22 posts tagged “may”

If Ireland was the drinking component of the trip (and, yes, it was!), then Scotland was the eating part! I'm working on my pictures and am remembering some of the foods I got to try:

The hog roast roll at Oink - every day the roast a locally-raised pig, put the recognizable body in the window, and serve hog roast rolls until they run out.

Oatcakes at the Taste of Scotland event (handily across from our hotel in Glasgow.. we had free lunch that day!). Oatcakes are a mild near-biscuit that are served with cheese & pickle, or with jam. I actually made some when I got home (I find I really want to cook SOMETHING when I've been away for a while) but the results from this recipe
are too sweet. I'll try again, though, as I brought home some Branston pickle as this trip's food tourism. (I had it in a couple of cheese & pickle ploughman's sandwiches.)

Cranachan - this is a Scottish dessert that's basically whipped cream and raspberry, with some ground oats (I think) mixed in. It was only okay. It was fun getting the waitress to pronounce Cranachan for me. It's more like Crrrrran-a-hhgghan. I can't figure out how to spell the throaty swallowed gghh sound.

Mince & tatties = minced meat and potatoes. Yummy and basic (and salty!).

Salmon, and some other fish at a fancy restaurant, but I can't remember what type it was. It was red-something.

That's how many pictures I took! 748! Don't worry, I'm a ruthless editor and will cull them a lot, and I'll also split them up into smaller groupings, because I don't expect ANYone to hang through that many pictures at once!

I'm back from my trip and it was great. I can't believe it's over, of course, and am a little sad about it, but I'm also ready to be home. I'll pull together a few blog posts as I go over my pictures - here's what's on my mind at 5 am (I just can't sleep in any further - my body thinks it's 1pm).

Both parts of my trip were great. Ireland was nothing short of epic, traveling with up to six people, driving over 1,000 km, and keeping the Guinness flowing in the evenings. My mom broke her collarbone 2 weeks before the Scotland leg, but she came anyway and got along fine. The people we met were quite helpful, though the weather was not at all good for much of our time in Scotland. Ireland's weather was a bit nicer - kinda crappy for the first few days, and nicer toward the end of the ten days. Still, all the books say that spring in that part of the world = big rain, and I can testify to it!

Food
The food was almost universally excellent. I got a couple of only-ok fish & chips, and I stuck to a tradition I started in Italy where the first meal in-country is just bad (in this case, I got some meat in between two slices of white bread.. not very inspired). I had the best seafood chowder of my life, truly, at O'Dowd's in Roundstone, Ireland. I had an amazing melon & rocket (arugula) salad in Glasgow. All the fish I had was crazy fresh and well-prepared. I will, however, say that I'm fully over the full Irish/Scottish breakfast, which is meat + meat + meat + meat + egg + toast + a tiny girlled-to-death tomato. And beans if you're lucky. And no.. that's not an exaggeration!

Drink
The Guinness really was yummy, though I don't know that it tasted very different to me from the US Guinness - I guess I'll have to go have one here and see if I notice a difference! I kind of hope it tastes the same, since what we have is what I get. However, my favorite discovery is Hot Whisky, which is a bar drink that seems pretty widely available in Ireland. Now that I think about it, we may only have ordered it in smaller towns, I'm not sure, so maybe it's more old-school. Anyway it's some whisky, super-hot water, and a thin half-slice of lemon with three cloves studded into it. It's dreamy. I asked one bartender/waiter guy in Scotland if he was familiar with it and he wasn't, so I suppose it could be an Irish-only thing.

As far as non-alcohol goes, I stuck with tea almost exclusively. Everywhere you go, when you ask for tea, you get a little pot, and a little side container of milk, and a proper cup and saucer and little spoon. It's so damn civilized - I can only imagine the horror of people who've grown up with that coming here and being served a little thing of hot water and a basket of tea bags... not the same at all! I did have coffee one time, but that was the morning after the wedding, at the official breakfast, when I was running on under 5 hours of sleep and probably still had a lot of alcohol in my system! At that point I was desperate for Hot Caffeine and happened upon coffee first.

