Birthday! And a Big Change

Well, it's my birthday, and I wish I had some of you here to celebrate with.  Some of you know I'm coming home next week.  Less of you know that I'm staying home and not coming back to the UK for the time being.

I'm not giving up on the job search here though.  The decision came down to the fact that the Visa challenge makes it very hard to compete in job applications.  To sum it up - for me to get a job, the company has to sponsor my Visa.  I'm not sure if it involves money on the company's end, but it definitely involves paperwork and extra hassle that they are not willing to deal with.  There other complications too that we can discuss in person.

After some long thinking, the right decision is to come home.  I will get the Post Study Work Visa which does leave the possibility open to come back.  In the meantime I feel like I will have much more freedom in the types of jobs I can find at home.  Then maybe I can get lots of experience and eventually come back here to continue the F1 dream.

Is it extremely frustrating? Yes, absolutely.  Am I pretty mad and annoyed at this situation?  Yes.  But hopefully I can find a job I'm happy with at home instead of just settling for whatever I can get here with someone who is willing to sponsor my Visa.  Entry level salaries are supposed to be better in the US too.  Living with Jessica again will be the best part of it though!

So yea, that's that, I have to keep reminding myself that this is not 'giving up' or anything like that, even though that is kind of what it feels like to me on some level.  I know it's the right decision, even though I really didn't want it to be.  It definitely hasn't sunk in yet, and I'm starting to pack things up, and it just all feels very weird even though I am happy to be coming home.

After making that decision yesterday afternoon, I happened to see something on Twitter for a free ticket to a beer and food pairing event in London.  Since I'll be at the track this weekend, and packing all week, I decided to be impulsive and go, for one last beery night in London.  It was at the White Horse where I've been a few times, including with Will and Jessica.  The beers were from Brains which is in Wales, and they had a couple of good ones.  The food was interesting too, I had my first Welsh rarebit, and also a Cawl pie.  An interesting night, glad I happened to catch it, and glad that I had the flexibility to make it down there.  I did of course have one (okay 2) final beers at the Euston Tap to finish the night.

I was planning on taking the bus to Cambridge today as a kind of birthday present, but after doing London last night and needing to start packing I decided against it.  I might go later this week, but I kind of doubt it, we'll see.

Small Update

I love working on resumes and cover letters.  Really.  Except I don't, I'm being really sarcastic.

 I did have a good weekend though, got out on the bike and explored some, watched plenty of football of course, and tried to just relax as much as I could.  The Rugby World Cup has started now, and is being played in New Zealand, so the games are in the morning here.  England played at 9:30 am on Saturday, and I used the excuse to go to The Bull and watch it there, with a beer of course!  England finally won, though barely, and really only because Argentina missed a ton of  "field goals."  On Sunday I rode the bike down to Woburn for an Oyster festival.  It was really fun, I was glad I went, and the oysters were really tasty.  Very meaty, not gritty or overly salty, and yea, they were just fantastic.  Of course on the ride down there (almost 10 miles the way I went to avoid the main junction with the M1) I kept noticing how dark the skies looked.  Eventually it started raining, lightly at first of course.  Then heavier and heavier, and nowhere to stop for shelter either.  I'd also left my jacket at home, I was avoiding taking my backpack, I didn't want to keep up with it, or have to worry about it, so no jacket.  Finally the sun came out though, and I started to dry out.  I should've taken a picture of myself, I'm sure I looked quite sad.

Friday I finally got back to a gym, after finding a Groupon deal for 10 guest passes to a gym at Willen Lake.  It was nice, still haven't found a gym with a good free weight area like I'm used to back home though.  At least the setting was nice - it overlooked the lake with big glass windows.  I'll probably get back over there this afternoon for another visit.

Last night I was quite proud of the chili that I decided to make.  I had some ground beef to use, and some leftover tomato sauce that I didn't want to use with pasta.  So I cobbled together that with some black beans that I didn't drain completely to get enough liquid in the pan (since I should've had more sauce).  I added some chili powder, tabasco, oregano and garlic salt.  And it came out tasting legitimately like chili!  Not that I thought it would taste bad, but it was kind of just thrown together.

Sunday night and Monday were insanely windy.  I know I say that a lot, but this was really bad.  Like bad enough that I think it kept me from sleeping very well at all on Sunday night.  I kept waking up, and never really felt tired.  Think I shoulda just kept baseball on the laptop until I fell asleep.  Hadn't had a night like that in a while though, so maybe I was due for one.

