August 29th September 9th September17th October 9th
Southport
This is a small fishing community, with an eye to keeping their houses immaculate, ready for the next film crew to turn up. |
...is alive and well, pounding the air waves with his evangelical message. Quite fascinating to listen to, as I thrashed back up the various interstates. It took him an hour to cover the Three Temptations of Christ.
I've learnt something from that: don't be afraid to repeat endlessly to emphasize a message - my software documentation should be more interesting from now on. Yes, my software documentation really will be more interesting from now on.
Sort of goes against my software mentality that. Isn't the
Getting vegetarian food is difficult. OK, I'm not veggie - but I am veggie empathic. The ingredients on the tub of "Veggie Dip" I purchased today contains gelatin. That comes from boiling up Moo Cow bones doesn't it?
The remains of the tropical storm arrives, dumping rain continuously all day. At least you get proper weather here!
Now added to the collection:
I visit our downtown office today. Some scabby little web based database app I wrote a year ago has been noticed. Nice to feel wanted!
I get the tour: 100's of traders with flat panel screens; racks of extremely expensive Cisco kit with optical Gigabit back-planes.
The reception area has a reasonable museum dedicated to Bell South telephones. Interesting to nose around - cross bar switches to ringing generators - all sorts of good junk.
It's a bit worrying that I know and understand what every bit kit in the museum did - and yet the Cisco kit is so impersonal: anonymous gray boxes with led's.
I meet with Jeff and Terry. We have lunch. Real food at last: Indian with proper Tarka Dall.
..you get...56 paid days off :
Take that IR35!
I've opened up a bank account - all ready for when I move over here full time. (OK - if) I seem to have spent an average of 2 weeks a year in the U.S. over the last six years so it makes sense. I get given a Visa card with a $2000 overdraft limit - well that's a start!
Any credit history gained in the U.K. counts for nothing!
A trip to the bars in SouthPark with the boys and girls tonight. Lee's not driving, so it might get serious.
Beer - darts with plastic tips! and an electronic dart board. Yes, the Brits are in town!
A sunny hot day, but make the most of it: Hurricane Helene is due to piss on us tomorrow.
I drive to Charlotte International Airport, intending to fly to Chicago, O'Hare airport. O'Hare, the busiest airport in the world, is closed. Rain! Pah! So the Friday night soiree in Chicago with Suresh is blown out!
Saturday 23/9/00 3202Chicago
He has planned a boat trip: a tour on the Chicago First Lady traveling on the Chicago River to Lake Michigan seeing the famous attractions and landmarks. He phone the boat tour operator to confirm everything was wheelchair
accessible. "Yes it is." OK, the weather is not sunny, but it's comfortable - not humid as in North Carolina. The tops of the buildings disappear into low cloud, reminding us of Hong Kong. We bloat ourselves in a riverside restaurant. The evening sees us watching DVD's and helping his mate Steve demolish some whiskey. |
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Brits leaving a plane treat it like a scrum: be first out. The Americans onboard waited for the passengers in front to move before they themselves got up to move. I embarrass myself by charging off... there's no point! ...Decorum Please!
This will be my last day in Charlotte - Today I'm returning home on the 17:30 flight to Gatwick. Yes, I even had a twinge of sadness leaving my American colleagues: Yes, they work differently - but they're OK.