Driving
Well - driving on the wrong side of the road is very exciting! And tiring, too, as it takes some crazy concentration at first. I was really happy that in Ireland we had an automatic transmission, so that was one less thing to focus on. Also, it felt like a team effort as the navigator would always talk the driver through the (terrifying, at first!) roundabouts. By the time I got to Scotland I was much more used to it - not flinching at all at oncoming traffic! - and added in a manual transmission for fun. Finding 3rd gear remained challenging, but I didn't hit anyone and no one hit me, so I'm chalking that firmly into the Win column.

Lodging
A lot of our lodging was arranged in advance, but even the times we/I were booking last minute, we didn't have any real problems. I borrowed an unlocked cell phone from a friend, and got an Irish SIM card for it, and I really recommend having a phone. We were able to have a three-person meeting of the minds in a parking lot with our guide books, and then book lodging in a TINY town at the end of the world (Kilcar, Ireland). That night there were 6 of us, three rooms, and I wouldn't have been comfortable just showing up in such tiny towns without reservations (ha! as if I'd EVER be comfortable without reservations!). How small was Kilcar? Well, there weren't any restaurants open so we had to drive 20 minutes back to the only one in the area that was open so early in the season. However, it did have at least three bars that were open, if not busy.

Harry Potter
I love the Harry Potter books, and it was really cool to be in the UK and see that some of the things in the book were actually modified from real-life things, but as Americans, we have no idea. An example I've known for a long time is that in the UK, they don't use Scotch tape (which is, after all, a brand name) - instead they use cello tape (as in cellophane). Turning that into Spell-o tape to mend wands is a stroke of genius that I missed entirely for a long time. So, I found other examples of this while traveling.

While in Derry (aka Londonderry), my friends and I went to a bar and stumbled upon a football match being aired: Manchester United v. Arsenal - and even *I* have heard of those teams! Seeing the packed stadium and hearing the non-stop full-throated singing and chanting helped me see what quidditch is supposed to be like. Also, when I arrived in Edinburgh, I passed a town nearby that has a massive stadium and was hosting something like ten rugby matches that day - the streets were filled with people in team jerseys streaming toward the event. 

I was walking through the Queen St. train station in Glasgow and saw signs for Platform 9, Platform 8, then an arrow saying something could be purchased on platforms 3/4 - not a big leap to get to Platform 9 3/4!

When you're waiting for the bus in Scotland, you are supposed to stick out your hand to indicate to the approaching driver that you want his bus. I was walking past a map of bus routes in Edinburgh, and noted that they have a Night Bus route map and schedule - clearly J. K. used those two bits together!

Luggage
I was in a larger-than-carry-on sized suitcase, and although it was necessary, I was never happy about the size of the bag. Ironically, I even jettisoned some free books at one point, only to purchase books later in the trip when I was traveling solo! Towards the end of my trip, I checked the big suitcase into long term storage ("Left Luggage") at the train station, and carried only a small little backpack, and that was a HUGE relief. Especially when I got to the place I was staying in solo for my last two nights in Glasgow - it was a guest house that was created by knocking out the walls between three buildings, so I had to go through some very windy corridors and up a lot of stairs to get to my room. I'd have hated that with my big suitcase! However the really big excitement was when I reclaimed the suitcase - the combination lock on it refused to UNlock. I fiddled with it like mad, but in the end had to get it cut off, by a very helpful hotel maintenance guy.

Traveling solo
I had the last three days to myself, and at first it was nice to get to recharge my introverted batteries, but I think the fact is, I'm not a great solo traveler. It's not in my nature to strke up conversation and make friends with random people. I can entertain myself REALLY well during the day, and am happy as a clam hiking about and looking at things, but mealtime & evening companionship really improves a trip a lot! I'd had a romantic notion about traveling all over Scotland alone, and I'm really glad that's not how it wound up.

