Shopping

Well after last night's pathetic attempt at a post, I thought I would try to do a bit better today.

Yesterday (Wednesday) started with me driving to an Outlet Mall some 30 miles south of Pittsburgh for a spot of retail therapy. The ladies would be proud of me- I managed to spend several hundreds of dollars in only a couple of hours. What have I got to show for it?

Well, some Van Heusen shirts and ties, some shorts and a t-shirt from Timberland, a top and a shirt from Banana Republic, other bits and pieces and a winter leather jacket. It seemed ironic to be buying a winter leather jacket lined with thinsulate inner liner when the weather was 80+ degrees. Only problem is that I now have too much luggage for my cases to bring back. I've had to go out to buy another holdall. I'll be paying excess baggage now.

I returned to Pittsburgh to the AIST Conference, and assisted Phil to pack away his concession. See- you knew I worked in the iron & steel trade didn't you?  

CVM Systems' Head of European Operations

I then had a chat via MSN with Michelle - the power of modern technology  enabling real time conversations and video with people 000s of miles away. Sadly conversation was rather short as Phil and I had to head out to the baseball game.

I'm sure that I irritated Phil with my constant questions about the game, the rules etc. Well, I was a baseball virgin, but no longer. It was a very enjoyable game with a passing similarity to 20/20 cricket. It was good to have vendors bringing beer to us in our seats- very civilised.

After the baseball game, we went to a bar opposite our hotel for 1 beer before bedtime. However we got chatting to a fellow bar visitor and 1 beer rapidly became 2, then 3 then 6. Whoops.

This morning brought a couple of rather sluggish visitors to the hotel breakfast. We also had to drive 100 or so miles from Pittsburgh to Hudson Ohio. I'd rather have slept than driven but.....Nothing prepared me for Hudson Ohio. Phil and Tiffany hadn't told me they owned a mansion. Their garage is bigger than my house. The house is beautiful and huge. They even have dear roaming around in the rear garden. I need a map and compass to find my way to my bedroom.

For lunch today, Tiffany took me into downtown Hudson which is like a picture postcard town. It has a beautiful town square and is the most delightful place. I have fallen in love with the place. Afterwards, Tiffany showed me some of the other properties in Hudson which make their house seem small - hard to believe I know.

This evening, we all went to watch Phil & Tiffany's youngest (Cassie) play in her softball league game. I didn't know what this was before today. Basically, its a form of baseball played by girls, using a ball slightly bigger than a baseball. I must give a big thanks to all the parents there who made me feel so welcome. They showed, it wasn't just the architecture of Hudson that is nice.

Finally, I got back home in time to surf the net to see the election results in the UK. Its 10pm EST (0300 in UK) as I type this and it seems no one is winning the election, but the electorate as usual will be the losers. I told you all that you should have voted Monster Raving Loony Party.