Lucky for all of you, even though I haven't been writing blogs, I have been using those cute little computer Post-its to take notes of what to include when I do finally get around to writing so nothing important will be left out! So first thing on the list? (oh man- its a longer list than I thought! SO much has happened this month!)
Alrighty, so the second weekend of September the March intake of Mountbatten interns organized a boat tour. Sounds awesome right? Well it was for most people, I on the other hand spent the night maybe a little too drunk and severely seasick. I actually took to sleeping on the deck to pass some of the 4 hours. During an easy spell I did get a chance to steer the boat though! And the London Eye at night is pretty awesome!
That same weekend Mountbatten put on a Sept 11th Memorial Concert and there was a firework display on the Thames for the annual Thames River Festival. After having spent the morning in search of a burger (the first place was out and the second only had a Sunday menu of three items, but the third spot- a more classy than usual sit down kebab shop- served us up a great burger for a great price) and then lounging around watching Remember the Titans it was a bit hard to get going for the Concert. And once we finally did we ran into some roadblocks. The bus stop we went too wasn't in use, the Tube was closed and it started raining. After some luck and Iphone usage we found another bus stop and were on our way. Til traffic won and realized that sitting on the bus just wasn't worth it anymore. We got off and started walking which actually worked out well because we got to see a bit of the Thames River Festival parade (I personally wish we had gotten to see more of it, but we had to go to the concert). By now we were already late and had missed the snacks so we figured that we should just eat quickly and make it in time for the second half of the event. We found a Subway that was out of nearly everything and made two people sick and then were on our way. The concert was nice, in a beautiful modern but still old- feeling cathedral. It was a very interesting juxtaposition of traditional marble pillars and flat screen TVs. (there is actually a lot of interesting juxtapositions like that- centuries old churches dwarfed by the erection of giant skyscrapers (Kind of a neat visual timeline). After the concert we headed over to the river to get a good spot for the fireworks. They ended up starting about half an hour late and we kept thinking that we were in the wrong spot, but in the end it was worth it. I was secretly expecting a little bit more, but I guess that's just because I have been spoiled with Boise's awesome Fourth of July show.
Also around the beginning of September I went on a few dates. Normally this wouldn't make the blog, but one of the guys was just so crazy that he has earned a spot. Blake Charles (if thats even really his name) is a ridiculously hot Australian that I met at a bar on my birthday. He seemed relatively normal and when he asked me to go get a drink the next week I didn't see any harm in it. Little did I know! Luckily he said that I should bring a friend because his buddy was coming along- because otherwise I don't think I would have made it. This kid was unbelievable. Unable to abide by a single social norm. He was yelling racial slurs, harassing the waitress (he bet himself he could get her number, was incredibly rude to her, followed her to other tables while she was trying to work and then made a scene of ripping up the number she gave him because she was "ugly") blatantly pouring whiskey into his coke and scratching the table with his fork. He tried to walk out on the bill and the night ended when he walked up and bounced my boobs. Honestly unbelievable. Don't really know what else to say about that one!
I guess now would be a good time to give a little update on my life as an intern at Sanders Lifestyle Footwear. I finally met Aunt Pauline (my boss's aunt who works Mondays at the store). She is a lovely lady- bubbly and loves to chitchat. Aside from that I have mostly spent the last month processing deliveries. Before we could finish one delivery the next would arrive- pretty frustrating. Because there is no free time from the day-to-day operations at the store I can't implement any of the things I would like to as an intern. Oh I forgot about a good work story! So the day that Grandpa arrive (more on that visit later) Rufus had to leave early. Within minutes of him leaving the phone rang and a man named Mr. Boyce was on the other end. Mr. Boyce told me that he had come in on Monday and ordered a pair of shoes and was wondering if they had been ordered and when they could be expected to arrive. I didn't know the answer so I told him that "the person in charge of deliveries had left for the day" and asked if I could take a message. Mr Boyce responded by saying "take a message! did you NOT just listen to what I said! I ordered shoes on Monday and want to know if they have been ordered and when they will arrive!" I was really thrown off by this, but kept my cool and apologized and asked if I could get a phone number so that Rufus could call him back in the morning. He sternly told me that I had taken his number when I wrote down his order on Monday and that since I had taken the order I should be able to tell him the information he wanted. I pointed out that I did not have the order book in front of me and although I might have taken the details I was not actually in charge of placing the orders. This is when Mr. Boyce really let loose. "This is London not America you brat. Stop being such a brat." I was so confused about what had made him so angry and apologized again, saying that I did not understand what I had done to offend him. He again called me a brat and I realized it was time to end the conversation because it was going nowhere. I told him that Rufus would be in contact with him the next day, goodbye. He quickly retorted that all he wanted was for someone to call him the next day with the information he wanted. Seeing as that was what I had been arranging the whole time I just said Ok, Bye. I was SO mad by the end of this, but there were customers to deal with so I just had to move on. I told Rufus the story right away and he was great about it. He called Mr. Boyce and told him that he could get his shoes elsewhere because he wouldn't stand for him mistreating his employees! It was pretty awesome to have my boss stand up for me like that.
Well that ended up being a long than anticipated story (as per my norm :-) ). Onto Grandpa's visit! So Grandpa arrived on Thursday the 15th and stayed through the 19th. He came straight to the store from the airport and hung out while I dealt with Mr. Boyce and a delivery. Then we closed up (with more than a few issues) and headed back to the hotel. We had a great dinner at the Barbican (the hotel he stayed at that is about a block from my apartment- the one I stayed at for the first week) and tucked in early. Because Rufus had left early and whatnot- he had told me that I could come in around 3:30pm for work. So Grandpa and I got up early, enjoying the wonderful hotel brunch and headed over to Sigmund Freud's house! It was a cute little house in a typically London neighborhood. It was extra interesting because Grandpa had been to Freud's house in Austria and therefore had a wealth of knowledge to share (as per most usual with Gpop!). Then we got a real treat- Rufus called and said that I didn't need to come in at all! So Grandpa and I boarded the train to Greenwich and the National Maritime Museum. Upon arriving after the 30-45 minute ride we were greeting with wonderfully crispy, cloudless weather that was truly in the best of early fall (autumn as they say here) weather. We had delicious and huge burgers topped with pulled pork at an adorable outside restaurant and then headed over to the museum. Unfortunately we arrived about 10 minutes before closing and were only able to see a few ship models. (Grandpa knew something about almost all of them.) We missed getting to go to the gift shop (Grandpa's favorite part of any excursion) so we stopped at a little nautical shop in town to buy some gifts. The next morning we woke up and went to the science museum (which is awesome!) and then went and watched the Tempest at the Royal Haymarket Theatre. After that we walked around and saw some of the old places that Grandpa hung out at when he studied abroad in the 1953!!! Seriously how cool is that that he studied here way back then! He had a lot of great stories about it and it was so interested to hear him explain how it had changed. He really wanted to eat at the Anchor pub on the Thames (an old haunting ground) but unfortunately they were all booked for the evening. We found another place he used to frequent and had a great meal there, so it all worked out. The next day we quickly checked out the Victoria and Albert Museum (mostly the bookstore and cafe :-)) and then headed out to Heathrow so Gramps could catch his flight!
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| Grandpa and I eating dinner at the Thistle Barbican hotel |
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| Grandpa in front of Freud's house |
Ok, so that brings us half way through September. I think most of you have probably had your fill of my life stories for now, and I tired of writing, so the rest of the month is just going to have to wait! Hope everything in everyone's lives is going well and that you are all planning trips to come visit!
