Pepper Attempting to Hide

Vaso

One Thing Well

One Thing Well:

One Thing Well is a weblog about simple, useful software (on any platform).

Great site.

A Wonderful Trip to San Francisco

Sap & I spent a long weekend in San Francisco. It’s somewhere we’ve both wanted to visit for ages and we finally got our chance over the Independence Day weekend.

We were there four days but left thinking we needed more time — we just didn’t get to do everything we wanted. What we did manage to do though was awesome — Alcatraz tour, awesome food, fantastic wine, beautiful city scenery, crazy hills (we got a good workout walking around!), a balloon tour over Napa and an awesome wine tour.

Lots of lovely photos of the trip are over on Flickr. We hope to go back soon.

Another Year, Another St Patrick’s Day Celebration

Following our inaugural Chicago St Patrick’s day celebration last year, we all felt like celebrating again in 2010 in much the same fashion. This time, however, we made sure we got into a bona-fide Irish bar (Emmit’s) by lining up outside at 8am.

We got a table and that was us for the day. Bill & Tracy came down again, Kate & Paul stopped by and Adam was in town (although he left early as he drank too much. Silly oaf.).

Another top St Patrick’s celebration. See the debauchery over on Flickr.

2009 Roundup

We had a pretty manic end to the year this year. Work for me was pretty hectic but we had an awesome holiday in Mexico just before Christmas. We arrived back to a very chatty cat and a kitchen full of festive food & drink. Now we find ourselves nearing the end of 2009 and so much seems to have happened!

Celebrating One Year in Chicago

November 15th marked our first full year living in Chicago. It’s gone so fast! I had hoped to post something on the 15th for posterity but it just slipped away with everything else we had going on. Seems so long ago since we arrived at O’Hare to be picked up by Ben & Mandy and wander around Chicago awestruck by it all.

Then we had our first snowfall (I still remember being so excited at seeing that much snow. Remember — in the UK snowfall is pretty pathetic!) and Sap, Mandy & I made snow angels (after a few ‘warming’ drinks, of course) as Ben looked on calling us mad…

Thanksgiving 2009

We had ‘our’ first Thanksgiving this year — we spent Thanksgiving 2008 with the wonderful McKee family (and Ben!) — and thoroughly enjoyed it. We cooked good food and drank great drinks. We ordered an apple pie from The Chopping Block — it was amazingly good. Definitely something we will order again next year. Alas they only make them for Thanksgiving and no other holiday.

Celebrating Two Years of Marriage

Sap and I celebrated two years of marriage on the 22nd December. Again, it seems to have gone so fast! We had a fairly miserable first anniversary in 2008 — we went out walking for the day in freezing temperatures so that, by the time we got home, we were too tired & cold to go out for dinner. So we ordered a takeout which turned out to be fairly horrid. We vowed to have a better anniversary this year so we planned a holiday to Mexico. Needless to say it was better in every way!

Our hotel was amazing and we treated ourselves to a relaxing massage whilst we were there. We came back to a soggy Chicago well rested and looking forward to our second Christmas in Chicago.

Christmas 2009

We arrived back from Mexico on Christmas Eve to a very, very chatty cat. As we opened the door she miaowed as if to say “THERE you are! I’ve been looking for you everwhere!” Bless her. She was very happy to see us (as we were really happy to see her — strange how much you miss a ball of fur that constantly wakes you up at 6am!).

We had done all our Christmas shopping for food, presents, drink etc. before we left so there was nothing we had to do — it was bliss! Great planning & organisation by Sap. It’s her thing. So we woke (early) on Christmas morning to let Peppy open her presents first. She got a tunnel (which she LOVES) and a new bed (which she turns her nose up at) as well as some foody things from her relatives across the Atlantic. She was more interested in the wrapping paper than what was in it though.

We Skyped family and then settled down to enjoy a nice warm, cosy, quiet Christmas. It was wonderful. We had two days of lazing around the apartment, eating & drinking all the goodies we had bought.

