Tag: USA

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 504: Vancouver, BC – Craziness In America

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis had 2 meetings back to back at the start of the day.

He had another orientation to start the day and then a brief team meeting after that.

Once that was done, Curtis spent most of the day doing tickets but also paid quite a bit of attention to what was happening in the Capitol in the US. Absolutely crazy!

Kim’s Day

Kim had another busy morning of odd tasks that she completed. One big win was to finish the job description and posting for a new role. She also managed to get information read and research done for a few meetings during the day.

Just after midday Kim had a team meeting where they went over some of the information Kim put together and made some good plans for guidelines and documentation. Straight after that meeting Kim hosted the social call. She planned nothing and everyone just had a great chat and catch up, it was really lovely.

Kim was meant to have another team meeting in rhe afternoon, but that got moved to the following day so Kim decided to head to the post office to post some letters.

When she got home Kim looked over applications and started some research on a HR project. She also had another call with her teammate and they both took a look at applications and had a chat about other work stuff. To finish the day Kim reached out to a few companies for the HR project.

Evening

Kim got some tips from someone at work about how to improve our dinner we made yesterday, and we had leftovers, so we managed to improve it and it was delightful! Lemon and some extra herbs did the trick.

We watched a bit of TV and played games for the evening but we were very tired today!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

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Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 441: Vancouver, BC – Successful Pitch

Kim & Curtis Hale

Curtis’ Day

Curtis had a call in the morning with an external support person and a colleague to get something fixed.

It was not particularly successful, but it got the process moving on a bit, so that the third party can investigate further.

After this call, Curtis had a team meeting and then not long after that, he had another meeting about a new start to a selection of projects.

After this, Curtis did a lot of tickets and had a 1 on 1.

Curtis spent the rest of the day doing tickets but also keeping an eye on the pivotal US election.

In the afternoon, Curtis did some training and practice questions for his Business Analyst exam.

Once he did that, he did a bit of a practice exam for the English test he has to do for the visa, too.

Kim’s Day

Kim went into the office again today and had a really good day!

She started by researching and compiling information on the some software she wants to bring in. She then went over it with her colleague and then set up a meeting to show their manager in the afternoon.

At lunch Kim popped out to pick something up to eat, as she forgot to make something the night before. After this Kim had a call with the recruitment company that is used and had a run down of the recruitment software thats in place.

Straight after this meeting Kim had the meeting with her manager to show the new software and highlighted the key points, it went well and looks like it will be implemented soon! Its a great start to getting some systems in place to make things easier for everyone.

For the rest of the afternoon Kim worked on adding metadata to the product. It was repetitive, lots of copy from here and paste there, but still interesting and somewhat cathartic! She got into the swing of it so much, she ended up staying late to get it all finished!

Evening

When Kim got home, we had some homemade chicken curry from a while ago that we had in the freezer. We had this with homemade naan too!

We watched some TV and played some Need for Speed again and watched a Norwegian show that Curtis had to watch the first episode of for his Norwegian homework!

We watched some other TV for the evening but we are so tired at the moment as it gets dark far too early… It was dark at 14:00 today!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Vancouver, BC

Place 72 – Day 322: Vancouver, BC – Cinnamon Swirls & David Lam Park

Kim & Curtis Hale

Cinnamon Swirls

Kim made mini cinnamon swirls for breakfast today!

We had those accompanied by strawberries and with a delicious icing.

Once we ate those, Kim spoke with her sister as she has moved into a house with a friend, so she was seeing how she was.

David Lam Park

We wanted to go out today and the weather was permitting, so we went down to David Lam Park.

We stopped at Small Victory bakery on the way to get ourselves a coffee and then sat in the park for a good while, just chatting and taking in the scenes.

Games

We came back home after a while and played some games for what ended up being hours, but we found a game we liked so we just kept playing it.

Easy Dinner & A Movie

We decided to just have an easy dinner, so we had some frozen chicken with hoisin sauce, rice and vegetables.

