Alright, so I came down to the café with the express intention of using ye olde wireless internet connection and posting this thing, updating a few files on the computer and sending emails to a few lucky recipients. I had asked my manager a few days ago how this wireless malarchy works and she said that most computer built in the last two or three years have wireless connections built into the laptop. Long story short, mine doesn’t. I am in the café now typing this in Word and I will copy and paste it to me blog in a while. As for the wireless, it turns out I have to get a card and plug that in and then I will be able to pick it up. I may do so as there is a wireless network in the University Library and in the Comp Sys building so being able to have free mobile access to the internet in them sould be helpful come study and essay writing time.

Now as for my so-called life. My family left today after being here since Monday afternoon. I nearly missed them when they arrived as I was up in my room listening to loud music but I looked out the door just as they were getting back into their car. They stayed up here on Monday night and we had dinner here which was a civilized and nice affair. On Tuesday then we headed down to Portland and booked into a hotel. It was incredibly hot, nearly 30 degrees and so we decided that it would not have been much fun strolling around the city with a wheelchair in that heat so we decided to fully experience the American culture and instead went to a mall, the Maine Mall as it were. This was this big mall with shitloads of shops so I was spoilt for things to spend my money on….except I left my wallet in the hotel. Luckily I was able to borrow from my dad and my 12 yr old brother. IN the end I bought:
Two rings
Nipple bar
Sandles (those thong things or jangles as Amanda calls them)
A new watch like those ones that Dave Sherlock and Horan have
New game (Starcraft & expansion)
New Daft Punk CD
Fat Boy Slim Album
Fat Skater Shoes
The great thing was that all this I got for 150 dollars and it is all class stuff. You got to love cheap Chinese labour. Now I bet you did not think you were going to be privy to my shopping list when you logged on. Now people might say that there were better places to bring the family than the mall but I think they were mostly looking to buy stuff and just walk around talking than in doing touristy stuff. Beside it was unmercifully hot and humid outside

Later that evening when it had colled down just a little we went down town and had a stroll around there. To be honest it was nothing much. We went for a drink in an irish pub then walked around until we could find a restaurant where we could get sea-food for my uncle, steak for my dad, chicken for my brother. I of course will eat everything. We came back the next day and just stolled around Rockland for a while. I even brought Gavin to get his first Games Workshop model, in hindsight I am kindof regretting that, God knows that it is a slippery slope. As long as he knows the dangers he should be okay.

I then had my birthday party last night which was a lot of fun. Big call out to my peeps Conal who rang me and Elaine who bought credit, rang me and used it all. Respect and much appreciated. The party was a good laugh, Suzanne and Patrick cooked up loads of potatoes, corn on the cob, salads, dips, barbequed some burgers and chicken, fried some carrots, jalopinos and other miscellaneous vegetables and generally made a feast for the 12 people that were there. I suppose I don’t appreciate it but all the vegetables that we used were organically grown in Suzannes garden and the corn, burgers and chicken were all local and the cider, beer and wine was brewed in my next-door-neighbours basement. They were all delicious. They are big into their organic, clean living over here. I was really surprised by all the presents I got, a lot were completely random but over all I got
Two class magnets
5 cinema tickets for any film
$10 voucher for the baker
2 origami grass-hoppers (made by the Madam)
a pen with DIVA on it.
2 vouchers for sea-kayaking lessons, each for 2 hours.
An Evanescence CD (????)
A potato cookbook with every ingredient bar cream, butter, water and potatoes scribbled out in all recepies.
An open invitation to go and make a World of Warcraft character and play it as much as I like in one of the girls houses.
An inflatable bed for going relaxing in the lake in the quarry.

While I say none of these bar the kayaking lessons (from Suzanne and Patrick) cost much they were all class presents and the cards were all good as well. It was a very civilized affair with everyone gone by around 11 but I enjoyed it heartily. My best American birthday yet.

This post has gone on rather long so I will cut it off there and write more of my musings tomorrow. I told steve I would mention him as I was talking to him cross the interweb earlier. HI STEPHEN, that’s right, Stephen or steph as he likes to be known.


Here is a picture of me reading how to make potato desert, Gavin is trying to sneak open my present in the background