Expenses
I haven't crunched the numbers, but I did manage to average $45/night for my lodging, by sharing rooms, looking for deals, getting two FREE nights in a friend's cousin's country cottage in Liscannor, Ireland, and by staying in a super-shabby guesthouse when I was solo in Glasgow. That's about half what I guesstimated, so I'm really really happy about that.

What I'd do differently
1. I bought an 8-day train pass and only used half of it. Next time I might get a better idea of my itinerary and THEN buy the train ticket.
2. If I'm going to have a two-part trip like I did this time, I'll try to book in some solo travel time between the two main events, so I get a chance to restore my energy!
3. I would bring a smaller bag. I did use everything I brought, but I felt oppressed by it. I could not have packed smaller this time, given that I was going to a wedding and so brought a dress, wrap, shoes, purse, makeup, etc. - but for my future reference, I prefer to travel light!

Gear that worked well
1. I was super happy with my wool clothing. The shirts were light but warm, the one I washed in my room dried very fast, and they didn't get stinky at all. I had two lightweight long-sleeve wool shirts, one black, one brown. One was from Royal Robbins, one was from Icebreaker. I also had a zip-up wool/polysomething lightweight sweater which was a workhorse. I also had an Icebreaker pull-over heavier item, and I did use it earlier in the trip, but not so much later. I preferred the zip-up layer when possible, since it was easier to negotiate.
2. I was also really happy with my Keen shoes. I had a second pair of shoes that I rarely wore - they're old, and I intended to jettison them if I needed luggage room (but I didn't).
3. My Eddie Bauer rain jacket was a trooper. It was put to the test many a day and I never got wet underneath it.
4. My Timbuk2 mini messenger bag was perfect for day-to-day usage. It held pens and my passport and wallet and notebook securely, and I had enough room for a tour book, map, glasses, and bottle of water - all I really needed, without schlepping along a lot of extra crap. I like that it closes with velcro AND a clip, so I was never worried about stuff falling out, or persons getting into it without my knowledge.

*sigh* I can't believe it's over! I also can't believe it's only 6:15 in the morning!

I'm working today (and taking a short break at the moment!), but it's my Thursday, since I'll work tomorrow, and then I'll have a week off for a very very busy whirlwind trip. Talk about trains, planes and automobiles: I'm going to hit them all!

Wednesday: fly to NYC
Thursday: day to myself (with a very aggressive To Do list that will inevitably be pared down)
Friday: bus to Boston, meet with two people: a friend I haven't seen in 15 years, and my former roommate, who I saw in March!
Saturday: drive to reunion and back (under 2 hours in the car, probably 3-4 hours on campus)
Sunday: public transit to meet my parents and ride back to RI
Monday: train back to NYC
Tuesday: day with NYC friend
Wednesday: fly back to the west coast.

I hope it won't be too overwhelming. I loathe dealing with airports, and am hopeful that bus/train/transit will be less annoyingly stupid.

So, the reunion. Yeah. The good thing about being overweight in college is that I don't have to go on a panic diet! I weigh about 20 pounds less than when I graduated; I doubt many of my classmates can say the same (though, who knows what magic will have happened. I can't be the only one who got active.). I've had a few dreams about it, but none lately. I worked up my courage to flip through my old photo albums, and it was really fun. I had a good time and knew good people and am looking forward to seeing them again.

I hear the campus has changed a lot, so that'll be interesting. I hope I get to see it thoroughly, but the people are more important than the place.

As to the cities: I haven't been to NYC since 1999 or 2000. I don't know how I feel about visiting Ground Zero. Kind of not really interested, actually, but we'll see. I do want to be sure I visit the library, and MOMA (or at least the gift shop!), and I have a gift certificate for a yarn store in Soho, so those three things are helping determine the day's itinerary. I've bookmarked about fifteen thousand places to eat, but that's not going to happen! It'll also be the season finale for Lost, so I know exactly where I'll be that evening!

