Tuesday, November 11, 2014

The London Chronicles: Armistice Day

The people here wear a poppy to commemorate those who died in the wars.  It reminds me of the red feather pins people wear in Japan around this time of year (although that one's for regional charity).  Both of my grandfathers were in WWII, and two of my uncles had a military career.  I've been watching the installation they have at the Tower of London - glass poppies, 888, 246 of them, to commemorate the allied dead from the WWI.  The tower looks like it's bleeding out, and the effect is staggering. You can read more about it here.


It's a working Tuesday here (Armistice Day). We went out last night as the CTO of our company was also in town, and had really tasty Peruvian.  The pisco sour was also really good - I finished it, and I was able to hold it pretty well, which all points to a good #lushvember, where I'm trying to build up tolerance.  If I believe wikipedia, people with an acetaldehyde deficiency are prone to late-onset Alzheimers, so I better start fighting that by getting drunk and then forgetting about it all later.  I've also had a few requests from the Motherland to bring back some tasty gin (and fancy tea, like Lapsung Fucking Souchong), so I do need to know where all the bars/gins/cocktail places are. Fortunately, I'm in good hands here. The office is so multinational, I love it. The Brits are outnumbered, and conversation veers towards lining up our differences and laughing over them. It's also bringing me back to a smaller startup feeling, where everyone has to do everything, which has its perks and downsides.

What I really love though, is that I'm NEVER late for work here. The timezone differences makes it easy for me to be 5-6 hrs ahead (ok, technically 8, but I sleep in) of my friends on the West Coast, so I don't have that dreaded rush in the morning.

2 comments:

  1. I was looking at photos of this poppy display. I wish I could see it in person as even the photos give me shivers.

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    1. I haven't seen it with my own eyes, but it is pretty amazing. You can purchase the glass poppies, too.

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