GABIT attendees thread

[LilFerret]

Howdy all - I know it's been a while, but contrary to popular belief, I am still alive and kicking ... so to speak. RL's been ... consuming. On the uber-upside, I have a fulltime job once again, so AT4 has gone back to being a definite potentiality - yayness!!!

She DOES exist!

OK...so I've been talking to you for hours.

But still.

*looks surprised*

[ames]

She DOES exist!

OK...so I've been talking to you for hours.

But still.

*looks surprised*

*shakes head at the LF*
LOL
Yes, I really did manage to finally get the post up here. Go me! See, you didn't just imagine the convo

[Tittamiire]

Howdy all - I know it's been a while, but contrary to popular belief, I am still alive and kicking ... so to speak. RL's been ... consuming. On the uber-upside, I have a fulltime job once again, so AT4 has gone back to being a definite potentiality - yayness!!!

good to see you again, thought the thread had been suspiciously lacking in Ames

Driving in Britain isn't as hard as one might think - even I managed it without actually damaging any cars or persons ... which is saying a lot. It's just wrapping your head around the roundabouts and the fact that they write on the road over there ... can you imagine if we tried that here in Canada? Eeeep! Oh and the roads are narrower, which makes city driving ... um ... interesting.

Well you're already looking at the road...why not write on it? I find driving in the states weird because the roads are so broad...I just don't know where to drive when the right hand side has so much space to swerve about in.

Titi and Julia plotting? I'm not sure I like the sounds of this ... maybe if you bring me in on the plot, I'll like it better? Hmmmmm.......

we're innocent! I swear *adjusts halo*...we're just plotting the most efficient way of getting rid of out money to a good cause *g* and er...stuff.

Um ... did it possibly have something to do with bluey goodness making gone terribly wrong? If so, I'm not paying for de-blue-ifying the hotel room on my own, darnit!

my dream didn't even get as far as blue jello. It mostly featured causing trouble by not taking our seats when we were suppossed to, messing about and generally adding to the already existing chaos all accompanied by hysterical laughter. My dream self is a trouble maker it seems.

[Chelle DB]

It's not that expensive Chelle! A Starbucks coffee is less than £3.
Tracy

Less than £3??? Oh is that all??? ...that's like over $6AUD...that's like 2 cups of coffee down here!!! Oh yeah...£3 only indeed!!!! Holy hannah...I'm going to have to take out a bank loan just to eat in the UK!!!! OMG...how do I tell hubby he was right??? Dang!

I say we go for a Guiness world record in people consuming blue jello Hehehehe .... no? But it'd be fun....

Driving in Britain isn't as hard as one might think - even I managed it without actually damaging any cars or persons ... which is saying a lot. It's just wrapping your head around the roundabouts and the fact that they write on the road over there ... can you imagine if we tried that here in Canada? Eeeep! Oh and the roads are narrower, which makes city driving ... um ... interesting.

Good to see you back ames!!!!
I think the blue jelly/jello eating thing is a great idea!!! I can see us all now...the biggest mass of people with blue tongues after eating a gazillion gallons of blue jelly/jello!!!

Driving in the UK wouldn't be much different from driving here on Australia I love roundabouts!!! We have three roundabouts in one intersection where I live and I know a lot of people get very frustrated and confused with them but I find them so easy to navigate and get through. I love em!!
And the writing on the roads is easy and non distractive...unless it's graffiti and then one does want to stop and read some loons message written on the road!!
Do you not have any writing on your roads at all???

[EH-T]

hehe...think I've got you beat. *gets out brit money to count*

I came back with a little over 44 pounds. I actually saved a 20, 10 and 5 pound note on purpose and the rest was just varied change I found at the bottom of my document bag where I threw everything into before I left England.

Unlike you, I don't plan on using it though. Money from different countries is just fascinating to me, but it also brings back quite a bit of memories as well. I think I can spare it.

I may be Canadian but I have Scottish and English ancestors. The Scot in me would never keep paper money from another country because you can change it back. I've only kept the coins because you can't exchange them and, hopefully, I'm going back to spend them.