I always walk a TON in NYC, and this time I want to try to hit several of the parks. Those should make for good people watching and picture opportunities, and it's looking like it's going to be lovely. I might even get to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge, if it's nice on Tuesday!

As far as Boston goes: I lived there for my first three years out of college, and there are a couple of places I really want to visit, so I'm working that out. I'd love to see my old apartments! And the coffee shop that was my favorite!  And the squares that aren't square, the drivers who are insane, and the transit which is quite good. It'll be interesting if I become Insane Pedestrian again - there's something about Boston that has me stepping into oncoming traffic without flinching.

I think I mentioned a while back that Delta had changed my flights, leaving me with a five hour layover. I'm happy to say that a simple phone call resolved the issue easily - I will now have a much more reasonable hour & a bit in Atlanta (not really on the way from NYC to SF but whatever).

Sprint, on the other hand, has the WORST interface ever. EVER. what a pain in the ass - all I want is to see the balance on my bill, but no. They can send me two bills/month (exact duplicates, arriving on the same day even) but heaven forbid I check my balance online. Idiots.

I really like the blog Get Rich Slowly, and today's post is particularly interesting: He's part of a group writing project wherein various financial writers look at how they were doing financially ten years ago.

Naturally, it got me thinking. Ten years ago it was spring 1998. I'd moved to Oregon less than two years previously, was 5 years out of college, and was finally working the first job that felt like it could be a career.

Job:
In October 1997 I'd gotten hired at a small software company, and already my job was changing and growing a lot. I got hired making 27,000!!!!! Considering I had no direct experience, and it was a small company, and the start of the tech boom, I think that was probably reasonable - and it was the best money I'd made by far. I'd broken through the 20k barrier! I was working a tech job! I was traveling all over the country for work! It really felt good.

Career prospects:
Better than having broken through shattered the 20k barrier was the fact that my job was really engaging and challenging and fun. I had great coworkers and we enjoyed each others' company (two of them are among my very closest friends - I'm still in touch with them nearly daily). Also, the money improved quickly - I jumped to the high 30s, then the low 40s, and by the time I was laid off in June 2000, I was making 60k (for a short period of time before the lay-off... and ironically, one of the main reasons I was cut was my pay level). After working there I got another software job, then changed my life completely, went to grad school, and took a massive (50%-ish) pay cut. But, the job was a great experience and really set me on the path I'm still on today.

Retirement savings:
Financially, things were pretty good too: I started saving for retirement (and since I was 26 at the time, it felt good to finally get started). I've managed to  pretty continuously save for retirement ever since - I lost some time because of layoffs and not being eligible at new jobs, and I took some time off of saving for retirement when I thought I was going to buy a home (and instead wound up moving to California). I'd say of the last ten years, I've been saving for retirement for almost eight of them.. and I've never tapped the sacred sacred holy holy retirement account. Better, my retirement saving rate has been good from the start, never dipping below 10% of my salary and more often hovering around 15%.

Living situation:
Ten years ago, I was sharing a house with three other friends and paying $275/month for rent, and I'm sure my share of the utilities was equally paltry. (I'm remembering we had a complicated phone system: two phone numbers, and if one was busy, the call would roll over to the 2nd line, then to voicemail. It was excellent, especially if we had friends calling on both lines at the same time.) We didn't have cable tv (in fact the tv was in the basement and almost never used), and internet from home was nearly non-existent (one of us may have had dial-up.) I hadn't acquired any expensive habits like eating out a lot, although I was just starting to get into biking.

Debt situation:
My debt situation was pretty good, too. I paid to have my dad's old car shipped cross country, and then when it didn't pass the emissions test, I gave it away and paid cash for a thirteen-year-old Honda. I loved that car and kept it for seven years, until it died an untimely (to my mind) death. I again bought a used car, though this one was only a year old, cost 6k, and I financed it for three years.

