Watching football from afar - week 2

First off, I haven't disappeared ... I finished my dissertation! It cost me one all-nighter (which practically killed me), but it went the mail and it looking rather smart in its laminated cover and comb binding.

With that out of the way .... Ok, like last year, I am resigned to watch my Buckeyes as a little red line going back and forth on the the ESPN Gametracker. Sigh. However, a glimmer of hope emerged last week when I found 1430 AM Fostoria, who actually lets me listen to the game commentary. Thank you! To be quite honest, today's game wasn't worth listening ... 3-2 at the half?!? What?!?

While OSU lollers about on the field, I continue to be extremely pleased with 'that team from up North's' performance. I cackled with glee last week's score and I found this today's on ESPN regarding the Oregon game. Fantastic.

"This is so sad the Michigan fans will need to shoot botox into their face for the next 2 years to smile again."

Anyway, enough of football! Me and Katie are off to the races tomorrow to see if I can continue my good luck from a few weeks back. This is just tiding me over until I make the trans-continental journey to the States on Wednesday. I will be home until Oct. 9 and this jaunt includes a trip out to LA!!

Ok, back to football :) ... I am home for only one (!) OSU football game, v. Northwestern, and Dad and I need tickets. Help! Anyone?!?

P.S. Tough loss today by my Miami Redhawks (or Red Storm Rising, if you are Jeff) - triple overtime at Minnesota. Heading down to Oxford next Saturday for the Cincy (Battle of the Bell) game - hold down the fort until I get there!

It's almost football season!

American football that is, as soccer has been playing for ages silly! - especially my favorite, college football! While I get ready to watch my silly ESPN Gametracker on Saturday for the OSU game (go red line go!), I'd thought I'd share this Top 25 game preview, courtesy of ESPN:

No. 16 Rutger (0-0) vs. Buffalo (0-0)
Piscataway, NJ7:00 PM ETCan Rutgers build off last year's Cinderella season? The Scarlet Knights have a great chance to get off on the right foot facing perennial doormat Buffalo.

Aww .... poor Buffalo. Being a MAC-school based girl (Go Miami!), I should be feel sorry for them. Instead I giggled. Oh well ...

Duffman loves the racecourse - Oh yeah!

Since it was so nice and warm out today (we've been suffering with autumnal weather, chilly!) - we decided to go to the York Racecourse and the Ebor Races. Lucky for us it is two minutes to our house. We got a bit dressed up, since it was Ladies Day, and headed to track.

I don't think I've ever been so lucky - I won £47.90 on two horses, Duff and Want to be Posh! I pick horses on two things: 1. jockey jersey color and 2. horse names. Duff was picked because of Duffman from the Simpson (which gave me the greatest return 33/1 shot and he won!) and Want to be Posh because, well ... who doesn't and her jockey was smartly dressed!

New Photos

Pics from my Yorkshire jaunt in July (with Katie and her parents) have been posted on Flickr. Apparently all my Yahoo! photos have been moved there as well. Enjoy ... we certainly travelled a lot (810 miles - thank you Enterprise and sorry about the hubcap!).

This photo was from our day out at Brimham Rocks. I was feeling particularly Elizabeth Bennett-y ... and the answer to the next question from 2S and Leslie, yes, Katie and I were careful not to fall so we could face our fathers!

Start practicing your bows ...

I have a title ... Lady of Glencairn. It was purchased for me by Katie for my birthday. I think I'll head off to my retreat in the Highland later this summer!

Our new houseguest

Two nights ago when I was locking up the house for the night, I noticed something creeping along the sideboard next to the garden door. Those of you who know me, know I hate spiders, and was very cautious as I turned on the lights to discover .... a slug!

Yes, a slug had somehow trudged it's way in from the back garden, up the side of the house, over the door jam, and into the tiles of the kitchen. It must have taken him ages! Anyway, he was directed back to the garden, where I presume is living out his days amongst the moss growing on our cement patio.

In other news, I am writing, and writing, and writing. Dissertation = blah! Hence the no blog updates as 1. I am completely worn out and 2. My life is boring and warrants no update! Back to writing!

