Monday, September 29th, 2008 The Rich Are Staging a Coup This Morning ...a message from Michael Moore
Friends, Let me cut to the chase. The biggest robbery in the history of this country is taking place as you read this. Though no guns are being used, 300 million hostages are being taken. Make no mistake about it: After stealing a half trillion dollars to line the pockets of their war-profiteering backers for the past five years, after lining the pockets of their fellow oilmen to the tune of over a hundred billion dollars in just the last two years, Bush and his cronies -- who must soon vacate the White House -- are looting the U.S. Treasury of every dollar they can grab. They are swiping as much of the silverware as they can on their way out the door. No matter what they say, no matter how many scare words they use, they are up to their old tricks of creating fear and confusion in order to make and keep themselves and the upper one percent filthy rich. Just read the first four paragraphs of the lead story in last Monday's New York Times and you can see what the real deal is: "Even as policy makers worked on details of a $700 billion bailout of the financial industry, Wall Street began looking for ways to profit from it. "Financial firms were lobbying to have all manner of troubled investments covered, not just those related to mortgages. "At the same time, investment firms were jockeying to oversee all the assets that Treasury plans to take off the books of financial institutions, a role that could earn them hundreds of millions of dollars a year in fees. "Nobody wants to be left out of Treasury's proposal to buy up bad assets of financial institutions." Unbelievable. Wall Street and its backers created this mess and now they are going to clean up like bandits. Even Rudy Giuliani is lobbying for his firm to be hired (and paid) to "consult" in the bailout. The problem is, nobody truly knows what this "collapse" is all about. Even Treasury Secretary Paulson admitted he doesn't know the exact amount that is needed (he just picked the $700 billion number out of his head!). The head of the congressional budget office said he can't figure it out nor can he explain it to anyone. And yet, they are screeching about how the end is near! Panic! Recession! The Great Depression! Y2K! Bird flu! Killer bees! We must pass the bailout bill today!! The sky is falling! The sky is falling! Falling for whom? NOTHING in this "bailout" package will lower the price of the gas you have to put in your car to get to work. NOTHING in this bill will protect you from losing your home. NOTHING in this bill will give you health insurance. Health insurance? Mike, why are you bringing this up? What's this got to do with the Wall Street collapse? It has everything to do with it. This so-called "collapse" was triggered by the massive defaulting and foreclosures going on with people's home mortgages. Do you know why so many Americans are losing their homes? To hear the Republicans describe it, it's because too many working class idiots were given mortgages that they really couldn't afford. Here's the truth: The number one cause of people declaring bankruptcy is because of medical bills. Let me state this simply: If we had had universal health coverage, this mortgage "crisis" may never have happened. This bailout's mission is to protect the obscene amount of wealth that has been accumulated in the last eight years. It's to protect the top shareholders who own and control corporate America. It's to make sure their yachts and mansions and "way of life" go uninterrupted while the rest of America suffers and struggles to pay the bills. Let the rich suffer for once. Let them pay for the bailout. We are spending 400 million dollars a day on the war in Iraq. Let them end the war immediately and save us all another half-trillion dollars! I have to stop writing this and you have to stop reading it. They are staging a financial coup this morning in our country. They are hoping Congress will act fast before they stop to think, before we have a chance to stop them ourselves. So stop reading this and do something -- NOW! Here's what you can do immediately: 1. Call or e-mail Senator Obama. Tell him he does not need to be sitting there trying to help prop up Bush and Cheney and the mess they've made. Tell him we know he has the smarts to slow this thing down and figure out what's the best route to take. Tell him the rich have to pay for whatever help is offered. Use the leverage we have now to insist on a moratorium on home foreclosures, to insist on a move to universal health coverage, and tell him that we the people need to be in charge of the economic decisions that affect our lives, not the barons of Wall Street. 2. Take to the streets. Participate in one of the hundreds of quickly-called demonstrations that are taking place all over the country (especially those near Wall Street and DC). 