Jazz Brunch

This post is old news, but Lizzie had a birthday that ended with a zero a few weeks back, and so the Flanagan's corner crowd set out to celebrate.  Lizzie's choice was to do Sunday Jazz Brunch at the Newstead.  I have mentioned brunch before -- the gourmet dining buffet experience where breakfast, lunch, supper, and desert are all on laid out for your dining pleasure.  To be fair, one usually just eats all three meals at once on these days, and you are still full the next day.  Each brunch has its own special ambiance, and the jazz band was what Lizzie was really looking forward to.  The Newstead is across the harbour from the town of Hamilton, and sports a beautiful view of town just beyond the infinity pool.  They also host a Friday night happy hour after work, complete with free ferry service across the harbour to and from town.

The MacGregor's and the birthday girl...clearly wondering why I am taking cameraphone pictures.  Notice the water glasses.  When did that happen?

Going around the table we also had Eileen, Andy, and Helen....

And George the Red and  me... squinting into the sun

We were quite excited to be seated outside on such a gorgeous day.  

Since I just had a cameraphone, I stole this shot from Eileen's facebook page that she took with her tablet

The food was good, and we were having a good time, but the Jazz band never materialized.  Since it was advertised in the papers and the sign outside, we asked what time they would start.  The server unapologetically told us that they don't have a Jazz band, they haven't played here in ages.  Despite the current advertising for it, they seemed unperturbed that customers might actually be disappointed or unhappy about the false advertising...but, that is sort of how Bermuda rolls.  We had fun anyway, feeling that we were the jazziest thing at the jazzless jazz brunch.

After several hours on the patio, and a change into some slightly more sensible shoes, it was back to town and we all stopped by the local haunt where we were joined by a few more birthday well wishers.  In a rare photo of the corner, Anthony "Box" the bartender got a shot of everybody on Eileen's now famous tablet.

The Corner at Flans

D-Lightful

This is my last summer on the island and I wanted to do this year what I failed to do last year.  Get a suntan.  The weather has not been very cooperative of this idea yet.  And so today, seeing blue sky, i decided to go to the beach whether it was warm enough or not.  I threw on the bikini despite not achieving beach body readiness, and reached into closet for my favorite beach and boat dress and let out a little shriek of horror.  For some reason, in March, I deemed the little red DKNY not suitable for my last 6 months on the island and it is sitting in a box in an attic of Saskatchewan rather than being my faithful beach companion.  So I grabbed a little black and white backup, my beach towel and kindle and headed for the scooter.  I posted an open invite to Elbow on facebook just in case anyone was in the area, and as I was leaving got a text saying someone far away wished they could come to the beach with me.  "Don't worry," I said, "It isn't warm enough for the beach, I am going out of pure stubbornness."

And it was true.  There was a chill in the air on the bike and it probably would have been more comfortable with a light jacket.  As I parked at Elbow I had a missed call from Albert.   He was happy to pop down to the Beach.  "Bring beer," I texted back.  Might as well pretend it's summer I thought.  Even if it didn't feel hot, it was nice to hear the sound of waves and feel the sand in my toes.  I selected an open swath of beach and claimed it as my own.

My spot for lazing about today

There were a few people on the beach...a group playing beach tennis, a few other sunbathers, the odd jogger, and one poor exhausted looking man emerged from the surf in a full scuba suit and tank and started the long walk back to the dive shop with all the gear and flippers on.  Other than that, it was just me, Albert and some sunshine.  I applied SPF 85 to my new scar, 55 to the face for anti aging, 30 to the shoulders which have suffered too many burns in the past, but decided to let the rest of me do a little bit of what skin was designed to do...convert sunlight into Vitamin D.

The other brave beach combers of the day

Vitamin D is known to decrease risk of Multiple Sclerosis, Osteoporosis, High Blood Pressure, Type 2 Diabetes, and types of cancer.  Even Australia, which has the highest skin cancer rates in the world and a population that is used to covering up and sunscreening, has recommended 15 minutes a day without sunscreen.  The thing is...we need sunshine.  On our skin,  In safe, smart, and small doses.  Despite supplementing 2000IU a day, my level is still at the low end of normal Vitamin D levels.  And so...it is my goal to get some sun this year.

