Natural History Museum

Smeeta organised something a little different for the latest Brunch Bunch gathering – a trip to the Natural History Museum. Having purchased annual Membership, which gives you free entry to special exhibitions, we were keen to see the Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2009 display so we suggested meeting up for coffee and then going on to the Museum. Unfortunately most of the guys were unable to make it (a number of hectic lives out there!) but we met up with Howard and Jenny for coffee and cake 😛 near South Ken tube and then went on to the Museum.

The WPY2009 exhibition was absolutely stunning – we each had different favourites but there were many beautiful and fascinating images on display. We also queued up for to see the ever-popular Dinosaurs, including animated life-size T-Rex…! As members we also had access to the Members Room – which made a very welcome break from the chaos of a busy Saturday! The otherwise empty room comprised of a few tables and chairs and some fairly unimpressive display cabinets, plus a small kitchen where we could make ourselves some tea. It wasn’t much but we felt pretty smug entering our exclusive little chamber, leaving the noise and hubub behind.

Afterwards we stopped off for Pizza together before heading back home. A great day out!

Beaulieu Motor Museum

On the way back from our long weekend in Poole we drove through the New Forest and stopped at the Beaulieu Motor Museum, which I hadn’t visited for many years…

They have an amazing array of motors: cars and cycles, going all the way back to steam powered carriages and the early wooden-wheeled petrol-driven ‘cars’. Was good to see classics like the Austin7, original Mini, Morris Minor, E-Type Jag, Ferrari Dino and F40 plus assorted LeMans and F1 Cars.

Also a good number of Motorbikes, including a Benelli 750 Sei from the late 70s / early 80s, and a large number of recent Ducati Superbikes from various teams and riders.

Also saw the fairly naff (but ideal for kids) Top Gear Exhibition and a small display of James Bond-related stuff, of which the highlight was the ‘underwater’ Lotus Esprit from Moonraker.

More pics here…

Poole, Dorset

A while back Smeeta asked me to book Friday and Monday off so we could have a long weekend away for her Birthday. She booked a B&B in Poole and we drove down on Friday, arriving late afternoon at the well-presented detached house just north of the town centre. Having got settled we then headed into the town centre and had a very nice meal at the Storm fish restaurant – well worth a visit.

The weather was not the best – plenty of drizzly rain on Friday and Saturday, but thankfully much brighter on Sunday. Consequently we spent most of Saturday in the car: drove round to Sandbanks and took the Ferry across the mouth of Poole Harbour on to Studland and stopped at Swanage to stretch our legs and have a look around. Found a nice little jewellery shop where I bought her a bracelet as a present. Then on to Corfe Castle, stopping only briefly to take a couple of pictures in the rain, before heading back inland up to Wareham and on to Blandford Forum where we stopped for refreshments at The Crown Hotel. As we returned to Poole we stopped at a Co-op to get some supplies for the next day which promised better weather so we were hoping to take the ferry over to Brownsea Island. For the evening we went down to the sea-front and ate at the popular Oriel Cafe.

After ANOTHER comprehensive cooked breakfast in the morning we walked all the way into town via the Park and Boating Lake, and along to the seafront where we hoped to catch the ferry to Brownsea. Unfortunately for this weekend ONLY the ferries were only running from Sandbanks so we were thwarted! We meandered about in the sun for a while, the busy seafront attracting a gaggle of bikers (no Benellis present though) and people eating chips and ice-creams. We shared a slightly greasy fish n chips and then popped in to the Poole Pottery shop.

Having canned the Brownsea Island idea we walked back to the B&B and picked up the car so we could drive over to the headland near Swanage and walk the coastline around Old Harry’s Rocks, packing a picnic to take with us. Taking the Sandbanks ferry again we parked in the carpark near Studland and stepped out onto the grassy cliff-tops in bright afternoon sunshine. It was a popular choice, with plenty of people, families dogs, all out and about in the fresh air. The view back over Poole Harbour and Bournemouth was beautiful and it was clear enough to be able to make out The Needles at the western end of the Isle of Wight.

The chalk cliffs and precarious stacks of Old Harry’s Rocks were stunning and we had a good hour and a half walk around the headland and along the ridge from where we could see both Poole to the North, and Swanage to the South, before turning back towards Studland, and back through the churchyard to the carpark. As luck would have it there was a nice little pub waiting for us there so we stopped and I had a couple of very nice local beers, before we drove back to Poole and back to the Oriel Cafe for our last evening meal of the weekend.

More pics here…

Job swap

I went to Waterloo, Ontario recently for a 2 week job swap.  So they sent me over to freezing temperatures to do the same job but just in a different office!  I had to write a blog for work, so thought I would post it up here too share as well  🙂

Having just recently returned to the warmer (but constantly raining) climes of the UK from a 2 week job swap to Waterloo, I thought I would take the opportunity to share the experience.  Firstly, I would like to say a massive Thank You to everyone that made me feel welcome and really part of the team – you know who you are!

It was a great opportunity to meet colleagues in DART that I would usually only email or IM.  Putting faces to names, and to be able to talk to colleagues in person really helps to build stronger links across the pond.

It is worth noting that much the same issues were being dealt with, but on a larger scale, the subject of queue times was always hotly debated.  It was interesting to attend the stripe meetings with people dialled in from all the NA locations, sometimes it was difficult to distinguish who speaking!  Case reviews were also conducted differently, with Analysts and Seniors dialled in to a conference call.  Having the team split across the sites presented its own challenges – although I believe this is changing with new stripes coming on board.

Over the weekend I took the opportunity to catch up with family members around Toronto, and even sampled the night life in Toronto.  It was a great time to be in Canada, Winter Olympics fever had set in, and thanks to a certain TL we were filmed celebrating the Canadian Women’s Ice Hockey team picking up the gold medal, although I don’t think it was actually broadcast!  Congratulations to the Canadian Winter Olympics team for picking up 14 Gold medals, more than any nation has ever won at a Winter Olympics.  Let’s hope Team GB can emulate this success for the Summer Olympics in London in two years!

Although two weeks may seem like a long time, by the time I got used to the layout of the office and where different people were located it was time for me to come home.  It was great to be able to have this opportunity to visit the home of RIM, and I look forward to catching up with everyone there again soon.