3. Call your Representative in Congress and your Senators. (click here to find their phone numbers). Tell them what you told Senator Obama. When you screw up in life, there is hell to pay. Each and every one of you reading this knows that basic lesson and has paid the consequences of your actions at some point. In this great democracy, we cannot let there be one set of rules for the vast majority of hard-working citizens, and another set of rules for the elite, who, when they screw up, are handed one more gift on a silver platter. No more! Not again! Yours,Michael MooreMMFlint@aol.comMichaelMoore.com P.S. Having read further the details of this bailout bill, you need to know you are being lied to. They talk about how they will prevent golden parachutes. It says NOTHING about what these executives and fat cats will make in SALARY. According to Rep. Brad Sherman of California, these top managers will continue to receive million-dollar-a-month paychecks under this new bill. There is no direct ownership given to the American people for the money being handed over. Foreign banks and investors will be allowed to receive billion-dollar handouts. A large chunk of this $700 billion is going to be given directly to Chinese and Middle Eastern banks. There is NO guarantee of ever seeing that money again. P.P.S. From talking to people I know in DC, they say the reason so many Dems are behind this is because Wall Street this weekend put a gun to their heads and said either turn over the $700 billion or the first thing we'll start blowing up are the pension funds and 401(k)s of your middle class constituents. The Dems are scared they may make good on their threat. But this is not the time to back down or act like the typical Democrat we have witnessed for the last eight years. The Dems handed a stolen election over to Bush. The Dems gave Bush the votes he needed to invade a sovereign country. Once they took over Congress in 2007, they refused to pull the plug on the war. And now they have been cowered into being accomplices in the crime of the century. You have to call them now and say "NO!" If we let them do this, just imagine how hard it will be to get anything good done when President Obama is in the White House. THESE DEMOCRATS ARE ONLY AS STRONG AS THE BACKBONE WE GIVE THEM. CALL CONGRESS NOW.
yes that's correct if you read the time this post is being made it's 1.47AM and I'm finally done packing. I had the best of intentions for coming straight home & getting ready, but as those best laid plans always go, I ended up going out to eat for Seth's 33rd birthday. I would have had an easier time saying no if he hadn't just moved back to London from a year and a half living in Benin, so you can imagine his 32nd birthday wasn't the greatest!
Okay off to bed now - write more soon, when I can!
not me, but others around me are "having a case of the Mondays" for sure! not sure when I'll be able to post again as my day is already flying by & tonight will be filled with packing, packing & more packing, cause as those of you who know me well, know I'm not a pack-in-advance girl at all! I normally stay up late the night before & then wake up early & freak out & finish packing the day I'm flying out, which will probably happen again this trip - I can't lie about it!
Had a great day in the sun yesterday, Kaylie & I went to Hyde Park for a picnic, others were suppose to come, but didn't make it. We were getting a good dose of vitamin D for the week and then finished the day off with some Lebanese food on Edgeware Rd with Rob (who came by after work).
Hope you all have a great two weeks - I'll post if/when I can from Rwanda, but if not I promise to have lots of photos to show upon my return!
Had lots planned for today and as you all know those best laid plans . . . met Kaylie at half 10 at Angel tube station in order to go to Blacks to get a windbreaker/raincoat/shell jacket thing - turns out there's not "in" right now so I only could chose from the manky colours that were left over and of course didn't have my size, tons of size 2 or4, but not a whole lot else. I asked the sales person if they could call another store & see if they had others left & turns out the one near Canterbury Lane tube did so off we trundled. Low & behold they have the right size & in black which works for me, so that's sorted. Next we went to meet "everyone" for lunch. Everyone means anyone who's still in/around London who went to LSTHM (Shani from London still works at the school like me, Gareth from Netherlands, Seth from American just moved back to start his PhD, Dave who's up at Oxford getting his PhD, Sohel who's from Bangladesh) this was where the plans started to fall apart . . . Shani in her never on timeliness called at 11am to say she was running a bit late so not to wait for her, but that Seth had moved back into town & she'd let him know where to meet us. A bit later Gareth called to say he had to work till 3pm . . . around 4 he called to say he'd be done at 6, and at 7.30 he called to say he was done (by which time we were done as well), but in the mean time Kaylie, Sohel & I met up at the pub for a nice chat. Next arrived Dave & his girlfriend Kat (btw she's fav for those of you who know Dave & were wondering!) Kaylie was glad that Kat wasn't an immunologist & decided to stay on a bit longer since she wasn't the only NON geek! Next Andy arrived and about an hour later Seth showed up as well. By 4.45pm, I was rather hungry so I made a plan to move on from the pub to dinner. Just as the meal was starting the text message from Shani said she wasn't going to make it into the city today and again not to wait for her. Now she is a dear friend of mine & I've said this to her face, but never in a million years will I ever wait for Shani cause she's ALWAYS LATE!!! I joke she's going to be late to her funeral! It's now past 8pm & I'm exhausted, but mum you'll be happy to hear I haven't started to pack yet :) but ya know getting the jacket was rather impressive in my mind seeing as I still have 3 days to go [for those who don't know I'm famous for packing just minutes before I leave - when I moved to London my first time just 3 years ago, and you can ask Matt, I packed the morning of & even once we were in the car I was reorganising en route to Boston, bless Matt's heart he was so patient in my utter disarrayed state.]