New Year 2009

We’re off to the Blackrock pub tomorrow night to celebrate 2010 heading our way. It’s the same place we went to last year with Nick, Paul & Nige (can’t believe that was a year ago either!) so we’re really looking forward to it as it was a fantastic evening.

Then we have a few more days off before we head back to work on the 4th. But let’s not think about that yet!

Eddie Jordan, Michael Schumacher & Mercedes Grand Prix

Eddie Jordan thinks that Michael Schumacher will drive for the Mercedes Grand Prix team in 2010.

Jordan says that “there’s no downside” for Michael Schumacher.

I have to agree with Joe Saward on this one — can’t see it happening.

Birthday Shenanegans

We went out at the weekend for mine & Paul’s birthday (we’re only a week apart). We started at Finn McCool’s (such a great name for a bar) and moved onto another place (who’s name I cannot remember) and then finished at a sushi bar. Yeah, a sushi bar. We only went in for drinks as there was nowhere else open!

Make with the click & photo viewage.

Our First Baseball Game

Sap won tickets to a Cubs game at work (nice one!) for last Thursday. Hard to believe that despite being here for nearly a year we’ve yet to see a Cubs game!

Unfortunately the game was rained off but we did get to see about 30 minutes of baseball.

See lots of photos of rain on Flickr.

Visiting Indianapolis

Sap and I visited Nayan Bhai and Hemali Bhabi in Indianapolis the other week. We had a great weekend starting with the journey down there on the Megabus. We managed to get seats at the front on the upper deck. Yes, I was like a child!

The highlight of the weekend for me was visiting the Indianapolis Speedway. The place is just massive! We took a bus trip around the track (yes, you can get on a bus and get driven around the track) and stopped at various points, including the famous bricks on the start/finish straight.

The museum at the track houses a fantastic array of cars and motorcycles from all types of racing — there’s even a Benetton F1 car there from 1991.

Nick’s Visit to Chicago

Nick just left Chicago after a week long visit. We had an absolutely fantastic time — I took some time off work, much needed — and really enjoyed having fun in the summertime. Nick had never seen Chicago without mounds of snow everywhere! We crammed a lot into a week and even then there were things we didn’t get to do. Sounds like the ideal excuse for another visit Nick!

The highlight of his visit, I’m sure, was meeting Pepper. From the moment Nick arrived with his suitcases, she was investigating…

Of course, she got lots of cuddles whether she wanted them or not! When Pepper wants to get down she gently taps you on the cheek. If that doesn’t work, she’ll miaow at you. If that doesn’t work she’ll wriggle free of you!

We went to the Bull & Bear, where the beer taps sit on the table. This means you can pour your own beer…with varying results!
I think the highlight of the trip for all of us was the Segway tour we did at the weekend. It was so much fun — the Segways are so easy to control and are a great way to see the city. We had a fantastic day for it and three hours just wasn’t enough time!

Nick & I also visited the Sears Tower (sorry, ‘Willis Tower’ may be correct but it doesn’t sound right!) They recently installed four glass cubes on the 103rd floor. The worst part was the wait beforehand but once we got up there it wasn’t so bad. Everybody seemed to be taking photos of themselves lying down on the floor of the cubes…so, when in Rome.

We did the usual tour of the sights — we went up the Sears on Nick’s last visit but I don’t think the visibility was as good. One day Sap & Nick went to the cat sanctuary where they fell in love with some kittens. Don’t worry — Pepper is still our only cat! But one of the kittens they saw could have been Pepper as a kitten.

We took Nick to Bin 36 on his last night for some wine & cheese. He and I had the 13 cheese flight — “13 cheese you cannot live without” apparently — and had a wine flight and some port. It was a lovely civilised evening and rounded off a top time.

Come back soon Nick! Bring your onion bhaji with you. More photos of the visit are up at Flickr.

Badoer Blinkered?

Luca Badoer has come out and said that all the negative press he received for his poor drives in Valencia and Spa contributed to Ferrari replacing him with Giancarlo Fisichella.

“The media played a fundamental role in the decision to replace me.”