At the risk of jinxing it, I'm planning on coming home week after next, using Will's buddy pass system.  This requires flexibility, so dates aren't set at the moment.  I'd come sooner, but we have another Caterham race next weekend (23-25th) that I don't want to miss.

Well I'm gonna get back to watching replays of Monday Night Football while hoping that massively charismatic verbage for my cover letters will be infused into my brain.

Hope to see you all soon, I can't wait!

So I'm Done!

Hard to believe it, but I'm done.  The presentation went pretty well yesterday, it was more relaxed than expected, even though it was technically called an oral exam.  In the afternoon all the posters were up for people to walk around and look at.  Then there was a BBQ at the CSA which was good fun.  To finish out the night, we had a final Quiz night at the Social Club.

Honestly I'm not sure what I'm going to do day to day at this point, other than look for jobs obviously.  Hopefully something comes sooner than later, we'll see.

I had plans to write more than this, but I'm just not feeling it right now, maybe because I feel like writing is all I've done for the last 2 weeks.  So I'll leave it at this, and come back in the next couple days for maybe more of a retrospective kind of post.

Almost There!

Phew, almost done, I'm getting some final comments from James this afternoon.  Hopefully it's nothing major, but we'll see.  I'm almost at the word limit already anyway, so it's all editing and rewording from here.  Glad that I seem to have done a good job with the writing and it shouldn't be as hectic a weekend as I'd anticipated.  We have to submit hard copies and an electronic version on Monday by 5 pm FYI.  Then our oral "exam" is on Wednesday morning.

We do have another Caterham race on Saturday, but no testing today.  It is at Rockingham, which is an oval track with an infield.  It was built in 2001 and is the newest circuit in the UK.  So that should be another fun day, though it will be a super early morning tomorrow.

Still no breakthroughs on the job front, though I've been a little more focused on my thesis recently.  I am sad to be missing the NCSU football home opener, it feels a little weird.  I will try to stay up and watch it online tomorrow night after we get back from the track.

The weather has been better today and yesterday, sunny and upper 60's.  This is after a cold snap, where one day seriously felt like Christmas.  Guess people had fires or something around here too, b/c it even smelled like it to me.  That was a really weird feeling, but kinda cool too!

Another Week Down

It's been another long week of work so far, and will continue over the Bank Holiday 3 day weekend for me.  I'm getting there with my report I think.  I ran into a few snags from my supervisor that I've been working through this week, when I thought I could put all the time into writing.  So that's led to some unexpected stress.  Last weekend I went for a nice 15 mile bike ride around the local area - my route can be seen if you click here.  I'll probably plan something similar this weekend for whichever day the weather turns out the best.  Speaking of weather, it's been really up and down recently, but overall pretty pleasant, if a bit chillier than people are apparently used to.

I hope everyone stays safe and out of the path of Irene, it was just one of the lead stories on BBC Breakfast actually.  They're also talking about taxing soda and fatty food, and calorie counts in restaurants, not too unsimilar from debates back in the US!

Alright, well I should probably go make some breakfast for myself, maybe I'll have an exciting enough weekend to write another post soon!  :)

Hello 40 Degrees in August

I woke up this morning to 40 degree weather!  Really crazy.

I've Got A Few Minutes

So I'll write a little bit here.  I've been putting in long hours on campus recently, 10-12 a day, then coming back home and working a little more before passing out.  It all kinda caught up with me last night, when I got really really tired at like 9:30.  At least I have been making good progress learning the software I'm using.  I *hope* to be done with it today or tomorrow so I don't have to worry about getting to campus this weekend and can just focus on working on my poster from here.  We'll see if that happens.  This morning I got up a little early and went out for a run and workout, which I'd been missing recently.  The plan was that it would help me wake up, but I'm not sure it's worked.  Might need an extra cuppa (tea or coffee) on campus this morning!

The weather has been colder recently, definitely not feeling like summer.  It has been dry for the most part though, seems like there has been much more rain in Raleigh!  That's about it for now, I'll try to write when I can, I've just been so caught up in getting my project done that blogging isn't as refreshing or relaxing as it used to be.

Miscellaneous Stuff

To those wondering - no the riots didn't get close to me.  Though we are about halfway between London and Birmingham, two of the places where the riots were worst.  It's just an awful situation that is really hard to explain or comprehend why it got so bad.

