Citibank Sagas

Just when I think I've got them all under control! I was so excited when I stopped off at the ATM last night. I noticed that they now allow innter-country transfers from the ATM. I played around and found I can transfer funds from the US to the UK via the ATM. Wooohooo. No more sending checks across the pond 4 months before I need the cash (well more like 4 weeks but still). I liked them...until I got home tonight. I had a letter from my UK bank about my mortgage. I sent them a check on Christmas Eve to pay a sum off the mortgage. I had money in my Citibank account (UK) to cover it. I felt good. I've been checking my bank account for the last few weeks wondering why they hadn't cashed it. The reason...apparently Citibank stopped it. Why? Who knows? I didn't tell them to. I had funds to more than cover it. I am annoyed!!!! I really wanted to reduce the mortgage...felt it would be a GOOD thing to do. My best efforts were thwarted. I am now upset. And I've told them this.

Just My Luck

No mail yesterday. Today...just one ominous envelope. Pulled it out gingerly. Carried it upstairs. Sat in the bathroom and opened it. Don't ask why I was in the bathroom...just seems to be the place that I choose to read "interesting" envelopes. Shit. They've called me for jury service. But wait....what's this. Are you a US citizen? No. If you have completed any of the shaded boxes you're excused. Wooooohooooo!!!!!!!!! All I have to do now is post it back with my birth certificate and hope I'm off the hook. Not that I don't want to do my part to convict those that are guily of such hideous crimes as jaywalking or whatever other stupid things people get arrested for nowadays but I've been there before. Years ago. All it was good for was getting through an unbelievable number of books. Boredom in the extreme. So first thing tomorrow morning I'll be off to the post office to make sure I'm safe.........but you'd think they'd know this anyway. After all, how did they get my name? Any tax details would show me as an alien. I'm not on any electoral roll cos I don't have a vote (Remember taxation without representation? That's how the good ol' USA came into being in the first place!). I'm not a homeowner. How did they find me? What are they playing at???? Hmmmmm??????????? Silly, silly, silly!

Oh and on a totally unrelated subject.....Tara, from Arthur Murray, was on the radio this morning. Kiss 98.5 had some silly game going based on the Bachelor (which I've not seen)...or was it Joe Millionaire? God knows...he's SO ugly...even those photos of him modelling thongs did nothing for me...until I realised I could cover the head and just look at the body...that sort of worked! Back to the plot. She gave some dance lesson or something to the contestants yesterday so they got her to call in to talk about dancing. I should call her.....but not right now.......

It's Over

We spend all this time practising and talking about it and then it's over in a matter of hours. The 1st anniversary Showcase has come and gone. Just like that! A day of preparing...running out to buy undies, putting on makeup, doing the hair...and then a bit of dancing and over. Booohooo! But it was fun. I didn't mess up my routines, at least I don't think I did. Had a few people tell me how good I was. Even Carolyn, who's not spoken to me since the Competition in August, told me I was "red hot". Yeah, well not wishing to be a bitch but your Rhumba could do with some work m'dear. LOL. She wears these really sexy clothes revealing all this flesh but then she lets herself down cos she's so round shouldered. Steve (her husband) didn't dance. When I asked him why not he said he could only cope with one ego in the house.....get the idea!!!!!!

Will find out on Monday how I really did and then, of course, there's the video to look forward to. As usual I can't remember a damn thing about the dances other than I did start on the right foot, was in time and managed to do that silly dippy part in my Bolero without wobbling. To give you an idea.....we stand opposite each other, holding at the wrists, bend right back and then Chris comes up and pulls me up on one foot. And then I do my stork impression, bringing my right leg up and across him, bend right back down his leg. He then pulls me upright and spins me out....so we stop facing each other and apart. I did it, I did it!!!! Every lesson we've had I've been wobbling on one of more of those one-legged bits. Last night I didn't. I was so proud of myself! And the waltz was pretty cool. Although I know I reached for his arm too early at one point. My mind just went blank and I had a little panic. Don't think anyone really noticed but I knew. And there may have been a toe lead when I was meant to do a heel lead but wot the hell....probably the only people looking at that were the judges and...oh yeah, they're the ones that count! Oooops.

