Normal service is resumed

Sorry we've been away so long but there's just been a lot going on. Plus the blog writer has been away

So we made our way back from Honolulu, via a 15-hour layover in LA. We'd booked a "day room" at an airport hotel so that we at least had somewhere to dump our stuff and have a shower if needed. Then we flew to Boston, via Chicago on a second consecutive overnight flight .

After all of this, Annalie had then arranged to visit the UK so she could go and get a new visa from the US Embassy. For some reason, the immigration lawyers that Rolls-Royce uses insisted that Annalie visited their London office to pick up all her paperwork, despite the fact that we've already been through this process once before. It was a bit of a pointless exercise, but following a 3-hour wait for a 5-minute "interview," she left the Embassy with another stamp of approval.

Ian headed back to CT to accomplish Mission Laundry and to get back to some sense of normality. Given his lack of "routine" (and anyone to keep him at home!!) he decided to head up to Killington early to get a few runs in when the slopes were quiet. He enjoyed having the house to himself and wasn't so impressed when all the other sharers turned up to disturb the peace!! He managed to stay from Thursday to the end of Monday, but decided he had to head back, despite Monday being a fabulous powder day, because he had drill night on the Tuesday.

Annalie, meanwhile, headed up to her parents to surprise her mum for her birthday She also had some business up at Leeds Met Uni for her Masters, so spent three days (including a Saturday ) studying. Even in the library (which she doesn't remember doing much of the first time around

After a day in the Rolls-Royce London office, Annalie then headed off to Toulouse for some meetings with Airbus and IAE's Toulouse office. On her way back, she was due to fly from Toulouse to Gatwick, where she would connect to BA's new once-a-day Gatwick to JFK flight. As she was on approach to Gatwick, the passengers were told that the airport was closed due to ice on the runway, and that the plane would be diverting to Bournemouth to refuel, before trying to get back into Gatwick when it opened. Then Bournemouth closed because it was full of a load of other flights that had diverted there, so the aircraft headed off to Stansted, with no indication of when they would get to Gatwick.

After nearly 3 hours on the tarmac at Stansted, the passengers were off-loaded as the crew would not have eough duty time left to continue. Given that Annalie didn't have a clue where her JFK-bound aircraft was, nor what time it might depart, she didn't fancy chancing the trip to Gatwick, so she phoned BA and got on a flight from Heathrow, and got them to pay car hire to get her there! Once at Heathrow, she re-routed to Boston, as this is a more convenient airport to home, and Ian volunteered to come and pick her up.

After all of this, and lots of waiting around at Heathrow (but which included a massage ) Annalie almost missed her flight! That would have been ironic! But she was on the phone to IAE's travel agent at the time (who is very chatty) and lost track of time. Cue a mad dash to the gate to be told they were just about to leave without her!

The weekend after her return was the IAE Holiday Party - a renowned affair! As her team are responsible for it, she felt compelled to help out and ensure it went smoothly. She needn't have worried, there was not a hitch. But we decided to duck out early because Annalie was jealous of all the time Ian had on the slopes last weekend. So we were very mad and left the party at 11pm to drive nearly 3 hours to Killington. We were kept awake by the others in the house as they turned up shortly after we'd gone to bed and didn't exactly keep the volume down!

But we were up and out by 9am to try and make the most of our one day. We'd intended to stay up and overnight, commuting back to Hartford on the Monday morning. As it happened, we finished earlier than expected so we ended up driving home that night.

This week has been a reminder that we're approaching the "Holiday Season", with various social engagements set up. First was Annalie's Leadership Team lunch on Monday, then her department's lunch on Tuesday. Ian had a Fire House dinner on Tuesday night, then Annalie took her team on a night out on Thursday. She did have another set of drinks planned as well with the local Pratt & Whitney team on Friday night, but with the winter storm warnings for that day, it was postponed until the new year.

With the storm warnings in force, we were worried that our drive to Killington would be treacherous, so we decided to leave at 12 to try and beat the storm. We saw barely anything until we reached northern Massechussets, then the flurries really started. By the time we crossed the border into Vermont, it was full on snow, our first experience of how the weather is handled over here. The ploughers/gritters were already out in force, although we kept getting ahead of them so endured the worst conditions.

Once we were off the Interstate the fun really started. But we reached Killington just fine and were greeted with almost a foot of snow - promising a perfect powder day on Saturday. After many promises from the other housemates of being first on the slopes, we knew we would be there, but weren't sure of the other's "get up" ability. Turns out we needn't have worried, as virtually the whole house got up in plenty of time. And after clearing the additional snow that had fallen, we headed up for a dream day on the powder.

There was some amazing boarding to be had, and we were keen to make the most of it. Annalie had a few tumbles on one particlularly "lumpy" slope when she couldn't see properly so the underfoot terrain kept coming as a surprise. Ian managed to finally nail a feature in the terrain park (after a bit of coaching from armchair trickster, Annalie ) and then saved his worst tumble for when we were heading on our way out.

Tomorrow we've got to get up at the crack of sparrows again because we'll have to leave before lunchtime. We've got our friend Melly coming to stay so we've got to get to Boston to pick her up. And there's supposed to be a big Nor'easter heading this way, which will make the drive even more fun than on Friday! Fingers crossed we don't get the worst of it.

What a couple of weeks!

Well, we obviously missed providing you with last week's installment because we didn't think we could get internet access at our Honolulu B&B. Turns out we could get access via their wifi but we didn't find this out until the day before we left

It's been a hectic couple of weeks, starting with a trip to LA so that Annalie could help to run the IAE Operators Conference. Our flight was pretty uneventful except for the fact that we had to sit apart. We got into LA pretty late so there was just enough time for a few drinks in the bar and a game of pool before hitting the hay.

Monday was set up day for the conference so Annalie had to be on hand to help vendors and some of the IAE folks get to know their way around. For Ian it was about his only day off in LA so he headed up to North Hollywood to Universal Studios. He thoroughly enjoyed his freedom and the park was very impressive - much better than UK theme parks. Whilst on the set tour he got to see some filming taking place - Desperate Housewives and a series we've got over here called My Own Worst Enemy - we recommend it if it makes it to British shores.

Monday night was the opening reception and Annalie was on duty again, but she got the opportunity to go and see how things were progressing There were a few attractions such as a fortune teller (who was no good apparently) and a characature artist. We both had sketches done, which are pretty funny but we're not 100% convinced that they are that accurate.

When the Conference started, it meant that Annalie had to hang around the hotel most of the time for two days, just to be on hand "in case." Ian went out on the "spouse tour" out to Hollywood and the Kodak Theatre on Tuesday and the Getty Museum and Rodeo Drive on Wednesday.

The evening events at the Operators Conferences are legendary, and David didn't disappoint this time! The Gala Event included the Legends flown in especially from Las Vegas. We had Marilyn Monroe, Barbra Streisand, The Blues Brothers, Rod Stewart, Tina Turner and Cher. The dinner was held at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, a previous venue for the Oscars (that are now held at the Kodak Theater).
Ian decided to miss out on all this fun by taking the opportunity to go to watch an NBA Baseball game at the Staples Center. The LA Lakers were hosting the Chicago Bulls, so it promised to be a good game. He had a seat in the "nose bleeds" but got a great view. The atmosphere was made more electric by the fact that a big brass band were sat right across the aisle from him!

Wednesday night was mainly sponsored by IAE suppliers who set up their own activities, attractions, bars and food! There was a sumo wrestling game that we both attempted and had a great laugh doing. The suit managed to create a great set of bruises on Annalie's arm though that looked like Ian had got hold of her too tightly!! He didn't lay a finger on her - honest!!

There was also human ten pin bowling!! Needless to say that, considering the alcohol being consumed, this was not the favoured activity of the night. Rolls-Royce had a Casino that kept people interested. We combined forces (and chips) to ensure Annalie won the female title for the most chips. Her prize is probably not that desirable as it is a bunch of Rolls-Royce goodies - like she doesn't have enough!

Finally Thursday came around. David had arranged a charity event back at the Staples Center, but this time it was iced over in readiness for an ice hockey game. We couldn't entrust people on the ice with skates on(!!) so we settled for "broom ball." This is a game involving broom shaped sticks, a ball, ice hockey nets and people in trainers... on ice! Cue a casualty or two! Luckily the worst off was an IAE employee who probably tore his hamstring.

Lunchtime came arounf and we finally headed off to the airport to catch our flight to Honolulu Annalie checked in online in the morning and managed to secure exit row seats for us - so Ian was happy at least! Upon arrival we headed out to get our hire car and then followed the detailed directions to our B&B. It was dark when we arrived so we couldn't really see much, so we just headed out to get some dinner before turning in (well, we'd been up since 5am LA time - which is 3am Hawai'i time).

On Friday a storm threatened, so we made our way to probably the single biggest tourist attraction on Honolulu, the USS Arizona Memorial in Pearl Harbor. It is done very well and serves as a fitting tribute to the members of the military that lost their lives on board the ship. A nice touch is that the whole thing is free, you only have to pay for the audio guides if you want them (we recommend it) but that only costs $5.

After that we went to explore the USS Bowfin and USS Missouri as some significant features of the US Military post-Pearl Harbor.

