#TBT: Summer Time

In celebration of it currently being summer, I figured this would be a good throwback picture. 

Summer Time

Galveston Beach, around 1991

Look at this awesome swim suit! You know you had one. See, I was not allowed to have a two piece swim suit until I was in 6th grade. So this was the replacement. And man oh man did this give me a rad looking tan! What was missing was some big eyes, a big nose and a big ole smile right in the middle. Let's all be jealous of my half-up side ponytail, too.

Look at this beautiful beach! You know, Galveston beach is the most gorgeous of them all. BAHAHAHAHAHA!!! We used to go to Galveston what seemed like every Sunday after church. There was always tons of traffic because EVERYONE was headed to the beach on Sunday. We knew we were getting close when we could smell the funk coming off of the Gulf. I really shouldn't be complaining because I could definitely use Galveston beach right about now. (never in my life did I think I would be dreaming of going to Galveston Beach) I take it back.... I don't want Galveston Beach. I want Mediterranean beaches!!

#spoiled

JK, I'll take Galveston.

Pass, Set, Swing & Miss!

Actual date of this event: 5 June

Beginning Note: When it comes to volleyball terms, I despise the word "bump", and I despise the word "spike". So I use the phrase, "pass, set, hit/kill" rather than "bump, set, spike." I just cringed while typing those words.

In hopes of meeting some people in London, I searched online for some expat groups and activity groups. I came across a website called MeetUp.com. You may or may not have heard of this site... they apparently have activity groups all over the place (for example Houston). There is a chance that this site may be for losers, but let's face it, I am a loser with no friends within 500 miles of me. I believe I have a right to do an online search for friends. Anyway, I was searching on the site for volleyball groups. I came across two that interested me. One is located just half a mile from my house in Wimbledon and play on Monday evenings. The other is located a few miles away (requires me to take the tube two stops) in East Putney, is for people who are not beginners and who know how to play the game, and they play on Wednesday evenings.

I chose to attend the East Putney group last Wednesday. Going into it, I was worried that I was going to SUCK. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be. My serving started out pretty well but then went totally downhill toward the end... in high school, my serving percentage was 99%, rarely did I miss a serve. My setting was pretty terrible as my fingers need to loosen up... in high school, I played opposite the setter, so I often had to set, and I wasn't too shabby. My passing was still pretty immaculate.. I am not ashamed to admit that I was and still am awesome at passing... cocky, much? Perhaps. My hitting was absolutely God awful! Apparently I have lost all coordination when it comes to hitting. My brain says "jump now" but apparently my "ups" aren't quite as "up" as they used to be... in high school, I placed the ball well, but was never a hard hitter. There was one time last Wednesday that I totally swung and missed. Like didn't even-touch-the-ball missed. I should have walked out right then and there, but I just hung my head down low and kept going. Saving the best for last, I got two blocks in the 3 matches we played. Wait, let me say that again, I blocked two MEN all by myself. Pretty sweet!!!!!

Just like the old days, I have battle wounds to show for my aggressive style of play. I do not like to let a ball hit the ground (as well as I do not like to pretend the volleyball is a soccer ball and use my feet which seems to be the thing here as football is THE sport), so I do quite a bit of diving and knee pounding. Scroll quick if you don't want to see pictures... just warning you...

two hours later

not even 12 hours later

5 days later - the ugly phase!

I am playing again tonight, so this bruise will just continue to get bigger and uglier... just like in high school, when this bruise stayed on my knee all year round for 6 years. Hopefully, soon, I will have my "ups" back. Wish me luck in that I don't swing and miss again!

Traveling Research

*note: In no way am I professional traveler, although that would be awesome. I have only been "traveling" for less than a year.*

When Luke and I found out we would be moving to London, our excitement for traveling went through the roof! Traveling from London is soooo easy. Currently, Luke and I have booked four weekend trips within the next two months. As for the rest of the year, we are in the works of booking a big trip, and discussing a few more short weekend trips as well as a long weekend. Sounds awesome, huh? It is but, oh my goodness, it is overwhelming. Trip planning takes a ton of thought and time. Luke and I are both OCD in general, and we want to make the most of our travel. So we go very deep into research.