By reporting on your woeful performances, yes. F1 has always been a piranha club — if you’re not quick enough, you’re out. The list of drivers who don’t make the cut is huge — this season we’ve had Nelson Piquet and Sebastian Bourdais shown the door for poor performances.

Badoer goes on to say that, had Ferrari given him one more race, he’d have been on the pace.

“Maranello had faith in me. I only have one regret – from the third grand prix I would have done better.”

I remember hearing something similar after Valencia. Maranello obviously lost that faith.

(As an aside, I’m pleased that Fisichella will finally get to drive a Ferrari in F1. It’s long been his dream and the deal he’s got — racing for the final five races, then test & reserve driver next year — sounds great. Seeing him in the Ferrari kit brings back memories of seeing Alesi in the Jordan in 2001. It just felt right, you know? Anyway. Forza Fisi.)

Humpty Dumpty Sat on a Wall…

Oh dear. It’s started already. John Terry reckons England are in with a shout of the World Cup next year:

“If we play the way we have been, we can’t rule out England winning the World Cup.”

Yes yes, John, you’re right — England probably are in with a shout. But we say that every time, don’t we?

Is that your autobiography in your hand…?

A Top Weekend at Cedar Point

We’ve just had an amazing weekend at Cedar Point in Ohio. We met up with Pat, Wayne & Allison and some of their friends and had a great weekend exploring the theme park and water park.

I went on my first rollercoaster (cherry: popped) and absolutely loved it, even if I was terrified (and very quiet in the line!). I rode Maverick and Raptor on Sunday and loved it.

Didn’t get to take many photos of the weekend but here are the crew at da Point on Saturday.

Top weekend — want to go again!

How to Create a Ringtone Using iTunes

A very simple tutorial on how to create a ringtone from one of your existing iTunes music tracks. Just tried it and it works great.

Pepper’s Adventures in the Linen Basket

Pepper is getting more and more adventurous — she loves to ‘investigate’ the bath every now and then. Her most favourite place is between the shower curtains — she can hide there and pop out a paw when one of us takes a shower!

At the weekend she ‘discovered’ the linen basket. She just jumped right in there — we were wondering how she was going to get out but she managed fine. Then she started chewing the basket itself…she was in a very playful mood!

Despite all the toys we’ve bought her she still loves playing with simple things — be it an airline eye mask or a simple paper bag. Typical cat.

iPhone 3GS Lust

So we finally got iPhones last Friday. We pre-ordered them so muggins here only had to trek to the AT&T store on State at 6.45am on Friday to begin the wait.
There were only about 7 people in line ahead of me so the wait wasn’t a long one. Almost at the end of the wait, Chad (I kid you not) got our two iPhones from out back, did the number swap, activated them and we were good to go. Thanks Chad! I was in and out by about 7.20am.
Goodbye Nokia. You were the single most useless, frustrating and un-usable phone I’ve ever owned. If I could I’d close the street below and launch the damned thing off the balcony. Ugh.
But, oh my, iPhone — where have you been all my life?

FIA Releases Entry List for the 2010 FIA Formula One World Championship

There are three new teams in the list:

• Campos Grand Prix
• Manor F1 Team
• Team US F1

Surprisingly David ‘Dave’ Richards and his Prodrive/Aston Martin marque didn’t get a look in. I have to admit to being surprised by that omission — last time around the FIA granted Prodrive the last slot on the grid from a long list of entries. Maybe Max & the FIA saw something in the three new teams’ proposals that Prodrive didn’t have in theirs.

Ferrari & the Red Bull teams have been granted entries despite attaching conditions to those entries. This is all due to the fact that those teams supposedly signed an agreement with the FIA some years ago committing them to the F1 Championship for a number of years (one assumes that includes the 2010 season then). Ferrari are saying the FIA have breached those conditions; the FIA are saying Ferrari must race unconditionally or not at all.

The other teams that entered the championship conditionally are being warned that they risk being declined a spot if they don’t lift the conditions on their entry by this time next week (Friday 19th June). Whether Brawn, McLaren, Renault, BMW Sauber and Toyota will do that remains to be seen.