The first thing I noticed is the difference in skin tone in my arms, which get a little sunlight year round, and my legs, which are like summer tourists around the island themselves.  This is going to have to change.  And so, I sat out and hoped my dormant melanin producing cells could be coaxed into waking up from their long sleep.  And as we have always experienced, once I was off the bike, settled on the beach, and sitting out on the sand, the sun did start to warm me up.  Enough so that I could go into the still chilly water, and dry right off in just a few minutes.

the legs have some catching up to do

I had a nice visit with Albert, and spent a little longer than the 15 minutes I was going to spend on the beach.  I should have applied sunscreen to a few more areas.  But it felt so nice to have some time in the sun.  Summer, you are late, but I will be on the beach waiting for you when you arrive.  At least that is what I thought until I went home, and watched the pink color on my legs deepen as the evening went on.  Apparently 15 minutes really is all one should be outdoors for without sunscreen.  Lesson learned for the summer.

Happy Mother's Day Mom!!

When I saw this picture I knew immediately it was meant for my mom.  For one thing it looks just like the cat that she has to remove from the chair every time i Skype, Burpie Cat.  But also I am fairly confident that it embodies some of what it must feel like be an experienced and confident mom of three and then have me show up as part of the family.

I am pretty sure I went through some passive demure cute phase when I was little, but that was probably so long ago that none of us remember it.  But, my mom always accepts me for whoever I am...and believe me it changes over time.  She writes it on the calendar so she can keep track when people ask...she's in biochemistry...no, wait it shows here she switched to genetics...now microbiology...ok transfusion medicine...back to microbiology....ummm. she works in a hospital.  "Is she a nurse?" some relative asked.  "I don't know what she does," she honestly replied, "But she's very good at it."  The unwavering confidence of a proud mom goes a long way in life.  To be fair, I left home before cell phones were common, and the norm was to check in once a week.  Normally she would phone me on a Saturday at about 7am.  Sometimes I would randomly call her first so she wouldn't worry when I didn't answer the phone... I'm in Utah this morning mountain biking the slickrock trail that I saw in the trailer for the Everest movie, I'm in Arizona skydiving and they have this big vacuum thing called wind tunnel, I'm in Belize, yes mom skydiving but I took a day off to climb temples. Yellowstone, Jasper, Vegas...and I should be studying or resting but I can do that here, just checking in.  What do I want for my birthday?  Mountain bike parts one year, combat gloves for martial arts another, and carbon graphite skydiving helmet was the one that finally made her shriek just a little bit.  "But mom, it's a safety device," won her over.  I am sure lots of other mother's would have worried sick, gotten frustrated, or just returned me to the daughter store.  But not my mom.  She is secretly proud of all my weird quirks and quests for adventure, for my willingness to tackle change and challenge, and she should be.  Because she raised me to be just exactly who I am (which looks a lot like the picture above most days), and has offered unwavering support on my meandering trail through life so far.  "As long as you're happy.  Be careful!"  Thanks mom.  Love you!

P.S.  I got you something.  Watch your mailbox :)

Quiz Night

Quiz night is a big thing in the Bermuda ex-pat social calendar.  Many of the local pubs hot a weekly trivia quiz.  This is a lot different than going to the pubs in Canada and joining in with an electronic board and playing online with strangers from other bars.  The Bermuda Quiz has a live host, usually with a UK accent that makes understanding the questions an additional challenge.  Teams attend regularly, and rivalries take root over years of competition.  Prizes are considerable...lots of alcohol to take home, T-shirts, money, vouchers for the pub.  For example, the last Quiz I was at had a chance to win $625 in a one shot challenge at guessing high and low on cards at the end of the official Quiz.

People don't just attend the Quiz, they study for the Quiz.  They sometimes assign things to members of the team -- memorize state capitals and African geography, read all the newspapers for current events, sport history, watch old movies online...etc.  I, however, am not one of those people.  I will sometimes come along if lured to fill an extra seat with the promise of beer and nachos.  Occasionally my brain fires to life with obscure historical information like which ruler had a beard tax, at what Henry the VIII's 3rd wife's name was, but unfortunately 80's music is never a topic.

