Day 7.083: Throwback Thursday #2

Since he missed out on the first Exiles in New York Throwback Thursday, check out this picture of E5N1 from Day 110:

So tiny, so peaceful. So not like he is today.

Day 7.068: You can thank me later

I have just discovered (thanks to today's XKCD) 2048. It's a very addictive puzzle game that you can play on your computer or mobile device. Click here to try for yourself!

I've since introduced the rest of the family, and a cross-section of my Facebook friends to the fun.

Here is my best score to date - check out the 1024 tile (not, however, the eponymous 2048 yet)!

Enjoy and - when you're ready to complain because your whole life has fallen apart - read the second sentence again and don't say I didn't warn you!

Day 7.067: New England and England (new)

I haven't spent much time tweaking my PC at work. My personal touches did not go far beyond choosing a wallpaper image from the options provided by Windows - this rather Maine-ish lighthouse.

My Dad sent the image on the right - taken today on my parents' walking holiday in the Lake District. It made me a little homesick for a moment for that kind of landscape.

Not that the landscape round here is bad at all - as I remembered when I looked back at the other screen!

Day 7.065: CT & run (for ME)

So this was my day: I woke up at 8-ish realising that drinking about 3 times my normal blow-out night of two beers and going to bed two hours later than my normal up-late time of 10 pm was not going to pass unnoticed. Actually I was fine, once I was up and about - what a lightweight I've become!

I had a shower and went to breakfast where I was lucky enough to chat to some people who I thought had driven home last night without my having much chance to catch up with them.

After that I hit the road. Two stops - one for a quick Facetime chat with my parents and the other for a very slow and still only OK lunch at Friendly's (I know! I know! but I'm a hopeful kind of guy).

I made it back just before 4 pm in time to hit the road again - this time for my longest run of the week (only 14 miles because it's a cutback week).

Then I Skyped the family, got a bit chilled, warmed up in the shower and then watched Nebraska since Exile #2 had rented and watched it last night. It's rather good.

Anyway, back to normal tomorrow. But it was all more than worth it thanks to, you know, this:

Day 7.060: Pretty good

I had a pretty good run this morning, a pretty good day at work, a pretty good dinner, a pretty good time watching multiple episodes of Between Two Ferns but now I'm missing these guys:

and that's that.

Day 7.049: Look who came to dinner!

Exile #2 and E5N1 are here (the girls are separately staying with friends). We saw four houses after work this afternoon and will decide on making an offer on one of them in the morning.

And after all that, we congratulated ourselves with a gluten free pizza for one and a dairy-free pizza for two (and a sit-down on a bench made of skis)!

Day 7.048: House, work

Spent the day dashing from one thing to another at work today. At lunchtime, I saw a house and Skyped Exile #2 so she could see around if too. After work I had dinner with some colleagues while the rest of the family were at the annual lip-sync performance where Exile #4 and E5N1 were on stage with their friends.  Tomorrow, instead of two homes, the five of us will be spread over three - but more of that then. 

Day 7.043: Two steps forward...

...one step back.

As far as we know all is still moving along with the house-sale. Today we chose a house and made an offer, only to discover it had been sold earlier in the day.

But we did all have a nice walk on the beach:

Some of us were chased by waves:

And one was very reluctant to leave:

Day 7.041: They might be dinner

Look who turned up, making themselves comfortable in my Maine apartment today:

With someone finally wanting to buy our house in New York (fingers still firmly crossed that it all goes smoothly), they are here so we can look for a new one.

After a quick couple of viewings, it was dinner time - and where would we go, but a restaurant called Silly's?  We had a great meal - selected from the rather silly menu.  We didn't sample "Empire Strikes Mac" or "Eggy Pop", but we did have these:

at the bottom Exile #2's "Imperial Thai Fighter" and up top my, "Birdhouse in my Soul".

Day 7.036: Other side of the line

We had major computer problems at the end of my last trip home, and one of today's tasks has been trying to restore it to its former state (after Exile #2 managed to get it functional again for Skype, printing school work etc.)

In the process I happened upon a load of photos that E5N1 has been taking recently including one of me eating my dinner in Maine.

It looks like I've been caught out, but this s pretty much a daily situation, I get home, cook some dinner and sit down to catch up with the family while I eat it. Still, it's funny to get a glimpse of it from the other side.