I graduated college owing my parents $9,600 at zero interest, so I did have that debt, but I paid it regularly and paid it off in the late 90s. I had some credit card debt - never extreme, but as I recall, it seems like it was often hovering around 3k - never enough to be really worrisome, but too much to easily pay off. I finally got smart and in 2000 cashed out my stock investments (since I was guessing anyway) and paid off my debt.. right before the market tanked and I got laid off!

How things have changed, and stayed the same:
Today I'm back to making decent money. My living expenses are a lot higher, though (my highest rent ever before here was $650, and my average rent over the vast majority of my years in Boston and Oregon was $375... my current rent is nearly three times that amount). On the one hand, I hate having such a large chunk of my income earmarked in a way that I can't control or change much, but on the other hand.. that's pretty much the way it goes. I could trim two or three hundred dollars by sharing, but after 13 years with roommates, I really enjoy my own space.

I do have school loans from grad school, and loathe them. But, the biggest thing that hasn't changed, that I really don't like at all, is that no matter how much I make, I don't seem to accumulate cash in non-retirement savings. That is my biggest financial weakness - it was then, and is now. No matter if I was making 20k or 45k or 60k... I never had lots of spare money sitting around. I guess my nature is to expand my spending to the size of the container, much like a goldfish, and now that I've got my car paid off, my biggest priority is to get more money in the bank in normal savings.

Still.. an interesting trip down memory lane!

So, aside from meeting massive HP fans, what have I been up to? Well, knitting, of course - I just finished a beautiful little dress for a friend's baby (due in July). I'm all fired up to take on socks and have ordered a set of sock needles and some yarn. While I twiddle my thumbs waiting for that delivery, I'm doing a practice run on turning a heel. It is weird, I tell you, and magic - it works!

I'm still being fiscally sound: I got my car's title in the mail today! I want to frame that sucker.. after I get it fully in my name.

I'm looking forward to my travel to NYC and Boston and my college reunion in another week and a half (wow, can't believe the trip is so soon!). I think I've arranged for all my travel: flight to/from NYC, shuttles to and from the airports in NYC, my ticket on the Chinatown bus from NYC to Boston, and my train ticket from Rhode Island back to NYC. I'll have transit costs there, and will pitch in for gas for the reunion trip, but all told my trip is coming in at under $350, since I'm staying with friends (and my parents in RI). Score on the cheap vacation! I'm already bookmarking tons of places to visit in NYC, though I'll only be left to my own devices for one day.

I just finished watching season 7 of Buffy, and I feel sad that it's over. I still have the final season of Angel to watch, but I don't think it'll be quite the same. What this means, for anyone paying attention, is that I watched ELEVEN television seasons since January 1st (well... Buffy #1 was a half-season, but all of Buffy and four of Angel).

I've been biking a bit but not nearly enough to feel anything like calm when I contemplate my weeklong cycling trip in September. I did 42 miles today and though it was hot, I felt GREAT - and I was ready to be done at the end of the ride. If I had to keep on, I could, so I think I'm mostly okay for distance riding, but ... day after day? Yeah, I've gotta get on that. And <Chords of Doom> Day Five </Chords of Doom> is 77 miles and 5000 feet of climbing. (Actually.. according to that page... that day is 6800 feet of climbing. Dear Christ.)

I have my work cut out for me. but for now... I nap!

I really enjoyed the Harry Potter run, and still enjoy curling up with the books. Today, however, I met QUITE the fan. I was on a bike ride in a very warm part of the state (wine country, so beautiful), so most people were in sleeveless jerseys. I noticed that this guy had full-arm tattoos (called sleeves in the biz) but it wasn't until the pot luck at the end that I learned they were Harry Potter! He designed them after the final book came out, and they were amazing - horcruxes (all of them), the Dark Mark, dementors, the "Have you seen this wizard?" poster for Sirius, Dobby, Winky, Harry.. I'm sure the list goes on but I couldn't absorb it all.

