Scattered thoughts on a workoliday

Babble on.

Well, despite the fact that we boarded and de-boarded six flights in twelve days and the fact that twelve days away from the kids was too long for both me and Litlbit, we enjoyed the British Isles.

Various half-thoughts on the trip:

• It was absolutely awe-inspiring to visit one of the few true repositories of Western knowledge at Trinity College in Dublin. The smell of old books on old wooden shelves is intoxicating to me.


• Those who like Guiness tell me the stuff in Dublin is much better than the stuff we get over here. And for folks like me who can take Guiness or leave it, there's Magners. Oh yes, there's Magners enough for all of us, as long as I get my pint first.


• The pros are going to tear up the course at the Ryder Cup this year. The K Club has a few fantastic holes (eighteen on the Palmer Course is a wonderful finisher), but while it proved more than a challenge for this poor hack, I fear it won't for the best golfers the world can throw at it.


• Only while visiting in-laws overseas can a man get dragged down to a snooker pub on the morning of his wedding anniversary, have pints of Tennent's poured down his gullet, meet up with his wife after church three-quarters in the bag, and still be married by the end of the day.


• If Harrods isn't numbered among the Wonders of the World, it damned well should be - on the prices alone.


• After becoming, ahem, distracted and turning off a nil-nil Germany vs. Poland match 85 minutes in, my wife and I were somewhat surprised to learn of Germany's late game-winnner by way of a roar through the open window of our London hotel room. Before I got too chuffed, my wife assured me the cheers were for the football match, and not for me. I must say, it was fun being in a place where football is taken so seriously for the start of the World Cup.

The work portion of the trip was productive, although hectic. The holiday was fun, but also hectic. Now that we're back, the spectre of our impending relocation hovers ominously over the next two weeks. Blogging will accordingly be light to invisible while we pack, move everything fifty klicks west, and unpack.

Babble off.