oh and by the way I'd like to leave a quick note here for my parents who would have been married 34 years today and who to most people's surprise have managed to stay best of friends even after getting a divorce (about 10 years ago now) so they've decided to go out to dinner & the circus tonight - which I think is just fantastic! Hope they're having fun - miss you both!!!!
How many times have you been delayed on a flight for more than one hour & never known why or had some not so fun excuse like bad weather! Well this morning in Germany a KLM flight was only delayed for just over an hour during which time they took 2 suspected terrorists into custody, rechecked all the luggage & re boarded the entire flight. Now is it just me or is that impressive?
800,000 killed in 100 days. Would you risk your life to make a difference?
I think everyone should be required to watch the movie, Shooting Dogs also known as Beyond the Gates in America. It is based on the experiences of David Belton, a BBC employee who was working in Rwanda during the genocide in 1994. A really cool aspect of this movie unlike Hotel Rwanda is that it was filmed on the original location instead of South Africa. Some survivors of the genocide also played a role in the production and took minor acting roles in the movie. I think it was my mum who asked me why it was called Shooting Dogs and I think the answer was from the fact that UN peacekeepers would shoot local dogs that were eating decomposing bodies of the genocide victims but yet refused to shoot the Hutu extremists - which was somewhat funny considering that the UN peacekeepers where told not to shoot unless fired upon first & as they mention in the movie, it's not like the dogs had fired at them - which I thought was a great line!!
I think the thing I liked about this movie way better than Hotel Rwanda was I felt it was much more heart felt than Hotel Rwanda. Not to say that Hotel Rwanda isn't a good movie, just for me, I was able to "feel" for the characters in Shooting Dogs much more. If you get a chance to rent this movie you totally should! If you'd like to see more photos from Rwanda which were taken just last year, please visit Adam Bacher's blog.
Okay off to read Left to Tell written by a woman who survived the genocide in Rwanda her name is Immaculee Ilibagiza. More info on this book later, I fear I might have trouble sleeping since I only read 5 pages on the bus ride home before I realised I'd nearly missed my stop . . . btw 119.5 hours till I leave :)
not much to report, raining again in London, still haven't bought a windbreaker/raincoat, still haven't seen the movie (that's 1hour and 50 minutes from now), and the other exciting thing that's happening today deserves it's own post so I'll stop now & do that one instead cause it's more fun!
Still need to get £600 in cash in LARGE CRISP bills for my trip, since of course nobody takes credit cards and the likelihood of the cash points (aka ATMs) working is slim to none. That's probably way more money than I need but I don't wanna be calling my mum or dad from the Western Union at the Kigali Airport - I some how don't think they'd appreciate it especially since the time difference between Kigali & the Adirondacks is going to be 8 hours.
I still haven't gotten myself a windbreaker/rain coat thing, instead of going shopping today after work I decided to come straight home, run a bath & finish reading The Boy in the Stripped Pyjamas by John Boyne . . . has anyone read it? I thought it was a good book, it's only like 215 pages, but it's rather good! I'm off to see the movie tomorrow night with Jaid & Kaylie so I HAD to finish it today!!!! The film was released on September 12 over here in UK, but not till November 7 over in America, so I'll have to let you know if it's worth it since this is probably only the one time a movie will be out first over here!!!
Okay off to finish watching Brothers & Sisters Season 1 - thanks to Neala & Melissa I've got it on DVD :)
I'll be leaving for Kigali, Rwanda :) for those not wanting to do the maths, I'm leaving at 8pm GMT next Tuesday the 30th out of Heathrow.
