Rest in Peace?

I recently had the opportunity to visit the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in downtown Los Angeles. It's a modern cathedral, with an interesting use of light inside. There were a number of baptisms happening whilst I was there (it was a Sunday, after all!) which was quite an experience to almost be part of! I was about to leave the building after having spent some time there when one of the staff asked whether I'd been downstairs - the answer was no as I didn't know there was a downstairs. So off I duly went...

There is a mausoleum underneath the Cathedral, with over 1200 crypts and 5000 cremation niches. It's 'advertised' as one of the few places in the US where lay people can be buried within a Cathedral Church (interestingly enough, my LA guidebooks only referred to this as a Church, not a Cathedral...) As it's still a very new church (the blessing and dedication only took place in 2002) there are still many open spots within the mausoleum. I found two things rather unnerving which will stay with me from my visit: the 'reserved' spots as well as the plaques with birth dates and names but nothing else!

Back in the USA...

It's a strange feeling returning to a country you've lived in before. Almost like coming home, although the US has never really been home in that sense. I arrived in LA yesterday for a two week trip to assist with a project here, and was amazed at how similar it felt to 5 years ago. Granted, I didn't know LA then, but still...

I made the mistake this morning of switching on the TV in my hotel room (I'll blame jet lag - I couldn't even find a decent news station!) There was a big discussion about whether the country of origin should be displayed on all food products - apparently it isn't already. Mad cow disease was one of the reasons given for why it should be displayed - food miles however weren't even mentioned. It's strange how so much food can be imported here - yet don't even think about bringing even a handful of biltong in yourself! Sometimes, Asterix's sentiment seems most apt (even though the location may be wrong): 'These Romans are crazy'...

Smokefree England!

As of 1 July this year, it is illegal to smoke in workplaces or enclosed public places in England - yes that includes pubs! Bizarrely enough it's mandatory to put a sign up on pretty much all buildings to that effect - seems a bit unnecessary when it's now the rule, not the exception - perhaps there was a vested interest in a sign-making business somewhere...

The one thing that remains to be seen is whether non-smokers will be able to get seating space in any outside areas at pubs or restaurants - then again, if summer continues like this we may only find out next year...

An Apple a day... Part II

Perhaps that's what I'm doing wrong. Not eating enough apples.

I'm certainly spending a lot more time than I'd care to in medical environments, as my iritis flared up again this week. Although it's not by any means unexpected, it's still very disappointing and frustrating. It's the 6th diagnosed episode I've had now - 3 per eye - although my suspicion is that the left eye episodes all kind of merged into one. So it's back on the dilating eye drops for a while and blurry vision - great fun when working in IT! :)

An Apple a day...

I must confess to becoming more and more tempted to buy a MacBook in one of its incarnations. The thought first popped into my head about two years ago, but at the time it wasn't practical at all. Until the Intel chips were introduced, of course... There's been many a debate in the office and with friends since then about the various pros and cons...

It's starting to seem like there are Macs wherever I look now: perhaps I'm more conscious of them as the internal debate grows louder, alternatively there may just be more of them around. My internal resistance is almost completely gone now - the remaining questions may well be whether or not I wait for Leopard to be released, and what to buy!

Chelsea Flower Show

A friend of mine did the remembering and organising of tickets for the Chelsea Flower Show this year, so after work yesterday we headed off to see some flowers. I'd been to Chelsea 2 years ago, and remember not having enough time to see everything - this year was much the same! We were naturally pleased to see that both the City of Durban and the Kirstenbosch exhibits won awards - although I'm slightly puzzled to see that the awards are listed under 'The President's Award: UK Horticulture' - not entirely sure how they qualify for that!? But it was still a worthwhile visit - perhaps the inspiration to do more in my garden than just mow the lawn will still strike...

Race for Life

I took part in the Cancer Research Race for Life 5km event again this morning, for the third year running. It was a fantastic atmosphere, with sunshine and blue skies (which have been scarce this week in London!) - and of course women of all shapes and sizes, taking part in order to assist the battle against cancer. Reading comments/dedications on people's back signs and t-shirts is quite something!

This year there were 3 of us taking part - it seems to increase by one each year. The combination of almost no training and too much going out in the past week did not (surprise, surprise) result in a personal best - with a few walking breaks we finished in about 35 mins again, much the same as last year. Maybe next year...