I'm still having some computer issues - software issues actually, not my laptop.  I'm getting closer every day, but not by much.  I do finally have an updated license file so that I can try the program I wanted to use from the start, so I'm hopeful that a long day on campus today can net me a lot of progress.

We did have a test day at Donington with the Caterham yesterday which was good despite it being kinda chilly, very windy, and a little wet in the afternoon.  It was productive, we figured out that the setup Jamie likes results in overheated front tires, which is ok for qualifying, but makes a 30 minute race pretty hard.  I think the day reminded me how much I enjoy this stuff, and why I'm over here.  It had been very hard recently when all my problems with my project had been piling up.  We did put the passenger seat in and get ride alongs for a few laps too, which was really fun.  I did actually drive it for a few minutes too, not on track, just up and down the paddock after we changed brake pads.  So yea, I need a job so I can buy a car ;)  Speaking of jobs, no real news there, just gotta keep plugging away sending resumes out.  It is annoying how long cover letters take to write.  At least there seem to be a good number of jobs being posted, just gotta find the right place at the right time that understands my broken 'English' I suppose.  

I have realized that I can use soccer goals or swingsets on the playgrounds around here for pullups.  This makes my workouts much more complete and gives me some more variety of things I can do. 

Well it's about time finally to walk to the bus stop, been up since 6:30 but can't get to campus until a little before 9:30, so much fun.

Update: Apparently there were some small rioting/looting etc. in Milton Keynes and Bletchley which is just south.  I hadn't seen it reported anywhere, but it was apparently on the local police webpages.

Les Grandes Vacances - Part 1

We've posted four new entries on Charles' blog about the first half of our time together in July.

Here are the links below...

# 1 - A quick day in London
         http://charlesintheuk.blogspot.com/2011/08/day-1-les-grandes-vacances-en.html
# 2 - Cross Keys Beer Festival & we head to Bordeaux France
         http://charlesintheuk.blogspot.com/2011/08/day-2-france-nous-sommes-arrives.html
# 3 - Exploring Le Bouscat and Bordeaux
         http://charlesintheuk.blogspot.com/2011/08/day-3-je-peux-comprendre-un-peu-de.html
# 4 - Off to the countryside.  Visit to a brewery (Brasserie) and St. Emilion!
         http://charlesintheuk.blogspot.com/2011/08/day-4-brasserie-artisanale-de-lentre.html

Next up I'm going to tackle the F1 Race at Silverstone...

Jessica

Day 4: Brasserie artisanale de l'Entre-deux-Bières & St. Emilion

Our Independence Day was spent a bit differently than in years past...although it still involved plenty of good food, beer, and wine!

Itinerary for the day . . . 

We'll head out from Le Bouscat where the Bonnaires live - technically a suburb of Bordeaux but it's only 3 miles from the city center.

Claude was kind enough to make a tasting and tour appointment at Brasserie de l'Entre-deux-bières (B on the map) http://www.entre-deux-bieres.com/ which is in the area of Entre-Deux-Mers.  Entre-Deux-Mers is a Bordeaux AOC (wine appellation).  Direct translation is "between two seas" but there are no seas, just rivers. The Garonne and the Dordogne.   I thought it was a cute play on words for the Brewery to be "Between Two Beers"

After our tasting, we went on to Saint-Émilion (C on the map), one of the principal red wine areas of Bordeaux.  The primary grape varieties used are the Merlot and Cabernet Franc, with relatively small amounts of Cabernet Sauvignon.  On the agenda, a bit of walking, a bite to eat for lunch, exploring a (wine) cave, and a bit of wine tasting.

Benedicte before we head out for the day

Our drive started off well.  However we could not find the Brasserie in the GPS.  

We made it to the town of Mauriac, we knew it had to be nearby, but we weren't sure where!

Benedicte called the Brasserie, and the apprentice met us at town hall and led us to their brewery.  

This was a very good thing, as I don't think we could've navigated all of the turns on our own.

And so we began our tour of a small French brewery in the middle of wine country!  

They brew mainly Belgian style beers

Adding the hops

Price List - approx $3 / 12 oz bottle

At this point we're approximately 20 minutes away from Saint-Émilion.  Ready for food & wine!

On the way we stopped at the Abbaye de Blasimon.  The use of this location dates to well before the Middle Ages, and the foundation dates to the tenth century.

We were so close, and yet so far from Saint-Émilion when the railroad crossing arms went down across the road.

Saint-Émilion!  The town is built on a hill which lends itself to very steep and narrow streets.  There have been vineyards in this area since as early as the 2nd century.  It is also a UNESCO World Heritage site.