I was too shy to get pics but he says he'll be on future rides so I may try. I tried looking for variations on: Harry Potter sleeve tattoos .. on Flickr and got some interesting hits, but nothing like this guy. Just .. wow.

I use PayPal, and it's a handy way to transfer money from my checking account to various online vendors. However I've also used it a few times to receive money from friends for group purchases, and I think it sucks that they charge a fee.

Enter Revolution Money Exchange, who say they will NOT charge fees. Better than that, they'll give you $25 to register (as SOON as you register, no hoops required (for a limited time only)). Further, if you use this link, you'll get me an added bonus as well. Let's try it!

The NY Times has a fascinating article/graphic that breaks down the average American's spending.They've got eight main categories (food & beverage, misc, recreation, education/communication, transportation, health care, apparel, and of course housing).

I'm sure they are using before-tax figures, but I always find it more interesting to calculate these things based on my  take-home (which means I'm not counting my taxes, retirement savings, and health care expenses), so I ran the numbers both ways. I'm geeky that way.

So how do I line up?

Category...         Average American...     My % of gross/% of net
Food & Beverage            15%                            8% / 13%
Recreation                      6%                             4% / 6%
Education/comm             6%                             1% / 2%
Transportation                 18%                            1% / 2%
Apparel                           4%                             3% / 5%
Housing                          42%                          20% / 33%

I didn't calculate: Misc or Health Care. Misc seems too vague. Health Care is not something I feel I can control, but I feel like I have a good deal in this regard courtesy of my employer.

Apparel is a very spotty category for me. I can spend nothing for several months, then a couple hundred dollars, and I haven't been tracking my spending long enough to have a good feel for this category. I did use my numbers for the first four months of this year, so that's probably a good rough number anyway.

I'm glad my housing expense is lower than the average. That seems really really high to me!

In the recreation category, I did include my hobby spending, which is bike maintenance, bike club & organized ride fees, and my knitting expenses. However that doesn't cover all my knitting expenses, as anything that I am buying to give away gets stuck under the Gift category (helping me in my knitting expense denial, I'm sure). I didn't include Gift spending in the above numbers because I'm not sure where that would fall.

One category I didn't see, though it's got to be in there somewhere, is travel. That's a big chunk of my income, 13% of my gross/ 21% of my net. And I still haven't bought my Christmas ticket! Note that this is 21% of my net income so far this year.. I expect my travel expenses will drop sharply as a percentage of my monthly spending, since I've paid for several trips that are happening later this year.  

The above numbers account for 61% of my net income. Adding in travel accounts for 83%. Where is the remaining 17% going? Well, off the top of my head (and with the help of my spending notebook):
gifts (2% of net)
school loan repayment (4% of net)
household/upkeep (decorating, laundry, shampoo, etc.) (4% of net)
charity & miscellaneous spending round it out at another 4% of net

... and a little bit is getting tucked into savings. That's my biggest gap right now. All told that adds up to 97% of my net income accounted for (i.e. spent!) each month.

In an ideal world I'd like to save 20% of net every month. So far it's not even close to happening!

Allow me to insert that I JUST finished paying off my car (whoo! go me!) so my transportation costs don't count a car payment.I WAS paying 8% of my net income, and I'm looking forward to doing something with that money that is more satisfying than paying off a loan.

I'm already pretty peeved at Delta for vanishing my old air miles account. Yeah, it had languished for a long time, but it makes me pissy anyway. Especially since I flew on them at Christmas and will be flying on them for my pending trip to NYC/RI/BOS/NYC.

But now! I just realized that they really screwed me. Okay, I got the ticket cheap, and it's a direct flight out.. but the flight back? has a FIVE HOUR LAYOVER in Cincinnati. It was only an hour layover when I got the ticket.

*sigh* guess it's time to get on the phone and see if there is anything they could possibly consider doing to improve that day. I briefly considered just tossing out that half of the ticket and buying another direct flight home, but the best price I found was $175. That's most of a whole ticket to Portland in December, so I really can't see doing that.

I hate you Delta.