That's what happened this week, as I tagged along with Helen and Christine to go to the weekly Quiz at the Swizzle Inn.  Now, it turns out I am not totally dead weight with my unprepared brain.  I knew how many points a D tile is worth in scrabble, what country uses ".mt" as its Internet domain, the capital of Rhode Island, which state has the largest part of Yellowstone Park, picked Eddie Murphy's voice out of a sound clip, and strangely solved the riddle of which song was released in 1991 on an Epic Record label from an album called Dangerous that had a color in the title.  From the 10 famous comedy movies, the only 2 I recognized were Airplane and Dumb and Dumber...but so did everyone else.  Christine and I had to have a serious discussion about how many territories are in Canada now, but fortunately we got it right.  I did quite well on the word puzzles...but the rest of the quiz was left to Helen, Christine, and Judy to drag us into a sad 6th place.  Fortunately they knew things like who sang the theme song from "Die Another Day," recognized movie clips from things like "A Night at the Opera," "The Pink Panther," and a myriad of other things.  I now know that the Golden Gate Bridge is NOT the highest steel bridge structure, and which is the second largest of the United Arab Emirates.  If we would have known what year Sesame Street debuted in the US we would have had 5th, and had we not been so confused about David and Goliath (which Christine heard as the lion) and debating why we were talking about lions instead of giants, we might have put the right answer down, which Christine eventually said, and made 4th.  It was a fun night anyway.   At least I knew a few answers this time and didn't feel totally dumb!

The Panthers Ate My List...and I Know Why

So, just a couple of days ago on Saturday I talked about my coworker helping me get together a list.  On side A was the title "Leaving Bermuda" with a list and action plan to get organized.  I felt immediate relief having my tasks laid out in manageable form, and was ready to tackle them on Monday, my first day off since.  Unfortunately when I arrived home from work Sunday, I discovered that the Panthers did not approve of the leaving Bermuda list and did their best to destroy it.  Having never before damaged anything paper in my house, nor anything on the table, I am now certain that they possess high literacy skills and moving them from their tropical paradise is going to be tricky.  They selectively ripped it apart between the words "Leaving" and "Bermuda", ate a hole out of the center of the page where "repatriating to Canada" was written and on the reverse side about things to do when in Canada, they mangled "kitty vet appointment" to the point where I could almost not make it out when I tried to piece my poor little list back together.  The evidence of their cunning intelligence is irrefutable, and so I must also assume they read this blog while I am out.  As I commented to my brother earlier today who was happy to see me making preparations to head to Canada, I said "Nothing is certain til the last cat clears customs."  Clearly my work is cut out for me.

I attempted to transcribe the tattered remains, and made as much headway as is humanly possible in one morning in Bermuda.  I took my scooter in for an oil change and mentioned I would be selling it and could they check it over.  They agreed to test drive it and call if there were any recommendations.  A couple of hours later I got the call to pick it up, and collected my surprising $300 bill for oil change and new brake pads.  I am not really complaining because I love my bike and they were fast and always good, I just thought we agreed they would call if they found anything.  I went to the cell phone company to schedule a cancellation of my phone services.  They told me to go to one of their other offices in a couple of months.  I went to that office today so I could get it done and scheduled the cancellation, but still have to go back and leave a credit card for the last payment only.  I couldn't leave it today without disrupting my other payment method in place.  Later in the day I got a text message from the same company saying "Good news!  Your unlimited data plan will not expire at the end of May!  Instead it is being replaced with our new Premium data plan.  Your previous unlimited $45 plan will increase to the New Premium $65 plan on May 12."  Firstly, how is this good news.  Secondly, I am not on contract so why would plan expire?  Thirdly, my new fancy named plan takes effect in 7 days, and I have no idea what it includes but it doesn't say unlimited data.  Turns out all their customers got the same text today.  And in 2 visits to the company today they failed to mention this plan...so I have to go back a third time in 24 hours if I want to cancel this new premier substandard service.  Par for the course.  Logic was quick and easy for disconnecting Internet.  Cablevision not so much.  The account cancels upon physically carrying your cable boxes into the company and paying any balance.  Of course it is a holiday when I leave so my last few days on island will be without TV or Internet service.  

HSBC was another shining example of customer service.  I went and explained that I was leaving and asked about closing the accounts, or setting up and account in Canada where I am going to end up and transferring the funds there, and they simply said "No."  Then I asked if I could cancel everything a week or so after I got back as I want my credit/debit cards for relocation expenses.  They said "No."  How about if I transfer most of the funds and close the account but keep the credit card?  "No."  Can I purchase a prepaid credit card just for convenience so I am not travelling with a lot of cash.  You know the answer was "No."  Leaving Bermuda is about as easy as setting up in Bermuda I see.  However, I still felt like it was a great day because I was getting stuff done!  In the sunshine!  And it was warm!  

