Summertime
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5PW03J9JIRw
The journey home from Pittsfield was fun, firstly the flight was a bit late leaving Albany Airport and I only had 30 minutes at LaGuardia airport. I did get a bit worried when the stewardess walked up the plane asking who was heading to Baltimore, but when she explained I'd have to get of the plane at LaGuardia and then back on for the flight to BWI realised I wasn't going to miss my connection. When I fell out of the airport and into a cab the whole evening moved into the twilight zone as my cab driver was a Beatles loving Ukranian who was also into Nazareth. At least I got home safely even if it was 1140.
After a well deserved lie in I got up to clean the pool and shortly after the Verizon man turned up to install the fibre optic internet and phone connection which took a while and somehow we have managed to get a reduction in performance to about 1meg so Helen is calling them today. Later in the day we drove out to Dulles to pick up Emma, who joins the office this week, her husband Rhod and her daughter Kiera. We had planned to go out for dinner after dropping them at the hotel, but it was a bit early and we couldn't be bothered hanging around DC until we were hungry so we decided to be boring and headed home.
Saturday was a very lazy day for me, Helen did a bit of shopping, cleaned the pool and did some work but Sunday was a different matter. After a short lie-in we cycled into DC to watch the ING Direct Capital Criterium which was 85 laps of a 1km course just off the National Mall. The action was fast and furious and not only did we get to meet four members of the Garmin Chipotle team we also spotted the team manager Jonathan Vaughters being interviewed on a side street- yeah I know we're sad. The weather was cool and sunny and perfect for watching the action as well as our cycling, it was a shame that the boys didn't even podium but they got involved in a lot of the moves.
After cycling home for a sleep (Dave) and dinner we headed out to DC again, this time in the car, to see Booker T. and the M.G.'s in concert. The club was wonderfully dingy with two bars and even a kitchen for food. Surprisingly the club wasn't that busy to start with and it was interesting to see most of the "oldies" sat down on the balcony for most of the concert. The lineup of the band was close to the original with Booker T. Jones (organ, piano), Steve Cropper (guitar), Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass) but with Al Jackson Jr.'s cousin Steve Potts (drums). For those not in the know the band was Stax records house band which released a number of instrumental soul albums and are most famous for their hit "Green Onions". As the evening progressed the band and the crowd got livelier and then Eddie "Mr Knock on wood" Floyd came on stage to add some vocal accompaniment and entertainment as he wood a couple of ladies from the audience. They must have needed their ovaltine as there was one encore and we were home by 1100.
For those of you who don't know or don't remember Booker T. and the M.G's here's a hint http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyFpvH1OtuA oh and the Test Match Special theme tune http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnXfDhTrnTk was one of theirs too.
On a final note the temperature has dropped all of a sudden and we've had the air conditioning off for four days and this morning I had to wear a gilet and arm-warmers on the bike; saying that the average temperature is still in the mid twenties so it's not exactly hot water bottle weather.
The journey home from Pittsfield was fun, firstly the flight was a bit late leaving Albany Airport and I only had 30 minutes at LaGuardia airport. I did get a bit worried when the stewardess walked up the plane asking who was heading to Baltimore, but when she explained I'd have to get of the plane at LaGuardia and then back on for the flight to BWI realised I wasn't going to miss my connection. When I fell out of the airport and into a cab the whole evening moved into the twilight zone as my cab driver was a Beatles loving Ukranian who was also into Nazareth. At least I got home safely even if it was 1140.
After a well deserved lie in I got up to clean the pool and shortly after the Verizon man turned up to install the fibre optic internet and phone connection which took a while and somehow we have managed to get a reduction in performance to about 1meg so Helen is calling them today. Later in the day we drove out to Dulles to pick up Emma, who joins the office this week, her husband Rhod and her daughter Kiera. We had planned to go out for dinner after dropping them at the hotel, but it was a bit early and we couldn't be bothered hanging around DC until we were hungry so we decided to be boring and headed home.
Saturday was a very lazy day for me, Helen did a bit of shopping, cleaned the pool and did some work but Sunday was a different matter. After a short lie-in we cycled into DC to watch the ING Direct Capital Criterium which was 85 laps of a 1km course just off the National Mall. The action was fast and furious and not only did we get to meet four members of the Garmin Chipotle team we also spotted the team manager Jonathan Vaughters being interviewed on a side street- yeah I know we're sad. The weather was cool and sunny and perfect for watching the action as well as our cycling, it was a shame that the boys didn't even podium but they got involved in a lot of the moves.
After cycling home for a sleep (Dave) and dinner we headed out to DC again, this time in the car, to see Booker T. and the M.G.'s in concert. The club was wonderfully dingy with two bars and even a kitchen for food. Surprisingly the club wasn't that busy to start with and it was interesting to see most of the "oldies" sat down on the balcony for most of the concert. The lineup of the band was close to the original with Booker T. Jones (organ, piano), Steve Cropper (guitar), Donald "Duck" Dunn (bass) but with Al Jackson Jr.'s cousin Steve Potts (drums). For those not in the know the band was Stax records house band which released a number of instrumental soul albums and are most famous for their hit "Green Onions". As the evening progressed the band and the crowd got livelier and then Eddie "Mr Knock on wood" Floyd came on stage to add some vocal accompaniment and entertainment as he wood a couple of ladies from the audience. They must have needed their ovaltine as there was one encore and we were home by 1100.
For those of you who don't know or don't remember Booker T. and the M.G's here's a hint http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyFpvH1OtuA oh and the Test Match Special theme tune http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnXfDhTrnTk was one of theirs too.
On a final note the temperature has dropped all of a sudden and we've had the air conditioning off for four days and this morning I had to wear a gilet and arm-warmers on the bike; saying that the average temperature is still in the mid twenties so it's not exactly hot water bottle weather.