The storm finally arrived late in the day so it didn't manage to ruin anything, but boy, it was one heck of a storm. It continued into Saturday and lashed it down, which ruined our plans to climb the Diamond Head monument, so we headed for the more rain-friendly Bishop Museum to learn more about Hawai'i and volcanoes in particular. After that we went for a spot of shopping as Ian decided Annalie needed a new camera for her birthday!

By Sunday the rain had gone but some winds still prevailed. We were dubious about whether our pre-booked activity would still be on but we needn't have worried. We headed up to the North Shore of Honolulu - famed for its big winter surf and the Lost beach! But we were going for something far more daring! Swimming in the middle of the Pacific with just a few feet between us and about 20 sharks was an experience not to be forgotten too quickly!! Thank heavens for the aluminium cage that surrounded us!

We then headed further up the North Shore to see some of the most famous surfing beaches in the world. The swell wasn't amazing but there were still a few feet. Sunset Beach was preparing for a big competition that took place this week.

After lunch at Haleiwa Joe's, we took Lee and Heather's recommendation and went to Matsumotos for the Hawai'in institution of Shave Ice for dessert. We followed their suggetsions to the letter, and ended up with what was probably the most calorific food of our entire trip! The condensed milk was a nice touch but we weren't struck on the beans!

On the way back home, we stopped off at the Dole Plantation (yes, that company that supplies LOTS of tinned pineapple!) to conquer the world's biggest maze - as recognised by the Guinness Book of Records. It took Lee and Heather 2 hours allegedly, but all we can say is that they can't have had a map! Unlike most mazes, the objective is not to reach the middle, but to find eight hidden "stations" tucked around the maze. When we first got in we didn't realise there was a map, but as we were leaving the first station we had found (by chance!) we bumped into someone who did have a map, so we quickly obtained one for ourselves. Our time stamp saw us leave the maze after 40 minutes. Sorry Lee!

We managed to get back to the Southern part of the island where we were staying in time for sunset. We'd been advised to check out China Wall, especially for sunset, so we found our way there and watched what we could as the sun went down behind the clouds.

Monday was Annalie's birthday and Ian surprised her with flowers to accompany the camera We headed into Waikiki for the first time with the idea that we might both surf at one of the world's most famous surf spots. From our vantage point on the beach, there were far too many people and not enough surf to make it worthwhile, so we just enjoyed the beach for some time. The disappointing thing about Waikiki is that, apart from the amount of surfers in the water and surf schools on the shore, you could actually be in Benidorm!

We had a drink under the Banyan Tree at the Beach Bar at the Moana Surfrider Hotel, before heading out to Diamond Head for that climb now that the weather was much better. We conquered the steep climb in quick time and, continuing our search for good viewpoints, we headed for Pali Lookout to get a view over the Eastern side of the island.

On Tuesday we ventured back up to the North Shore, which was fast becoming our favourite part of the island. The Western side, with Honolulu, Waikiki and communities like Hawai'i Kai, are very built up and could be anywhere coastal in the USA really. Ian tried to persuade Annalie to sign up for a surf lesson, but he ended up renting a board on his own to complete his surfing trilogy of all the world's oceans!

Annalie went off round the headland to check out the surf and stumbled across a filming set for Lost, so she didn't get very far! Once Ian had his fix on the waves, we headed off in search of some of the famed filming sites of one of our favourite TV series, which is filmed entirely on Honolulu, even using local settings to portray places such as LA, Sydney and even Korea. We found the crash site beach, "The Others'" camp, the "survivors'" campsite and plenty of other places that are actually quite innocuous! We had also booked ourselves onto an ATV (quad bike) tour at Kualoa Ranch, where Lost, Jurassic Park, and many other productions have been filmed. Ka'awa Valley is the main valley setting for the series and very recognisable.

On Wednesday we visited Hanauma Bay, an extremely popular snorkelling spot as it is a Marine Conservation Area. Unfortunately because of the large amount of people visiting, the visibility in the Bay is quite poor, so it was a little bit disappointing and we didn't manage to spot any turtles. We'd been advised that Shark's Cove on the North Shore is a better snorkelling spot but we didn't have time to go there too.

Thursday was Thanksgiving, so a big holiday in the US. We decided to go back up to the North Shore because Ian wanted to see some surf competition action and get some use out of his big lens on his camera. Unfortunately even the surfers had been given the day off, so all he had to photograph were amateurs.

Annalie wanted to go this way as well because she wanted to get lunch from one of the many shrimp "shacks" that line the road along the coast. She'd picked one out on one of our earlier drives and it always seemed very busy, which she took as a good sign. She stood in line for about 20 minutes to place her order (butter garlic sauteed shrimp) and lunch didn't arrive for around another 40 minutes! No wonder it's always busy. She also didn't realise that the shrimps would arrive shell-on, so she got into a right mess de-shelling them! Still, it was a good lunch and worth the wait.

That night we had a very kind invitation from Heather's parents to join them for a Thanksgiving celebration at their house. We were warmly welcomed by friends and family to have a wonderful feast that was certainly not wholly traditional but lovely all the same.

Friday was our last day in Honolulu so we packed up in the morning and decided how best to pass the time until our 11pm flight. Annalie kept trying to check in online again to get the exit row seats, but it wouldn't let her this time so we left it until the airport. We decided the best way to kill a few hours was to get in a round of golf, so we tackled a pretty easy (and cheap!) course near to our B&B, where Ian got yet another military discount! Even though it wasn't a challenge, it was a nice round and Ian only managed to win by 6 shots.

After a spot of lunch, Ian went in search of a fellow Fire Department patch from the Honolulu team. We had to go into Waikiki to find it though. Then it was off to the airport to drop the car off and start our convoluted trip home.

I think we'd better leave it there as you've probably fallen asleep already!! We've got to leave something to update you with next week! Photos will follow, once we finally get home...

The calm before the storm

It's been a very quiet week by our standards, but then given the exciting couple of weeks we've got coming up, that's probably a good thing.

Annalie has had a regular week in work and Ian has just had a handful of shouts to attend, plus his regular, fortnightly drill night. We had been thinking that if the snow had arrived at Killington that we might have headed up Friday night to come back Saturday night, but, although they've had a sprinkle and been making some snow this week, the weekend has turned out exceptionally mild (70 degrees here yesterday!) so it was just drab up there.

It was probably for the best as we leave for LA on Sunday afternoon so we needed to co-ordinate packing and also go out and buy some bits, for both the trip and also the ski season. We've both managed to pick up a whole new boarding outfit, which given the frequency of our boarding this year (and the fact that we've both probably put a few pounds on!!) we could probably do with!

We went out for a posh meal on Wednesday night as this week we marked seven years of being together (we can't quite believe that somehow!! Only seems like yesterday!). We tossed a coin between 2 Hopewell and Sauce and Sauce won. Annalie had already been a few times through work and has never been overly impressed, but she suggested it because Ian had never been and only ever had her word for it. Needless to say his opinion reflected that of Annalie's after he'd sampled it.

Saturday night saw us venturing out to the cinema for only about the second time since we've been here. This time to see the new Bond film, Quantum of Solace. We'd heard mixed reviews about it and can see why there are some Bond fans who don't rate it, but it was a nice night out all the same.

We'll certainly have more to update you with over the next two weeks. We fly to LA on Sunday for three and a half days. Annalie is convinced it's going to be just like working at an air show - long, long days, last to bed, first up, running around after people who are grown adults but can't act like it On Thursday afternoon we head out to Hawaii. We won't get there until late but we've got a packed itinerary starting on Friday - got to make the most of it!

We won't spoil the coming weeks with any previews of what we've got planned, but I'm sure the photos and stories will be fun! We do celebrate Annalie's birthday and Thanksgiving while we're out there, just like we did last year in California! Seems to be developing into a bit of a habit!

Happy birthday Ian :-)

Well, the obvious news story of this week is Ian's birthday we won't reveal how old he is but most of you probably know anyway He'd like to thank everyone for the cards and presents that made it across the Pond. For once he had a bit of a celebration, more than he normally does on his birthday anyway.

Firstly some of the guys from the Fire Department took him out to lunch in Wethersfield to a place that advertises "The world's biggest grinders"... and they're not wrong! A one and a half grinder fed three of them - with left overs! After lunch, they all headed back to the Fire House to pick up their cars, just in time to hear a shout and jump straight into the fire engines instead!

That night, Annalie completely surprised him by telling him she was taking him for a romantic meal for two, only to arrange for 10 other people to be waiting at the restaurant to surprise him He was completely surprised and touched by the turnout. It was a nice meal and there was another surprise in store for him back at Mhairi and Steve's flat with a big cake, complete with firefighter candles But he was embarrassed by the "Happy Birthday Hot Stuff" inscription It was a fun night and certainly not what Ian was expecting.

For once, Ian has been gainfully employed all week. In addition to an airport run on Sunday night, he has been plasterboarding (or drywalling) a basement for one of the IAE guys. It's a job that was first discussed back in the summer but it's taken a while for Marc and Mandy to get the relevant permissions from the council to go ahead with the conversion. Still, Ian's been able to exercise his creative side with a major DIY job.