I thought I would share with you my method of trip planning, and of course, I would love to hear your thoughts as well, in the comments section below :-) The first major trip we went on was to Bavaria (go back to November 2012 in my archives to read about it), and we piggy backed with our friends Dave & Jen who had been traveling for a while. Because of that trip, we learned many things: how we like to travel, how to do research to travel, how to save money, and then various do's & dont's. Here is generally how I plan a trip:

Determining the location - I ask others where they have been and ask their opinion. Because of this, Luke and I have a very long list of approximately 50 cities just in Europe that we want to visit someday. We have broken down the locations by day trips, 2 day trips, 3 days trips, 4-5 day trips and long trips.

Find the Sights - Luke and I travel to see & do, not so much to do & taste. We like to feel the city by walking all over and seeing as much as we can. We have learned that we travel well together because we both enjoy this way of travel. Plus, Luke likes to lead, and I don't mind just following him around :-) We have seen a ton of unusual things and different parts of cities because of our great teamwork :-) But we don't just meander about with out knowing anything so...
a.) My Places - We use Google Maps' My Places and pin sights on maps for what we want to see and do (click here to see our map from Paris). Doing this gives us an idea of, 1.) where to stay in the city, and 2.) how large the city is. How do we find these sights to see?...
b.) WikiTravel - The first website I always go to for research is WikiTravel. Sometimes you wont find much on a city, but most large cities/towns have a great deal of information. You can read about the districts of the city, how to get around in the city, a short history, things to look out for as far as crime goes, where to eat, what days trips to take, etc.
c.) Trip Advisor - The second website I use for research is Trip Advisor's list of attractions for the city. Most of these attractions will have already been pinned on my Google Map, but occasionally I find that there are some not mentioned on WikiTravel.
d.) Time Out (if available) - I discovered this site through London. It is a great site for unique things to do. It also gives great names of restaurants, bars and pubs.
e.) Frommer's - We have a Frommer's Europe book that has notes for practically every city/town of good size in Europe. This is the ONLY travel book we use.
f.) other - If I feel I want more, I browse through other websites about the city just doing the good ADD internet surfing.

Booking the Lodging- After I have pinned on my map, I now have a general idea of where to stay in the city. We spend most of our days out of the room, so we don't mind if the room is on the lower end of ideal. If it has a bed, a bathroom, and the temperature is good, that is all that matters to us. Depending on the length of the trip depends on where we prefer to stay. For 2 night trips, a hotel is ideal (usually go with hotels.com first). For 3 or more night trips, I prefer to stay in an apartment (using airbnb.com). I like apartments for longer trips because we can save money by eating breakfast in the apartment and will have a refrigerator to keep sandwich supplies which a hotel does not always have. No matter what, we do our best to get a place with free wifi, but sometimes websites lie about that.

Booking Transportation- There isn't much to say about this. I use Kayak to find the best deals for flights. To determine timetables for trains in Europe, I use Rail Europe - we have found that showing up at the time of the train is cheaper than booking ahead of time BUT sometimes reservations are required/needed or else you will have to stand as we have seen it happen.

