s fun! I like this!!

On Saturday I went down into London and met up with my new friend Penny (she is from LA, and a good friend of Jeanine’s – and she is in London for a few weeks for work). We went to the Tate Modern and walked around there, had some lunch, then went to King’s Road to do a little shopping (window shopping only on my part. I still refuse to shop here – it’s way too expensive). It was great fun. Very cold in the city, but i’m sure you could have guessed that given the weather here recently.

On a completely different topic – I never thought i would say this, but I am really starting to like Facebook. I  have been sucked into the status updates and looking at everyone’s picture uploads and this new “top 25 list” that is going around – no one has asked me to do a list yet, so I’m just reading everyone else’s. But, the very best thing about Facebook is that i’m in contact now with something like 20 or so people I knew growing up. It’s fantastic. Even some of my really good friends from high school – it’s great to hear what everyone is doing and it is really fun to hear the different paths and successes everyone has experienced. Nearly everyone is married with kids. makes me look at myself and wonder, but I don’t have any regrets about waiting for all that. I’ve really enjoyed making my career my priority for all this time – sometimes wonder if I’ve missed out, but hey, there’s time for that. Anyway – it has been such fun catching up with everyone.

Well, on to work. I need more coffee. I hope i can concentrate. I really just want to go play in the snow! Yay!!

Well, one thing is for sure. I’m very inconsistent when it comes to keeping up with this blog. But, I’m having quite possibly the laziest day I’ve had in  months – it’s 7 p.m. and i’m still in my pajamas from this morning (i probably shouldn’t admit that, but oh well). Anyway, the point is – one can only watch so much tv, iron, clean…. anything to keep from having to go outside. it’s COLD. So, i was going through some pictures that sasha took or our trip to Australia last November and I realized i never even did anything with those pics. no one has seen them and now they’re gathering virtual dust… so I figure i can write a little update and post a few of those and some other random pics i have.

Update on life in the UK… well, not surprisingly, winter is cold. It gets as cold in Amador (where i’m from) but not in southern california, which is where i’ve lived for most of my adult life. To be honest, i don’t mind it for the most part. As long as it isn’t raining and i have enough clothes – i don’t really have an appropriate wardrobe for winter over here, so i have to pack on the layers. The biggest drawback is that it makes me even lazier than i already was. If i step outside and find it’s chilly, i just stay in. I’ll tell myself i’m going to go for a walk in 2 hours – ok, two more hours – ok, before it gets dark… ok, tomorrow. Then it’s the same story all over again the next day. just plain lazy.

I have found a few more things I really like over here – weekly delivery of organic fruits and vegetables from this site called Abel & Cole. I’ve only gotten it once so far, but it’s good so i’ll keep getting it i think. There is also a Farmer’s Market pretty close to where I live in Windsor too, but it’s only once a month and I forget about it mosts of the time, then miss it. Another thing I really like is this spicy butternut squash and sweet potato soup by a company called Covent Garden. It is just the best. And, I finally found a good creamer for my coffee. That challenge was just solved last week – I had tried everything in the store and I think this is new… it’s called “Breakfast Milk” – sort of a mix between milk and light cream. I sort of miss my vanilla creamer from home, but i’ve now at least found something that works…. these are the things that consume way too much of my time, but in the end make my day. it probably sounds pathetic, but i’ll tell you – moving to a new place where very little is the same and everything is new and confusing – it takes a while to find things i like.

I haven’t found a gym i like yet – they’re all really expensive and not really what i’m looking for. I miss my gym in Dana Point. it’s the only gym I’ve ever belonged to that i was truly motivated to go to. It’s probably a mistake to try to find the Windsor equivalent, but i’m still looking and asking around. As an alternative, I have a Wii game called “House Party”… i think it’s meant for kids actually, but I remember someone once telling me how his kids would play “Dance Dance Revolution” on their Wii or Playstation or whatever and come up all sweaty and exhausted and it sort of stuck with me. House Party is pretty much the same thing. I tried it for the first time today – you know, as an alternative to going to a gym (ridiculous, i know, but it’s better than being a couch potato). Oh my God. I don’t even have words to describe what a complete idiot i look like – I have a big mirror in my living room so i can see myself the whole time. it’s awful. But funny.