We watched a film called Masterminds which wasn’t great, but was an easy watch.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Las Vegas,NV

Place 77 – Day 13: Las Vegas, NV – Famous Pawn Shop

Kim & Curtis Hale

Breakfast

We went for breakfast downstairs at the hotel as it was meant to be pretty good.

We all thought it was ‘fine’ but nothing to rave about.

We flew out today, but didn’t have to be at the airport for a while, so we decided to go for a walk.

Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop

We watched the TV show Pawn Stars last night and noticed that that is based in Vegas!

It was only 18 mins away by foot for us, so we took a walk out there.

We got there and had a look around…there were some very expensive things in there, so no chance we were buying anything, but it was fun and something to do.

To The Airport

We got an Uber to the airport and Tom came with us, even though his flight to the UK wasn’t for another 9 hours!

We got through security, which took a while, and then pretty much did nothing! We just sat in the airport and waited.

Back To Vancouver

We got on our flight just after saying goodbye to Tom, and flew back home to Vancouver!

The flight was uneventful, and so was the train home.

We got back and unpacked everything. Kim went off to training and Curtis went to the shop to get a few things for lunch.

We are back to work tomorrow after an amazing week trip!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Portland,OR

Place 71 – Day 7: Portland, OR – Patisserie Breakfast

Kim & Curtis Hale

Patisserie Breakfast

We woke up and were pretty hungry, so we got ready, packed up and checked out of the hotel.

We walked to Pioneer Square, which is a main part of the city and found a patisserie.

We got a pain au chocolat each and then went across to a place called Public Domain for coffee, where Curtis got a (very small) cappucino.

We sat in Pioneer Square and ate our breakfast, which was also the perfect location to catch our train to the airport.

Airport

We got the train to the airport, which was hassle free, and then we arrived at the airport.

We got through security, which did take a bit of time, but then we wet quite a bit of time to kill.

We went for a walk around and decided we should probably find some food.

We were told about an app where we can get food delivered to us from other areas of the airport, so we gave that a go, but we had to use a phone number, so we couldn’t do that.

Instead, we went to a Vietnamese place where Curtis got a beef pho and Kim got a rice box with chicken and vegetables.

We sat and ate this whilst waiting to board the plane.

We eventually boarded and away we went! Left Portland just as quick as we arrived, but it was an really nice break.

New Call of Duty

We got back home and Kim went right to training! She was excited to be back.

Curtis played the new Call of Duty, which has just come out, and he has been very excited!

One Kim was back home, we had some scrambled eggs, which was a great decision.

One more day of work and then its already the weekend…odd to be going back into work on a Friday, but it’s just the one day!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Portland,OR

Place 71 – Day 6: Portland, OR – Brunch, Beer Tasting & Lukas Graham!

Kim & Curtis Hale

Brunch

We woke at a fairly decent time and went out for brunch.

We went to a place we went to when we were last in Portland called Cheryl’s.

Kim had a croque monsieur and Curtis went a bit out there and had a biscuit and gravy, which was…odd.

We ate our breakfast and then went for a bit of a walk around the city. It seems we remembered a lot of the city and where things were, which helped us out!

Games Room

We wanted to have a bit of a relax and remembered that there was a games room in our hotel, so we went there to check it out.

We played some bubble hockey and some shuffleboard…we spent over an hour here!

Brew Pub

We finished up with the games and then walked to a Deschutes brewpub for some beer tasting!

We had 12 beers to try, which turns out was too much, and we didn’t even really like them!

We finished up with the beer tasting and then got some McDonald’s for dinner.

Lukas Graham!

We came out to Portland for one reason…Lukas Graham!

We had a concert booked for Portland in February, but it was postponed until today, so we were super excited to finally get to watch the show.

We walked down to the ballroom, which was beautiful and it was a very intimate venue, too, so we were very close!

We watched the support act who was pretty good and then had to wait for 30 minutes for Lukas Graham.

