Strange new hybrid solves world food shortage

After work today we (Mel joined for drinks not work) went to Red Star for drinks and had a very delicious Buffalo Chicken pizza. I can only imagine that the Buffalo chicken yields significantly more meat than the regular chicken, but it seems that nothing is lost in taste (obviously, since chicken tastes of very little). I think that a Buffalo chicken will look something like this picture. The astute among you will realise that this is not a buffalo chicken, but a puffalo (see Animal magazine game on Facebook).While working our way through our pizza, I was delighted to spot Olympian legend and Baltimore native Michael Phelps. I was going to say something uncalled-for about MP being the Peter Crouch of swimming, but then fizzled out at the thought that Carlos Tevez would be more appropriate, in spite of his stature. I am pleased to report that Mr Phelps wears clothes in public, and that we were too scared/considerate to take his photo there and then. So I stole one off the internet: myjewishlearning.com as it happens.

New Day, New Breakfast

There is only one piece of news that matters from Wednesday and that is England's whooping of Croatia. 5-1. I managed to find a website that streamed the ITV coverage straight into my office, so that was great. I didn't even have to ignore poor american commentary. I am still not sure whether I think Heskey or Defoe should start - I think Capello will give Defoe and Rooney a good stretch together in the next game to see what happens.
Mel's day consisted mainly of trying to unpack cases and walking to Safeway, I think. Yuck.
On this view of our building you can see the main rooftop balcony (to the left) and the side bit to the right. We had a cracking dinner of steak (barbequed in the garden), cornbread and sweetcorn, and then went for a walk along the waterfront to Fell's Point. There were loads of joggers out and generally a lot of people out and about in the street, so that has to be a good thing. In other food news, Jim Pekar brought a bunch of figs in from his tree at home and they are delicioso. Yum yum.

Moved in

Today we moved into our new apartment. I went off to work in the morning to do some paperwork (highlight: new badge) while Mel did some sorting at the hotel and got our insurance and utilities worked out. At 12 we went to sign the lease and get keys, then back to the hotel to pick up bags. One of the bellboys dropped our ikea wine glasses from on top, but he replaced with hotel ones, so I am sure we got an upgrade.

Once into the apartment (finally after maintenance had fixed the door lock), we went down to WholeFoods to pick up some food to make dinner and had pasta and wine on the living room floor. We sat outside overlooking the bay and played scrabble before an early night.

Labor Day

As luck would have it, we have moved after the August Bank Holiday at home and before Labor Day, the US equivalent, so I had this MOnday off work. Our wonderful friend Ivana drove us to the mall and we picked up some essentials. We had a very kind leaving gift from home group and stragglers (I hope you know who you were) and we spent our JC
Penney voucher (bought by very thoughtful people through the wonderful interweb) on a NICE frying pack and an indispensible bottle opener. We will toast you often.

And what exactly are the other essentials we bought? 32 coat hangers; a cutlery drawer tidy; 12 IKEA glasses; a drainer; 30 dice to play Perudo with; a pillow and a temporary futon mattress. Now we are back at the hotel for a little relaxation before the daily quandry of 'do we really need to go out for dinner or shall we just sleep?'. Mel is reading an article about a racing car that runs on carrots.

Sunday Breakfast

Yum yum. Breakfast in the sunshine at Panera Bread in the Inner Harbour. Just off to church, then lunch with Jonathan and Courtney.

This morning we set up our internet connection for the apartment, which will be installed Thursday. Until then, I will have internet at work and Mel will have it in common areas of the apartments.

Apartment Found

After walking a LONG way, we finally found an apartment and even better, we move in on Tuesday. Now all we need is a bed or something like it. The apartment is a nice little one bed with a den to house visiting parents/friends/bad wives. Mel is extremely excited that there is a Haagen Dazs over the street and a sushi place round the corner. I think this could get expensive!

On another front, I think England-Croatia isn't going to be on tv here, so I'll have to 'watch' it by hammering refresh on the BBC website. I'm hoping Capello will start Defoe and Rooney up front.

Mel's Leaving Headphones

Thanks to the generosity of Mel's school and her dad (not her husband) she was able to spend mucho dinero on some headphones that make stuff quieter. She thinks they're great.