The cats are here – they made it over here alive and not too traumatized. They’re back to their old selves and if anything, maybe the tiniest bit mellower. Blue is actually sitting on the couch next to me right now which is new. They both generally keep their distance when it comes to napping. I put some stools by the front window and they jump up there and stare out the window a lot. Sometimes I feel like i’m being mean by not letting them go outside. Great. Just one more thing to feel guilty about.

Time to fix dinner -  spicy butternut squash soup. Good times. I may have to crack into one of my last remaining bottles of wine tonight too. I’m not going anywhere and I don’t really have any friends over here who are all that interested in wine, so I think that enjoying it by myself is a good idea. My brother told me how to download movies to my computer today so i have the new 007 movie to watch tonight. I missed it in the theaters and it isnt’ out on dvd yet, so i’m excited to see it.

I hope I can motivate myself to get out of the house tomorrow, even if it’s for just a couple hours. Cold weather makes it tough – now watch, it’ll rain. Oh well. I should at least get points for good intentions, right?

H

Sasha, Ceci and Me: 12 Apostles

so, a devil, two doctors, a naughty cop and the St. Pauly girl walk into a bar...

Nothing like a day at the Melbourne Cup

Girls Night Out on Hamilton Island

Hot day at the zoo

Arrival in Sydney - obligatory shot with the Opera House in the background

Last night in Australia

My cat has his Zoolander look totally down

One Cold Boxing Day

they’re blurry, but here are a few shots of my humble little apartment….

So, i’m finally on my holiday. After 3 flights and 2 layovers (one in LA, another one in Aukland) I have made it to Australia. Honestly, the flying wasn’t that bad. Leg 1 from London to LA was during the day so i didn’t try to sleep or anything. Just worked a little (a giant pain to be on a laptop in Coach but i managed just fine) – the inflight movie stuff wasn’t working very well so there wasn’t anything else to do anyway. I had a 5 hour layover in LA and that’s where i met up with Sasha. We had a seat between us on the flight from LA to Aukland so that made the trip pretty tolerable. And i took and Ambien right when we took off so i was sleeping and drooling all over myself before they even made the first pass-through with the drink cart. Once we arrived in Melbourne we just got our stuff (Sasha got her snacks confiscated when we went through Customs – she tried to smuggle almonds and walnuts into the country. tsk tsk. she was told that if she tried to pull that again she’d be facing a stiff $250 fine. hahah. He DID let her keep her Mike-and-Ikes, so it wasn’t a total loss) and went outside to catch a ride. We got a taxi to Ceci’s place and she was here when we arrived.

My feet and ankles swelled up cartoon-style from all the flying. I think i was in the air for a total of something like 25-27 hours (can’t be sure. i stopped paying attention because it was never-ending). I’m into day 2 already and they still haven’t gone down. and, Mom, if you’re reading this… i drank tons of water and nothing overly salty so no giving me grief! Anyway, Ceci lives in this really cute high-rise apartment in downtown Melbourne. It’s really close to the Yarra River and a random giant casino. So, after a shower and a 5 hour nap, Ceci got home from work and we headed to dinner at a place called “Automatic” along the riverfront. Honestly, i was kind of out of it so i was kind of dragging – jet lag you know.

I only woke up once last night around 3:30 a.m. I have absolutely no concept of time. I’ve had to look it up about 5 times now (but the ignorance is probably better. i have no idea if i should be tired, when it’s daytime or nighttime at home – so maybe i can trick my body into just getting used to it without too much issue). I did wake up at 6 a.m. today though – which i would never do at home. 7 a.m. is pushing it usually.

Today we’re just going to walk around Melbourne and check out the city. Ceci has to work so we’ll meet up with her later this afternoon. We’re going to a Halloween party tonight. Ceci is making us dress up. Ceci sucks. Luckily, the ever-prepared Sasha brought down costumes for us. We’re going to be doctors. Haha. At least that’s an easy one. And tomorrow we are going to Derby Day at the Melbourne Cup. I’m really excited to go to that… i have my hat and my dress all ready. it is going to be so fun! We are going to be in a marquis too, so we’ll sort of have our own space with cocktails and lunch and everything the whole day. I’ll post pics of everything later. I don’t have my camera with me and I’ll have to wait for Sasha and Ceci to send me their pics.

