Arrived at Saratoga

Well I obviously spoke too soon when I said that it was looking like our flight was going to get away on time! There was a problem with one of the engines which meant that we needed to get a part replaced, and this cost us a couple of hours of delay. Still, the rather enormous silver lining was the fact that by this time we had discovered that we had been upgraded to Premium Economy, which only became clear when we handed in our boarding cards at the gate and the attendant changed our seat numbers.

Now that we've done it, will we ever be able to go back!

Anyway, once we were airborne the flight went smoothly, and we thoroughly enjoyed the extra space. We did our usual trick at the airport of me getting the car organised whilst Nicky got the bags, and then stopped in for provisions at Publix at the Loop before checking in at our hotel.

All rather worn out now, so heading off to bed soon - after all it is 3:30am UK time!

More tomorrow ...

Airport report

We're about to board at gate 31. All gone smoothly at the airport and flight should be on time!

Brazil v Italy

Snow days

So we've had a couple of snow days here. Jake's school was closed yesterday, so he was at home. Truth be told he was going to be at home anyway as he'd been rather unwell in the night and really wasn't feeling the ticket. I was supposed to be having meetings around the county, but we managed to do the first one by conference call and postpone the second until later in the week. It was just as well really given that the snow started coming down hard again in the afternoon, and this was the scene along our road:




We didn't get any more snow after yesterday afternoon, but there hasn't exactly been a big thaw so far! Jake's school was open today, but we set off with him and only made it a little way before it was clear that he wasn't going to manage the walk to school, coughing and getting short of breath. So, I turned around and brought him home whilst Nicky carried on with Barley so that she got a decent walk. Nicky called school to explain Jake's absence. Not sure they were convinced by us saying that he was unwell - no doubt they think that we have been playing in the snow all day, but actually Jake spent the morning in bed and has been taking it easy. Hopefully he will be OK for school tomorrow morning - he certainly will be if we are able to get a car out and drive him there!

I was supposed to be in Reading today, but as it was an internal meeting we decided that it was best to postpone it. It is going to be a real challenge to reschedule as there were quite a few people coming, but that's just one of those things. I've actually managed to get a fairly large amount of work done over the last couple of days, with the joys of telecommunications and broadband, but I think that I will try to brave the office (and a visit to Tunbridge Wells) tomorrow.

I've been discovering that we now have loads of ways of taking decent photos and getting them onto the computer (and Flickr). My new phone came with a USB lead, which is extremely useful as I can download photos directly to the laptop, and also it fits Nicky's Sony phone as well, so we can download hers as well. Unfortunately it turns out that she's been on a fairly low res setting for a while, but both phones seem to take decent pictures when they are set up right. Here's one taken by Nicky just after she got the phone in November, as well as one from my phone taken today as I was walking down to the village to get a few provisions.

Widgetbox

Here's one to play with when bored - Widgetbox. Look out for a few new widgets turning up on this page at some point!

Snow nose puppy

Cold

I hate the cold. I don't think it's a sign of my advancing years - I always have. I'm gradually working Nicky round to my way of thinking! We're definitely going to have to retire to Florida (provided the exchange rate picks up between now and then). On the way to swimming the car was telling us that the temperature was zero degrees, and the forecasters tell us that it is going to get colder and may well snow tonight. At least in a couple of weeks we will hopefully be getting some warm sunshine. The Orlando forecast over the next ten days seems to range between about 16 and 23: maybe not quite as warm as we would have chosen but considerably better than here.

Looking at DVCNews yesterday and I see that the 2010 points charts have been released. Hopefully we'll be getting a new book soon. There are points charts now for the Treehouse Villas and the Grand Californian, so they will be worth studying. There has been a point reallocation for next year with weekdays costing more and weekends less. Seems to have caused much consternation in the forum (particularly for people who have enjoyed going Sunday to Thursday to take advantage of the current system). I don't think it will make much difference to us as we go for at least a week at a time, but may have to put together a spreadsheet to check!