holiday

All posts tagged holiday

Working in an office during the festive season sucks

Published December 27, 2013 by iftheshoefits

I may have mentioned once or twice that I work with nerds.  This week and next week I’m working with pissed off nerds. 

I’ve ripped them away from the delights of Dr Who by day and Skyrim by night, and have asked them to stop their nocturnal programming activities and resume business as normal – anybody would think that I’m the Emperor.  But like the Rebel Leader, I’m protecting the weak against the mighty force of our client base.  Although, to be fair, the client base appears to be sleeping.  We’ve been in the control tower now for 100 minutes and the only call we’ve taken was when one of our own was running 20 minutes late.

It’s time for desperate measures, it may be time to talk to each other.  At the moment, the only noise in the vicinity is fingers tetchily bashing keyboards – the allure of Christmas leftovers and chocolate biscuits is fading.  The satsumas and pomegranates are rotting in the communal kitchen.  If anyone even mentions Christmas there will be a lynching.  Where’s a stargate when you need one?  Beam me up Scotty, it’s going to be a long day.

Turns out these boots were made for walking after all

Published September 22, 2013 by iftheshoefits

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Safely back in Brizzle with a mournful lament at leaving The Alps behind us and an alarming amount of washing it’s back to life as we know it.  Reality hit hard with an 06:40 alarm call for Mr ShoeThatAlwaysFits as he headed off to film in some spectacularly unglamorous location.

And, in between loading and unloading the washing machine, I thought I would update you on how well these little beauties did.  They safely jogged across Schipol Airport to meet a rather tight connection; they gazelle-like leapt on and off hop-on-hop-off city bus tours; they were nimbly secure up and down the 700 steps (some of which at a 45 degree angle) of the Eisriesenwelt Ice Caves; they were sure footed on the snowy tips of the Grossglockner mountain range; and most of all, they made me smile every time I did something mildly energetic.

I’m not saying that they should replace my hiking boots, but if you’re already used to stomping around the world in impractical footwear you can’t beat these.  They were in my top three holiday in the rainy Alps hero items – the other two included my lightweight cream North Face jacket (I needed both windproof and waterproof) and my large leather Boden bag with built-in iPad pocket and security purse.  If only we’d packed some insect repellant – more of that on a later post…

…28 mosquito bites later

View from hotel, Salzkammergut Region

Published September 17, 2013 by iftheshoefits

Well, Mr ShoeThatAlwaysFits and I are half way through our 10 day trip around Austria.
We’ve experienced culture in Vienna; kitschness & lederhosen in Graz; schnapps & stuffed marmosets up Grossglockner; detours & landslides around Innsbruck; coffee, cake and hills alive with the sound of music in Salzburg; and now we’re in the idyllic Salzkammergut region.
We’ve got a few more days exploring to go – ice caves a go go and more alpine villages than you can shake a cow bell at. And that’s without an endless supply of Mozart balls.
It may have been stressful getting here but, boy, are we enjoying ourselves.
Will post again once back in Blighty.

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Difference between the sexes – holiday packing

Published July 18, 2013 by iftheshoefits

There was a gentle debate at work today regarding how many bikinis one of the girls was packing for her week long, caribbean holiday.  She has seven bikinis, and has decided that she needs to pack at least four of them.

A male colleague was visibly horrified, “why would you need four, surely one would do, two if you wanted a choice?”.  The intake of breath from the female contingent was audible.

I’ve travelled a lot through work over the last seven years, and have learned the art of packing through trial and error.  The key to packing is a good list – and a good capsule wardrobe – I only buy things that mix and match.  I make a list of items I want to take, I then make a list of outfits for each day, usually decided by which shoes I want to take.  I then whittle it down to the right combination – which flip flops and wedges go with most outfits.  It works for me every time, but I do need time to plan it.  My worst nightmare is a panic pack.

My other half has a simpler method, he simply counts the number of t-shirts and shorts he needs and packs them (adds a few for emergencies) – job done.  It works for both of us.  We can usually go away for a week long trip with one check-in bag and a small carry on each.  If we can’t – it means I’ve overdone it.

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