The show was amazing. It was by far the best concert we have ever seen together. The lighting was amazing, the whole group looked like they were enjoying it and of course, the music was incredible. We loved it so much, though our legs did not, with all the standing.

We left the concert and had to get our legs working again.

We got back to the hotel, drank the rest of our wine and watched a couple of YouTube videos before sleeping.

We fly back to Vancouver tomorrow, so a short stay but it’s been great!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Fort Lauderdale,FL

Place 83 – Day 2: Fort Lauderdale,FL – Bugs, Bagels & Long Shot

Kim & Curtis Hale

Bugs!

Curtis had another interview at 12:00 today, so we slept in until 11:00.

When we woke up, all was well, until Curtis went for shower! Once he got out of the shower and sat on the bed, he noticed a flying ant on himself. He flicked it off and shortly after felt one, but on the other side of himself..when he flicked this one off of him, he noticed that the bed bad a few on…after standing up, he noticed the bed was covered in the flies and then this is when he got Kim to show her.

When Kim came in and was shocked to see them, she looked around and was even more shocked than before…they had burrowed themselves in via a hole in the wall above a door connecting us to another room and there must have been hundreds!

We called the person we are renting from and they said they were going to send cleaners over in an hour to resolve, so we sat outside the front with the door open, hoping they would all fly out.

We couldn’t go anywhere until Curtis did his interview, which, after finding another method due to the phone playing up again, didn’t last too long but seemed very promising.

Bagels

We left before housekeeping did to get some breakfast and then watch something at the cinema. The weather was quite nice all morning, but was due to storm so we couldn’t really be bothered to go anywhere.

We found a bagel shop near by the cinema and got a bagel each. It wasn’t great but did the job.

Long Shot

We watched the film Long Shot at the cinema. The film was quite good, actually, but we didn’t really know what to expect anyway.

The cinema screen was quite small and there were few seats, but it was a ‘dine in’ cinema, so you get fancy, fully reclining leather armchairs with a tray that pulls across them so you can order food and drinks to your seat, which was far too expensive so we didn’t do that.

Long Shot

Rating:- 7/10

Rain

It did begin to rain when we left the cinema.

We went to the supermarket to see if there was anything we wanted for dinner, but there was nothing, so we left and walked back, which in total took about 45 minutes.

We got back just it started to thunderstorm again.

Pizza

We ordered pizza from Domino’s and sat and watched TV. That is pretty much the end of Fort Lauderdale for us, but we didn’t really plan to do too much here as we are mostly using it for a base to fly from.

We are going to be flying early tomorrow, so up nice and early, so we’re just making sure everything is packed and getting some sleep.

The next place should be awesome, though possibly stormy again!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Fort Lauderdale,FL

Place 83 – Day 1: Fort Lauderdale,FL 🇺🇸 – Fancy Train & Thunderstorms

Kim & Curtis Hale

Breakfast

We needed to have some breakfast, so we got packed and then walked just down the road to an Argentine cafe in which Curtis got an almond croissant and a chocolate croissant whilst Kim got a ham and cheese bagel. We each got a cappucino too, but that wasn’t great.

Close Bistro & Cafe | Miami,FL

Rating:- 6/10

Fancy Train

We decided to take the train to Fort Lauderdale instead of a bus as it was quicker and bit nicer…

We got to the station, which looked excellent, got our tickets and checked our bag in.

We waited in the really nice waiting area and then around 30 minutes later we boarded the train.

All seats are assigned and we got the accessible seats so we had insane leg room!

We were only on the train for 30 minutes but the train was very comfy, quiet, fast and pretty cheap. We quite enjoyed it.

Freebee

We got our of the station after collecting our bag and were going to take an Uber to our apartment. Instead, were offered a ride in a ‘freebee’. This is a new trial being ran which is a good sized electric vehicle which takes people around the city free.

