New "Baby" is Born

Good evening my dear readers,

It been so long since last time I had a chance to drop a few lines in here, but I'm back.

First of all (as you probably can see), I've switched back to Fedora and I have just one thing to say about it.... Love it!

Secondly, we have finally applied for "Registration Certificate" (EEA1/EEA2 applications). After waiting more then a month, we have discovered that it takes about 6 months to process the application with all our original document as well as passports are in HomeOffice. So basically, we are more or less stuck on this side of the river for a while. What do I have to say about it? ...Hate it!

During last couple of weeks, I've been deeply involved in our family project to produce a professional looking, service selling, high quality website for my wife (http://www.russianlanguage.homechoice.co.uk/). It is 99% ready, but you all are welcome to visit. Send your comments and personal/professional opinions to the webmaster (Anyway, I will end up reading it). For those who are slow to catch, this is the baby I have mentioned in the title...

Crack in My Fortress

Today, when we were catching some sun in Greenwich park, I was thinking about what to write today.

So, god (or someone there above) send us a surprise. When we came back home (after some argument with Alyona - she wanted to stay there a bit longer), we saw someone running past our windows from the back garden towards the road. Apparently, someone tried to break into our house from the back door. Luckily, to get through the back door was not such a easy task: the door has 5 mount points and made iron and double forced glass.

After we called police and our landlord, they came to inspect the damage and to take all the details. Police tried to drive around but without success.

There is a crack in my fortress... some one tried to break in!

Now, how am I suppose to sleep in there?

Pink Floyd Concert In... Rochester

Let's start by saying that it was Australian Pink Floyd show, but they are as good (or even better) then the original band. Sure, they didn't write the songs and the lyrics, but they are performing them hell good! So, last Saturday we went to Rochester (again) to a Pink Floyd show at Rochester Castle. The place gives amazing atmosphere for this kind of concerts. Everything was right...

We have arrived a "bit" earlier, 3 hours before they start, to check out the town, castle and to get good seats. Surprisingly, we were not the first. After having some sandwiches and water (wait... wait a few more lines) the show has started and boy, they were as good as we expected.

Me and the girls (my lovely wife and Marina) started to drink (vodka Smirnoff for them and beer for me) and eat burgers (vegetarian), smell weed (couldn't help it) and sing loudly till we couldn't take it any more. Later on, we abandoned our sits in favor of "rocking" closer to stage with another hundreds of people.

It was absolutely amazing, if a bit cold. As always, check out the photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/20070714AustralianPinkFloyd and don't forget to comment.

Weekend in Ashford

This weekend we went to visit our friend Natasha in Ashford, Kent. One hour on the train and we were there...

There is nothing really special about this place. It probably has some piece of history, but we were not able to discover it (maybe it was because we didn't try?). After hanging around with Natasha in Sunday market and then in local park (check out the fountain in the photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/20070708Ashford), we went back to Natasha's place to play with Alyona's nails.

It was just like in the movies. The girls chit chat about nails while Natasha made some very impressive decoration on Alyona's fingers (butterflies, flowers, etc.) and I had one hour of sleep on a couch. Isn't life amazing...?

The End of "Miami" Era

All things have to end, and so is my short visit to Miami.

It was an excellent visit: boating, dining, tennis, pool, BBQ, music, etc. In those short days I managed to do so much that I can understand how I had time to sleep.

Check out the photo album: http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/20070609Miami

Enjoy.

Atlanta (Part 2)

OK... I'm not going to bore you to death with what I do in the office, information security. So, nothing special happened down here, in Atlanta GA. But what I do want to write about is food. Yesterday we went to Indian restaurant called Swapna, delicious! While it looks like a dive from the outside, this is actually a really nice Indian restaurant with attentive servers and delicious food. I have eaten Indian food all over the U.K. and this is truly one of the best I have ever had. The prices are very reasonable for the amount and quality of the food you get. I had a meat samosa for a starter and then Tandoori mixed grill (on the sizzling platter) which was spicy and delicious, and "Mango Kulphi" (had to look at the receipt to spell it) for the desert.

And today, I had THE MOST amazing steak ever! We went to Olde Mill Steakhouse near Cumberland mall in Atlanta. I had a 14oz rib eye (medium rare) piece with baked potato and butter and Caesar salad on the side. The steak was perfectly made with a bit charcoal taste (just amazing). All that was finished with Southern Comfort Pecan pie... A DREAM!

I think I said it before (4-5 years ago) that I will not eat meat unless it is a prime cut... I think I will actually do it...

OK... I will go and die quietly after all that food...

Atlanta (Part 1)

It is been a full week now since NWA airline took me to Atlanta GA (it is in USA). After 9 days of constant rain in London, the 32C was a bit too hot for me, but I took it like a man and hide behind double class windows with air conditioner. For anyone who doesn't know, I'm here on information security project for a international corporation (sorry, can't tell) with two of my colleagues from Israel.

There is not much to tell about our work in here. It is more or less as any other project for a big, international company. We have an office on 15Th floor with amazing view over Atlanta. Surprisingly, it is SO green! Our office is in the middle of forest with river flowing beneath the building...

What amazes me every time again, is the size of everything in US; the toilets, cars, hotel rooms... everything is SO big!

On the weekend, we went to Olympic park and then to Atlanta's aquarium, which suppose to be the biggest aquarium in world (is it a surprise?) where they keep couple of whales. The variety of different species that live in the ocean is unimaginable. There is always something crawling, swimming, gliding or just laying out there in the water. Of course, the biggest attraction is two new whales from Taiwan, but it was also fun to touch snake fish and crabs (I'm not really sure about the "scientific" names).

After the aquarium, we took a stroll through Atlanta downtown which is like any other downtown (let's say Manhattan) but with less people outside.

Check out the photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/john.markh/20070529Atlanta/photo#s5071609989105637874 and stay tuned for the next week update.

P.S.: The last couple of pictures are actually from Sunday. We went to a shopping mall outside Atlanta and then to relax on the Lanier lake.