All right – i’m off. i have eaten cookies and pop for breakfast and now don’t feel very good (shocking) – time for some real food.

i shouldn’t even be writing right now. it’s late. i’m tired…. not in the greatest of moods. i’m not going to rant about all that is affecting me negatively – i’ll look at the good stuff. first of all – and i know some people may have thought i would have forgotten about them by now – not a chance, by the way – my cats are less than two months from their little scary plane ride over here. Poor little guys. they’ll freak, i’m sure. but i’m a selfish person and i really need to have them back with me. it feels like it has been forever. i’m sure they’ve completely forgotten who i am – and now i’ll be the mean lady who kidnapped them from their new comfortable home. Great.

Other goodness… going to see the Chargers next weekend! yay!! i am so excited to go to this game. i can’t even tell you. partly because it’s something i know – i’m a football fan – but i also love the Chargers. So it’s a double win for me! It’s going to be great!

I leave for Australia in about a week and a half now. I’m really looking forward to the vacation aspect of it – and of course looking forward to seeing sasha and ceci and getting some time with them to hang out. weird how you take for granted that you see people every day until you don’t get that anymore. Really makes me appreciate my friends. I’m impressed with how many of mine have stayed in touch with me. I have good friends. lucky girl, i am.

Yeah, nevermind that i’ll be gone for almost 5 weeks. gone from the UK – i’ll still “get” to work the rest of the trip. (booooo ) Another CAB meeting coming up. I’m not quite as nervous about this one as i was the first one. The group is really good and the concept of it worked out well for our business unit so it has been a success so far. Maybe i should be a little nervous – got to stay on my toes. We also have another one of those panel events at PASS. i don’t really know why, but it’s turned into something i do every year and i take the success of these very personally. I’m getting all that sorted way ahead of time – because really, i only have about another week to make sure all my ducks are in a row so i won’t have to fret about it too much when i’m on vacation. But, anyone reading this who actually knows me… you know i won’t be able to cut the cord. i suck.

I’m looking forward to the weekend – i have said it the last few times, but i’m telling you. i love the Fall season. it’s really the best. I love sweaters (errr. jumpers… ), scarfs, gloves, hats… as long as it’s just cold – and not raining, i’m good to go. yay.

i know this was a lot of fluff. i haven’t really done anything exciting – no falling down, getting deported, inappropriate dress for the weather… sorry folks. i’m getting used to it over here now, so i’m not being quite as lame. Stick around though – i don’t stay dull for long.

ciao.

H

it’s definitely autumn here now. it’s cold and rainy – but when it isn’t raining it’s really great. cold and crisp, like a proper Fall. I actually love it. I haven’t had weather like this forever. SoCal doesn’t really have seasons. it’s either summer or later that summer… it’s kind of nice. I woke up the other day not feeling too well, so i have been lying low this weekend trying to encourage whatever bug got to me, to go away. I got cabin fever yesterday though, and it wasn’t raining very hard, so i bundled up and went out for a walk.

View of the Long Walk from the monument

The walk i took was on a path i’ve been on before – it’s called the “Long Walk”  – that leads from the town centre to a monument. What i didn’t realize when i started was that the path is a straight line to Windsor castle. I don’t know how far it is – maybe a round trip of 3 miles. It is a fantastic walk. at one point you go through a gate and i was surprised to see at about 100 yards into that gate, some deer. But not just a few deer. At least a thousand (and this is not exaggerating). They weren’t too bothered by the people on the path – i’m sure they’re used to it. But there were even some good sized bucks. The biggest rack i saw was 7 points on each side.

It took me about 2 hours to get from end to end. I like doing things like this alone – good thing… i find that I am entertaining myself a fair amount of time so far. Anyway, the wind was blowing and the leaves are starting to turn and fall, so there were leaves blowing everywhere and it was just a really nice feeling to be out there enjoying it. It was on the verge of rain the whole time, but only sprinkled, so it ended up being just perfect.

Today was much less interesting. It was raining the entire day and i still don’t feel fabulous, so i just stayed in. I watched something like 4 movies. i started to feel guilty and a little stir crazy again, so I managed to do some laundry and it’s all hanging outside in the rain. lovely. That isn’t annoying or anything. Goodness knows when it’ll stop raining long enough to bring it in. oh well. something else to get used to i guess.