And talking of them. I got to dance with him! Gleb Markarov. Nice Dance Champions. Wow. They did a show at the end. Four dances. Amazing!!!! And really nice people. We were standing around at the end and I went and asked him if he would like to dance. So we did a foxtrot. Very nice. Didn't embarass myself!!! Although Sharon told me off cos Renee was leaving until I went for the dance. And then, as usual, she had to have some of that. Honestly, it would never have crossed her mind otherwise. So Sharon got all annoyed. But I did get to drink champagne with him and we talked about rugby. It seems his views on the Superbowl are pretty much the same as mine....waste of time. Is all this oneupmanship just totally pathetic? Yep.....but Renee is SO competitive about everything. Drives me mad at times. Just let it go girl.

Anyway I have a lesson with Gled and Tatiana on Monday. And I'm sure they'll go over their notes. They performed a Bolero as well yesterday so, having seen them dance, I'll take any tips I can. They did one move in the middle that we were going to do but I couldn't because of my back. I felt SO inadequate!!!!! Oh well, they've been dancing for longer than me so I guess I have some time to catch up!!!

What else? Hmmm....Chris and Yelena performed - first time I've seen them dance together (other than in lessons). They were excellent. Very impressed. In fact the whole evening was very excellent! All beautifully organised. They had caterers in so lots of good food although I didn't really eat that much. Just very professional and lovely. Lots of people around to hand out programs, make sure everything was ok, take photos, record the event and generally look after us. Wouldn't get that at Arthur Murray.....ha ha ha.

Now I must desparkle!!! Did brush my hair last night but I'm sure there's still remains of glitter and yukky stuff in there......

Bloody Men

Bloody men are like bloody buses
You wait for about a year
And as soon as one approaches your stop
Two or three others appear.
You look at them flashing their indicators,
Offering you a ride.
You're trying to read the destinations,
You haven't much time to decide.
If you make a mistake, there is no turning back.
Jump off, and you'll stand there and gaze
While the cars and the taxis and lorries go by
And the minutes, the hours, the days.

By Wendy Cope

RJ

This is why I always get worried when someone looks for a job with a company they were at previously. He didn't show. Got a better offer elsewhere. So all that fuss for wot? Wot a waste of effort and energy and emotion. And did the owner come and see me to say anything? Of course he didn't! Fantastic! Annoyed? Yeah a little! Smug in the knowledge that I originally did the right thing in not wanting to give him a job? Of course!

Hmmmmm!!!

My feet hurt!

I have some new dance shoes. Very exciting. The first pair were too wide. I have very thin feet...wish the rest of me would catch up with my feet! LOL. So we sent them back and waited for these to turn up. Which they have now done...with one week to the showcase. Fantastic. How am I going to wear them in in time? Gotta walk round in them every day between now and then. And the balance isnt as good...the heels are not quite where I'd like them to be. Ugggh. But they're VERY sexy.....
take a look...Style 1616 (flesh)

Tell me something I don't know....

...that's why I read my horoscope. Not to have my sad little life confirmed.....!!!!

"Your actions aren't just speaking louder than words -- they're practically shouting. Is it time to make a change? Perhaps different circumstances will meet your needs better than the current ones."

Snowboarding can be dangerous!!!!

Obvious isn't it? Not to the male of the species. Or Rob anyway. About 18 months ago the fool had an accident snowboarding and did his ankle in...or was it his knee? I can't remember. Anyway. He still insists on going. This time he's racing a mate of his. Yeah.....SENSIBLE!!!!! Falls over smack on his face. He sent me the pictures. Nice. Insists that it's really cool and good for picking up chicks. Oh yeah? Not this one. Stupid boy. He lost the race. And then had to race again.....to prove he could. Honestly. Oh well, at least it was good to see that the bags under his eyes are bigger than mine. There is some justice in this world.

Work seems to have calmed down a little. Is this the calm before the storm? Who knows. The Rochester salesman actually got an agreement signed today so that's a good sign. And JB's father has now realised that aforementioned salesman is not necessarily as wonderful as he seems to think.....! Anyway we are now recruiting another one for that division so I'll hopefully have three in total...coooooool!!!! And the new AM is soooo cute. Such a waste. 27, married and with child. Damn, damn, damn! Spent a couple of days following me round....bit like a lost puppy. LOL. Got two AMs starting at the end of the month. Neither of them very attractive. Ssssssss!!!! It's turning into a very male-dominated environment. We now have 5 AMs and 2 sales people - all male. Soon we'll have 8 AMs and 3, potentially 4, sales people....all male. Not that I'm complaining. I get to make comments about men all day which winds them up. One of the AMs and I spend most of the day squabbling. He's totally useless and I keep finding different amusing ways to tell him. Today I was looking at the Job Finder section.....to see if I could find him a job. The other AMs found it highly amusing.....albeit cruel. Hey, gotta get my giggles somewhere!!!!! JB offered to buy me dinner last night cos we stayed late to interview someone. Thanks but how about some notice next time.....I've got plans. Oh well...have to hold him to that sometime. He did offer to cook for me...cos he made an omelette for one of the salespeople the other day (prior to a sales visit). Hey, that's not fair. Well, come round sometime and I'll make you something much better than omelette.......mmmm....nice!!!! :-)

