I'm Back... Word o' the Day (Chuffed) and 2007 Top Photo

Apologies for the long delay - when we returned from the great holiday break that we enjoyed I was straight off to our 08 sales conference in Eastbourne, and this past week has been spent making decisions about where we would like to live this year and subsequently finding a new flat.

I thought it would be fun to share my favourite (uk spell check - sorry) photo of last year - not because of its composition, setting, or any other real reason beyond the fact that I think it is the one that I talk about most frequently and I get a kick out of it every time I see it:

It was from when we were wandering around Venice on our first day there for Rachel's birthday - we were looking for this ancient wine bar when we came upon sandwicheyses... and I love that you can see where they erased the part that was 'in doubt' and then corrected it with what we found.

We saw and visited so many interesting places this past year... and I am looking forward to what 2008 brings.

Quick word o' the day:

Chuffed:

Adjective
1. (UK, Geordie, informal) Very pleased or satisfied.

So I'm at day two of the sales conference and pretty interested in seeing what our guest speaker Bear Grylls had to say - especially after he was a topic of conversation over Christmas in PVB when F Kevin and I were watching tv after the Wii had been put down for the night. We saw him hollow out a camel in the Sahara to illustrate how bedouins escape dust storms and frigid temperatures - then next episode saw him in the Colombian jungle eating frog heads and snakes while they were still alive...

Needless to say I was interested in how this would be relevant to financial data and news -

Long story short -- it turns out that besides having a tv programme (sorry - spellcheck again) he has done other stuff too... such as being part of the UK Special Forces (SAS), the youngest Briton to summit Everest, appearing on Oprah and Letterman... and we are the same age.

So I'm feeling less motivated - then he tells a dramatic story about making it to the summit of Everest and on he way up passing the frozen/preserved body of one of his heroes (I think from In to Thin Air - the tough story of the guy who could no longer move and had a satellite call patched through to his wife who was pregnant with their first child in New Zealand as they both realised that he was not coming back)... and then talks about the effort to make it to the summit - where he shows the climactic video clip of him and his climbing partner at the top saying 'I'm so chuffed - now I just want to go home."

I look around at my table - everyone is engrossed in the story - and I have to ask - 'what did he say?? chuffed? HA - what is that?'

So I learned a new word at the sales conference (as well as popping and locking, graffiti, and stomp-like skills in our team building activity - that is a different story... and no - there is no video or photographic evidence).

Chuffed - hear it here:

Today's Word :: Zed

first there was the infamous ZBM (Zed BM) radio station in Bermuda... then here we are given an A to Zed book by friends as part of a welcome basket (which is a critical item used universally to help with attempting to find your way to the various nooks and crannies of the city), and then I inherit a UK client named PZ Cussins (p-zed, when describing them in the office)... Without verbal spell check it is tough to catch this one...

However - my question is, "why the aversion to the zed?" - as a result there are basically 25 letters in the British alphabet because of its exclusion... otherwise I would not have to spend time figuring out my laptop's spell check settings (why it cannot remember overnight that we are here when the clock, time zone and everything else is set properly I do not know) for my frequent emails that contain:

• organise
• analyse
• specialisation

I say embrace the zed and use it as it was intended!

not to mention the other interesting auto-correction when you get to other common words in my work world of 'programme'... etc. - but that is for another day's exercise.

In my opinion there should be some type of alphabetical 'compromize'... just think about the poor confused Zedbra at the zoo...

today's word :: Top Drawer

This 'word of the day' is very self explanatory - but now I know why I received those quizzical looks when exclaiming "Top Shelf!" when trying to use my own 'Britism' last week...

It was a Top Drawer effort though in my opinion.

Yawlrite? ::First week in the office::

hmm... are they asking me if I'm jet lagged? if I am feeling ok physically? (do I look sick? I feel fine...) or is it concern over how we are adjusting to being over here - with dodging cars that come at you from odd directions and 'minding the gap'... so the safe answer is "yes".

Then you hear "everyfing al'rite?" the next day...
Me >>"Yep, thanks." - right... it's actually a tough question to answer, with or without the 8 hour time difference.

next day::

"Yawlrite TJ?" --- ahhh -
>> "Yes, I'm well. How are you today?" -- and thats how it goes until you start to adopt it...

"Yawlrite TJ?"
>> "yes I'm alright - you alright, everything alright?" -- crap. that didn't quits sound awlrite at all when coming out of my mouth... it'll take some time.

Photos near the office (Tower Hill / Aldgate):

it is not falling down...


"The City" = Financial District or the equivalent of "The Street"



view from Tower Hill Tube Station
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