Nov 16th. Empty nest again!

First, there is a bit of catching up. Romik, Polinka & Maechka left on Monday. We were very sad to see them go. It is a lot more fun to be together when there is electricity and hot water and England around. The last time we did a sleepover was during Sandy. We missed Anechka.

On Tuesday we walked to Teddington Lock during lunch and picked up the last slim pickings of the apples. Just last week our favorite tree near the boat inhabited by the local alcoholics were covered in them, the apples that is. Dan climbed up and shook off the last remnants. What happened?


In the evening we saw the Enders Game. Highly recommended. Interestingly the only movie theater that was playing it past 6pm was Vue in Kensington. We visited this beautiful area in London just a few weekends ago. It is only about 8 miles away but when you are driving, the amount of anguish makes it feel like the whole of 80. The amount and diversity of the roadside contraptions to slow one down is bewildering in its creativity. And lastly, and this will probably be the most memorable moment of the day, I had a moment of weakness and dropped off my best pair of trousers (aka pants) at dry cleaners at Kingston train station. More about that later.

On Wednesday we went to the office. It was just like all the other prior trips. The promotional video of the tired lady with HR issues that is playing in the HR portion of the office. I wonder if the staff actually turns it on every day or it really is on an endless loop. It feels surreal.
 

Shouldn't someone tell

the elves that turkey is for

Thanksgiving? 

Isabella went on a school trip to visit a beautiful Hindi Buddhapadipa temple in Wimbleton. When she came back, she showed us how to fold hands for the prayer and told us that it makes her feel really good. With Georgia sharing something new about JC almost weekly, we are going to be all set in the religious department when we are done.

Thursday was a crazy day at work. At night we all went to Ram pub for drinks, peanuts, & iPad. Perfect way to end the day.

Our entire town is under construction. The most affected area is the market square. The walkways in the center of old town are blocked everywhere, and central market building is covered in scaffolding. Fortunately, the stalls were moved closer to our home and opened up after a few days of downtime! In addition, several Christmas markets opened up around the town. The lights are on and there are a few Christmas trees around. Very nice to see. Our boardwalk that was blocked a few building below ours is finally open - so one could ride a bike all the way to London.

On Friday we worked from London. I met with Nadia C. at Wallace Collection for lunch. It is a beautiful museum/home put together by a family of private collectors. It features incredible selections from the old masters and its medieval Armor collection would make MET green with envy. We are totally coming back for the second and third look.

Georgia's school had a science sleepover for the third grade. She went back to school at night, while we had dinner in a Mexican restaurant overlooking our building. The food is not to die for but they have a really great ambience: we were sitting alone in a little room up the winding staircase. The restaurant has "Mexican" décor, which really is a mish-mash of styles remotely resembling that country. The menu (Ohh, I should have taken a picture of it!!) told a story of the restaurant.

The story itself could have been put together by a person utilizing the "Spirits" referenced in the menu for inspiration. It started with a narrative about some Frenchman who wanted to buy a winery in Mexico but got shot twice by a drunk gringo and died... and then it continues to someone's wife, and then a famous Mexican general. We read it a few times trying to make sense but then realized that it is the point. And if we were to try the Spirits they would act like 3-d glasses, bringing the ultimate clarity to the story. The biggest treat was that the waiter looked like a son of Garland Greene played by Steve Buscemi in Con Air. Total likeness down to the mannerisms.

Finally caught up to today. Dima left and it was very sad. Saturday was a kind of a non-productive day. Caught up on our cleaning and laundry. Tried to take kids out on bikes, but Isabella's broke. We are upset about it. It would be the second time I am going to have to take it to repair shop. Don't know if they sell Cherry Lane brand in US, but it is of very poor quality. We also went to Sainsbury to do our shopping for a week. It felt like the entire population of our town was there. Kids movies stop at 2pm.. Need to plan our weekends better :)

So back to the dry cleaning.. I dropped off my pants on Tuesday morning. The attendant told me to come back on Wednesday afternoon. I came back on Thursday morning and pants were still not ready. The attendant advised to come back on Thursday afternoon. In the afternoon the pants were still missing. I was told the driver is at the funeral. The attendant expressed deep regret and reduced the fee by 2 pounds.. On Friday evening, the driver was sick. The attendant expressed sorrow and reduced the fee by another 2 pounds. I was not ready for more sorrow or regret and so I've skipped today. Though in retrospect, 2 more visits and I could NOT have my pants for free.

Service sector is dismal. I should write a separate post just about that. In general we deal with "logistical" issues every place we go. Partly because we are here longer than usual, and partly because of the local specifics, there are a lot more of them here. It is frustrating and unproductive. On the positive side I think, we are learning to restrain our buying habits to food alone because one really cannot be sure if the company would stand for the product they are selling. Be it batteries, bikes, inflatable mattresses, socket adopters, cable boxes, or gloves. Services are harder to control but we will work on it :)

Tomorrow we are going back to the temple in Wimbleton - they are having a festival!