Day 7.023: Super drive

I started the day making a rug city with E5N1 (I look forward to sharing it with you in due course) and I'm ending it watching a big football game (on TV) in Portland. In between, some games with the girls and some computer problems. Oh, and four hours in the car. Quite a day.

Day 7.002: Railways of the UK and (not enough) space

Today was a day of two board games.

The first was played with the family in New York:

Ticket to Ride with the fan-produced and internet-downloaded UK edition board and tickets.

It turned out to be our most competitive (in terms of vying for certain lines) and was enjoyed by all (E5N1 was briefly teamed up with each of his sisters but then disappeared - it turns out for a much-needed nap on his bedroom floor!).

I'm now back in Maine and cracked open my Firefly game.  It's the same one we played with our friends on Day 6.353 - but now I have one of my very own.  It can be played solo, so I started a game a while ago:

It's taking up my entire table even with just me playing.  I've just been attacked by Reavers which is pretty much as bad as it gets so I'm taking a break (until tomorrow) before I find out just how serious the situation is for my crew.

Day 7.001: Happy Birthday (NY)

What could be more appropriate than combining the anniversary of our first day as residents of the US with the anniversary of my birth (observed).

Yes it was birthday part 2 today. It included presents and cards, cleaning and tidying and leaving the house for a viewing, Doctor Who cupcakes, The Hobbit part 2 (without E5N1) and lots of hugs.

And so begins the eighth year of the Exile.

Day 6.350: Rivers sibyl

On Christmas Eve (unlike yesterday and today) we managed to venture out together for a walk.

It started in the front yard - with a check on Bob. His parsnip nose had been lost (probably to a deer), but he still had his eyes and his mouth was lying on the floor and was restored by Exile #4. He still looks almost exactly the same more than 48 hours later thanks to the drastic cool-down.

Then we headed over to Five Rivers where we had a cold, slippery but beautiful walk:

and even managed to fit in our often-repeated group photo.  You can see some previous versions - summarized last time we took one - in the summer and a list of links in an earlier post.

Incidentally, for any title-watchers, there is no oracular activity listed here, but those "rivers/reverse" puns are getting hard to come by for these posts.

Day 6.349: Cardboard World

I hope you all had a great day whether you were celebrating Christmas or not. Our morning went something like this:

"Woah!"

"Ah!"

"Argh!"

"Cardboard World!"

After which we had a delicious lunch and the kids smiled like this:

There were also Skype/Face Time conversations, a game, lots of jokes from E5N1's joke book and two of us watched Doctor Who - the rest will catch up tomorrow!

Day 6.323: Fair Trade and unfair trades

This morning, we had a long-ish walk in the cold, visited the Bethlehem Fair Trade Market where we chatted with some friends and did some Christmas shopping - not exactly classic Black Friday bargain-hunting perhaps. There is still time for some more FT shopping at the excellent and varied market tomorrow.

After that, we felt the need to really get the financial wheels turning, so we (except for E5N1) played a long and intense game of Monopoly.  The one true version from the streets of London of course.

Exile #3 was the first to go out. Knowing a good thing when she saw it, she then teamed up with Exile #2. For a while they seemed unbeatable, but then I exercised my right to do any deal I saw fit, by donating all my property to Exile #4. I then joined her as a financial advisor and it could have gone either way for a while - but in the end Exile #2 (and Exile #3) triumphed - as ever the game turning on a few lucky or unlucky turns of the dice.

Day 6.322: Thanksgiving - deep fried!

We were invited to a family Thanksgiving meal today. The four-generation family in question spans both this area and the town where my new job in Maine is located - it's a small world after all.

We had a great time - first with tending the deep-fried turkey (a very successful first-time for this gathering as well as for us!), then with sitting down in the amazing garage-turned-dining-room.

And later, playing pool (I cunningly showed some skills and therefore managed to avoid revealing my complete incompetence at darts) in the basement.

I believe there was football on TV and Jenga (with English-accents) and other activities, but they mostly passed me by. At some point we realised that more than 5 hours had passed and decided we should call it a day.

Day 6.316: Not going home

Exile #2 sent me this - it seems someone is sad I'm not going home this weekend...

Day 6.304: Last day in Maine

We had another packed family day today. Tomorrow these four:

will be celebrating Veterans Day by making the long drive back home to New York, leaving me here to begin week two of my exile-from-exile. Maybe then I'll take the time to tell you about our weekend adventures!

Day 6.302: I have a family!

And they are here. Hooray!

(Blurry picture of E5N1 by way of proof)