Howdy all - I know it's been a while, but contrary to popular belief, I am still alive and kicking ... so to speak. RL's been ... consuming. On the uber-upside, I have a fulltime job once again, so AT4 has gone back to being a definite potentiality - yayness!!!

YAY!

You'll find we're a pretty welcoming bunch =D
...and, welcome from yet another fellow Canuck! (I'm the crazy bouncy one - hard to miss, all things considered LOL) Oh and yes, I *do* pronounce it 'aboot'. I am not trying to perpetuate the stereotype - it's just the way I talk, darnit! *stop glaring at me Mandy - I'm not bloody well doing it on purpose! Sigh...*

No comment.

Wait a sec, how come the only Cdn who apparently actually sounds like a stereotypical Cdn didn't make the list, yet an American (Jan) did??? *feels left out*

LOL!

*grin* I am the Crazy Canadian, afterall!
(Love you too Mandy - hehehe...)

Again, no comment.

I love accents too chelle =)
I seem to pick them up rather quickly, so that could explain why, as Mandy so lovingly put it, I don't sound like a normal Canadian =P

Normal?

I
Dinners were fun b/c I ate with different people each time, and got to know more new friends that way =D
The auction was a ton of fun, even though there was no way I could even contemplate bidding on anything.
"So, we'll start the bid at 20, do I hear -"
"50!"
"Right, so we've got 5-"
"100!"
...and so on ... watching Amanda and Thomasina run to entice the previous bidder was hilarious (and yes EH-T, you are cruel ... but in a totally good way!) ... I managed to get one good photo in my batch, mostly b/c the girl who won most of the RDA stuff was sitting just across the aisle from me, so I got to see a fair amount of Amanda - although it was more of her back half than the front! But still ... it was very fun and energetic and yeah. Cool.
There are lots of less expensive things to bid on as well ... I happened to favour the buttons (yes, I have them all, and yes, you can still hear me coming from 3 rooms over - LOL)! Between them and the raffles, I was able to not go massively over-budget but still feel like I was contributing.

Of course you were contributing. Everyone there was contributing!

My button says "What's a girl to do?" and I've been wearing it on my fanny pack. I have a scooter and as I was riding to work today I thought having that on my fanny pack is like having a BUMper sticker. Was wondering what the car behind me thought of it.

Every time I've gone to England I manage to avoid serious jetlag by doing just that--stay up as long as I can (just keep moving) and the next day I may be a little less jetlagged. It worked well--but when I got home to Seattle I was drowsy for 3 days. Kept falling asleep if I sat down. I thought it worked the other way around but it definitely affected me more coming home.

donamac

Nice to see you.

[ames]

good to see you again, thought the thread had been suspiciously lacking in Ames

Well you're already looking at the road...why not write on it? I find driving in the states weird because the roads are so broad...I just don't know where to drive when the right hand side has so much space to swerve about in.

we're innocent! I swear *adjusts halo*...we're just plotting the most efficient way of getting rid of out money to a good cause *g* and er...stuff.

my dream didn't even get as far as blue jello. It mostly featured causing trouble by not taking our seats when we were suppossed to, messing about and generally adding to the already existing chaos all accompanied by hysterical laughter. My dream self is a trouble maker it seems.

Just your dream self? LOL ... It's the 'and er...stuff' that worries me slightly (and by 'worries me' I mean 'interests me', of course )

Less than £3??? Oh is that all??? ...that's like over $6AUD...that's like 2 cups of coffee down here!!! Oh yeah...£3 only indeed!!!! Holy hannah...I'm going to have to take out a bank loan just to eat in the UK!!!! OMG...how do I tell hubby he was right??? Dang!

Good to see you back ames!!!!
I think the blue jelly/jello eating thing is a great idea!!! I can see us all now...the biggest mass of people with blue tongues after eating a gazillion gallons of blue jelly/jello!!!