This weekend we have taken a trip to the ski house together. There's no snow left so we didn't bother with our boards but we've got some of our stuff up in readiness for our first runs of the season. But Ian continued his week of DIY with a few jobs. We've been moving and building beds in the shared room, removing a random counter the owner installed and he's built a rack for skis and boards (from scratch - the clever devil )

The house is empty this weekend so we're enjoying the peace and quiet afforded by the place. The resort is dead though, you can almost see the tumbleweed! After we picked Ian's season pass up, we went to the Wobbly Barn again to pick up a season pass for that place. It is owned by the resort so if you have a season ski pass, you get a free Wobbly season pass. It's new this season so I think they're figuring out how to provide the most benefit to people, but at least it's something for nothing!

We've aslo been making the best of the hot tub It's actually unseasonably warm at the moment (although that means it's in the 60s hence no snow ) so the real benefit of the tub has yet to be felt, but we're both carrying stiff shoulders - Ian from work, Annalie from the gym - so it's welcome relief. The house is stupidly warm though as we can't find anything to control the heating and the owner hasn't yet told us how to turn it down.

On the way up to the house on Friday night, we made a chance stop at a diner and we found a fantastic serving of poutine. This is actually a Canadian "dish" comprising of chips (fries) covered with cheese and then smothered in gravy, mmmm. Ian introduced Annalie to this in Banff, and we've found something similar in a diner in East Hartford, but this was proper gravy so Annalie wolfed the lot. Luckily she'd only ordered a small portion - we hate to think what a large portion would look like

We're debating whether to come up to the house next weekend. It's the official opening weekend for the slopes and the resort is hoping to have low enough temperatures this week to make snow, so if there's good conditions, it may be worth it. The only downside is that we'd have to leave on Saturday night as we head to LA next Sunday - countdown to Hawaii begins

Oops, we forgot

After posting this week's update we realised that we'd left you all on tenterhooks regarding the result of the Wings Club auction and whether we'd actually won it. Well, it took until around 4pm on Monday, but we got confirmed as the winners So at some point next year we're off to New Zealand No really A bit Smiley overload but it's the best way to try and convey our excitement!

We've got until the end of October '09 to take the prize and we think we'll actually leave it until the death to take the holiday as it will be mid-spring and a good time to visit. We're planning to hire a camper van to tour around and Ian's already planning all sorts of extreme sports adventures. Not sure our insurance will cover it all

That's all for now. There's nothing else major happening this week. Just a small matter of a Presidential Election. So nothing exciting

Individual adventures

Well we thought it wouldn't be as eventful, but I guess we lied! This weekend has been a getaway for both of us, although to different parts of New England. So we've experienced Fall in four different states between us.

Ian headed off to climb Mount Washington in New Hampshire with one of his IAE friends, Paul. He's training to climb a peak in Argentina around Christmas for charideee so this was a practice run for him. Ian went along for the ride, moral support and for the enjoyment It is a five-hour drive from here and ended up being a seven-hour climb, but he's succeeded in reaching the summit of the highest peak in New England so it's something else achieved.

Annalie went off to the ski house in Killington with Mhairi and Steve in order to set up for the season ahead and before it truly gets started. We had made a conscious decision not to open the house up to members this weekend to ensure we could get the place sorted, but we offered two of our members the opportunity to stay anyway.

The ride up takes 2.5 hours and when we arrived we realised there wasn't much that needed doing. The owner had even left us stuff that we weren't expecting, so we had a much more chilled out weekend than we anticipated.

Friday night was a Halloween party at a local bar, the Wobbly Barn, fancy dress obligatory. Princess Leia was resurrected, while Steve went as a Will Ferrell character and Mhairi as a Ladybug - see the new Killington pictures. We tried to get some food before heading to the bar but the kitchen had already shut so we ended up drinking on an empty stomach (very wise - not!). Luckily we were all pretty tired so headed home after three drinks and spent a cozy night in our new winter home.

Saturday was filled with shopping for bits for the house and a lazy afternoon with a DVD. But Annalie managed to pick up her season lift pass so she's all set to go when the slopes open. Then we headed to The Lookout Tavern for their opening night. We only lasted three drinks again before we headed back to the house for dinner and another DVD (the high life).

On Sunday, the resort surprised us all by opening up some runs and lifts already. It wasn't due to open until the 14th so none of us had brought our gear up with us so couldn't take advantage. It's snowed a little bit this week, but there's only about 11-18 inches of natural snow. They're making the rest though so there's up to 30 inches covering some runs.

So we weren't too disappointed but if the conditions get better, we may go up for a run next weekend. Plus there's some jobs we want Ian to fulfill at the house

Elsewhere this week, Ian had drill night with the Fire Department on Tuesday and then it was back down to the Fire House for pumpkin carving on Wednesday. The House has a big Halloween party for the local kids every year so the Fire families gather together to prepare for this with pizza and beer and plenty of pumpkins to carve. Annalie held up our end early on as Ian had gone to volleyball without telling her so he wasn't even there when she arrived. He got there in the end and got his hands dirty inside a pumpkin, but still trailed Annalie.

Thursday night we trooped into Hartford for IAE's charity pub quiz, hosted by Mhairi. We teamed up with Dan and Fi, even though Fi had warned us about her quiz answering skills! Still, it wasn't about the winning but the taking part and the charidee. We did pretty badly, but it was a fun night all the same.

Not much else to report. The nights are getting very cold now and the clocks went back this weekend so we enjoyed the extra hour in bed. But it's now getting dark very early and we can feel winter edging its way towards us. On the one hand we're excited about it and the opportunity to snowboard every weekend. One the other hand, it's going to be a long, hard few months. Time to get the heating on maybe?

New York, New York - a return visit

This week brought about yet another impromptu visit to New York, this time for the both of us. Friday was the annual Wings Club Dinner Dance where the entire who's who of aviation turns out in their finery to mingle and schmooze.

In Annalie's team, Carla was supposed to be going as she made all of the arrangements and would have been running the logistics. However her mum is quite poorly and she didn't want to head off to New York for the weekend just in case. So she asked Annalie to cover for her so we got to go to the whole event.

This meant that we got to spend two nights at the Waldorf Astoria of all places! Given its reputation, we thought we were in for a right treat. However, even though we were upgraded to a suite, it was a pretty poor effort really. The room was badly designed and felt very normal, rather than the sumptuous luxury you'd expect. Anyway, we weren't paying so we shouldn't really complain!

We headed off to the Dinner Dance, which was a pretty good affair. All of the right faces seemed to be there and the IAE guys could mingle with the best.

After the meal was finished, we decided to have a look at the "silent auction" where a bunch of aviation-related "prizes" were on offer. The way it works is that each "prize" has a sheet of paper attached to it and you have to sign up your name and bid. So you can see who has bid what.

The only one that really took our fancy was the most expensive of the lot (typical!)! Two business class flights from LA to Auckland. We uhmmed and ahhed about it for a bit and then decided we'd give it a go (we won't tell you for how much!). Shortly after we were outbid by $100. There was only about 40 minutes to go so we thought we'd hang around to see how much more interest there was and potentially get the last bid in before the papers were collected.

Ian dutifully hung around and there were no more bids placed. We asked a Kiwi colleague from Rolls-Royce if it was a good deal and he said it wasn't dirt cheap but it wasn't bad either. So as the papers were beign collected, Ian pounced and claimed the prize as ours.

Or so we thought... As the organisers were sifting through the collected bid sheets, Ian went to confirm our status with them. Only to be told by the woman who ran the auction that we had been outbid because she had been authorised by a friend to bid more than us.

This outraged us because it didn't follow the spirit of the auction and we felt very cheated. Annalie then took it up with her but she just kept going on about the fact that she was authorised to do the bids but she'd been too busy running the auction to place a genuine bid on the paper. And she tried the guilt trip by claiming it was for a 90 year-old man who she'd known for 40 years.

She didn't seem to want to know and walked off. When we asked her colleague if we could take a photo of the bid page as proof of our status, she stormed back over shouting at us "OK, you've won, we'll call you on Monday. Are you happy now? You've just ruined a perfectly good evening!" We wondered whose evening had been more ruined though

Everyone we spoke to after that agreed with us that it wasn't right and that we should stick to our guns, but it still left a very bad taste.

Anyway, on Saturday morning we debated the situation and thought we'd go and check out how much the flights would be if we wanted to buy them directly with Air New Zealand. Turns out our winning bid is about half the price of two business class tickets from LA to Auckland so we thought we'd stick at it. It would be the holiday of a lifetime for us and the one place in the world we really want to go. Here's hoping we get that call tomorrow

On Saturday afternoon, IAE took some customers to the matinee showing of the Broadway production of Boeing Boeing. It's a hilarious comedy and we all thoroughly enjoyed it. It's recommended to go and see and it's on in London until 5th January too. We were amazed at how many of the actors we knew from TV and film.

After we'd packed off the IAE execs and their customers to their evening meal, we decided to head back towards Theater Land for something to eat. One of the guys had pointed out an Italian advertised in the Show programme so we thought we'd head for there. It turned out to be directly opposite the theatre so we thought we'd treat ourselves (on IAE of course ). It was a fantastic meal and so we reported back to the recommender.

We had intended to go to the Rockefeller Center ice rink, which, amazingly, is already open. However the weather on Saturday night was dreadful with huge storms rolling in, so we headed back to the hotel instead. Ian refused to get a taxi so we ended up getting back to the Waldorf looking like drowned rats! We thought we'd see what the weather was like on Sunday morning to maybe get to go before we left.