Well, not too much else interesting enough to share… just over three weeks left until i head out on my 5 weeks of traveling. Split apart, i’m looking forward to all the sub-trips that i have in there. I’ve got a holiday in Australia, weekend in LA, a week in Seattle for a trade show, then a few days in San Francisco, then the olive harvest and Thanksgiving at my parents. All good stuff. collectively though, i’m not looking forward to travelling, flying, hotels, etc. for that long.  i think i need to start mentally preparing now…

so, we’ve had several days of nice weather with very little rain so i think that now we’re moving into October, summer is making a brief appearance. I quite like it and i can definitely say that i appreciate it. you don’t know what you’ve got until you don’t have it anymore – that rings very true in several areas of my life, but i’ll stick to the weather for now.

i had a fun weekend. i mostly stayed around windsor. on saturday i woke up, contemplated my box spring (as i do almost every day, trying to figure out how to get it up the stairs without ruining the bed or the stairs…). Still nothing. I’m just not very handy when it comes to stuff like that. but it drives me ABSOLUTELY NUTS that i’m on a mattress on the floor and my very lovely bedding looks like a big messy pile lying there. And i don’t like messy. a couple people have seen my “second bedroom”… which isn’t big enough to even qualify as a bedroom really – we’re talking TINY. well, it was a colossal mess. and it was just mortifying that anyone would associate that with me at all (obviously it is bugging me). It has (until last week) just been a dumping ground for things i don’t have a place for, or hangers for yet. Anyway… i completely deviated from what i was saying…

Saturday night i met up with some friends in Maidenhead – first at this obnoxious karyoke bar featuring bad singers. That was just the meeting place. Then we headed down the street to a “cheesy 80s pub” (this was how the evening was sold to me ) called Smokeys. It was sort of American themed… part of the US anyway. Confederate flags, license plates, street signs… more country hillbilly looking -it was funny. They had a band on that night who covered rock anthems. I wore some really high heels (about 4″), which probably wasn’t the best wardrobe option for dancing – must keep that in mind. I don’t think i could go out like that every weekend, but i had a great time!

What the heck are they doing????

Today was gorgeous again so i went for a walk. it was more of a wandering trek. i was out for about 4 hours – with not enough sunscreen on (oops – i’m kind of pink). I stopped to watch a rugby match. I think it was a a local league of high school aged kids. I don’t fully understand rugby. Lots of heads and hands and booties. Running, kicking, passing. Whatever. It was fun to watch and a good break from my walk. Then, as i was walking home i looked around at my “neighborhood” – which consists of a massive castle, a mini version of the London eye, a bunch of old churches and pubs… if i think about it enough i really have to wonder – Where am I? Seriously.

Well, i’ve got insomnia right now. I can’t sleep. I have so much going through my head. Life, work, upcoming holiday. And i can’t believe i’m going to be away for 5 weeks. now that it is almost time to go i am realizing that it is too long. i’m going to lose my mind about 3 weeks in. oh well. that will be a story for another time… Good night.

It seems like i rarely get the chance to just sit back and breathe – it’s been like that since i got here. there is always something i could be doing, should be doing… and i’m spending a load of time of trains, tubes and buses to get there (wherever “there” happens to be). It’s mostly work related – but i’ve always got a call, a meeting, an email – something that needs to be done, and because it has been such a mess moving over here and trying to get situated, i feel like i’m behind and have some serious catching up to do. The work side is good though – i sort of suspected it would be like this, so yay for me for setting appropriate expectations.

Patrick and me in a black cab on the way to the restaurant

The last two weeks have been pretty busy – Patrick, the architect for one of our products, was in town all week doing customer meetings and events. It was a great time and we got a lot of great “use” out of his being here. And, his last night in town we went to this Belgian restuarant – Belgo Centraal - that was really good. I had a decent steak and some pistachio ice-cream that was delicious, but Patrick won out with a lamb something that he said was fantastic. I’ll definitely go back.

Christian and Douglas scrunched up in the back seat on the way to the Corporate House

Then this week we had the Sales management meeting – i got to go to this one because it was in the UK office. I got a lot out of it, so i’m glad they had it here. this pic is of Douglas and Christian crammed into the back of Tony’s car (they had to squeeze back there with a carseat). Pretty funny.

