Jen and I have been speaking lately over something called an "instant messenger" (IM). It's a program that let's you type back and forth to each other in real time. So, as soon as I type something on my end, Jen sees it on her screen, and vice-versa. It also has a "talk" feature that allows us, with the addition of a microphone, to speak to each other clear as day (for free). It's this last feature that's just fantastic.

Anyway, I noticed yesterday at 6:00 pm (in England, 12:00 pm in Indiana) that Jen had gotten home early from call. I could tell she was on the computer because the IM program told me so, indicating she was there with a little green dot. Excited, I began to type. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Are you there?
(long pause).....
Me: Hello?
Jen: No
Me: What?
Jen: Go away.
Me: Why?
Jen: b/c (because)
Me: What's wrong?
Jen: Nothing, go away.
Me: Um, okay. Give me a call later.

Besides this, I tried to connect to her via the voice function a couple of times, only to be turned down.

For the next two hours I was distraught as to just why Jen was so peeved at me. What could I have done? Was I supposed to do something that I didn't? Is she just fed up with me being away? I just couldn't figure it out. Needless to say, I was a little worried. I even called the house on the land-line twice. Of course, Jen didn't answer either time. Apparently I was up s**t creek without a paddle.

Luckily, about two hours later I got a message from Jen on the IM. We said hello and then connected over the voice feature. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Hey.
Jen: Hey honey.
Me: So, what were you so mad about earlier?
Jen: What?
Me: You know, earlier when you told me to "go away".
Jen: What the heck are you talking about?
Me: When you wouldn't talk to me.
Jen: Huh?
Me: Ummmm....
(long pause).....
Me: Was someone else on our computer?
Jen: No, I just got home.
Me: Then how did someone IM me under your name?
Jen: OOOOHHHH. I must have left the computer at work signed in under my name.
Me: That's funny. (HUGE sigh of relief)
...... and the conversation went on from there.

So, I thought for two hours that I was in some sort of marriage-ending trouble. I mean, Jen's never been that blunt and mean before, even when she is mad. But apparently the only relationship that is in jeopardy is that of myself and someone at the hospital. Sadly, I feel it is too late for us. Luckily, Jen isn't mad at all!!! :^)

Finally, this church ruin is located in Castle Park, very close to my flat. It's a neat ruin, and you can walk right up to it and sit on it's benches. It stands just next to where the original castle was built in Bristol. 

This is the inside of St. Mary of Redcliff's Church in Bristol. It's huge. 

This difficult to see picture is of St. Mary Redcliff's Church here in Bristol. It's an incredible and ornate structure. Services have been going on since 1081. Although, at that time the original structure you see now wasn't there. 

This was a beautiful church in Bath. I'm started to think that beautiful churches are a dime a dozen in the UK. I just can't help but be impressed though. 

This is the outside of the Roman Bath in the city of Bath. The structure you see here isn't original, but it has been added to house a museum around the Roman ruins. 

This is the main Roman Bath in the city of Bath. It is part of a much larger ruin from when the Romans occupied and controlled most of England. A natural spring feeds the entire complex with hot mineral water. It's quite impressive. 

Some details on the blog

As you might have noticed, I have now removed the comments section from the blog. I was getting a lot of spam in there. Apparently people just comment over and over trying to get you to go to their own site. That's enough of that.

I have also changed the way I handle pictures somewhat. The pictures in the blog itself are slightly bigger, but if you click on them you'll now get an even larger picture. I thought this would help everyone see my new pictures better. Sometimes you can't really tell anything by the smaller ones.

Bristol

I took some time today to bum around Bristol with some new friends I've met here in Bristol. We spent the morning exploring an area of Bristol known as Clifton. It's a neat little area with lots and lots of shops, restaurants, museums, etc. The highlight seems to be the Clifton Suspension Bridge. I'll let the picture below speak for themself.

All in all, it was just a nice day strolling through the city and taking in some great architecture and some real Britain feel. We bought a Times paper and ready that for a couple hours. Tom & Sam, my friends, seemed to think that the Brits make a paper that's far superior to any of our newspapers in America. I'd have to say that I think their right. The Times was just great.

Anyway, tomorrow it's off to Bath. Bath is a Roman city and has some of the oldest architecture in all of Britain. So I should have some good picture of that.

Here's a beautiful view of the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Conceived in 1831 and completed in 1864, it's quite the engineering feat for the period. 

Here's a picture of me in front of the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Taking the picture is one my new friends, Sam. 