We expected the rain to still be lashing it down, but when we opened the curtains it was beautiful clear blue skies so we thought we'd head out and try. When we got there the rink was quite empty, but everyone on it was a fairly good skater. Somewhat fearful of how stupid we would look, we waited a while until a few more, slightly unsteady people got on. Eventually we decided to go for it, after all, it is one of the things on our "bucket list" and we duly got skated up.

After an unsteady start, we both started to get the hang of it, although the last time either of us ventured onto the ice (without a snowboard on our feet that is!) was well over 15 years ago! There's even some photos to prove we remained upright! All was going well and there were no tumbles, until right at the end. Ian stopped to make a suggestion about calling it quits and Annalie tried to stop to talk to him, but somehow lost her balance and fell backwards, cracking her head on the ice. No major damage, except to Annalie's ego, but she skated around once more before we headed back to the hotel and then home. At least it's one more thing ticked off the list.

Other major happenings this week include the fact that Annalie's new passport has arrived already. She wasn't expecting it for at least another week but she's happy to have one in her possession once again - she doesn't feel like persona non grata any more! She's still going to wait until after the holiday to Hawaii to go out of the country to get her new visa. She's just paranoid that she'll get stuck without a visa and this holiday is important!!! It's a bucket list item too.

We've both been a bit more sporty this week than we have for a while. Annalie went to the gym for the first time in about a month and Ian got to play another game of volleyball, which he really enjoyed. Then we both played football on Thursday night with the IAE crew. We were meant to be on the same team, but as one of the guys was late, Ian swapped teams to make up the numbers for them. It was a good game, very close, but Annalie's team ended up victorious, maintaining her 100% record

This week promises not to be quite so eventful!

A bonus week

This week has been a bit of a bonus as Annalie was meant to be away in India, but instead has an extra week at home. The passport didn't turn up anywhere so she's had to stay in CT - not that she really wanted to go to India again

On Sunday we had a fairly relaxed day and decided to go for a walk in Wadsworth Falls State Park just outside Middletown. We wanted to try and take advantage of the beautiful fall colours that are springing up. It was just over 3 miles in total and we did it in a respectable hour and a half, even with Ian making best use of his camera! We will get some more photos uploaded soon, we promise! We just don't seem to get round to it.

That night we went to Dan and Fi's for dinner. They have just moved into their proper home out here so invited us round for a chili and some beers.

On Monday Annalie ended up travelling to New York with work to help out with IAE's Board Meeting. Her team member that normally organises these events, David, has been in hospital (nothing life threatening) that has kept him away. Because of this, the IAE execs were a little bit nervous of Carla doing it solo, even though Annalie had complete faith in her. But she went along anyway, just to satisfy their request.

As expected, it all went very smoothly, no one need have worried, but the execs were grateful for Annalie's attendance.

On Tuesday Ian had another drill night out playing with the Fire Department. They went playing up with a hydrant at Mario's Pond to test one of the guys to check he was competent to use one of the pumps on the engine.

While they were there, Ian was being taught more about the company's light rescue vehicle, normally used as a back-up vehicle that has extra bits of kit on it. It's the kind of thing he can get involved in before he gets qualified. He's still waiting for news on a course for that but there's nothing coming in the foreseeable future.

The Pond is right in the middle of an apple orchard so when Ian and the guys finished the drill, they treated themselves to fresh apples off the trees. We're not sure if that's classed as theft though Mario happens to be a member of the Fire Police and an ex-Captain of the Fire House and is the Dad and Grandad of two of the current members.

On Thursday we went out to meet a potential member of our ski house. Nadine lives in South Windsor and works just down the road from IAE in East Hartford. We met her and her friend for a drink at Houlihan's so that we could all check each other out At the end of it, Nadine was in and our house statistics are looking very healthy. We don't need many more now.

This weekend it was the Glastonbury Apple Harvest Festival, or Applefest, an annual institution. The Fire Department run a stall selling Fries (chips to most of you!) and Ian was invited to help out. On Friday he went out with the guys to help set up ahead of the weekend's festivities.

That evening he headed off to JFK for another of his airport runs. This time it was Bruce's wife's parents as Tracy is booked in for an elective c-section on Tuesday. The flight was quite a late arrival anyway, scheduled for 9pm, but it didn't land until 9.50pm and then Tracy's parents are farmers, so they have to go through a special routine at Customs. So Ian didn't get home again until gone 1am.

By 3.30am he was up again as his Fire Department pager went off this time for someone's smoke alarm going off So at least he was back in bed for 4.30.

Ian's shifts at the show were 12-5 so he wasn't in for an early rise at least. Annalie got up and had her first hairdresser's appointment over here. She's been too nervous to get it done so far as all the girls have horror stories about how poor the hairdressers are out here. It wasn't exactly what she planned but it is a good cut so at least she knows she can go back there.

Just before 12 we both headed off down to the Applefest. Ian went straight to work and Annalie went off for a bit of a wander round all the stalls. Lots of apple pies for sale (no surprises there then!!) but the thing that got Annalie stopped were the two tiny labrador puppies at the Guiding Eyes for the Blind stall! One black and one yellow, they were adorable and she almost signed up to be a puppy raiser there and then! Maybe after we've ticked off a few more bits on our wish list

Saturday night we ventured into Hartford to see a production of Sweeney Todd. It was very different to anything we've seen before but it was well put together and very cultured of us . The only downside was that the legroom was non-existent so Ian was almost folded in two for the whole night.

On our way home we stopped off at the South Tavern to meet one of the other guys from the Fire Department. The Boston Red Sox are playing the Tampa Bay Rays in the World Series play-offs and this was game 6 of 7, with Tampa leading 3-2 going into this game. Hugh is a Sox fan, so Ian takes great pleasure in jesting with him (being a Yankees fan of course) so he was hoping to turn up to a Tampa victory to take them into the finals.

Unfortunately Boston clinched it 4-2, setting up a decider on Sunday night. Ian is still hoping that the Sox don't stage a comeback having been 3-1 down at one point, but they are known for being good in a fightback.

And we've had some new visitors on the deck. There's a couple of resident Blue Jays that have started to frequent our feeder - well, more like the food that the other birds tip onto the floor. The Blue Jays are far too big to fit on the feeder. And there's also been a couple of sightings of a Dark Eyed Junco (that Birds of Connecticut book works a treat - thanks Gary!). Obviously the changing seasons are bringing some new birds back to Glastonbury for the winter.

Fall is falling

It's been a hectic couple of weeks, which is why we've not been on to update things.

The leaves are now turning here in Connecticut and we're surrounded by colour wherever we go. The roads have become corridors of greens, ambers and reds that are simply stunning. The view from our deck has changed completely and continues to alter on a daily basis. The tree right outside our deck, the one that gets in the way of our view of Hartford, is starting to fade and soon we'll have an unobstructed outlook across the valley.

The last Sunday in September, we met up with our friends Dan and Fi the morning after they arrived here. We took them for breakfast at our favourite diner, Ken's, to welcome them properly to the country.

That afternoon, Annalie went off to India for her first ever visit to help commemorate the launch of IAE's new engine. She had set up a press conference in Delhi as part of this but the logistics proved to be more challenging than she initially anticipated.

The first issue that was identified was that some of the guest invitations had gone out with the wrong time on. Second, we discovered that the conference room we'd booked wasn't at the hotel we thought it was at. So she and some of the other guys had a bit of a nightmare explaining what had happened and trying to undo it. It all turned out fine in the end and the events were a big success, but it was a lot of hassle to get there.

Annalie thought Delhi wasn't what she expected, but then she didn't know what to expect either! Still it was a good trip and worth it.

After dropping Annalie at the airport, Ian went off to represent her in the IAE team for the American Heart Association Heartwalk, a sponsored jaunt around Bushnell Park in Hartford. This was followed by some after-walk refreshments at the Diamond Bar.

The rest of his week alone was pretty quiet, just focusing on responding to shouts with the Fire Department and keeping out of trouble! On the Thursday he trotted off down to New York again, this time to pick up our friend Annie who came to visit. The traffic was a bit of a nightmare, taking a long time to get home, so a late dinner was had before Annie hit the hay.

On the Friday, Annalie returned home from India. When she landed in Chicago, there was a 4-hour layover before her flight to Bradley, and despite her hopes that she'd be able to get an earlier flight, she was already on the first American Airlines shuttle up to Hartford, so she duly waited her time in the lounge.

That night was the Rolls-Royce secondees and wives "Girls Night Out", combined with a Baby Shower as three of the girls are due to give birth later this month. We all trooped down to Annie's nail bar (no relation to our Annie!!) to have a combination of manicures and pedicures, before heading back to Suzy's house on our estate for pizza and wine. It was a really nice night and we all felt very pampered by the end of it, but Annie and Annalie weren't faring too well with their individual jet lag!

On the Saturday we took Annie up to West Farms Mall as she was after a winter coat, but she spent more time trying on jewellery in Tiffany's When we headed back to Glastonbury we decided to stop in the party store, iParty, to look at Annie's options for a 70's party we were going to that night. Ian and Annalie were going "in character" so Annie decided that's what she wanted too. After confering with Wikipedia to confirm the timeframe, we agreed that Wonder Woman was the way forward

So that night, Hans Solo, Princess Leia and Wonder Woman could all be seen in a Jeep Liberty driving to Berlin although we were desperately hoping not to be pulled over by the cops Dan and Fi went as Shaggy and Daphne and followed us there, so we were in good company. We really thought that the Americans were totally into this dressing up malarkey, but it was the Brits that made the most effort on this occasion. A good laugh was had by all, despite the host, whose birthday it was, falling over blind drunk and passing out before he'd reached midnight.