The town was named after the monk Émilion, a travelling confessor, who settled in a hermitage carved into the rock there in the 8th century. It was the monks who followed him that started up the commercial wine production in the area.

I may have had a bit of a head cold, or allergies while explore Saint Emilion.  Guillaume was kind enough to take a photo of this sign.  It provides advice on what to do to cure anything that ails you.

The answer for allergies? Drink more wine!

Views from around Saint-Émilion

After a bit of walking - we were ready to enjoy some food.

Charles was enticed by the Duck Confit.  An actual leg of Duck.  Not just a few pieces.  

And what are fries if they are not fried in Duck Fat!?!?!  Yummmmm.  (If you need to try Duck Fat fries in the Triangle - go find the KoKyu BBQ Truck around town >> http://www.kokyubbq.com/)

Benedicte & Claude enjoyed a platter of sliced cured meats made from both Duck and Pork.

I was enticed by the Duck Breast.  Perfectly cooked with an sumptuous red wine sauce, and requisite duck fat fries.

What can I say - we love some Duck.

 

 

We weren't planning to get dessert.  We were ready to taste some more wine.  But ... this gentleman was an excellent salesman!

And suddenly we had coffee and some delicious sweets including a few canelles

 

We had to make our way back up to the top of Saint Emilion to go visit the Clos De Menuts Cave.

Oldest building in Saint Emilion.

Clos de Menuts Cave.  It's huge!!!

Bottles from 1982!! Our Birthyear.  Not in our price range.  : )

On to the tasting!!

Yes - They do start young.   : ) 

 

  

Charles had his first opportunity to drive in continental Europe!  He drove us back to Bordeaux.  We may have taken a few wrong turns, not his fault.  It did mean he was driving through one of the very narrow streets!

We returned home to continue our day of indulgence (and celebration of Independence Day??).  Starting with the beer we purchased earlier in the day.

Blonde: "We chose a blond Organic barley malt and hops with floral aromas to create a light and refreshing lager. Was added to this a dash of white grape juice and sugar to make a typical perfume. Fermentation is controlled at low temperature (12-14 ° C) and the resulting beer is matured in oak barrels to 5 ° C for 3 weeks minimum. So it keeps a beer characterized by a slight bitterness and a dominant aromas of malt."

La Baine, Biere Rousse: (Bath-Red Beer aka Amber) A blend of pale malt and "caramel" gives the drink an amber color, a hint of black grape juice, hops aromas balanced, high fermentation (temperature controlled at 19-22 ° C) allow the fruit flavors approaching Belgian beers.Maturation takes place in oak barrels at low temperature (5 ° C) for 3 weeks minimum. This beer has a robust character keeps appreciating the amateurs! 

La tchanquees, Biere Brune Artisanale: (Brown Beer) Dark beer is not just for amateurs and this is a beer that can be enjoyed by all! Hopped with restraint (some bitterness), brewed with roasted barley (light aroma of roasting), this low alcohol beer goes very well with seafood, especially oysters. According to a traditional Scottish, an infusion of oysters has been added to our wort iodine to give a taste beyond compare.

My favorite by far was La Baine, we wondered if there was a bit of unintentional wild yeast.  It provided excellent complexity.  Refreshing!

Then on to wine with a beautiful steak!

 

And lastly with some after dinner liquors.  Specifically Claude's favorite - Armagnac.  It's in the BIG bottle on the table, left hand side.



So what's the difference between Cognac and Armagnac?  (Both are a Brandy)


Cognac is produced only in the town of Cognac in France. Armagnac is a light brandy which is produced in the Armagnac region of France.


Cognac is distilled twice whereas Armagnac is distilled only once.


Armagnac was one of the first areas in France to begin distilling spirits, but the brandies produced have a lower profile than those from Cognac and the overall volume of production is far smaller. In addition they are for the most part made and sold by small producers, whereas in Cognac production is dominated by big-name brands.

Enough of that.  Bottom line - Charles liked it.  I enjoyed some Cointreau.

We made it to bed around 2 AM and were off to the airport the next day.  I'll be counting the days until we next return to France.  Benedicte & Claude have already enticed me with promises of a week long Bordeaux extravaganza.  Appointments for tasting at a variety of Chateaux.

I'm optimistic it will be MUCH sooner than later after learning how easy it is to fly from London to Bordeaux....and how cheap!

Back in Luton...waiting for....the bus.