Unfortunately, our apartment was out of the zone they are currently operating in, but there was an insane amount of rain so the driver was kind enough to drop us right at our apartment!

The Apartment

Our apartment is within another building, but we have our own bathroom and cupboard and it’s good enough.

Unfortunately, as we arrived, a thunderstorm started and so we were pretty much house bound, which was good because we were also feeling very lazy.

Uber Eats

We were so lazy, and fearing the storm, that we ordered Uber Eats instead of going out. We had a free delivery deal anyway, so might as well use it!

We got some Japanese food which was, again, adequate. Nothing to write home about (literally) but not bad.

Braving The Storm

We wanted some snacks and provisions, so we braved the storm and walked down to the supermarket. We managed to get a bit of the lightning flashing on camera, but we did see some actual lightning bolts!

We came back and just watched TV. Unfortunately, the weather isn’t meant to be good tomorrow either, so we’ll just have to sleep!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Orlando,FL

Place 81 – Day 10: Orlando,FL – Interview That Didn’t Happen

Kim & Curtis Hale

Interview & Surfing

Kim and Abbie were up early to go to the beach and do some surfing. The beach was beautiful in the morning sun.

Kim started surfing with one board, but it didn’t seem to be working so she swapped and was much better on that one!

Curtis woke up shortly after they left and had some breakfast and a coffee.

Curtis had a phone interview planned for 10:30, so he had to wait in for that.

It got to 10:40 and still no call, so he emailed but with no response.

Curtis them, oddly, recieved a voicemail even though the phone hadn’t rang at all, so Curtis tried to call back but the number was restricted. Due to this. Curtis emailed again and stated what had happened and now the interview is re-scheduled for next week and via a different system.

Return From Surfing

On the way back from surfing, Kim, Abbie and Tom stopped off at McDonald’s for some food and then went back home.

Kim and Abbie relaxed whilst Tom sorted out shipping and packaging his bike.

We eventually decided we were all hungry and wanted to go for dinner, so we found a spot and went there.

Dinner

We chose an Italian place and it seemed nice from the ratings online.

Curtis had a lasagne, Abbie & Maggie had the vegetarian lasagne, Tom had a calzone and Kim had a pizza.

The food was just ok, if not a bit below average. Some was cold and some was hot but lacking flavour. Nothing really excited us too much, except for the hot bread we got as a starter!

Pizza Vola | Orlando,FL

Rating:- 5.5/10

Final Card Games?

We played what would probably the final card games we play, with Tom picking up the win in Monopoly Deal and Abbie & Maggie winning UNO.

Busy Day Ahead

We have a long, busy, day ahead tomorrow, but fun stuff planned!

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale

Orlando,FL

Place 81 – Day 8: Orlando,FL – 18 Hole Mini Golf

Kim & Curtis Hale

Lunch

Once we were all up and ready, we went out to play some mini golf.

The place was just 10 minutes down the road, but when we got there we were hungry, so we got a burger from the burger place that was next door, which was alright.

Mini Golf

We moved to the place next door and had a walk around to see what was there. It was like a small amusement park, with go karting, mini golf and some rides.

We decided we only wanted to play mini golf, so we paid for that and out we went.

It was incredibly hot but we had a great time! Tom won it in the end, after Kim and Abbie started very well. We got some hole in ones too!

We finished playing mini golf and all wanted a coffee or ice cream, so we found a Starbucks and headed there.

Coffee & Ice Cream

We got coffee and then went across the road for an ice cream, too.

We then drove to Goodwill so Abbie could have a look around there.

Stressful Evening Of Hockey

Curtis watched the Leafs game this evening, which was a stressful game. If the Leafs lost, they would be out of the playoffs and this is how the game ended, with a 5-1 loss. This means no more Leafs games for Curtis to watch.

Whilst Curtis was watching, everyone else watched Coco.

Card Games

We played a bit more of card games before going to bed. The sun took it out of us today.

This Time Last Year!

Mr & Mrs Hale