Driving in the UK wouldn't be much different from driving here on Australia I love roundabouts!!! We have three roundabouts in one intersection where I live and I know a lot of people get very frustrated and confused with them but I find them so easy to navigate and get through. I love em!!
And the writing on the roads is easy and non distractive...unless it's graffiti and then one does want to stop and read some loons message written on the road!!
Do you not have any writing on your roads at all???

Chelle hun, where I live, we have snow on the roads about 5 months of the year... in all honesty, we have directional arrows and lines, but that's about it. None of this lanes being labelled with nearest towns and whatnot Seriously, it really threw me off having to pay attention to signs plus writing on the road plus the other traffic and my own driving and being on the other side of the road ... although, like I said, I did manage it without causing permanent damage!

[LilFerret]

*shakes head at the LF*
LOL
Yes, I really did manage to finally get the post up here. Go me! See, you didn't just imagine the convo

Well I should hope NOT! I'd seriously be in need of help. LOL

Well you're already looking at the road...why not write on it? I find driving in the states weird because the roads are so broad...I just don't know where to drive when the right hand side has so much space to swerve about in.

ACK!

Less than £3??? Oh is that all??? ...that's like over $6AUD...that's like 2 cups of coffee down here!!!

No kidding. *sigh* The dollar is SO weak against against the Pound. NZ, AUD, CAD, AND USA. *headesk*

The Scot in me would never keep paper money from another country because you can change it back.

Hmm, that could be my reasoning too...

None of this lanes being labelled with nearest towns and whatnot Seriously, it really threw me off having to pay attention to signs plus writing on the road plus the other traffic and my own driving and being on the other side of the road ... although, like I said, I did manage it without causing permanent damage!

*blinks*

Now I remember why I was petrified to drive in another country. Can I just say that being the front passenger on the left is SO freaky when you're used to being on the right?

*flail*

I was so geeky in NZ I actually took pix...

[Celandine]

I usually collect some coins...at least one of each type. The only thing I didn't manage was the Croatian money...just didn't have enough funds left by that time to bring back much coinage. I got a few though. And I got Euros (from Italy) and of course, pounds from Engyland. No money from Slovenia (Euros again) or Austria (same)...and I was only in the airport in The Netherlands, so no monies there either.

HEE

And that was just from MAY!

One month?! What business got you continent hopping then? That's amazing!

I may be Canadian but I have Scottish and English ancestors. The Scot in me would never keep paper money from another country because you can change it back. I've only kept the coins because you can't exchange them and, hopefully, I'm going back to spend them.

But thats just it. I dont plan on ever spending those pound notes. I went to the booth at the airport and exchanged my pounds for american money *again* and I actually stopped the man in mid-count and explained my mad plan to him. He didnt even blink as he handed me back 35 pounds. Guess he must get this request quite a bit...or at least thats what I thought at the time.

And er, are you trying to say the Scot in you is frugal? Well, at least with money I mean.

Driving in Britain isn't as hard as one might think - even I managed it without actually damaging any cars or persons ... which is saying a lot. It's just wrapping your head around the roundabouts and the fact that they write on the road over there ... can you imagine if we tried that here in Canada? Eeeep! Oh and the roads are narrower, which makes city driving ... um ... interesting.

lol...this I found amusing when I was in London and can't remember how many times Lies, Flow and others had to pull me back out of the road before I was squashed and tell me to actually *read* the road before stepping out. Guess they wanted me more alive than dead. I was totally mixed up when I'd get to a corner and look the wrong way for the approach of oncoming traffic.

Obviously some people got smart and decided around the touristy areas (like airports and such) and wrote arrows on the road to indicate which way the traffic was moving...at least this is what they or someone told me. Cant remember who now as I walked so many times down to the pub and petrol station during that weekend with so many friends...both old and new.

[t_2]

Less than £3??? Oh is that all??? ...that's like over $6AUD...that's like 2 cups of coffee down here!!! Oh yeah...£3 only indeed!!!! Holy hannah...I'm going to have to take out a bank loan just to eat in the UK!!!! OMG...how do I tell hubby he was right??? Dang!