Sunday was a much more relaxed day, but after we'd finally made it out the door for lunch, we then hit the shops. Annie discovered the true value of American discount stores, especially shoe shops(!) picking up about 5 or 6 pairs in Manchester!! Annalie and Ian made do with a pair each and then went and treated themselves to a new printer, as their existing one was a bit knackered.

On Monday, Annie got all adventurous and went off to hire a car to go and explore Cape Cod. Only the local car rental place didn't have any cars, so she ended up with a dirty great big pick-up truck for the price of a car Ian was most jealous!!

While Annie was gone, we had a fairly quiet time, although Annalie has been busy with work this week. She was due to travel to India again this weekend. However, on Thursday night, she decided to check on her passport, except she couldn't find it. Anywhere Considering she'd only been back in the country less than a week, it seemed extraordinary that she should lose it like this. But it was nowhere to be found She spent all of Friday checking out what she would have to do and trying to find it again, but to no avail.

So she's got to start from square one. She has to apply by post to the British Embassy in Washington as in the US, you can't walk into an Embassy and be issued with a passport on the same day. This should take 2-3 weeks before that returns, then she's got to leave the US in order to visit a US Embassy to be reissued with her Visa. It's a real hassle and timing is just awful. Once she leaves the States, she can't return without her Visa, so there is the risk of being stranded. So she doesn't want to risk leaving the country before the holiday to Hawaii. After she returns from there, she has just over a week before she is due to travel to Europe again, so she is debating a trip to Canada during that week as they supply Visas in a day, or she may bring forward her trip to Europe to go to the US Embassy in London. She has to decide how best to go about getting the Visa again.

We're not sure what effect this has on Ian's Visa though and whether he will require a new one to be issued as well. We're checking with the immigration lawyers on that.

So Annalie now has a lot more time at home than she anticipated. Her trip to China is almost certainly off, unless someone at Rolls-Royce in Washington can pull a few strings and get the passport rushed through. If that's the case, she may be able to get her Visa in Hong Kong as she goes via there to her Chinese destination.

With the extra time, we decided to head back up to Manchester to look for a camera to take underwater when we're in Hawaii. We've got some interesting stuff planned during our time in the Pacific Ocean, so want to be able to ensure we get it all captured. We didn't end up buying one as we've also asked a friend from IAE if we can borrow theirs, so we'll wait to find out before shelling out.

However, we did pop into a ski and snowboard shop that had just opened for the season. While we were there, Ian suddenly developed a need for a new board, even though boots were his priority But his current board is not a wide fitting, and considering the size of his plates of meat, a wide board is almost a must. So he ended up with both in the end. While all Annalie came out with was a neoprene face mask for when it gets really cold up there - which we're told it most definitely will be.

Well, at least it's something to look forward to after a fairly hellish week. After all, we'll probably never live 2 hours from a major ski resort again!

A jet set week

This week has seen us living quite seperate lives for a change as we've both had lots of our own things to do.

Sunday was a nice, relaxed day together as there was no alarm to drag us out of bed. Although having said that, Annalie forced herself up at 9am (bliss!) to watch the Chelsea vs Man Utd game (thanks to the time difference).

We then popped out to Manchester to pick up a few bits and bumped into our friend Mhairi who had just got back from holiday. We have rented the ski house for the winter with Mhairi so we have to catch up with her on what shares have been sold for that.

Later that evening, Ian wanted to watch the final game at Yankee Stadium on TV as it promised to be a huge finale. There was a lot of reminiscing and paying homage to players past and present, it was a bit of a ceremony. Once the game got under way, it was hard to see if the Orioles were going to seriously contend the final game and hand the Yankees victory. The Yankees did win in the end and everyone said goodbye to the historic venue.

On Monday, Annalie took a trip to New York with work this time. One of IAE's largest customers, JetBlue, opened a shiny new terminal at JFK so she got invited to the ribbon cutting ceremony there. A few freebies were to be had and the Radio City Rockettes performed, so it was an interesting day. She didn't stick around for the performance by Estelle, instead wanting to hit the road to get home at a reasonable hour. She made sure she got a goodie bag before she left though, which included the most useful item - a Dunkin' Donuts gift card although we haven't checked how much is loaded on it yet! It was still about 8pm before she reached Glastonbury, so she met Ian at one of our favourite local restaurants for some tea.

Tuesday was a celebratory day for IAE as it delivered the firts of a new engine to Indian airline IndiGo. So Annalie and her team organised an employee celebration at the one and only curry house in Glastonbury It was quite a poor turnout though, worse than we expected, but we reckon that's because we didn't advertise the fact that there was free booze Ian had drill night at the fire house so he went off playing with hoses for the night

Although Ian professes he has nothing to do right now, he seems to get invited to various weekday events through Annalie's work. On Wednesday he managed to get invited to a very exclusive golf course called Fishers Island for a corporate tournament. The course is on an island in the Long Island Sound so it was a ferry from New London for him.

He had an amazing day, even though his golf wasn't on top form. The course itself is the kind that some people can only dream of playing. It's a Links style, so surrounded by water (obviously being an island!) and quite windy, making it very tricky to play in places. Ian lost about 6 balls throughout the day, which isn't too bad, considering. This time it was Ian's turn to come back loaded with freebies, including an extra golf top for Annalie and a bunch of free tickets to the local art museum in Hartford, the Wadsworth Atheneum.

Thursday saw Annalie head down to DC for the day. She was invited to an aviation networking lunch and also took the opportunity for her first visit to the Rolls-Royce office down there. For the first time she met one of the Rolls-Royce communications team that she's "known" virtually for the last three and a half years, but never had the opportunity to meet, so that was nice. The lunch was also a good opportunity to catch up with some people that she works with and journalists she deals with on a regular basis. It was an awfully long day though - up at 3.30am for a 6am flight, not getting back home until about 7.45pm

Friday was a nice opportunity to have a night in together, so we vegged and cleared some of the recorded programmes on the DVR - which was sorely needed. And we also watched Die Hard 4 on TV.

On Saturday Ian had an airport pick-up booked from Boston, so after lunch, he headed off that way. It was quite surprising he didn't bump into our friends Dan and Fi as they arrived to embark on their new life here (welcome to America!!) but Ian's pick-up was through before them. When he got back, we headed down to the fire house as they had arranged a social "picnic" for everyone, and Annalie got her first opportunity to meet the other lunatics that all volunteer for the fire department. They seem like a fun bunch, so Annalie can see why Ian has taken to them so well.

Tomorrow Annalie is heading off on her first ever trip to India. She has a work event in Delhi, so is hoping that the bombings have stopped She's excited because it's her first trip to the country but she is a little worried about her health ass everyone keeps warning her about the food. Maybe it will be a good weight loss opportunity

Goodbye Yankee Stadium

When Sunday arrived, it was time to get Mum and Dad B ready for the trip home again. As we mentioned last week, the plan was to have breakfast at Rose's Berry Farm. However, the heavens remained open so we had to settle for plan B. This was a trip to Ken's Corner. It's a breakfast joint we've used a few times and it does great omlettes and breakfast sandwiches. So although it wasn't Rose's, I think the parents were satisfied.

We set off straight from there to New York (again! ) to do some final sightseeing. The weather in the Big Apple was clear blue skies and sun, so much better than we'd left in CT.

We headed straight to Central Park as Mum B wanted to do a carriage ride. It was a bit shorter than we thought it was going to be, but it was still a very pleasant experience nonetheless. The ironic thing was that we ended up with an Irish driver with a horse called Billy Bob!

From there it was off for a spot of lunch, then we took Mum and Dad B to the Rockerfeller Center so they could go to the Top of the Rock for a different view of Manhattan. By this time the temperature was hotting right up to become a scorcher, so Ian and Annalie sought refuge in the NBC Studio shop! With no intention of buying anything but purely for the air con!

After that experience, we took the parents to the M&M Store on Times Square so that Dad B could marvel at the memorabilia and amount of chocolate on show! From there it was back to JFK to drop them off in plenty of time for their flight.

As we weren't expecting to get back to Glastonbury until gone 9pm, we decided to stop off along the way and Annalie plumped for Bridgport, just because it was a but past half way. She looked up somewhere to go on the web and that's where we headed.

Monday started off in a bad way. Ian went back into work after his two week break looking after his parents, only to be told by the manager that he didn't want to keep him on because of Ian's decision to join the volunteer fire service, which might call him away at any time. Ian also specified a preference for not working weekends, another reason given for getting rid of him We wouldn't mind, but they knew both of these things before they even took him on, so we don't know what generated a change of heart.

Anyway, Ian dusted himself down and set about trying to find something else. We'd talked about the possibility of him doing some "door slamming", i.e. chaufeurring, as IAE uses a limo company quite a lot. So we got a contact and Ian got in touch. It all sounds pretty positive but there are various hoops that Ian has to go through to enable him to get the relevant endorsement on his driving license. Things like have his fingerprints taken, get a police background check and written proof of his driving qualifications and endorsements from the DVLA. Luckily the Data Protection Act means he can get that info, but it has to be applied for in writing so we don't know how long that will take to come back.