Time of the Month

USABDA dance was last night. As usual I struggled all day with whether or not to go. I was praying for snow, and lots of it, so that I could use that as an excuse. Not a flake to be seen. Left work early thinking I could go home and change and then drive back down there. Halfway home...hallelujah....the snow started. And then it stopped. Damn. Got home. Messed around and messed around a bit more and then the phone went. Sharon...to say she's not going cos she can't be bothered. Wooohoooo. Now I have an excuse. I didn't go!!!!!!! I don't know what it is about that place but I just don't enjoy it. And I think now I convince myself it's going to be dire so I never want to go!!! Instead...I slept.....from about 8pm through to 7am this morning. I guess I needed it. This week was tough. Just as I was leaving, JB called me into see him. Oh shit. Not bad....just to inform me that battle lines are being drawn and he'd like to me stick it out. Apparently there are about 4 of us that he really doesn't want to lose - he did tell me who. And then he told me the people he wants to get rid of....none of them surprised me. They're all his dad's people. So let's just hope he wins. Cos if he doesn't, I know I'll be out of a job in no time at all. Nice thought, huh?

Today...ran round like a headless chicken. Took the car in for it's service at 7.30am (so they'd do it quickly - they did, I was back again by 8.30!!!!). Showered and changed. Went to the bank, the post office, collected my dress (all nicely altered as far as I can tell!) and made it to West Coast Swing by 10.30am. Not bad. Home again just after 1pm. Got to watch Eastenders. And now just poodling around until the dance tonight. It's at the Lamm Post (the name makes me giggle in a VERY silly way!). Sharon's definitely coming so we can sit and natter about stuff. And I know there'll be quite a few men there tonight. Yippeee!!!! Definitely getting back into the "swing" of things (no pun intended). Just gotta remember, my back's not 100% still so be careful!!!! I can practice my anchoring tonight. It's a tough enough dance as it is. Today we were doing "and a one".....as if "and one" wasn't enough, now we have to add an "a" in there.......oh and Eva turned up this morning. This old woman (not sure how old but definitely got the neck wrinkles of age!) appears at 10am (I guess, cos I didn't!) wearing layers of makeup, high heels and of course, a very low cut top. Her version of dancing is wear as little as possible so men stare and then drape herself over one and let him "carry" her around.....they ALL fall for it. Makes me sick!!!!!!!!

Oh yeah, look wot I got at work......17" NEC MultiSync LCD1700V....mmmmm.......very nice........think JB trying to cheer me up. It worked!!!! :-)

Work Saga Continued

So, owner appears with someone...."this is RJ, he'll be starting on Monday". That was it. No comment as to what he'll be doing or anything. Ok.....and?????? I am annoyed but it got better. Owner's wife appears a bit later. Doesn't say anything. Just stands there staring. So I looked at her and ignore for a bit. She's still there. So I turn around again. Oh, don't mind me I'm Maggie. What are u doing? I told her....putting together an ad for the NY directory of school districts so we can tell them about ourselves. Why? Cos we want business. Thought we had a lot of school accounts. Yes, in PA. This is for NY. If we're doing well in PA, why won't this work in other states. It will. It just happened yet cos we've not focused anywhere else. We recruited a sales person just for NY State. Oh. She walked off. And then she starts an argument with one of the AMs. I got this flyer and I don't like it. She's referring to our product catalog that goes out each month. It doesn't encourage me to buy. There are no specials. I get flyers all the time from furniture companies that are doing deals on dining tables. So I go in and see them and maybe while I'm there I buy something else. Really and how often are you in the market for a new dining table. And why is it so big? And why do we list our prices on here...we shouldn't. Ok. It's so big because we have 6 ads from vendors in here that we charge for so our costs are covered. And we show our prices cos resellers particularly like to see them. They use this as a reference document. So you're saying I don't pay anything to produce this? Correct. We make about $6k a month which more than covers our costs. It's a profit center for us!!! For some reason this doesn't shut her up. She marches into the training room where the Product Manager is giving a training session. Next thing I can hear her yelling at him.....very loudly. I want it changed. We should have loss leaders all over it. We shouldn't be listing our prices....blah, blah, blah. PM comes out. What do I do? Nothing. We wait til JB (president and son of nightmare) reappears and then we calmly discuss it. OK.