Things I keep in mind- Again, in no way are we professional travelers, and we still have a ways to go before we can take a trip without any hiccups. As we have visited a few places, we have learned our lesson a few times.
a.) Timing at airports - We recently booked a trip but almost got screwed with travel time. We almost booked a flight out of London for 6am. Luckily, we remembered that the tubes don't begin running until around 5am, therefore we would have had to take a cab at the last minute (which would have cost over 80GBP). Close one!
b.) Timing for check-in/out - Check-in for lodging isn't usually until around 2pm, so if we arrive early, we have to hold our bags. Some train stations have lockers for rent that hold bags. Also check-out is usually around 11am, so we might have to hold on to our bags until our late flight.
c.) Inner city transportation - In larger cities, we try to figure out the transportation method. Sometimes we just walk it all, but in Paris, that ended up being 12 miles a day. If you plan to visit London, an Oyster Card is the way to go!
d.) Day trips - For longer trips, we usually end up taking a few day trips to nearby towns. I always make sure there is a way to get from one city to the next, usually by train. And for these day trips, I create a Google Map as well, so I know what to see and do.
e.) Eating - Luke and I don't like to plan our munching time. We are terrible when in comes to restaurants. We always have these grand plans to do research on Trip Advisor for good restaurants to try but never end up doing so. Either way, we try to avoid the places right in the middle of a square as they are usually the worst. A great app we use is TripAdvisor City Guides which can be used off line. Not all cities are available, but it comes in handy for the ones that are.
f.) Maps - iPhone is a genius! We use Google Maps while offline to determine where we are in a city while we travel because the little blue dot still shows up! So we don't 'purchase' any type of city map.
g.) Tips - I always take the time the day of or the day before the trip to carefully read the 'warnings' on WikiTravel. Most will say the same thing over and over again about pick-pocketers and hold your purse tightly and don't walk alone at night and so on, but they do give more specific warnings. Such as in London, a common crime is people will grab cell phones and sprint away as people are using them around the tube and trains. It reminds me to be alert while I'm traveling.
h.) Reviews - I like to read the reviews of sights in the city from Trip Advisor. I get a general idea of what to expect as far as cost of entry, if the entry fee is worth paying, and how long the attraction may take. I also learn things that I may not have learned otherwise (like at Sacre Coeur in Paris with the bracelet men).

Trip planning can be a full time job if you let it...  wait, maybe I should be a travel agent??!!! JK, I am way to OCD and too much of a people-pleaser for that! It takes a few go-arounds before the planning and traveling gets easier. But I will warn you, the traveling doesn't get any cheaper!

Do you have any websites that you recommend for researching cities/towns?
What things do you do to research a city/town before you visit?

The Londonist

A few weeks ago, I received an email from the Londonist for whatever reason. I didn't sign up to be on any mailing list, but I received it. I usually delete random emails without even glancing at their title, but this one caught my eye as it was titled: Things To Do In London Today.

Source of Photo

It was a Friday, so I was very interested in what the Londonist had to say... and if it was legit. So I opened the email and read through the list. It is sort of an insider list of things to do. It assumes that you want to do fun, cheap, unique activities. Things like playing croquet in a park, rollerskating around town, music performances, art galleries, beer festivals, etc. At some point, I just might run out of something to do on a weekend, and this email will help, so I signed up to receive these emails daily at 7am (which is the only option).

I am only really interested in reading the email on days when both Luke and I are available to hang out, but I still open the email daily for two reasons: 1.) read the Random Little Things You Didn't Know About Londonist, and 2.) read the weather forecast. Y'all know me and random facts, so of course I have to read those (see below for one from an email). The weather forecasts are pretty funny! Luke and I joke (and I am sure many others that live in Britain do as well) about how it is pointless to check the weather everyday because it changes so rapidly. Amazingly, London DOES have better weather than Aberdeen (from what I remember from last summer). Anyway, here are some of my favorite weather forecasts from the Londonist:

That flighty rapscallion the Sun should make a number of cameos today, playing a game of now-you-see-me-now-you-don’t with the clouds. These periodic intrusions should be enough to lift the temperature to a giddy 20°C. Watch out, though, Friday night drinkers: rain is forecast for the very minute you decide to down tools and head to the pub.

A morning of unwelcome cloudpukes is followed by an afternoon of dry but grey malaise. Get updates on the weather throughout the day by going to a window and looking out of it, or perhaps stepping outside and gazing upwards, ignoring the buildings in the foreground and concentrating on the endless void between them.