On Tuesday Ian got his first taste of volleyball for about 10 years. He used to play to a pretty high standard, and the league here is just a bit of fun, so even though he's out of practice, he was well above the standard of anyone else on the court. Unfortunately, because the Fire Service drill nights are every other Tuesday, he can't commit to volleyball, which he's quite disappointed about. It was the first time Annalie had watched Ian compete at any sport, and she was pretty impressed.

Ian had a couple of his "hubby for hire" jobs to do on Wednesday, but nothing too taxing so he was quickly done. Needless to say that, since his treatment on Monday, he won't be using Katz hardware store for his work gear - it's Home Depot all the way!

The usual soccer night followed on Thursday and Annalie joined in again, this time managing to get through without pulling any muscles! Part way through the game, Ian's fire pager went off so he had to dash off, to many jokes about saving cats from trees (which is a very important duty if you're that cat's owner!). It was actually to rescue a roast chicken that was in danger of being incinerated, setting off someone's fire alarm!

He's had a few shouts this week, some of them quite serious. One was to help rescue a mountain biker who'd taken a real tumble and, because of his location, the fire service needed to be called with their ATV to go and get him out to the ambulance. They were also called out on Saturday morning to rescue someone who'd fallen into the Connecticut River.

This weekend, the original Yankee Stadium witnesses its last ever game before the club moves to the new Stadium across the road next season. The closing series in the original park is against the Baltimore Orioles and runs Friday to Sunday. Ian would have liked to have gone to the final game but the cheapest tickets were around $150, which we know because Carla bought some. However, as a compromise we decided to take a trip down there on Friday night to see the first match against the Orioles.

The last time we'd been to see the Yankees, the score was only 2-0 and both runs were scored together, when Annalie was queuing for coffees This time she was determined not to miss any of the action and didn't leave her seat all night! Neither did Ian to be fair. The Orioles raced to a 2-0 lead, but the Yankees clawed their way back to lead 3-2. Ian was really pleased to have experienced the original Yankee home for one more time before it is torn down, but he's still waiting for the chance to catch a homer ball. Our seats were just above the Yankee bullpen (this does mean something to us!) and they did throw some balls out at one point but none came in our direction

We decided to leave after the 8th innings so we didn't get caught in all the masses leaving hte stadium at the end. We'd got a train to a nearby station on the Bronx, so walking between the subway and the train station was interesting at 10.30pm!! Luckily it was a very busy road so we didn't feel at all unsafe, but it was an experience all the same! We eventually got home at about 1.15am and did not stop or pass go, it was straight upstairs to bed.

This was our first weekend off in some time so we gladly went off to sleep without an alarm set, what a great feeling However, the Fire Department had other ideas and sent out a shout at 9.45am (the chap in the river). Thankfully it wasn't that early though.

Annalie made best use of the time to watch some of the programmes that were recorded on the DVR because the list was getting a bit long and the memory was probably running out. When Ian got back just after 12, she was still there in her dressing gown, making the most of her weekend off

On Saturday afternoon we'd agreed to play in a fun golf tournament with Andy and Kate. The tournament is arranged by the people on their estate but they had some spare slots and we agreed to fill some gaps.

It ended up being quite good fun, although it was more about the drinking than the golf The fact that someone was playing with a tennis racquet rather than golf clubs is testament to that! After the game it was in to the club house for a bbq and some more beers! Despite being a beautifully sunny day, the nights are getting quite cold, so we were all a bit sick of the cold by 7.30pm and decided to head for the Diamond Bar for some more beers.

Sunday is another day that promises little in the way of plans and no alarm to drag us up. What bliss that will be.

The Liberty breathes a sigh of relief

Well, after last week's mammoth mileage, the Liberty got some respite this week as we all kicked back a little and relaxed somewhat, much to the Liberty's relief!

On Sunday it was back to New York so that Mum and Dad B could go and see all the sights they wanted to. We parked near Times Square and grabbed a quick bite for breakfast before heading off on an open top bus tour Quite early into the tour was the first stop - the Empire State Building. After our experience the previous week, we suggested they got off to view the city in the early morning sun. We elected not to go up again, as we'd only been up there the week before, so we left them in the queue to go in search of coffee (it had been another one of those early morning starts again ).

As we walked out of the building, the queue that had formed behind us snaked right out the door and around the corner we couldn't believe we'd got so lucky with the timing.

Anyway, while the parents were up the top, we decided to try and get our parking voucher printed so that we could get the guaranteed rate. We found out to our cost the previous week that they won't give you the internet rate without a printout, even if you have the email to show them on a BlackBerry.

So we went in search of an internet cafe to do our business. You'd think that, New York being a pretty cosmopolitan city and all that, an internet cafe would be easy to find. Ahem, no! Apparently not. We had been told to try the post office but that was a fair walk away and we didn't want to stray too far in case the parents got back down quickly.

Suddenly Annalie had the brainwave to try a hotel business centre. It would cost (of course) but it would be highly probably that we could get it printed. A Renaissance was in view so she tried there first. She was directed straight there, waited in line a few minutes for a computer to free up and then printed the voucher off. Turned out they didn't even charge either - bargain

We headed back to the Empire State Building to pick up the parents and get back on the bus. The tour took us through various neighbourhoods, Little Italy, Chinatown, the Fashion District, Ladies Mile etc, before dropping us off at the Ground Zero site. Annalie had read something about a church beside the site and it turned out to be St Paul's. It once stood in the shadow of the Twin Towers but miraculously survived as the two 100+ storey buildings crumbled around it.

The church became the nerve centre for the rescue operation and most of the emergency services crews sheltered there for rest and refreshments at some time during the clean up. The whole state seemed to volunteer or donate to help these weary but crucial team members to keep them going as they sought to bring some sense of order to the tragedy.

There are a number of exhibits in the church and it sends a shiver down your spine to read about the experiences of the firemen and volunteers that helped to keep the temporary shelter going.

We then walked around the corner of the construction site to the local fire station, where a memorial has been erected to honour the 343 servicemen that lost their lives on that day.

After a spot of lunch we strolled down to Battery Park where we took the free, yes FREE!, Staten Island Ferry to get a good look at the Statue of Liberty. It was a bit of a scramble to get a decent viewpoint, but we managed to get a seat on the right side so we could stand up when she came into view.

After plenty of photos were taken, the 30 minute ferry ride was over and we intended to ride straight back. Unfortunately the boat we were on was not returning to Manhattan so we had to make a bit of a dash for the other boat as the doors were just about closing.

We got back on the bus to finish off the rest of the tour but we didn't get off anywhere else. It was already getting quite late so we opted to get the car and head home.

Annalie's week has been a busy one at work. She's had constant meetings so getting some actual work done has been difficult. It's meant a few late nights for her.

For Ian it has been a good week though as he has finally started work with the volunteer Fire Service here in South Glastonbury He went in to see his mate, the Deputy Chief, and got his pager and an invitation to join drill night at the station. He came home with a huge red duffle bag of gear that is now attached to him by an invisible umbilical cord, just in case he gets called out.

He also got provided with some very handy red plates that have been attached to the front of the cars to identify him as a firefighter. They might come in handy in any run-ins with certain officers of the law

He actually got three shout in less than 24 hours the day after he got his "wings." The first was a fire alarm going off at a local Elementary School, which turned out to be a regular drill but someone had forgotten to inform the Fire Service that they were having it

Then when Ian was at Subway getting some lunch with his parents, the second call came in and he had to abandon them in the middle of Glastonbury. This time it was a car accident that was really no more than a fender bender and meant that he could rescue his parents again!

Finally, we were rudely awaken at about 3.20am as the pager went off. Ian sprinted to the Station, which is literally just at the bottom of our road, but was back in bed just after 4am because they weren't required after all and were stood down again. Still, Ian feels great that he's finally in and he's proudly parading around with the pager attached to his belt

Ian and his parents have mainly been pottering around locally, but on Friday they did head down to Essex to go on the Essex Steam Train and Riverboat. The carriages had open sides so you got the real feel (and smell) of the 1920s style engine, a proper "clickety clack" train. The train heads out of the town along the river giving and through some wildlife areas. The boat cruise up the river took them up to the Goodspeed Opera House and past Gillette Castle, a most pleasant way to spend a few hours, very peaceful and scenic.

Mum B has been astounded by the size of the portions over here. Not having much of an appetite normally, she's convinced she needs to starve herself when she gets back home. This week alone we've been to Houlihan's (so she could have her Lettuce Wraps!), Uno's and Bertucci's, which just has to be done for the fresh bread rolls and garlic dip, it's just amazing .

Saturday was another quiet one but with a trip up to Manchester for some last minute shopping for the parents. We might go back to Rose's for breakfast on Sunday, but we'll have to wait and see what the weather does. We do have a fallback though, so all is not lost if the rain continues.

The Liberty takes a beating

Our poor little Jeep Liberty has taken a hell of a pounding this last week. We've managed to put over 1,000 miles on the clock in the last seven days alone I'm sure it must be wondering what the hell has been going on!