I phoned JB (out on sales calls) and suggest that he might like to return to the office very soon before the reign of terror takes much more of a hold. Apparently she doesn't like one of the AMs emailing his customer with a list of the items purchased yesterday. The customer had lost his invoice. It took him a minute to pull up the information. The phones aren't ringing so it's not a big deal. Oh yes it is. It's distracting him from sales calls. Actually this AM has such a large customer base that he doesn't really have to do sales calls. His job is account management. And he's damn good at it. Butt out of this please!

She then goes into the VP Ops and yells a bit more.

JB calls me. I tell him the saga...he's not happy. They're on their way back...probably another hour or so. They reappear. The sales manager who had been with him tells me that PM did call and JB told him not to do anything with the product catalog otherwise he'll fire him! LOL JB sits down with mother and explains to her that we do separate postcard campaigns when he have specials that we want to offer. And he tells her about a campaign we're about to do with our new AM. She comes out, goes over to one of the AMs and asks if he thinks she's mad. He says no. She doesn't come and ask me, which is probably just as well cos I would have given her a mouthful...if only for yelling at someone in front of everyone else....I bet the customers love hearing that when they phone in! Then, as JB is telling me about her conversation with her, the AM turns round to say that she's on the phone complaining about the price of our featured system....it's too high. We're selling a very nice system for just over $600. Too high. We should have dropped the price more. She doesn't realise that our resellers don't stock loads of product. They supply on a customer-requested basis so why would they hold stuff on the offchance. There's no point! We're not gonna sell stuff that way...it's not our business.....

Aaaaaaaaagh.

It just keeps getting better!

Ok, so most people would think that after a visit from the Canadian that a girl would settle for a quiet evening in on her own. Not me. No way. More excitement needed. Screw the sleep. I'm talking to Mr New Year and we're just joking around......and then he says he's coming over. Well, it's still reasonably early and why the hell not. I don't care. And then I just mention a little topic dear to my heart....safe sex. Cos I am a VERY safe girl. Might be badly behaved but I do it safely!!!! And I thought it only fair to point this out to him before he hauled himself over here in the snow. Oh, he doesn't like that. You on the pill? No. Why not? Cos I use condoms and I stopped taking the pill after having been on it solidly for too many years...

Side story here: I started taking it in my teens cos my periods were all screwed up (stress related) and I ended up in hospital twice within 6 months due to loss of too much blood. I lost so much that my body stopped pumping it to my extremeties....and I could actually feel wot little I had left pumping round inside me. Your hands go all white and waxy and the headaches. WOW. Ever had blood transfusions? They suck totally.....pump you full of saline first and then the blood so you end up so damn bloated you can't move. Then they pump you full of diuretics to get rid of the excess of liquid. Followed by hormone tablets....so that all you can do is cry. YUK!!!!!! Anyway, as a result of all of that blood loss they put me on the pill (which had some advantages) but basically told me to take it all the time...so that I had like one period a year (again, there were some advantages to that). After about 10 years of this though the blood pressure starts to get upset.....so I stopped the pill. And it was about the time that HIV/AIDS was making a real entry into daily life so condoms were good!

Back to the plot dear reader! So, I use condoms...maybe this should be called "condom queen"? And I've been quite successful with them so far. Occassionally I come across someone that's not too keen on using them but rules are rules. And, til now, noone's ever refused. Well, I need to think about it? What's there to think about? I don't want to catch anything and I sure as hell don't plan on being a mother just yet (if ever). I'm clean. Really? Really! How exactly do you know? Have you had tests? You clearly don't practice safe sex otherwise we wouldn't be having this conversation. I'll see you soon. You know what happened next, don't you. Of course he didn't show.