Last night was really Harry ...

Of course I'm referring to Harry Potter. I had reserved my copy of the final book back in April (I know, nerd!) and went to pick it up last night at the Borders in town. Katie and I went around 11:15 p.m. to get in line for the midnight release. Having experienced two other HP parties at the Polaris Barnes and Noble, I was expecting games, handouts, etc. ... none really to speak of! How sad. Also I have to give B&N credit for letting us pre-paid and giving out numbered bracelets for standing in line ... not here! The queue wound around the store, up and down stairs, in and out of the dvds, circling the travel section, and finally back to the registers where we had to pay. I got the book around 1 a.m. and finally made it back to the house around 2, when I started reading until about 4 a.m., woke up around 10 a.m. and finished the book around 2 p.m.

So? Is it worth a read? Definitely!

Heard from outside my bedroom window ....

The race announcer's call of the July horse races at the Knavesmire track. It's a two day event, but in the mid-afternoon of typing my dissertation, this is what I heard, in addition to cheering. I guess the bets are going well today. Yesterday everyone coming from the course was soggy from the rain and drunk ... maybe not such a good day. Of course, I'm sure they are still drunk today.

Last night as a needed distraction, Katie and I went to see Harry Potter. Not too bad as a stand alone film, but as an adaption they did several silly things that they could have left in from the book. Oh well - we were just happy to have reserved seats in the side rows that only have two seats (i.e. no children front or behind). Lots of kids in the theater but not a lot of noise, has to say something about the movie! Now we are on hold until midnight 20 July, when I pick up my copy of the last HP book from Borders in town!

Back online!

What a mess! We lost our wireless connection a few weeks back (curses Philips!) so we have been without Internet. Today I finally was able to connect with our new broadband - ta da! Internet! Hopefully I'll be able update again soon - including photos of our recent trip around North Yorkshire.

Umm ... hello, summer??

Could you please come to us? Because I'm freezing and wet! Today's weather was horrible. A lovely combination of colder weather, wind, and rain ... lots and lots of rain. I am hoping that we will break the spell and get warmer soon, but I can only keep my fingers crossed.

Also, our freezer is in our shed - so in the process of getting dinner out of the freezer, I got soaked. Blah.

Ice cream tastiness ...

When Katie and I were visiting Scarborough a few weeks ago (and no, we were not there to see the fair - it's later in the year), we stopped at an ice cream parlour to have a Knickerbocker Glory. Sounds interesting doesn't it? Katie remembered reading about them in Harry Potter and I will have to report, they are quite tasty! and tall!

For more information on Knickerbocker Glory sundaes and the recipe for your own, visit here.

New Photos

When I was packing, I completely forgot my camera at home. So while I am waiting for it to clear UK customs ... here are some pics that Katie took when we went to Scarborough two weeks ago. Enjoy!

Early morning light

So I had a terrible night of sleep last night. First off, couldn't get to sleep at all and then kept waking up. Ugh - now I am tired ... again. However, I did find out that the sun rises in York around 4:15 a.m. Wow, that's early! I hope never to see it again.

P.S. Happy Father's Day to dad and grandpa!! Love you!

Surprise - this Sinclair actually is from Scotland!

Well at least from one-fourth of my family (I think the rest is dominated by German genes). I got an email a couple weeks back about annual Sinclair reunion, which when we attend we are the only Sinclairs. Ha. Obviously, I can't make it, but asked them if anyone had any background on the Sinclair history which I have desperately wanted for ages.

Yesterday, I got some emails from family members I've never heard of stating they had traced my line back to Scotland ... from 1630! Hurray! So now I can start looking over here for my great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-grandfather, William Sincler (whew what a spelling)! Should make for a fun summer!

Oh, I forgot ...

I don't have blonde hair anymore ... It's brown! My hair finally caved and decided to go with the rest of the family colorings. Took it long enough. Still getting used to it, but overall, not too bad.

In unrelated news, a marching band came down our street this morning. Yes, our tiny little street. Not sure why but they had drums, brass, and and a xylophone-type instrument. Interesting.

Philips is crap!