It is our unrelenting mission to improve the accuracy of the Londonist weather forecast. To that end, we snuckled into the Met Office over the weekend to see how the professionals source their information. Well, gentle reader, you would be alarmed and appalled to see the jerry-rigged weather-forecasting tools they employ. On Helen Willetts’ desk we found an ‘average temperature indicator’ which seemed to be little more than a set of Yahtzee dice. Nina Ridge had adapted the old game of ‘pin the tail on the donkey’ to ascertain wind direction. John Hammond’s desk was empty, save for a sign saying “Gone to consult the haruspex”, whatever that means. Honestly, we’d advise you to ignore this bunch of charlatans and rely upon us for your forecasting needs. To that end, it’s going to mostly pissy today, with lots of wet everywhere. Or so our tarot reading tells us. If, like us, you spent the weekend hurling brickbats, bellowing threats and weaving hexes at the terrifying yellow visitation lately menacing the skies of London, then please stand down. It is not a witch. Nor yet a maleficent spirit of any description. We are advised that this so-called sun is an object for praise. Further, it will linger over our city for some time yet. We embrace its balmy ways into our pantheon and commend its glow unto your very thrall. In summary: sunny; buy an ice cream.

Picture the sun, at a party with some other suns. He’d like to chill, but he can’t. He’s the sun. But suddenly Feelin’ Hot Hot Hot comes on the stereo. The sun, and the other suns, form a line, parading through the party in a quasi-stellar version of the conga, feelin’ hot, hot, hot. That’s what the forecast looks like for the next few days.

I have come to realize that many places have unpredictable weather. Do you know of somewhere where the weather is always perfect and always predictable?

LONDONIST RANDOM FACT:
"We once wrote a book. It’s true. Back in 2006, we put together The London Collection, a kind of trivia guide to the capital, with plenty of nuggets you won’t find in other such books. Only one of the five authors still writes for Londonist, and he contributed under pseudonym. Hence, nobody really knows about it. After receiving rave reviews (“A joy”, “daft but diverting bog literature”…), it disappeared with little trace. You can still get it from Amazon."

NHS: Scotland vs. England

I will admit I have no brain, if you already know this. If you don't know this, then I do have a brain...

When I hear the letters N-H-S, I think of the United Kingdom as a whole. Who knew that certain things within the NHS were different between the different countries? Well, apparently, each country in the United Kingdom has their own National Health system. Yep, all four countries have their own system and their own rules with regards to healthcare.

So, how did I figure this out? Lets take a stroll down memory lane...
Scotland 
Walk into pharmacy. Hand prescription to chemist. Chemist tells me to sign it. Chemist tells me it will be a moment. Two minutes goes by. Chemist hands me drugs and says "here you go, have a nice day." I say, "that's it? Do I owe anything." Chemist says "nope, all prescriptions are free." I say, "oh okay. great! Thanks!" Walk away in a confused yet happy state that I did not have to pay.
England
Walk into pharmacy with confidence that I know how this works. Sign prescription, hand prescription to chemist. Two minutes goes by. Chemist hands me drugs and says "your prescription is ready. That will be £7.85." Say what???!!! What do you mean I have to PAY for this?? "Oh, I have never had to pay for this before." Chemist points to a sign that reads 'All NHS prescriptions are £7.85.' I say "oh. okay?" I give him money. I leave to go home and look this up.

Apparently, England is the only country in the United Kingdom that charges for prescriptions (although certain people are exempt from paying). And apparently, people that live along the border, try to take their prescription outside of England to avoid payment. Take that England!

So, let's see. My life has gone from paying a boo-coo amount of money for a prescription, to paying zero money for a prescription, to paying money for a prescription again. Its a lot of confusion in one year! JK, but I really was so confused the other day, but I am over it now. I just wanted to share my story with you. It had been a while since I had done a "differences blog", so it seemed like a good fit for today. Have a great weekend!

Those of you that live internationally, what surprised you the most about the healthcare in the different countries?

RANDOM FACT:
According to a survey in 2004, people expressed very high levels of satisfaction with their experiences of the medical system.