Men can be such jerks. Just say you don't want to use the damn things. It doesn't mean you're getting any but it sure as hell makes life a little simpler. Don't f***ing lead me on and tell me all these wonderful things and make promises if you're gonna break them. I'm so honest, you wouldn't believe it. Other women may mess you around but I don't play those games. What you see is what you get! So.....guess that's another one down the tubes....life SUCKS!!!!!!

And to add to the saga, here's a little work story. Talking to the boss today. And he just throws a little question into the conversation....Do you know RJ? At first I thought he meant someone in Shipping. No. The one that sent in a resume a while back. Not the one with the really stupid cover letter? Yes, the very same! This cover letter was a page of crap, with quotes from Shakespeare or something. It was APPALLING! I didn't bother to interview him. Well, my dad (the owner) is hiring him. Err...how did he come across him? Apparently RJ found out who owns the company and approached him directly. Owner likes him...cos he's a nice person.....which doesn't make him a good salesman. So it seems that the owner is meeting with RJ on Thursday to offer him a job. We are not happy!!!!!! I've spent months looking for the right sales people. I am fussy as hell. We've already fired one person cos it didn't work out and now we're just getting someone dumped on yes. FANTASTIC!!!!!!! Seems that Boss and Owner need to do some fighting.........though Boss did say he was amazed at how well I was taking it. Yeah that's cos I'm going out later and I'm gonna bend someone's ear about this...and the rest of my life.....just u wait........

SHIT!!!

Last Night I Had the Weirdest Dream!

Just as I was thinking about curling up in front of the tv to watch Manchild (BBC America) my pc started beeping at me. Oh, can I be bothered to answer it? Well, I'll just see who it is. Ohmigod. The MIA cute Canadian that broke my heart....or was it my bed? Hello stranger. How've you been? Apparently things are not wonderful in Canadaland. His ex reappeared and he went up to Toronto to help her out. And then he said that she wanted to get back together with him and he wanted to try things. Which is cool...sucky but cool. So I asked about the weather...thinking it was a safe subject. And then it all came out. The weather has been frightful and the poor babe needed warming up. Hey, it's Sunday night. About 11pm. I have work tomorrow. I should go to bed and forget about him. Wanna come over? Really? Yeah, why not. I'm "restless". Be right over. About 30 mins later, there was a knock at the door. Still looks as cute as ever. Me in my dressing gown. Him fully dressed. Hmm. Have to change that. And the rest...well you can imagine. He said he'd missed me. I think that was probably just a line....but it worked. Couple of hours later I drift off to sleep. Later this morning as I wake up....was it a dream? Guess the empty condom packet will testify to the fact that it wasn't a dream. Just pretty stupid....but nice. Really nice. Shit. He's going to mess me up again, isn't he? It was funny but the second I saw him on-line I burst into tears. And all I could think of was how much I'd missed those stupid late night chats and his emails.

Anyway, he's working this evening. I sent him an email earlier to try and clarify some things. So he won't get it probably til I've gone to sleep. I think it was good that I saw him. In some ways I think that I've reached the "closure" that people are always talking about. If he doesn't reply then it doesn't matter. When I woke this morning I had the..."well that was nice" feeling. Not the "counting the seconds til I hear from you" feeling. I'm over him. But if he does reply and wants more....will I let him have it? Probably cos I have no self-control. LOL It's a very strange life.

One good thing did happen as a result. I drove into work this morning determined to get someone to buy me lunch. He's married and he really reminds me of someone I used to work with. He's been flirting with me since I got there but he's married (yes, i know i just said that!) so he has to make the first move cos I certainly won't. Today I decided that I need to get very drunk and fling myself at him. Life's too short. I was going to behave well this year and sort my life out but, you know what, 5 days into the New Year and I've been through three men already. At this rate I should be able to get that figure up to about 100 before 2004 rolls around...gotta be one of them that sticks!!!! I'm trying to laugh at that but it's not funny. It stinks.

Rubbish!

Have a read of this. Makes me think twice about what I throw out!!!!

We're BAAAAAAACK!!!!

Or rather I'm back...dancing! Mmmm. Just got back from the first West Coast dance of the year. I love it. Love it. Love it. Love it! I persuaded someone to come with me...to keep me company cos I was sort of scared of going. Sounds silly but I've not been to a dance for a while (cos of the back) and sometimes people can be funny. There are never enough men and I was going through the "what if noone remembers me and wants to dance with me" crisis. Totally stupid and insecure. It was fine. Lots of people came up to say they'd missed me (yeah right, like they couldn't have picked up the phone or something?!). And I got lots of dances. Probably too many cos I can feel the back muscles tightening...gotta go lay on the floor and stretch before I go to bed. Must remember to do that!

