Monday 1 November 2010

A Cracker Tsunami trip for the ages – recapping our time with T-bone – Part 1…

Family,

And a good evening to you from across the Pond after another GREAT DAY in the Mother Country. Okay, so first off – apologies for going radio silent over the past 5 days. Hitman, Hairless, and Old School Cool have all expressed displeasure on behalf of the readership, and I’ll I can say is that I have no excuse save for the fact that we went BALLS TO THE WALL with activities (Joe Dirt style), and there was simply no way to devote the proper amount of time to the blog. That being said, Team Taylor is back at the flat with the normal salad and cheese for an AFD, and so now we can officially set to the task.

Before we kick it off, 2 things to note:

1. The Land’s End Challenge got another boost today, with Sammy the Bull logging 27KM on the bike over 45 minutes. That puts me at 542 of 970 KM, which wouldn’t be bad if I had until EOY. However, as I’ve only got 3 weeks left of working out in the gym, I’m pretty sure I’m gonna fall short of the goal. Oh well, we can try again in the new year!

2. With the armpits still hurting and a desire for peace of mind, Sammy visited the doctor today. Well, not much of a doctor, really, but actually an on-site nurse. Actually, not much of a nurse either - more of a talk show host. Let’s just say that, based on today’s “consultation,” I’m not terribly impressed with Bupa. Some highlights from the conversation:

Nurse (N): How long has it been hurting?

Armpit Pain Sammy (APS): About 2 weeks. But I had another episode earlier in the year that lasted about 4 days.

N: Have you touched your armpits? (I mean seriously? YES – HOW ELSE WOULD I BATHE?)

APS: Yes, and it hurts when I push on it.

N: Does it feel like something isn’t right? (Um, NO – it feels PERFECT! I just wanted to see if they had grape Kool-aid in the consultation room).

APS: Yes, but I don’t feel a lump. I don’t think it’s anything serious, but I just wanted piece of mind.

N: Well, I’m not a doctor (yeah, - no SH##).

(Nurse then gets out a book of medical terms and starts flipping through until she finds something – probably ARMPIT).

N: Are you hot?

APS: No.

N: Are you tired (it’s like a listening in at a call center)?

APS: No.

N: How long has it hurt?

APS (sighs): Two weeks this time.

N: This time? It’s happened before?

APS: Yes – earlier this year.

N: How long did that last?

APS (gritting teeth to avoid spitting nails): About 4 days.

N: Hmmm – make sure you tell the GP that (Hey – THANKS FOR THAT – NEVER would have thought of that on my own).

The good news is that I’m talking to a real doctor (GP over here) on Wednesday, so (hopefully) it won’t be quite the same experience.

Okay, now that you’re up to speed on the first day of our last full month in the UK, let’s recap Tait’s visit to the smoke!

Wednesday (post dinner): The Gift That Keeps on Giving...

So a terrible oversight on my part, but I simply MUST mention Tait's "Thank You" gift to us. After dinner, we walked back into the kitchen to find not 1, not 2, not 6, not 12, but TWENTY-FOUR 12 oz Mountain Dew's sitting on the kitchen counter!!!! Well, it was actually 23 since one blew up in flight, soaking half his underwear and socks, but hey - it's like ambrosia, all it did was purify them with its goodness. Add in some candy from the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Company, and you have one STELLAR gift from the homeland!!! Thanks, Tait!

Thursday: Big Easy…Bigger Hangover

So Thursday was a great day at work, and Tait made the most of the good weather by roaming around Marylebone, Regent’s Park, and then both the British Library and the National Portrait Gallery. I met him at 6:30 at Sloane Square for what we thought would be a “quick walk” over to the featured dinner destination – The Big Easy. “Quick” in this case was the equivalent of Alison Lailey’s description of Snowden’s ascent as being “short and sharp” – in other words, DRASTICALLY understated.

We walked 20 minutes flat out, finally arriving in Scotland…I mean at the restaurant, and the rest of the gang (Muffin, Yazz, and Sam Stone – Private Eye) arrived shortly thereafter. This place, an American themed restaurant, was EXTRA AWESOME. Seriously – we are talking EVERYTHING you could want for your American fix (at Tait’s expense, of course, since he probably didn’t actually NEED an American fix): GREAT wings (that’s right – PROPER WINGS, BABY!!!!!! Hellloooooooooooooo cholesterol!!!!), HUGE portions, great décor, and DELICIOUS food. It was a BLAST, and there were no complaints about my ribs, the mussels, Jenny’s lobster, or the preparation of the steaks.

As we had 7 PM reservations and a 2 hour time limit on the table, we decided to extend the evening a bit by hitting a bar on Kings Road. We had a few more drinks, but I left those cats at 11 because I was a) exhausted and b) had a busy day on Friday. The Fab 4, however, showed no signs of slowing down, and they didn’t leave until the bar closed at 12:30 AM. Let’s just say that it was a rough morning for all of them, whilst I was feelin’ fresh as a daisy. J If I remember correctly, one of them (all of whom shall remain nameless) woke up feeling tipsy, another work up at 5 AM on the couch with the lights and TV on, and another had to take half a day off work. Good times…and mum - fret not, this photo was a joke - I can assure you I was well behaved and was NOT drinking from the bottle. :-)

Friday: Recovery…and Rajdoot!!!

So Friday was (mercifully) quiet, although Brother Morgan and I did make it to the Cat for a Peroni before calling it a weekend.
I met Tait back at the flat, where we popped over to the Prince Regent for a pint (Heine for me - Amsterdam quality; Kulpers Kolsch for Tait - he seemed to enjoy it) before meeting perfect pumpkin and then rolling over to...where else? THE DOOT, BABY!!!! Pushy dude (PD for Yazz and Sam) was there, but he was mercifully more calm this time and didn't try to push an extra 30 dishes onto us. The meal was spectacular (back on form), and we had a nice dinner.

However, given that we were a) EXHAUSTED from Thursday and b) had a LONG day planned on Saturday, we were actually back at the flat at 9 PM and in bed by 11. Yes, yes, I know - WEAK. But listen, the night before was the equivalent of 3 nights out, so I wasn't complaining. And besides, I reckon there are enough good stories from the weekend to more than make up for it. For those, however, you'll have to tune in on Wednesday (I've got a different blog topic for tomorrow).

Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print. Chat tomorrow!

Love,

Sam and Jenny (and T-bone)

3 comments:

  1. Why don't you just buy the Rajdoot? For the love of Tikka Masala!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LOL - let's put it this way: if those boys ever IPO, I WILL be the leading share holder. No bailout needed here, baby!!!

    ReplyDelete