UK Letter Home October 2002

Welcome to the October edition of UK Bound

Ah October. I have been (and usually am this time of year) in denial about winter coming. Sure the leaves are turning color, and yes it's a little colder (although we _still_ haven't had summer yet), but I think the clincher was I had to chip the ice away from my bike, the roads are a little frosty, and it is getting a little cooler to ride. Today was the first day since we've had the bike out since the summer where I haven't been able to ride to work. It was just a little too wet and cold.

On the work front, we are in budgeting season, and our share price (if you've been watching) has been, in lack of a better word, plumetting. I don't know the exact amount, but in the last 290 days (3/4 of a year) our price was around $US55/share. A couple of weeks ago it hit it's all time low at $US15. I guess the plus side is that now, even I can afford to buy a share or two. Not very many people are expectnig a bonus. There has been rumours in the FT that we might be bought out by Bank One, but if that happens, whomever buys will have to have a lot of cash. On the plus side, I am currently in a UNIX course, learning all about Korn Shell and scripting (actually typing this in the class). So, at least there's that. I am booked for a Advanced Sybase course next month as well.

Kim has just started a new job at a company called What Everyone Wants which is like a discount clothing chain with its origins from South Africa. She is the personal assistant to the Finance Manager. So far so good, there are quite a few people from South Africa around the place which keeps things interesing. Yet another strange accent to contend with!

At the end of September, we took a little trip. For those of you who've checked out the website, you already know where we went. For the others, we went to The French Riveria and Monaco. By the time you read this, most of the pictures will have been uploaded. I have to add the gorges and then add the rest of the descriptions. There's over 100 pictures for this trip, so it does take time to give them all descriptions. Rather than me retype where and what we saw, check out the website. It was a great trip, and we got some sun. We saw Notre Dame, the ruins of Notra Dame, and Notre Dame de Bon Voyage. But, no Quazzie.

We have been going to several hockey games since the last letter. The Scottish Eagles are doing quite well, although, they don't have a very good crowd. Such a shame. The other hockey rumour was that Wayne Gretsky was going to buy the Manchester team. If he does, hopefully he will come on tour with them, and then I'll try and get his autograph. I am also going to get a Canucks hockey jersey - most people won't know what team it is, but, it'll be my little secret. It's amazing how many people have TO jerseys. The odd few have Habs, and a few less will have a US team.

It's Halloween night, and so far we've had about a dozen gouls, and it's already 8:30pm. Last year, we got home around 9:00 (from a dressup party) and we didn't get single one. Last year, we probably gained a stone, as we had to something with the candy. This year I didn't buy as much. We have also some fireworks, so we'll be going to the school to set them off.

What do we have in store for next month? Well, four and two legged creatures are scheduled for early November and hopefully some more house improvements will be completed. We are trying to have a weekend away, but that depends on when Kim can get some holidays.

Have a good day, and we'll be expecting a long letter in return.

Brian and Kim.