Downside...Rose and Colleen were there. Not sure Rose danced at all. She came up to us and made a comment about "it's mainly swing". Er yes. It's a SWING DANCE. Doh!!! Colleen I totally can't stand but she was good for some gossip. Apparently Miho screwed up her routine in Atlantic City...don't know how, don't really care. Not a huge surprise. I did a cha cha with him once and he started on the wrong beat. Sacrilege! But, and this is the interesting bit, she's now going to Freds. SHIT. Gonna have to have a word with Chris about this. I went there to escape people like her...and what happens? They follow me!!! Saw Renee and Jim in there on Christmas Eve...which is OK but irritating. If she's going there as well.....only good thing is that Chris isn't Bill and I don't see him standing for any nonsense from any of them. She also said she's going to the showcase. Oh dear. Now Sharon doesn't want to perform at all.....after months of me talking her into it. Background on Colleen....she has lots of money, think it's from a dead husband or something. She bought $000s worth of lessons from Arthur Murrays and was taking loads of lessons each week. She's one of these people that thinks they can buy friends...she was always taking presents in for Bill and Miho. She's over opinionated, insists on talking to me when I really don't want to talk to her and, although she claims to be totally self-sufficient, she is totally useless at anything that involves any organisation whatsoever!!!!

More gossip. I then heard Dave talking to Sharon about Arthur Murrays...apparently Miho has left (so they have no male instructors other than Bill who owns the place), is moving/has moved to California and is getting divorced!!!! Wow. I wonder if this is the end of that studio? Very interesting...maybe I'll have to pop in there and take a look for myself....after all I do still have a few lessons left with them (not that I've paid for them....ha ha!).

Even more gossip! This is funny. Robin went out with Kim for a little bit. Kim used to go to AMs. Tall, lanky, opinionated, used to complain about the people he danced with although he's not THAT good himself. Not that attractive really. Then he went to the Spotlight studio and started going out with Karen who owns it. Few weeks ago he called Robin. She was out. Didn't return the call...good girl! He called back. Wanted to take her to some work party or something. What about Karen? Oh we're not going out any more? Oh? Since when? Oh, well I've not really told her that yet. Oh, right!!! Well, when you do, perhaps then you could call me? So tonight...in walked Kim...with Karen....together. Very much so. They'd been practising something for the last couple of hours. Hmmmmm...methinks someone is a being a total shit and needs to get his act together......

So....although the dancing was fantastic (considering I've been "out" for so long, I did pretty good...including an amazing Rhumba at the end...if I say so myself!), the gossip was incredible. And I got to ogle a few very attractive men in the bar downstairs!!!!!! All in all....a very happy night :-)

Start as you mean to go on!

Actually, this was totally how I didn't mean to go on...picking up a stranger but hey, a girl's gotta do wot a girl's gotta do. Happy New Year to meeeeee!!!! LOL My pretend resolution (pretend cos I don't really make them) was to behave myself. I blew that one almost immediately. My other resolution was to sort my life out. I'm not doing too well on that front either. At the moment I have 3.5 distractions.....hmmm...well I suppose it has potential? Yeah, for complete chaos!!!! The 0.5 relates to a possible that's not yet a done deal. With me? Hee heeeee. No 1 - the one that bugs me from time to time. No 2 - too young but very cute.....you'll have to read some post I made earlier....oh, there weren't any details in there either. Ah well, never mind! No 3 - Mr New Year. Guess the year could have started off worse.........well, another 12 months to worry about which one to go with/for!

So we have snow here....yucky, messy snow that makes my feet wet. Not the nice pleasant crunchy snow that looks pretty. YUK. But better than the rain. England is drowning apparently. I've seen photos of telephone boxes half-submerged in the wet stuff. And my brother-in-law tells me that they've had so much that some of the roads by them (NW London) are impassable. Hey, stop. It's only a little island. It'll sink!!!!!! Poor things. I'll take snow anyday - at least you can shovel it out the way!!!! Ooooh and check out that forecast....rain, rain, rain and...yep, more rain! Cheap fares to England.....think I'll give them a miss for a while!!