For sure, another interesting week ahead.

Bill & Tracy’s Legendary Annual BBQ

Bill and Tracy kindly invited us to their annual (but our first) grill-out — American for BBQ! We had a slightly chilly day for it but that didn’t stop me putting shorts on (stiff upper lip and all that).

Bill & Tracy put on a fantastic spread. The day was fantastic, we met some great new people and generally had a brilliant time. We even played charades in the evening — something I am not too good at however Sap got all the easy ones! That’s my excuse anyway!

The day was fantastic, we met some great new people and generally had a brilliant time. We even played charades in the evening — something I am not too good at however Sap got all the easy ones! That’s my excuse anyway!

All in all, a great day. Thanks Bill & Tracy! See you next year!

Pepper Chewing the Camera

Showing Mum & Dad Around Chicago

We’ve had a lovely few days showing Ma & Pa Walshie around Chicago. We’ve done a load of touristy stuff and we’ve had really lovely weather.

They brought a load of UK expat rations with them — we now have a dedicated chocolate cupboard — most exciting of which was the Robinsons squash and, of course, the proper chocolate.

And of course they love their new grandcat — Pepper likes to give Gamdad a nice chew now and then!

We went to see the new Star Trek movie at the iMax on it’s last day last Thursday — Nick, we did try and get the sign into mum’s handbag but, despite her carrying ‘the Tardis’ we couldn’t quite fit it in!

Anyway, we have a few more days of fun and hope the weather holds.

Rich & Duncan Visit Chicago

Ladies & gentlemen, Sir Richard and Lord Duncan. Visiting Chicago. Doing the Segways. Mega.

Pepper’s Adventures

When we got Pepper she had a bad cold — something that happens quite regularly with cats in a shelter, apparently. So for the first week she was all sneezes and sniffs and didn’t feel like exploring much. She sat on our laps and slept on our bed and was generally very quiet and cute.

Happy to say she’s feeling much better now and she’s taken to running around like a mad loon at 4am each morning! She must have a dog gene or two as she loves to chase after her squeaky mouse and rattley ball — but once she catches up to it she looks at you as if to say “well, go on — throw it again!”

We bought her a lot of toys too but, as cats do, she’s much happier making her own entertainment particularly with dangley bits of our clothing. Opposite you can see her playing with a cord from one of Sap’s hooded tops!

She also likes going absolutely mad on her scratching post — it is covered in catnip though! She loves to give it a chew and generally go a bit mental.

She definitely doesn’t like the hoover though — she hides under the bed for hours if we vacuum. She also had her first vet’s checkup last week — all is well — and we were fully expecting to be ignored for the rest of the night once we got back. She usually heads under the bed to sulk. But she was there for about 10 minutes and must have got bored because she came out!

She does look cute under there though…

She was very good at the vet’s (the very excellent Cat Doctor in Chicago) and only howled a bit when she had her distemper booster (is that ironic?!?). She didn’t even flinch when the vet put a thermometer up her bottom!

All in all we’re loving having a new furry member of our household, even if she does wake us up in the wee hours by attacking our bedsheets, licking our faces or walking across our necks!

Introducing Pepper

This is Pepper, our lovely new cat. She’s a year old and loves sleeping! She’s already found all the hidey holes in our apartment.

More photos up at Flickr.

The Evans Visit Chicago

We’re a bit late posting this one but we had a lovely time when the Evans visited us in Chicago recently. They were here for just about a week and managed to cram a lot in!

Millennium & Grant Park, the zoo, the Culture Center, museums, the architectural boat tour, shopping…hats off to you ladies!
It also meant Sap and I could do some ‘touristy’ stuff — the weather was really nice and it was great having people to share our touristy-ness with!

The photos of their trip are up at Flickr here.

The Day the River Turned Green

The whole of Chicago turned out wearing green on Saturday for the annual St Patrick’s Day parade. We met Bill, Tracy, Ben & Mandy in a bar near the parade at 11am and the fun started — Guinness for breakfast!

