A View to a Kill

This building we are in is equipped with eye bolts that are used to tie off the window washers. The building wasn't built with a crane and winch system to carry a window washing cradle. This crew inspects these hooks every 6 months for safety. They insert a small camera into the soffit to check the bolts from behind, for rust or corrosion. Since I live on the top, I got to visit a bit with this crew. They obviously depend on their equipment for safety as I would with my diving gear. They are very well trained, and their ropes and clips are also inspected on a regular basis. Now this is my kind of a job where the view is great. I could just climb over the rail and hang out all day long.

Cement Plant

The local construction here is slow but still continues. This is a floating Batch Plant in the canal below us. The tug boats move these huge barges of sand, gravel, and rock, through the locks from the Thames River. The cement trucks drive out on this floating cement plant to get loaded up. The barges are emptied daily and replaced. This entire operation can be floated to any location on the river.

New House

Here we are in London in out new flat. We finally got things put away or thrown out. We have very little storage so we get rid of the things that we would never use anyway. I got some paint on the walls to warm it up a bit and get rid of the white. Here are 2 pics of the living room and kitchen, which is one room a bit like a great room. Also a shot of the master bedroom on the opposite corner. Windows take up all of the outside walls allowing views from every room. Click on the pics for the full view. We love it.

Anniversary # 26

Here's a blast from the past on our wedding day, and today after 26 years now the King & Queen. We are on a roll now as our time together gets better each year. Son Brent and Sandra left this morning after 2 1/2 weeks here in Europe. They figured we needed our time alone for our Anniversary. We are both very proud of them and thankful for the special time we shared together. I believe they took full advantage of their time here as they visited 4 countries and saw as many historic sites as time allowed. They were of course anxious to get home and take care of our grand daughter. Now we will have a quiet night to ourselves and plan our next adventure.

Windsor Castle

Back in London after a 3 night stay in Paris, the tour continues. We had a beautiful sunny day so we headed to West London to see Windsor Castle. With Julie back to work, I took our honored guests through the castle that I had not yet seen. Founded in 1066 this has been the home of 39 monarchs and is the oldest royal residence still in use. Windsor is the largest castle in the world, and is a weekend residence for the Royal family. It is used as an alternative to Buckingham Palace for ceremonial visits by foreign heads of state. The Queen at 83 years old still rides her horse each day when she is at the Castle.

Galeries Lafayette

The Galeries Lafayette is a 10 story department store in the heart of Paris. This store was opened in 1893 and boasts of having all the latest in men's and women's fashions, much like Harrods in London. This is a picture of the center dome inside the store. Of course the women had to spend an entire day shopping in this store with absolutely nothing in mind to buy. But they finally melted down the credit cards, and ended the day complaining that they ran out of time. They had coats, handbags, jewelery, and shoes stuffed in huge bags, all of which I'm sure will never get used. Brent and I sit on this rail outside wondering why women can't just go in, buy what they need and leave. While the girls wasted the day shopping, we joined all of the normal tourists, and took a bus tour to see all of the Paris sights at 20 euros each.

3 Star Dump

In any of Europe's historic areas you will get old hotels. There are 5 star ratings which are the best and then they drop. We've tried them all, but this 3 Star in Paris was the worst we've stayed in. Our first night we were next to the lift and got woke up every time the elevator moved. We then changed rooms and got upgraded to the honeymoon sweet on the top floor. The bed wasn't even wide enough for 2 pillows as you can see. The shower was 24 inches square with the controls sticking out 6 inches. If you turned in the shower, you would bump the control valve and shut it off. If you wanted to wash your feet, no problem, you would get out and stick one foot in at a time. I'll tell you what, this didn't leave much room for the honeymoon.