I just had a meeting today with the guys who run one of the local user groups in the UK. It was such a good meeting. And what a great opportunity. It’s things like this that make me excited about this job. i love working together with people and making things happen. And, what’s even better is that we didn’t sit there and talk shop the whole time – we got to talking about all kinds of things (which is perfect because that means everyone is comfortable – very important). Anyway, assuming this all plays out like i think it will, it will probably be the first thing i’ve been involved with here that i’ll have had some real influence on. On the way over to the meeting I was all excited because i thought we were going to take a commuter boat to Canary Wharf where the meeting was to take place. I was SO disappointed to find the boats only operate during commuter hours though, so we’ll have to save that for another day. (I’ve been pestering a friend of mine to go on a boat with me in Windsor for the past few weeks but so far hasn’t obliged. I am going to keep working on that ). i love boats.

this is the boat we would have taken - if we wanted to wait 6 hours.

So, today was a good day – even though it’s about to rain buckets.

On another front – i *think* i found a flat to rent. I hesitate to make anything of it until it’s a done deal, but let’s just say the £ does not stretch far. I have some serious lifestyle changes to make. i got a place with a second “bedroom” – but that room is so small that i don’t think a bed will fit in there. I’m going to use it as an extended closet! To anyone who comes over to visit – i’ll have a lovely blow-up mattress for you as i need that bigger closet. . This is a pic of the outside – it’s the middle part, both stories (which isn’t so bad – that way no one is above or below me). It has a tiny garden (which is really a patio) in the back, so on those rare sunny days i’ll have a place to sit and enjoy the outside (and a place to park my yet-to-be-purchased bicycle.)

Doesn't really look that impressive, but it might be my new apartment.

Well, my dinner plans have been cancelled so i’m headed back up to Windsor. I’m looking forward to this weekend. I think i might be able to actually relax a little.

I’m starting to settle into things a little more over here now. I’ve figured out the train/tube/shuttle situation for the most part (at least it doesn’t freak me out anymore) and i can get around town without getting too lost.

Changing of the Guard parade - i had no idea it was coming.

this past weekend included a lot of flat hunting (i feel silly saying that because everyone I know says “Apartment”… but whatever. the lingo the natives use over here is “FLAT”, so it’s a flat i’m looking for. I learned a new term – “purpose built housing”… that means “giant box like accommodation stacked on top of and to the sides of one another”… think giant complex, but usually more office building like. I will not be living in one of those (i also said i wouldn’t live in the “Disneyland” of the UK – Windsor, but it’s looking more and more like that’s where i’m going to end up).

I saw one i really like – it’s about a 20 minute walk to the train station though. that isn’t far generally speaking, but i’m thinking on a dark, rainy, windy night it will just suck. But, it’s really cute – looks like a little cottage, has a garden… not too big, but not too small (sounds like i’m sizing it up like the 3 Bears or something ). We’ll see. there are a couple more i need to look at. I’m in like, not love, so i will see what else i can find.

The funniest thing about Windsor is all of the Disneyland-ness about it. The touristy part of it is truly annoying, i’m not going to lie, but some of it is really funny – and fun. i enjoy it. So, i’m waiting for my appointment with the leasing agent and i’m standing on High Street just past this big church at the top of the hill. Off in the distance i hear marching band music – for some reason i think it’s just someone listening to someone in their house and that the sound is coming out the window.

Not so… the sound gets closer and a full-on marching band rounds the corner and passes right in front of me. It was fun to watch – there were a bunch of tourists and kids chasing after the band. so cute. Apparently that little parade is a daily occurrence – changing of the guard. Quite a lot of pomp just to change work shifts.

nice entertainment to stumble across

I’m keeping a list of things like this to entertain all of my friends and family who come over to visit me. Don’t worry – i’m learning plenty of the locals things to do, so it will be a nice mix.

The other big find i made over the weekend was that i stumbled on an AVEDA salon – right in Windsor! YES!! that is a score like you don’t even know. I have to keep my ginger locks shiny and pretty and Aveda is the best place for that (any women reading this will understand).

Well, i’m supposed to be working right now, so i’m off. H