I just looked up the weather on BBC's website and discovered the coolest thing ever, it's in the low 80s, "YEAH BABY YEAH" is all I can say to that! The weather here in London is no where near that (about 20 degrees F cooler) & didn't get close to that this past summer either, if you can even call the weather we had these past few months "summer" cause in my mind it's suppose to be sunny & hot . . . we had cool rainy weather the majority of the time.
I think I've got everything I need, minus a rain coat, not sure what happen to mine, but I need to pick up a new one this weekend. I also need to print out a few photos of my friends & family to share with the local people.
I've just figured out the flight from London (England) to Nairobi (Kenya) is 8.25 hours long and then I have a few hours lay over in the airport, as my mates who travel through there often have advised me not to leave the airport) before the second leg of my flight on to Kigali (Rwanda) which is just over an hour.
Kigali, Rwanda is 3 hours ahead of GMT and I'll be landing there on the morning of Oct 1st.
Buckingham Palace, Queen's Gallery, The Royal Mews
Check . . . that means YES, I've been to all three in one day. That's correct for 1 month a year they allow visitors & after waiting three years I finally made it in and here is the evidence:
me with Buckingham Palace in the background
one of the many beautiful grey horses!
the gold carriage (kaylie in the background)
me (NU class of '01, civilian), Carl (NU class of '79, corps of cadets) & Adrienne (NU class of '09, on-line masters degree student - who's never actually been to Vermont)
I was in Scotland from Monday to Thursday with dad & some of his Harvard Business School alum. Talked a lot about the economy, banks, derivatives, and other terms which I didn't understand and can't remember now either!
Today I'm off to our first Norwich University European Alumni Group Meeting, which I'm the chair of, so I gotta run, but didn't want you to think I'd fallen off the face of the earth over here in London.
Dad, Kaylie & I trundled off to Brighton for the day. It was only suppose to be partly sunny and 16C, but we got lucky and it turned out to be completely sunny and about 20C!!!
We visited the Brighton Pavilion which was a farmhouse until King George IV decided to re-vamp it in an Asian theme, the outside look likes an Indian temple and the inside has lots of Chinese decor - it's pretty cool if you ask me!
From there we went to lunch at the Grand Hotel and then walked along the ROCKY beach, yes that's correct no soft white sand like I'm use to in RI, but pebbles & rocks - what I would call river rocks. Luckily we had our trainers on so we didn't have to worry about it, as I'm not sure how one would walk with bare feet or flip flops for that matter!!!
We walked down the pier, similar to coney island, took a seat on the chairs to soak in the sun, before continuing down the beach. After that we headed back into town & did a bit of shopping in "The Laines" and then back to catch a train home.
so again it's been a busy week with dad making my bed frame . . . my mate Andy's double 18 birthday dinner last night at Jamie Oliver's restaurant Fifteen . . . seeing the movie The Duchess . . . my french lesson . . . and I can't even think what else has gone on, I just know it's been super busy!
Tomorrow Dad, Kaylie & I are off to Brighton for the day and on Sunday I'm not going anywhere or doing anything, okay okay, aside from laundry & packing for Monday. Our train outta Euston is at 10.45am on Monday morning. We should be in Edinburgh by 4.30pm. Did you know that Edinburgh is the home to Alexander Graham Bell, Sean Connery, and J.K. Rowling, who actually wrote her first book at a local coffee shop called, Nicolson's Cafe.
We'll be up north till Thursday morning when I catch a train back down to London & dad flies home to the states. Aside from that we'll just be awaiting the arrival of JCG's baby G, which is especially important now that I've entered 2 guesses for when (s)he will arrive and we all know I WANT to be correct!!!
Yes that's correct people, my dad made me a bed frame so I don't have to go back to friggin IKEA where they may or may not have the bed frame I wanted/needed. I'll have to post photos later, just know that my dad went to the lumber yard today, got the stuff he needed delivered, put it all together all before 5pm when he came to my work to meet me so we could go to see the movie, The Duchess, which is good btw! Zee, it's sorta like The Queen, and nothing like Happy Feet :)
Okay gotta get to bed, LONG day in the cat 3 at Imperial tomorrow, so I need lots of rest!!
