Family,
And a good evening to you from across the Pond after another GREAT DAY in the Mother Country. IT'S THE WEEKEND!!!!!! Jenny and I are SO excited. Bottom line - we feel like donkey trash that's been shot out of a cannon and then dropped from a 50 story building. We are both SO tired, and I think tonight might take its place among Sammy's "best nights of sleep EVER." Consequently, I am typing you a quick one (rather than Croatia part 3, which IS coming tomorrow - promise) so that we can sack out and get some (much needed) rest. And CP - I have no lie to tell - we will probably sleep until 3 PM tomorrow and have NO regrets.
So today was a good one in the office. Scratch that - it was MOMENTOUS. Why, you ask? Because today, after 2.5 years of constant work, tons of late nights, plenty of curry, 59,000 malaria tablets, 47,000 Cipro tablets, and 897,000 bouts with "Gandhi's revenge," the India Transition officially closed the books. That's right - the journey that began with "Yep, we can put you onto an HR platform" that morphed into "Sorry to do this, but we need to move to SAP" and then finally landed at "We were just joking - Oracle is THE SYSTEM for you - Trust us :-)" had officially shut down, leaving in its wake a VERY successful implementation, tons of memories, and about 585,000 green chili's.
How to celebrate such an occasion? Well, it was tough since a) most of the folks that actually did the work have moved on to other transitions, b) over 80% of the project team is actually in India, and c) I had NO part in it whatsoever. However, I tagged along with Lisa and Brother Morgan today, determined to raise a final glass to the project that proved to be a testament to fortitude (both of our knowledge and our bowels).
The lunch s
pot was Jamie's, which I didn't even know existed. Apparently this cat is kind of like Emeril or Gordon Ramsay - at least that's what the prices reflected (who the @#!& pays 14 quid for a lunch curry on a regular basis?). We rocked up with Owain saying, "We should be fine. We're early and they don't take reservations." And then we see the sheet the hostess is holding.
pot was Jamie's, which I didn't even know existed. Apparently this cat is kind of like Emeril or Gordon Ramsay - at least that's what the prices reflected (who the @#!& pays 14 quid for a lunch curry on a regular basis?). We rocked up with Owain saying, "We should be fine. We're early and they don't take reservations." And then we see the sheet the hostess is holding.The hostess asks us the name of the booking, to which Owain does a classic, "Oh, we didn't book. We figured we'd be fine since we eat quick." She doesn't seem convinced (perhaps it was the Welsh accent), but she says that we can still eat as long as we clear the table by 1. 2 minutes later, we're seated and checking out a swish menu in a posh place.
What did I go for? Well, let's just say that you can take the boy out of Croatia, but you can't take Croatia out of the boy (well, at least
until I have muselix tomorrow). That's right, baby - Taylor got the SCALLOP AND SQUID INK ANGEL HAIR PASTA. Ain't nothin' like a meal that is so black it sucks in the light around the table and nearly plunges the restaurant into darkness. BOOYAH!!!!!
until I have muselix tomorrow). That's right, baby - Taylor got the SCALLOP AND SQUID INK ANGEL HAIR PASTA. Ain't nothin' like a meal that is so black it sucks in the light around the table and nearly plunges the restaurant into darkness. BOOYAH!!!!!The rest of the day was good, and I even managed 40 minutes on the bike (24 km). I think took the Tube home, at which point muffin and I marched straight to the Doot (no takeout this time). The have a completely new staff now, which is somewhat depressing. Again, looking around and seeing ZERO familiar faces, Jenny and I both expressed the feeling that "maybe that's another sign that it's time to go." However, the food was EXCELLENT - arguably among THE BEST meals we've had there (UBER-fresh lamb), and so we didn't linger too long on sadness.
It's now 9:30, and I'm about to drink a little Nite Nurse and call it a day. I'm fighting a cold, and I think being run down isn't helping. Here's hoping that 15 hours of sleep will get me exactly where I need to be for tomorrow.
Lastly, I finished my first Alex Cross novel, "Mary, Mary" last night. It was okay, but I read the whole thing in something like 5 hours. In truth, I don't see myself reading much more Patterson. It was okay, but I would definitely not say great and would even hesitate to give it the "good" or "recommend" rating. All the same, I'm glad I've now crossed paths with Alex Cross, even if I have no plans to do so ever again.
Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print. Chat tomorrow!
Love,
Sam and Jenny
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