And that alone made me want to eat the list too :)

A Taste of Taste

There is a newer but not new restaurant/pub in town called Taste.  I have been wanting to check it out for quite some time but never quite make it.  It was a gorgeous evening the other night, the sun is finally shining and warm, and so after work and after the gym I accepted an invitation to join some friends at The Hook and Ladder, which is the only place I know of in town where you can get a beer for $5 AND sit at a table at the water's edge.  On a nice night, that has quite an allure to it.  The biggest downside is that parking and then crossing the street to get to it is like the old arcade game Frogger.  If you aren't on a diet, they make a really nice plate of Fish and Chips too.  If you are on a diet, you know this because you didn't order it but ended up nibbling on everybody else's anyway....

After the gang was filled up with Fish 'n Chips, we all stood up with the plans of heading separate ways...one was going home, one was meeting another friend at Taste, a couple thought of popping into our regular pub Flanagan's, and pretty soon we all agreed that Taste was either on everyone's way, or not far out of it, and we all agreed to go there for one.

Taste was nice and tasteful.  We were not in need of the food but I have heard that it is good.  It has a nice interior and ambiance, and on Friday's they have a live band playing.  When we arrived, the band was already into their second set, and there were several tables sitting back and enjoying the music.  The music was fabulous!  I always love a live band, but they were playing loads of classic rock that you could really get into.  As soon as they started singing Billie Jean, Lizzie was on the dance floor...well, there isn't a dance floor, but there was about to be.  Barney hopped in with some pretty styling moves, and I have to say it was really cool to watch.  The band agreed and commented, and the whole place stopped to watch.  The band kept it going with some Steppenwolf (who were the first to record Born to Be Wild), some of the rockier Beatles songs, Paint it Black, and by the time they got to "Saw her Standing There" the new dance floor was going wild as everyone joined in.  Oh, and the night was made complete with a little Journey "Don't Stop Believing."

As we looked at the transformation from a quiet little place with nice little groups sitting at nice little tables to a mass of people dancing and singing along,  all the chairs pulled back from tables and everyone either dancing or sitting around laughing at the dancing, one of our group commented that we should hire ourselves out to liven places up.  I think we will call it The Scottish Roadshow...plus Lizzie.

I enjoyed my taste of Taste, and will definitely be going back on another Friday night to see the band play again.

The List

It was a busy Saturday in Bermuda.  Today was the annual "End to End," when cyclists, joggers, walkers, and now paddleboarders pledge to make their way from one end of the country to another for charity via their favorite mode of calorie burning.  Congratulations to my friends who completed it -- you know who you are, and since a few coworkers seem really worried about ending up in the blog ( and you know who you are missy), they shall remain nameless as I have not asked if they would mind being mentioned.  As for me, it was another sad Saturday spent locked indoors at work.

The best perk about work is the coworkers.  On this particular day, I was working with Sue.  Now, I didn't ask Sue if I could mention her, but anyone who reads this will know it's her anyways so just going to go ahead and do it.  Sue is a coworker, a friend, and the mom of some fully grown children.  Sometimes the motherly instincts take over and she has an overwhelming desire to turn down the collar of my lab coat, which I throw on haphazardly and usually half the collar sticks up while the other half is turned down.  To be fair, most lab techs have a certain amount of OCD and requirement for order, so I could be mistaking intrinsic lab tech quirks for maternal instincts.  It's tough to say.

So this past week, while the blog has again run silent, I have been running around frazzled and overwhelmed from one thing to the next and in desperate need of a day off to sort things out.  The stunned expression I have been wearing and the general lack of coordination I demonstrated when I knocked my forehead on a shelf inside the incubator when reaching in for plates this morning prompted Sue into action.  I don't know if it was the friend instinct, or the mothering instinct, but at coffee break Sue zipped down the road and got a big and delicious cup of coffee for us both from Buzz, and a muffin.  She sat me down in the break room with a piece of paper and 2 different colored pens.  That's another lab tech thing -- the need to organize is strong, and colored pens are a critical part of the coding process.  In this case, the random organizational challenge of the moment was my life.

So with a lot of strong coffee and about 15 minutes, the action list of all I need to do to prepare for leaving Bermuda, complete with a timeline, was laid out in 2 colors on one side of the paper.  The flip side was the action list and timeline of everything that has to be done once I leave.  Complete with instructions to not forget it in my pocket and throw the list in the wash.

Thank you Sue...the world feels a little more manageable now that I have my list.  You're a good friend/lab tech/mom.