Hello! It's Halloween, they celebrate that here too. I'm sitting here in Starbucks blogging before church. I have to leave shortly to head to church, and then I'm off to the Tate Modern to check out a photography exibit! (I'm falling in LOVE with photography!)

If I take any photos of Halloween in London, I'll put them up next week, when I have free time again!

Today I uploaded some pics for you of last weekend at the markets, and yesterday at Stonehenge. I also created a Bloomberg photos page. Just scroll down to see!

For now, click “read more” to see some photos I took during my visit to Parliament Thursday night. My reverend is a Lord and offered to give me a tour!
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Kris, Mark and I headed southwest on Saturday to go back, way back to 5,000 years ago. Click “read more” to see photos of Stonehenge and our foray into the town of Salisbury. [Read More!]

Click “read more” to see photos of my strolls through the flower market and Brick Lane markets in East London!
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Click “read more” to see photos of Bloomberg. [Read More!]

Today I went to Sexual Harrassment training. We sat in a room while a Bloomberg lawyer in New York reminded us over videophone how to behave.

Since this is my fourth job working for a large organization, I'm used to these trainings. But apparently, the Europeans aren't.

In Italy, the Supreme Court ruled that pinching a woman's bum is not harrassment. So Bloomberg has to remind us that Bloomberg policy resembles American laws.

We got to sit around and give examples of actions that might be considered harrassment. Thank God they didn't call on me. I mean, use your imagination people!

Then we went over humorous scenarios, such as naked posters on the cubicle wall, pressuring a colleague to date you, and using your looks to land a sale. For each one, we had to answer the question, "Could this be considered harrassment?"

(Hint: The answer is *always* yes.)

Interviewed a CEO today, had to ask him to repeat what he was saying three times. He was saying "petrol forecourt" and I had NO idea what he was talking about. It sounded like "petro fawh cote."

Finally the light bulb, "Oh! You mean those quicky stores stores at the gas station?"

He was none too pleased.

What can I say?

One of the cool things about working for a wire is that it takes your byline far.

Check it out:

Virgin to sell digital player to compete with IPod

Andrea James
Bloomberg News
Oct. 12, 2004 11:03 AM

Virgin Group Ltd., owned by billionaire British entrepreneur Richard Branson, said it will begin selling a portable music player to compete with Apple Computer Inc.'s iPod.

Virgin Electronics, based in San Jose, Calif., said its Player 5GB holds as many as 2,400 songs, or 80 CDs, and weighs 3.1 ounces. It will sell for $249, the same price as Apple's iPod mini, Virgin Electronics Chief Executive Greg Woock said.

Visit AZCentral's Web Site to read the rest!

(I did some searching around on the Internet, and this story has been repeated MANY times, but I wasn't given any credit. But I know they took my story because they used the CEO's quotes that I got in a personal interview. That's journalism!)

Click “read more” to see photos of John’s last night in London!
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Click “read more” to see photos of our trip to Bath! [Read More!]

Click “read more” to see pics of John’s second day in London! [Read More!]

Click “read more” to see photos of John’s first night in London, and read about how we pissed off a celebrity. [Read More!]

This entry is from the day after the "Free as a bird" entry about the swing set. But I haven't been able to get it online until now. Click “read more” to see some beautiful images of where I go to church, and locations of London's grisly history! [Read More!]

I've been writing articles for Bloomberg for one week now. Most are not available online.

Here is one that is online:
U.K. Home Rental Rates Surge, Fueled by Divorces, Report Says

And here's one that I helped out on: Santander Abbey Buy Whets Botin's Appetite for More U.K. Banks

... ok not really. But a story I wrote for Bloomberg yesterday is going to be featured in a Bloomberg Broadcast segment. yay! (The story was about Virgin Electronics' new media player versus the iPod, and can be found on the Bloomberg terminal or here.)

I imagine that most of the charismatic people I admire, famous and within my circle of family and friends, wake up every morning wanting to seize the day.

Click "read more" to hear some practical advice. [Read More!]

For lunch Friday I ate Roast Beef & Yorkshire Pudding flavored potato chips!

The main Methodist church is a block from where I work! YAY! It's where John Wesley lived, died and is buried.

Click "read more" to read about my morning. [Read More!]

Just had to say that. Sure I stayed out at a pub all night last night, and drank a pint, and then ate Indian food...and thus got 5 hours of sleep last night. But it's sunny, and I'm in London, and it's Friday, and I have a weekend ahead packed with social things! (Drinks with co-workers, movie with Nancy, dinner with Kris and Cub, and a possible party.) And next week John (D.C. friend) comes to visit! Woo hoo! Ok back to the terminals....

Most Americans know about the normal word differences between King's English and American, that they call toilets "loos," and trunks "boots," and erasers "rubbers."

Check out the following, they threw me for a loop because I hadn't expected them.

-- They call their potato chips "crisps," while french fries are "chips." (Incidentally, I was surprised to find that my "sandwich with chipped potatoes" last weekend came with french fries.)

-- The potato chips are in the WEIRDEST flavors: Right now I'm snacking on Prawn Cocktail-flavored chips. (That's shrimp!) Yesterday I had some beef-flavored chips, and I've saved up some mature cheddar-flavored for later.

-- They don't say the letter z here as "zee." Rather, they say "zet." Who knew!?

-- I needed a band-aid for my toe yesterday, but had some trouble because here they call them "plasters." And a doctor's office is called a "surgery." It sounds drastic, but it isn't.

-- There are no exit signs in the tube. The signs say "way out," with an arrow. I'm not kidding. I suppose it's logical.

-- See these little dots at the ends of my sentences that we call periods? Here it's called a "full stop." Unbelievable how different things can be!

Four blinking computer screens sit in front of me, scrolling tickers and flashing news.

They are my world.

Click "read more" to learn about my world. [Read More!]

Happy birthday! :)

Click “read more” to hear about my Saturday and see pictures of the English countryside. [Read More!]

It amazes me how much the U.S. election is being followed abroad. I've had wonderful discussions about American politics with Brits, New Zealanders, Italians and Frenchmen. Their knowledge of U.S. politics is impressive -- although, I must say they don't understand what goes through the head of Americans.

For all their factual knowledge, they simply don't *get it.* What's "it?"

"It" is what September 11 meant to our country. "It" is the loss of innocence that America has experienced since 2001, and "it" is the national pride and isolation that comes from living in a large country, separated from most of the world by two vast oceans.

I stayed up until 2:30 a.m. London time last night to watch the debate on BBC. Two days ago, I watched a British program where the announcer expressed his disbelief over Bush's popularity. I don't think it's that hard to understand really, but the Brits are truly puzzled.

Watching homeland news from afar is certainly a learning experience.

The sun came out! Yay!



Click “read more” to see photos of an exciting day in London!
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