Stress A lecturer when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes." He continued,"And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later,as the burden becomes increasingly heavy,we won't be able to carry on. " "As with the glass of water,you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden." "So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. "So, my friend, Put down anything that may be a burden to you right now. Don't pick it up again until after you've rested a while. Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life: * Accept that some days you're the pigeon,and some days you're the statue. * Always keep your words soft and sweet,just in case you have to eat them. * Always read stuff that will make you look goodif you die in the middle of it. * Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can berecalled by their maker. * If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague. * If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again,it was probably worth it. * It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply be kind to others. * Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time,because then you won't have a leg to stand on. * Nobody cares if you can't dance well.Just get up and dance. * Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late. * The second mouse gets the cheese. * When everything's coming your way,you're in the wrong lane. * Birthdays are good for you.The more you have, the longer you live. * You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person. * Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once. * We could learn a lot from crayons... Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names, and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box. *A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour. Have an awesome day and know that someone has thought about you today...I did.
hi everyone, sorry for my 4 days of quiet, even after I promised I'd be good & post stuff for JCG who's on bed rest :( I've just been so busy with dad & work I've not had proper time to sit down & compose a post.
So I don't have photos right now, buuuuuttttt I did take some over the weekend. On Saturday we went to Oxford, toured around Christ Church, even got into the dinning hall where Harry Potter was filmed (don't worry photos will come eventually), then on to Magdalen College, which has some of the most beautiful grounds - it's where I'd have wanted to go if I had grown up in the UK.
Sunday we woke up & went to IKEA to get me a new bed (yeah!) we decided not to waste the money on a bed frame as mine was perfectly fine, so we picked out the mattress, paid for it, sent it to the delivery section, arranged for dad to stay home on Monday & back home we went.
Monday the mattress got delivered, low & behold it's a different size than my bed frame! yes, that means my sheets don't fit it either!!! We decide we'll go back another time & sort it out. We also decide we'll go to Brighton on Saturday.
Today dad picked me up from work around half 4, got a tour of the labs & saw what he can see of the cat 3 labs (through a small viewing window only), met my co-workers and then we met Kaylie at Euston Square station & went to IKEA. Luckily it wasn't nearly as busy as it was on Sunday so we were pretty speedy. Found bed frame, found sheets, found a few other bits & bobs we needed and off to the "pick up aisles" we go . . . got the side frames, got kaylie's mirror, but we can't find the head board, it seems to be out of stock, rather pissed off, hungry & exhausted from this whole process (btw it's not so easy to get out to Neasden from where I live or work) I speak to someone at the info desk & nope they don't have any, they hope to have 5 delivered tomorrow but if I come after work he can almost guarantee me they'll be gone - WTF - is there any way to reserve it? NO! can I order it online? NO!
We drop the mirror & side pieces & check out with only stuff we can carry in our hands. Then try to get home a new way, which turns out rather long & we of course didn't really end up where we wanted to, but whatever we got home at 9pm.
After a quick prep of dinner, dad & I started to discuss how maybe we could just use 2 pieces of plywood to "make" the bed frame fit my lovely new mattress . . . I think it's going to work :)
Aren't dad's the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow night we're going to see The Dutchess at 6.10pm - YEAH!!!
okay off to sleep now - will try to get some photos up soon.
sorry I don't have anything exciting to report, but I promised JCG that I'd make a few posts so she's not super bored whilst on bed rest! Only thing I have to say today is that I'm sick & tried of the rain, it really kills my mood :-(
Other bits of excitement today are:
- went to the cinema tonight with Kaylie & saw the movie Step Brothers, which let me save you the time, DON'T bother, not worth it!!!!!!!!!
- tried my first ever Tim Tam - does anyone know what those are? hint: Kaylie introduced them to me.
Aside from that I've gotta run as we're off to Oxford tomorrow (in the POURING rain I'm sure) to visit a family friend & we need to wake up at 7am :-(
My first roommate at Norwich University is pregos & due October 10th (3 days before her birthday), but since Baby G is apparently so excited to meet the rest of us, she's been put on bed rest. I promised her I'd try to post a few times so she'd have something to read since she can't go back to teaching & isn't allowed to do much aside from sit or lie down - I'm guessing it's just as frustrating as when I was limited post knee surgery.