Firstly we headed off to New York on Sunday. Ian's mum and dad were arriving into JFK that afternoon so we thought we'd make the most of the opportunity and spend the day down there. We got up at about 5.30am to be in Manhattan bright and early. Well, maybe we weren't so bright after such an early start! We got into New York at about 8.30 and parked up in the car park we'd reserved. Weekend parking is super cheap and costs less than $20 a day. Once there, we decided to head into Central Park to have a good look around. It was a beautiful day so it wasn't hard to keep walking, although the heat did take its toll after a while.

You can get thoroughly lost in there though as it's so huge and not very well signposted. We made sure we went to see the space where the winter ice rink is located, making a promise to venture out onto it when the temperature drops (and it probably won't be the only thing to drop once we get those blades on our feet ). We also visited some of the fountains, including the beautiful Bethesda, the Strawberry Fields memorial to John Lennon and one of the main viewing points, Belvedere Castle. We've added the photos to the New York folder.

After a couple of hours wandering around, we decided to try and get up the Empire State Building to get the iconic view of Manhattan from what is now the highest point on the island since the Twin Towers fell. We attempted to jump on the Metro but the closest station was not being served so we had to walk around the corner to another station. As we turned onto the neighbouring street, we stumbled upon a massive Brazilian festival. We still have no idea what it was in aid of, but it was a mass of yellow, green and blue!

After a slow walk down 6th Avenue through the Brazilian crowds, we decided to walk the few more blocks to reach the Empire State. We were expecting a loooonnnnnggg wait, and, although we were stood in line for about an hour, that was a lot better than we expected (three hours is not unheard of ). Ian made the best use of his rather large camera lens to get some good shots.

By the time we got back down it was already 2pm and we were both pretty hungry, so we stopped off for a quick bite before heading back up to Times Square. We really want to do Times Square for New Year (as you do!) but we'll be damned if we're going to stand in the same spot in the freezing cold for about 10 hours, unable to go for food, drink or a wazz . So we set about finding out information from the local restaurants about their costs for the night. It's too early for most of them but we've at least started to assemble an idea of what and where.

From there it was back to the car to make our way over to Long Island (again!) to pick up Mum and Dad Brown. It was a new one for us as they flew with Virgin so it was a completely different terminal. We stood waiting directly opposite the exit...and we waited...and we waited some more. We'd had a text fairly early to say that they were waiting for their luggage, but after a while, we started to get really worried that Customs may have pulled them over for trying to smuggle in some pasties for Ian!!!

As it turned out, there was a real issue with the bags coming off the Virgin flight. They weren't the only ones but they did make it into the final dozen! At long last, 1.5 hours later(!) they emerged from baggage claim, much to our relief!

Monday was Labor Day bank holiday, so we were both able to take some time to show Mum and Dad Brown around. We didn't want to do too much, mindful of the long day they'd had previously.

On Tuesday night, Annalie had to go off to Chicago for an all day meeting on Wednesday. Unfortunately she had no opportunity to see any of the city as the venue was out by O'Hare Airport, nowhere near the downtown area. Her time there consisted of: airport, car hire place, out of town hotel, four (yes FOUR!) different rooms (don't ask), finally settling on one at about 8.45pm, TV and sleep, get up, whole day of meetings (no windows!), car hire place, airport, flight home! Arriving back in Hartford late on Wednesday night .

Ian and his parents made the most of Annalie's disappearance by making their way up to Boston for the day. We haven't managed to go in that direction yet except for flying in and out of the US. They wandered around the harborfront, went to the Cheers bar, and headed up Bunker Hill. They also tried to go to Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox baseball team, but they were playing at home that night so they didn't manage to get that close. Because of all the roads being closed, the sat nav kept telling them to go down certain roads that were blocked off and "Gladys" just wouldn't take no for an answer Finally they got the sat nav untangled from the web she wanted to create and made their way back to Hartford in plenty of time to pick Annalie up from the airport.

It was a pretty late finish for all of us on Wednesday, but then it was another early morning start on Thursday as we all trooped off to see Niagara Falls. It was an epic drive, something in the region of 8 hours when you factor in stopping for breakfast and all the comfort breaks . But it was worth it when we got there. The Falls are pretty amazing to see, it's more the sheer power of the water rather than the size of them that impresses you most.

We spent most of Thursday just walking around the various vantage points to get the different perspectives and see where we got the best photos. There's plenty to choose from! We surprised Mum and Dad B with a room for the night as a belated Birthday pressie for Mum B, which we'd specifically chosen for their views of the Falls. They were pretty amazing and you can see photos from the room in the special folder and get an idea from the hotel's website - which doesn't do it justice. You could even watch the Canadian Falls from one of the beds! Mum B was pretty overwhelmed and it was all we could do to drag her away from the window seat.

As we went out to view the Canadian Horseshoe Falls, we stumbled upon such a cute little creature in a black squirrel. We've never heard of black, or possibly brown, squirrels before so we took some pics to prove it to you. The little mites obviously get fed by tourists to encourage interaction as they weren't afraid of us at all. We made sure we didn't do any of that malarky. But we did get up close and personal at times when the inquisitive little buggers came in search of food!

Because of the view from the room, we didn't feel the need to go up any of the towers to get an elevated position over the Falls, we could do that any time We had an especially good view of the Falls by night, when coloured floodlights make them even more of a show. It's very captivating and we sat for a long time just gazing out at this flowing water.

Overnight, a large quantity of the river's flow is diverted through a hydro-electric power station, which is a very environmentally-friendly thing to do. The result is fascinating though as the water levels over the Falls recede substantially, making them much less powerful than their full daytime glory. You might not be able to spot the difference in the photos, but we certainly noticed it from our window on the 20th floor!

On Friday morning we decided that we couldn't go to Niagara Falls without doing the Maid of the Mist. Bright blue ponchos in hand (sorry, but we don't have the photographic evidence!) we got on the first boat of the day and divided ourselves between the two decks, right at the front. Talk about gluttons for punishment!! Annalie managed to engineer the poncho so that she just about had a breathing hole and below the knee exposed!

The trip gives a totally different perspective on the Falls, actually making them even more impressive. You really get to see and feel the power of the water. When the boat pointed its nose into the centre of the Canadian Horseshoe and battled against the mammoth current, the mist started to pour over us. However, the "lovely" ponchos held up pretty well, except for Dad B who managed to get a full frontal soaking! Still, that's what you pay for isn't it?!

After a quick freshen up and change, it was back into the car for the trek back home. We'd spotted an outlet shopping village on the way up that we thought would break the journey nicely, so we pulled in for some retail therapy. Little did we realise how quickly we'd lose track of time in there and we ended up spending about 3 hours wandering around. A few good bargains were had before setting off again.

This time Ian let Annalie drive. Up to this point he'd been at the wheel exclusively, but we think he got a bit fed up with the fact that the three of us took plenty of opportunities for 40 winks to catch up on some lost sleep So he handed the keys over and dropped half the back seat to give himself a self-styled bed to sleep on. He did pretty well as we didn't hear him stir for a good 1.5 hours at least. After the next pit stop, he insisted on resuming his position behind the wheel for the last leg of the journey back to Glastonbury.

We vowed that today (Saturday) would be a day off, and that has been precisely what we've had. Apart from a short trip out to Westfarms Mall for Mum B to hunt down some cheap Levi's that she's been after. Mission Accomplished.

The biggest excitement for today is that we're seeing the tail end of Hurricane Hanna, or is that Tropical Storm Hanna? Anyway, the heavens have opened this afternoon and the place is getting a right pelting. Precisely why Andy Murray's game against Rafael Nadal got rained off. By the looks of things it was the best thing that could have happened to Murray at the time though as he'd lost his early momentum.

Anyway, I don't think the Liberty will get much respite this coming week either. We're off to New York again tomorrow for some sightseeing with Mum and Dad B. Who knows what else will be planned for the rest of the week!

A working week

Well, the biggest news of our week is the fact that Ian has started work Yes, that's right, after weeks of having nothing to do he's got himself a job. We passed a local hardware store a couple of weeks ago and it had a "Help wanted" sign outside so Ian went in and got himself an application form.

It didn't take much to persuade the manager to employ Ian so on Tuesday this week, off he went, lunch box in hand!! Annalie thinks its just an excuse for him to play with power tools, after all, he gets to cut keys and everything! But he's really pleased to be doing something constructive and earning some pennies.

This week he went in on Tuesday and Thursday to get some training, but he's now got another two weeks off while his parents are in town. We go to pick them up from JFK tomorrow - they're getting very excited already. We're going to spend the day in New York as they don't arrive until tea time, so it gives us plenty of opporutnity to see some more sights that we haven't had chance to see yet.

Ian also did some "unofficial" work as well this week through his "hubby for hire" ad in the Rolls-Royce secondees' newsletter. One of the guys Annalie works with had the brainwave of hiring Ian to do an airport pick-up earlier in the month when he had a clash of two family groups arriving on the same night - only one turned up in Boston and the other in New York. So Ian was dispatched to New York to pick up Bruce's parents. This week, he got called up for the return run, with Nana on board too. Unusually it was a pretty straightforward run, despite the fact that the US Open tennis is on right now and, from here, we drive right past Flushing Meadows to get to JFK. Ian also has another booking late in September, this time from Boston, so it is proving quite lucrative.

Also this week, one of Annalie's friends from Rolls was over on his pre-assignment visit with his wife. Annalie and Fi have been in contact on email a lot since Dan knew they were coming out here so it was nice to meet properly (they'd met briefly in Paris three years ago). So we went out with them on a couple of evenings to have something to eat and help them out with any questions they had about the move. We had some good fun nights so we're looking forward to them moving out at the end of next month.