Oooops! I thought that was pretty reasonable Just goes to show when you live over here how use to the higher prices you get. And the "less than £3" is for a small cup, not medium or large..........

Tracy

[idefix44]

...and I was only in the airport in The Netherlands, so no monies there either.

Don't worry about that lilferet... euros all around in The Netherlands too since Janurary 1st 2002, when we had to let go or our much loved 'gulden' (or 'guilder') . So nothing of interest to bring to your collection.
Unless you would have gone for the Dutch euro coins especially, which again all just look the same. And so unlike some of the other eurosporting countries where they issued a different 'stamp' for all different value of the coins.

If you like and are still interested, I could bring those along for you at AT4.

~Flow~

[Chelle DB]

Oooops! I thought that was pretty reasonable Just goes to show when you live over here how use to the higher prices you get. And the "less than £3" is for a small cup, not medium or large..........

Tracy

...ok...so I'm definitely going to need to take out a loan to eat and sleep in the UK!!! Dang!!! Maybe I'll stick to just plain bread and water...I suppose that's still gonna cost me an arm and a leg too...but I guess it shall be all worth while in the end.
I can't wait for AT4!!

[Tittamiire]

Just your dream self? LOL ... It's the 'and er...stuff' that worries me slightly (and by 'worries me' I mean 'interests me', of course )

*looks innocent*

lol...this I found amusing when I was in London and can't remember how many times Lies, Flow and others had to pull me back out of the road before I was squashed and tell me to actually *read* the road before stepping out. Guess they wanted me more alive than dead. I was totally mixed up when I'd get to a corner and look the wrong way for the approach of oncoming traffic.

Obviously some people got smart and decided around the touristy areas (like airports and such) and wrote arrows on the road to indicate which way the traffic was moving...at least this is what they or someone told me. Cant remember who now as I walked so many times down to the pub and petrol station during that weekend with so many friends...both old and new.

Generally it is preferable for friends to be alive rather than dead I get confused about the sides of the road either side of moving, but only for a few days.

Oooops! I thought that was pretty reasonable Just goes to show when you live over here how use to the higher prices you get. And the "less than £3" is for a small cup, not medium or large..........

Tracy

And thats Starbucks and down south you can get a cuppa tea from the shop cross road from my work for 70p.

[Celandine]

...ok...so I'm definitely going to need to take out a loan to eat and sleep in the UK!!! Dang!!! Maybe I'll stick to just plain bread and water...I suppose that's still gonna cost me an arm and a leg too...but I guess it shall be all worth while in the end.
I can't wait for AT4!!

Nah..no loan needed and bread and water only if it's some crazy diet you insist on sticking to whilst on holiday.

Chelle, just remember when saving that everything for you will cost double when in London but generally I found things really not that expensive it that makes sense because what your buying is very generous...least outside the hotel.

If I can remember right, down the road at the Magpie I bought the fish and chips dinner at least twice and it cost about six pounds ($12 US). The amount of food given though was enough for two people imo. I never finished a whole plate and both times had others share with me cos I hated to waste it.

Now *inside* the hotel, liquor was *very* expensive. I bought numerous beers over the weekend and that cost me four pounds each ($8 US!) and once I paid one pound for a tea bag fcol in the side room set up in the afternoon with sandwiches and such. I could of (and should of) brought my own from home and probably will next time.

On that note, do try and bring granola bars, cereal, peanut butter...whatever from home to save money. You can always head down to the petrol station about a block away from the hotel and pick up milk and bread and stash it in your room as they have mini-fridges for your convenience.

[Tittamiire]

If I can remember right, down the road at the Magpie I bought the fish and chips dinner at least twice and it cost about six pounds ($12 US). The amount of food given though was enough for two people imo. I never finished a whole plate and both times had others share with me cos I hated to waste it.

Good job you had me on hand to help you clear your plate (and everyone elses at the table)

[Celandine]

Good job you had me on hand to help you clear your plate (and everyone elses at the table)

Next year perhaps we'll just cut to the chase and divvy up the food on the plate and split the cost.