Then it was off to the parade to see random floats and people go by. There was, of course, an Irish feel (well, certainly a ‘green’ feel) and it was a great sight. Ben unsuccessfully tried to get Mandy on his shoulders but Tracy got a great view from up on Bill’s. The parade was still going when we decided to move on after about an hour or so.

We then made our merry way up north, wandering around in the lovely spring sunshine. We made a stop at the river which was dyed green especially for the day — luminous green! We were all a bit shocked at how day-glo it actually was…

All of the Irish bars had queues outside them so we headed to an Italian bar for some drinks and food. Yes, it was an Italian restaurant and yes, it was an Irish holiday. But all the Irish bars had these huge queues — we actually timed one girl in a queue for Fado’s — she was in line for almost an hour. We had eaten, drunk and paid before then.

We hit a few more bars and then decided to get some Thai food (again, yeah, it was an Irish day but hey — the Thai was great!) We finally ended the night in a proper Irish bar, much to Mandy’s delight. Unfortunately they were not playing Irish music so Mandy went to the jukebox armed with dollar bills and threw a load of Irish music on. She also got to eat her corned beef and cabbage — something she’d been saving herself for all day!

We had a great day with top friends — roll on next year! We took a few photos — go check them out on Flickr.

We’re Compiling a List of Things to Do This Year

We consulted one of our Chicago guide books at the weekend to see what there is to do in the coming months. We have visitations from Dr Sarah, my parents and the family Humm in the coming months and we’re very excited about Chicago coming out of hibernation!

So that we don’t miss anything, we’re trying to make a calendar of events. Here is the list we put together just before Nick, Paul & Nige came out with those that we’ve done crossed off.

• Sears Tower
• Dinner at John Hancock
• Architecture boat ride
• Millennium Park
• John’s Place
• Cubs game
• Lou Malnati’s Pizza
• Shopping on the Magnificent Mile
• The Orange Diner
• Take a boat out onto the lake
• Museums
• Aquarium
• Piece Brewery
• Goose Island
• Jazz Clubs
• Brew & View
• Howl At the Moon
• Select Cut
• Second City
• China town
• Hire Segways in Millennium Park

On that list I’m most excited about hiring a Segway (once the pavements are cleared of snow and ice!). However, there’s lots more we’ve found that we want to do. Once we compile a new list we’ll put it up here to see how many of the things we want to do we get done!

Sebastien Vettel Explains the New Rules for 2009

A Balmy Day

The weather in Chicago has got decidedly warmer this past week — Tuesday (10th) had highs of 17ºC! Needless to say the snow has all melted which is incredibly strange as we’ve never seen Chicago without snow!

It’s made my walk to work a bit more exciting (!) now that there are parts of roads, pavements etc. not covered by inches of snow and ice. It truly felt like spring yesterday, even the wind was warm! After going home for lunch I took the camera for the walk back and got some nice shots of Chicago in spring-like sunshine.

The weather is going to get colder this week, dropping back down to just above freezing by the end of the week (and -8ºC at night) so I’m sure we’ll see some more snow before too long. Still, it was nice to get a ‘sneak preview’ of Chicago in warmer weather!

See more in the Flickr set.

We’re Now Officially in a Recession

It’s official: the UK is in the grip of a recession for the first time since the 1990s.

It’s a formality, of course — we all knew it was coming. But now that UK GDP has shrunk for two consecutive quarters it’s officially allowed to be called ‘recession’.

Sterling is at a 24-year low against the dollar — £1 is now worth $1.355. Last time we visited Chicago (last November) £1 got you around $2.

Keywords abound: grim, weak, depression, severe, deteriorating, decline, slumped, losing confidence, shrink…

Despite the government injecting £37bn into the banks they’re still not lending and still not passing on the massive rate cut to borrowers — the cheapest mortgage rate from Nationwide, for example, is 4.00%.

The BoE base rate is currently 1.5%.

However they are passing it onto savers — a regular day-to-day savings account from Nationwide currently offers around 2.00% interest.