Here's a picture of the outside of my flat. My apartment is on the third floor. It's the one with the window open. 

An update from across the pond

Well, I realize it's been a while since I've updated the blog, but there really hasn't been much going on. Work is going nicely, I've progressed through some example CFD problems and have just started my first "real" project. I'll be working on a CFD/heat-transfer approach to the compressor rotor of the JSF F136 engine. Should be interesting.

I've also started to pick up most of the British dialects & phrases in the Bristol area. It's kind of fun trying to figure out what people are saying at times. It does seem like everyone can understand me just fine, it's them I have a problem with. Must just be a stupid American!

Everyone here is quite nice and I've met some good folks. The area of town I live in has some interesting things going on. There are lots of shops & restaurants. Funnily enough, however, I've mostly been cooking for myself. I think I've actually lost some weight already. It's much easier to eat healthy here in the UK for some reason. I think you'd have to go out of your way to eat like a pig here. Portions are smaller and the food at the store is generally healthier. Good for me, I guess.

Success!

I managed to drive myself to work without killing myself. The only mishap was filling up with gas, because I didn't know what side the gas cap was on. Speaking of which, I just spent 36.41 pounds to fill up with gas. That's $65!!!

It was a bit nerve-wracking, but luckily there weren't many people on the road. The hardest thing to figure out was what side people passed on. It looks like they've adopted the "pass on the inside of the road method", just like us, so they pass on the right.

Now it's time for an early lunch.

Marky need sleepy

Well, I thought that perhaps I had licked my jet lag in the butt yesterday. It would appear, however, that sleeping 16 hours straight isn't exactly conducive to sleeping again just 6 hours later.

I was up until about 4:30 am last night because I couldn't sleep at all. On the plus side, I did get to talk to Jen over the internet. I also plowed through about 100 pages of my Alexander Hamilton biography.

I decided to wake up at 8:00 am today anyway. Hopefully that will mean that I'm tired enough to sleep tonight. I guess we'll see.

Well, now I'm off to try my hand at driving in the UK. I thought I'd make a practice run to Rolls-Royce when it's not so busy. Wish me luck!

British Food.... or lack thereof

Contrary to the title of this post, I've actually been fairly impressed with the British food so far. My favorite thing currently is a Cornish Pasty. They come in a variety of flavors, but I've stuck with the traditional steak. Basically, it's a bunch of potatoes & meat wrapped up in a calzone-like shell. Pretty good and pretty cheap.

Yesterday I had the all-day breakfast at a local pub. I figured since I was jet-lagged I could have breakfast whenever I pleased, thank you very much. It consisted of two eggs, ham, sausage, french fries (chips), and baked beans. The eggs and ham were pretty normal. The sausage looked like a big brat and tasted great. The french fries were strange for breakfast, but whatever. But I've yet to figure out why they eat baked beans for breakfast. Weird.

For dinner tonight I decided to make myself something. I went to a local grocery that seemed pretty fancy. It was actually part of a department store and it was called Marks & Spencer. They had all kinds of neat stuff and prices weren't too horrible. I got some veggies and salmon and fried them up. It was decent. I don't have any spices, butter, oil, etc. yet so it was a bit bland. I can only carry so much the 1/2 mile to my apartment though, so I'll have to make another run tomorrow for that.

My apartment

Well, I've arrived and have pretty much settled into my apartment. I still need to buy an alarm clock and some clothing hangars, not to mention groceries.

I've got to say that I was very, very impressed with the apartment. It's not big, but it's plenty for a single person. Everything is new and nice. There are hardwood floors, a big leather couch, a nice kitchen, the list goes on & on.

I was also very impressed with the staff. They picked me up from the airport and brought me to the apartment. They showed me around the apartment and gave me some tips about the area. They also gave me plenty of numbers to call if I needed help. They're really nice and really helpful.

So anyway, I'm off to grab a bite to eat. Thanks to my jet lag I just slept for 16 hours so now I'm really hungry. That's got to be some sort of record. See-ya!


The kitchen. Notice that all of the appliances are within the cabinets. The only downside is that the fridge is small.


The living room. Notice the leather couch (which I think is brand new) and the LCD tv. That little table there is my default desk and sits right beside the kitchen.


The bedroom. It's small but I've rearranged it somewhat so that I get more floorspace. The bed itself is really comfy.

Sexy Kitty

In a bid to make me stay in the U.S., kitty tries out his sexy pose...


Oh Yeah....