Ever since I've been back in the UK, philips (my 'free' internet provider) has been on the fritz, allowing me no updates to the blog! Blast philips ... and izzy! Hopefully things will speed up soon and philips will allow me to view graphics and this site!

In other computer news, a Dell technician came to the house this week to give me a new motherboard and internal speakers. Thanks to Dell for coming to the house, and taking four online chats with US and UK agents to get this problem solved (please note a slight sense of sarcasm in that last sentence). The scariest moment?? When the technician took apart my computer ... literally. Pieces of laptop everywhere!

Back to the other side of the pond ...

Back finally from my tour of the states and my holiday to the Bahamas. I had a quick four days home before getting on another plane to Orlando and onto the Sovereign of the Seas for my first cruise ... which was quite nice, except for the sun poisoning (ouch!).

The rest of the time was spent meeting up with people, travelling around Ohio, and spending time at home with mom and dad and of course with it being the holidays, we drank mai tais. Yum.

I'm sure little bits about the month will come out later, but as a start cruise and Disney photos are posted to Yahoo! One Disney moment, Dad's birthday was while I was home so when we were at Disney I made him wear a badge from guest services that said it was his birthday. Every time we got on a ride or were just walking around the park, every one was wishing him a happy birthday! Hee hee! Oh, and we spent a lot of time in the United Kingdom at Epcot World Pavilion ... had to stop for pint at the Rose and Crown and laugh at the Yorkshire County Fish and Chip Shop. Don't think it would ever make it here in York!

Hello Stateside!

Hello from Ohio! Made the trip back to the states Wednesday with a very uneventful life. I have spent the last two days shopping, going to Patrol functions, finishing homework, and eating every food that I have missed (hello Chipotle!). Also in the midst of all of this, I've been re-packing for my Caribbean/Disney adventure which begins Monday. Hope to have pictures up after I get back from that on May 13.

So why no recent update you ask? Well, in the UK, my internet server (i.e. some glorious person on our street named 'philips' who lets me steal their internet connection with my wireless - I heart you philips!) was on the fritz and wouldn't let me update. Then the wireless connections available in Mount Vernon are needless to say, almost non-existent. Thank you Kenyon College Library for letting me browse!

Postings will be minimal while I'm in the states - back to the UK on May 30. If you're in the states, call my mobile for pete's sake and get off here!

Me? Willy Wonka's taste tester?

So a few months ago, I answered an ad in the local newspaper about chocolate tasting at the local Nestle plant. Yes, actually tasting chocolate for money. After phone interview, I was called to the plant Thursday to take part in a sensory panel trial. We spent the day in a lab and went through lots of test attempting to determine bitterness and acidity levels in water, smelling vials trying to determine the flavor, and tasting chocolate to try to determine what the difference was between them.

So in fact, being a chocolate taster is actually a big job. They are only accepting five people from the three trials (and to get there 1 in 12 were selected). If I get selected I have to once a week for three hours trying milk/dark chocolate and chocolate liqueur. Not too bad, plus amazing, I get one month paid holiday! For one day a week work!

But it was a fun morning and I got a free lunch and box of chocolate and time away from writing papers for school. Nice.

Is that smoke?

So Tuesday night I had to stay up late to finish a paper (I know, I know). I had just finished and was heading off to bed around 3 when I smelled smoke. Not cooking smoke or fireplace smoke - but real fire smoke. So I started to wander around the house ... no smoke. Hmmm ... then I started to hear footsteps running up and down the sidewalk outside of my room. Hmmm ... so minutes later - sirens! Apparently there was a house fire four doors down from us. Nothing major, lots of smoke and everyone is ok. But the house smelt of smoke for a day, but a couple of Febreeze sprays and it was gone.

Interesting note about British firefighters ... after the fire was out, people actually offered them tea! At 3:45 in the morning! Hee hee! Now I've experienced the York public safety trifecta (did I mention ambulances came to??)!

After that craziness, I didn't get to bed until 4:30 and then had to get up at 7 to catch a train to school to pick up checks and turn in homework. Definitely made for the long day - but ended on a happy literary note - I pre-ordered Harry Potter 7 at Borders! Woo!