mini distractions

sorry, just a little lapse in posting the latest and greatest. but who could blame me ?! i've been rather deliciously detained by my new car. the union has been a good one. very good. damn good. like, giddyup good.

but to answer your questions ... no, i haven't named the car yet. bubb, please stop referring to it as nigel. so wrong.

it's a pretty tricked out little number. sunroof, leather interior, hooked up with the iPod and it goes! a pure pleasure to drive - even if it is on the wrong side of the road.

to take it all just that one step further i've decided to get sat nav (aka satellite navigation). love new toys! it's the tomtom GO 510 and when he (duh, ya it's gonna be a 'he') gives me directions ... it's actually John Cleese's voice.



well, if i'm going to delve into the brit style/culture, i might as well be naff about it.





my first voyage, in the car alone was to the grocery store. i was so excited that i made it without any issue it was pretty silly. i had to call my sis.

man, let me tell you that i have always taken my sense of direction for granted. i always knew which direction i was travelling in ... here i am direction-less. but i'm sure i'll get better as time goes on. cra-zy roundabouts.

my first voyage with John (aka sat nav) wasn't as successful. he led me astray. i have to say, i was pretty pissed off by that. i was all chilled, iPod goin', i'm thinkin' i'm pretty cool, independent tackling the UK road systems ... only to be lied to!

i had to call my friend that i was enroute to - using the blue tooth hands free feature of the sat nav system (so cool)- to talk me through to his place. such a shame. John went radio silent and only piped up, after i hung up with my friend, that i "have reached your destination!" ...

yeah, thanks for comin' out.

next week ... Pamplona (Spain) with JoPo !!

how u doin' ?!

so this is it - my new toy.

well, it's not my actual car, just a picture i found on the internet (as if the watermark of thebeijingnews.com didn't give it away) of the car that i have bought and will be picking up this wednesday.

so my car is the exact same thing except the steering wheel and stuff is on the opposite side.

just not sure if it's a girl or a boy ... but i think it's very grrrrr baby.

random moments

after getting back from another ultimate tournament yesterday, i was so tired and dazed where i had one of those moments where i really had to think about where i was.

i wasn't at home, meaning ottawa canada, but i was home. that was an odd - yet interesting - moment for me. not sure if that means i'm settling in a bit better .. just maybe?

i've had news of a couple of friends that are looking to visit which is just great! i'm hoping that more of you take me up on the offer to come to this side of the pond. you know, to see a different part of the world, with the added bonus of seeing yours truly (but of course!).

;o)

on a totally different note ... i think that summer has arrived here in the UK. now, i know that i've said that before, but i might've lied. this weekend was sunny and hot (30ish degrees) but no humidity. even managed to camp out for a night.

big difference with camping here to home is that you cannot have a campfire. to me, that is the best part of camping !! well, that and being far out of reach. here, you'll typically have cell phone (and crackberry) coverage wherever you go.

damn.

so i took things a step further with the mini cooper situation. lol, it just never ends! i filed a formal complaint with mini cooper since the dealership has now stopped responding to me about the return of my deposit. which they certainly didn't mind cashing on may 5th.

banking sucks. i know i've mentioned that before too. but, whatever happened to the 'good old days' where you were able to: a)open an account b)get a bank card and c)bank online ... (sigh) those really were the good old days.

i have to wait six months to be able to bank online, it took me three months to get a debit card, and only God knows how long it'll be before i can get a credit card.so i'm still using my canadian one and paying for the exchange fee on top of the exchange.

ouch.

anything i want/need to do i have to go to the bank and deal with an agent. nice people who are just doing their job - whatever. but every fucking time i go, i am stuck doing some stupid questionnaire to see if they are even allowed to provide the service, or make the change that i'm requesting.

it's a bloody nightmare. and it takes much longer than necessary. this is where i tend to really lose my cool.

lol. although i imagine that it's probably an entertaining thing to watch for those people that know me.

okay, i'm done being random for now. a tall glass of gin and tonic is calling my name.

guess what i'm going to go and see in a few weeks ...

CLARIFICATION:
note the word "see" in the title?

the word "see" would indicate that i'm not going to be doing the actual run, folks.

i may be a little crazy, but i'm really not insane!

sandbanks

this weekend yet another first introduction. this time it was to beach ultimate.

ya, you guessed it, another post/commentary on ultimate here in the UK.

little did i realize that there aren't any gender rules regarding beach. so being the committed player that i am, i signed up for the weekend, showed up and found that i was the only girl. the two other girls that signed up, didn't show for whatever reasons.

so, let me confirm for you that there is a vast physical difference between men and women (in case you really didn't know). especially regarding acceleration, and then add in the sand factor ... whew! it was tough!

at least that's my excuse and i'm sticking to it.

and it's not because i'm a lazy ass on the ultimate pitch and am really really out of shape. noooo, definitely not that!

all in all, beach ultimate rocked. the weather was gorgeous, hardly any wind and the sand was soft. my body isn't anywhere near being as sore as it would be from playing three games a day on the grass. my body is tired but not in a painful way. and for me, that is quite a relief!

comment: you know, i am having such a hard time finding chemistry with the team on the pitch! there are some great ppl that i get along with and have become friends with. hence they trust me and my abilities. but there are more than a few that i just don't connect with at all.

let me tell ya, that just throws me off completely!

especially regarding this weekend when i'm the only girl on the team playing with, and against, the guys. maybe i'm high maintenance if you consider the fact that i need words of encouragement and constructive critism. just maybe, but i don't think that should be considered 'high maintenance' because i'm a chick.

hence, i've decided not to go to Worlds in Australia this year due to the fact that none of the precious few that i do gel with on the field, are going. the ones that i do not connect with are going. bottomline if i'm going to Worlds i have to enjoy the whole experience.

there's this one guy in particular that just thinks he's an uber-hot player. he shouts at everyone not to screw up, run harder, then he turns around and makes an absolute crap play.

that, and he sulks like a five year old. now that's what i call high maintenance!

in the end, i don't mean to dump on the UK ultimate experience whatsoever. it's just quite an adjustment from playing back home. i know that it will make me a better player in the end and development is a good thing. i just have to figure out the connection/chemistry part of things and not let it get to me.

i do miss my teams and the league back home!

yet another thing to add to the list of 'things taken for granted'.