On Thursday, Annalie went to the gym after work but told Ian she'd go and referee the IAE soccer game, even though it's just a bit of fun. It was 4-a-side so although Ian tried to persuade Annalie to take part, she went to the gym instead. As it happened, after the game had been going about 20 minutes, one of the girls from IAE and the co-ed team we played with last week turned up. She suggested joining in so Annalie went out for her second exrecise session of the night. Not that she's a glutton for punishment. She was pitched on the opposing team to Ian, who was determined she would not score against him. She did score, but not while he was in nets. She enjoyed herself again and will probably end up joining in a bit more when she has time.

This weekend is a bank holiday weekend in the US, Labor Day. We're not entirely sure what it's for! But hey, it's another free day off so who's complaining?! We went out to buy some new clothes using a bunch of vouchers we had for Bob's Stores, which is a bit like Matalan, only better! The vouchers all specified they couldn't be used in conjunction with other offers or vouchers, but they didn't care about that and we used them all! Saving ourselves $30 in the process. Ian bought some trousers for work and a Yankees polo shirt, while Annalie bought some trousers for travelling in, rather than resorting to jeans all the time. It might give her a better chance of an upgrade.

We also found a new restaurant that we quite like, Uno's Chicago Grill. The food was good and plentiful, and the receipt gave us the opportunity to get a $5 voucher for next time. I think we'll be going back there it always helps when there's something for nothing!

A busy week

We've had a bit of an action-packed week so there's plenty to tell you in this post. One thing we forgot to mention last week was our first trip to the Dodge Music Center in Hartford. It's an outdoor concert venue that's a man-made bowl but also has some seats that are under cover. We went to see Maroon 5, supported by Counting Crows and bought our tickets months ago - when we were still in the temporary house. A bunch of our friends were also going, but where we'd bought seats, they'd gone for lawn tickets, which are basically pick your spot on the grass at the back.

Well, it turned out that our decision to buy seats was an inspired one. Despite being the middle of August, the heavens opened for the entire afternoon, soaking the town. Apparently the lawn area wasn't too bad, but it was still a little muddy, and it did rain lightly at one point during the show. But we were protected from it all by the roof

The concert itself was mixed. Counting Crows weren't great performers and we couldn't make out anything the singer was saying. Plus we didn't know any of their material (Big Yellow Taxi didn't feature at all). Maroon 5, however, were very good and rocked the place. The gig didn't finish until midnight though so we got home at 1am. Annalie was a real trooper though as she had a gym appointment at 8am on Saturday morning and still got up to go to it! That's dedication for you.

Monday brought a return to work for Annalie, which was a shock to the system after two weeks off. And it's straight into budget planning for next year, which is an interesting activity, especially whilst trying to manage the budget for the remainder of this year at the same time.

Tuesday brought about the IAE golf league night again and we just about managed to squeeze the whole nine holes in. Annalie was in the last group and finished as the sun was on its way down.

There was more sport on Thursday as Annalie got to play football, sorry, soccer, for the first time in over four years. Shannon, one of the girls at IAE, asked Annalie to play for her co-ed (mixed) team to make up the numbers. Ian has played for them before and we were both invited to play - the first time we've teamed up on the football pitch! In fact it was the first time Annalie had seen Ian in action in the nets. She was very impressed with his performance, which is more that can be said for Annalie's! But then she's been on the sideline for so long It was an enjoyable game and we won 13-6 and we're sure Annalie will be taking to the field again at some point.

On Friday we invited some of our friends over for a BBQ and had intended to do a fun casino night but we couldn't be bothered with that part of it in the end! We sat around with a few beers, some nice food and good conversation. Plus a bit of Wii and Uno Extreme! It was a relaxed and fun night to get everyone together.

The night had started off with us going to the Irish American Society in Glastonbury as Munster rugby team were in town for a match against the USA. The Heineken Cup was travelling with them and was "on show" at the club. We actually got to take the Cup for a photo ourselves. There was also a youth 7s tournament going on but the quality wasn't that great so we headed off to ours to get the party started.

Saturday saw the aforementioned rugby match taking place at our local stadium, Rentschler Field. It's actually an American Football stadium for UConn (University of Connecticut) and was chosen because Hartford is almost dead centre between New York and Boston. There are such huge Irish communities in both of these cities, so Hartford is ideally-located for both. About 20 of us descended on the car park at about 12 to get the tailgating started (when in Rome, you know!). Hot dogs and burgers aplenty, and a lot of fun and games, and that was all before the game kicked off! The weather was glorious, almost too hot, so we were all slathered in plenty of sun cream, but still got a lot of colour from being sat in the direct sun for the entire game.

Ian decided to have a wager on the score with one of the young American guys from IAE. The bet was that Munster would beat USA by at least 20 points. For about 75 minutes, the score did not reach this gap, and with five minutes to go, the USA broke away to score a runaway try to reduce the gap to 12, leaving Ian with very little chance of winning the bet... or so we thought. As it happened, USA were pulled back for a knock on, giving Ian's bet another chance.

With two mintues to go, Munster finally sealed their dominance with another try and conversion to win 46-22 and win Ian's bet for him (phew!). The prize was a free night of beer that evening at the Irish pub in Hartford, Vaughans. So we duly headed off for a night on the town. Our friends, Mhairi and Steve, had offered to put us up for the night and the pub is just two minutes' walk from their place, so we didn't have to worry about driving home or taxis.

It's been a packed week but a lot of fun. We just hope there aren't too many more of them!

So long, farewell, au wiedersen...

Well, last week we promised you an update of the rafting trip so here goes.

Ian and Colin had a fairly straightforward journey up to Jackman in Maine, although it was still a 7 hour journey. No major hazards to report along the way and they were safely there for beer o'clock!

The weekend was a roaring success, both on and off the water. During the day there were plenty of decent rapids and the river level was pretty high, what with the combination of rain and the dam release. It made for an interesting journey at some points. The first day was good because nobody went in the water, but on the Sunday, the guides were doing everything in their power to get people in Needless to say there were plenty of swims for people.

On dry land there was plenty of booze and good food to keep people full. One of the guys got up at 2.30am to set up a smoker to cook a pork joint. The pulled pork that was then ready at dinner time was superb, extremely succulent and well worth the wait.

On the way back, the pair decided to venture into Canada as Jackman is only 15 miles from the border as it is. They decided to make it worthwhile by going via Quebec, which added a few hours to the journey but was well worth it. A very traditional town with plenty to see and do, it was a shame they just had half an hour or so. They didn't want to park up as they didn't have any Canadian $s to pay for it. Still, it didn't stop Colin from purchasing a new guitar! Apparently it's about half the price than the UK so I guess you can't blame him. Not sure what the Girls will make of it though!

Once Ian and Colin were back in CT, there was just one more day and then we headed back to New York to get them on their return flight. We decided to head into Manhattan for a couple of hours just to show them some of the key sites and maybe get up one of the towers. Or at least that was the plan! Unfortunately we got held up in traffic on the way down there and ended up arriving about an hour late. On the way, however, we did see a van that was advertising a taste of home (only those with a knowledge of Middleton will know what we mean!).

Still, we were parked right around the corner from Times Square so we took them to the Hard Rock Cafe there for lunch. Colin was in his element looking at all the famous guitars there. The most stunning thing about the menu was the calorie count! Each of the dishes stated its calories and there were even salads that topped 1,400 The most calorific was fajitas which weighed in at a wopping 1,900. To ensure our bodies didn't overload we all went for reasonable sensible options, but even these were 700+.

To walk off some of those calories, we took a stroll down Broadway where we were given dessert, some free smoothies and non-fat yogurts. As we reached the intersection with 6th Avenue, the Empire State Building came into good view for us, it was just a shame we didn't have time to go up it and we also passed the original Macys store.

Then it was back into the car to drive down towards "Ground Zero" to show where the twin towers once stood. The building project is moving along rapidly, even since our last visit in April. But there isn't much to see as the site is surrounded.

Finally it was time to get across to Long Island and down to JFK. Although our satnav said it was a 20 minute journey, the typical New York traffic meant that it turned into an hour. It wasn't a problem as we'd already checked them in online so it was just a case of dropping the bags off and picking up the boarding cards. That was a relatively painless exercise, although Colin had to say goodbye to his new toy and hope it arrived safely at the other end. Then it was a tearful goodbye as we left them to go through to the departure lounge.

With the parents back home, Annalie decided to continue her vacation for the remainder of the week. It's been relatively quiet, just getting some bits done. We both had personal training sessions with a gym trainer to get ourselves a bit of motivation to get down there more often, and at least do the right stuff while we're there.

We also decided to go for a quick round of golf back at Minnechaug, seeing as we hadn't been there in a while. It wasn't the best round for either of us, and although we got caught in a very light shower, the round was generally dry and even very sunny towards the end. Annalie managed to lose about 6 balls on the last hole and we couldn't really understand why! We think that another visit to the golf coach is in order.

Finally we went shopping to West Farms Mall again so Annalie could buy a new wheelie case for her travels. She wanted one she could put her laptop in and take on board as carrying it on her shoulder gets quite sore. Anyway, she found one on sale at Macys that suits her needs well. Thank you Mum