So I don't have much to discuss today, but this morning I was busy working. Okay not lab working, but working on plane tickets. I found that Ryanair had a great sale on so I booked 2 set of tickets, Venice, Italy and Porto, Portugal.
First trip will take place October 31st to November 2nd and it's to Venice, Italy with Mindy (American mate who works for Bank of America here in London)
Second trip is November 14 - 16th to Porto, Portugal with Jaiden, John, (my Aussie mates from the pub who house sat for me) and Kaylie (Aussie mate who I met through Jaiden)
Has anyone been to either of these locations? Anyone have any recommendations for hotels, must see places, or just as important places to avoid?
So after being sort of "out of it" with friends & family visiting and to be honest glad I'm not in America being tortured with TONS of political ads, I finally decided to check out who the VP nominations where. Really people, WTF are you thinking????
As most of you know I'm registered as Independent, cause politics really just pisses me off about 98.7% of the time! I would hedge my bets that more than likely I'm a democrat on many issues, but I know that I do have some republican views as well. As I've probably not publicly said before, I'm not really a fan of either Obama or McCain, but then gain wasn't a huge fan of Hillary either, so now I'm back to just trying to find the lesser of the evils for my absentee ballot vote for this November's election.
If it looks a bit one sided it might be, cause A) this is my blog, B) I'm limited on time, C) I haven't spent as much time as I need to in order to make a fully equal post. That being said I'd like to ask you my readers, who thinks this Sarah Palin is a good choice? The info I am about to present is all what I've heard on BBC One news, which I reckon is a pretty good source, or at least way better than any news from America.
My "problems" with her being the VP would be the following:
she describes herself as a "hockey mom"
mother of five, oldest of which is 19 and youngest being less than a year . . . now in my mind a good mother would want to spend time with her children, especially when the youngest has down syndrome
she won the Miss Wasilla beauty contest playing the flute . . . maybe I'm just snobby but in my mind beauty contestants aren't really in my mind good politicians
her work experience has been in sports reporting for a TV station in Alaska and helping her husband's fishing business . . . maybe that's good background experience, but I'm not sold on it
I know some one's going to say Obama doesn't have a lot of experience, but at least his degrees & jobs seem to be a bit more relevant than beauty contests & sports reporting, but then again maybe not?
Feel free to leave comments - I'd love to know what others are thinking
for the moment at least . . . My boss asked me to stay for another year, finish off my grant & hopefully write a paper on my project & be second author on co-worker's paper - after LONG debates with myself & talking it out with family & friends from around the world (and I do mean around the world, UK, Iraq, USA, Germany, Australia) over the past 3 weeks I've finally made the decided to accept the 2009 contract.
I know this might come as a surprise to some of you, since I was pretty dead set on coming home in December and joining the peace corps. But I really, really wanna get a paper out of this project (I've decided it's one of my "goals" - one of many things I've learned from Zee) & it will give me a chance to look into other options before making some sort of quick decision to switch careers without balancing out all of my other options.
I just sent an email to a mate of mine in SoCal & realised how busy my life has been over the past few months & what's still to come, here's a quick recap:
June 19-July 14th i was state side for my dad's 70th birthday, my NU roommates wedding, visiting my sister before she moved from CT to TN, visiting my cousins & aunt who i only see once a year & going to an interview with the peace corps
rest of July was spent working like mad for a HUGE presentation about future funding at work (see below for outcome on that one!)
August 13th my sis arrived for 2 weeks visit
August 15th i had my mate Jim's wedding up in Nottingham
August 22-25 my sis & i went to Prague and met up with my dad
August 27th - Sept 1, two of my mates who are living on a base in Germany came to visit
Sept 1st my dad arrived for a 3 week visit
Also on Sept 1 - my boss announced we got funding for 2009, so I'm working on getting yet another visa so i can stay till Dec 2009 :-)
Still to come on my whirlwind life is:
Today, Sept 2nd, I'm meeting my godmother & her husband for lunch (they're in town just for a few hours)
Sept 6th, Dad & I are off to Oxford to visit family friends for the day
Sept 15-18th I'm in Edinburgh with my dad for a Harvard Business School reunion (his obviously not mine)
Sept 20th I'm spear heading the 1st ever Norwich University European Alumni meeting
Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense. - Ralph Waldo Emerson
