okay people! here's a humdinger of an update...hope it meets your standards.

next stop: rachel's place in london.

so my flight was late, the baggage took ages to come off the plane, and of course by the time i got everything under control the last train of the night had departed. to top it all off the tube was on strike (that's the underground...the subway!) and the cue for the coach buses into town was 3-400 people long. i called rach (who had fought her way into the heart of london on the stupid, overcrowded bus system, with her flatmate phil) and told her i would be several hours and to just go home. it was now 1am and i was still standing in the never moving line-up. i finally got into london at about 3am and flagged a cab that would hopefully take me to rach's flat. the driver was ace and even let me use his mobile phone to call rachel when we got near her place so that she could come to the door for me. she couldn't have lived in (what appeared to be) a dodgier place! i had to walk down a dark alley littered with junk and a stench that made me cringe…“just walk around back until you see the light” well there was no light and i was on my way to freaking out when i heard Rachel whisper ‘over here’. after walking up loads of steps in the black of night i saw her outline and felt relieved. her flatmates rock! there’s mike-a bfg type character with a leather jacket so long that when i saw him in it i said “you’re batman!”, and i found out that he’s ace…once he stopped playing on his computer. next comes rob-he has to be one of the most kind people i have ever met in my life, such a sweetheart with this cute little laugh that could make you die…ladies, start lining, whoever catches him will be extremely fortunate! as we move one room to the right we find phil-high protein/low carb doctor in training, he’s a true gent with a fancy mobile in hand that plays classic tunes and a fellow fan of the kind of movies i love…goonies anyone? last but not least is the jazzy russ-he’s training for a MARATHON people!! also a good conversationalist and he plays the guitar…what more could a girl ask for? oh yeah, there’s also russ, the sixth man, he thinks red heads are sexy, studied physics (finishing at the top level), but does not own a pocket protector, and believes that thailand “is very safe for young single girls to travel there alone”…yes, he is crazy, but quite nice as well.

so i basically had a brilliant time with rachel in london…we actually spent good quality time together for the first time since we went to hawaii together in ’99. she is a wonderful friend and i’m really, really going to miss her when i go back to canada!

i returned to the isle of man at the beginning of october and went back to work on tuesday expecting things to be back to normal after being closed for two weeks holiday. but of course i was the only one who had shown up b/c matthew had neglected to call and tell me me were still closed. i was so disappointed b/c i really was looking forward to seeing everyone. it turned out that maurizio (pizza chef) had forgotten to book a return flight from italy, thus we could not open until wednesday when he would, hopefully, be back!

fast forward through two uneventful weeks to a monday night when eileen and i were sitting in the kitchen commenting on how nice it was to be inside during a storm…in runs richard yelling, “we’re flooding! we’re flooding! the water is coming down the drive like a river!!!” and boy was it ever!! the three of us were out in the rain (which was bucketing down) for over 3 hours before anyone came to help us. after the fourth call to 999 (uk version of 911) with no help on the way, i asked the operator what the actual point of an emergency service was if no one comes to the rescue? not only did he not seem to grasp the fact that our kitchen was flooding, the garages were flooded, but he didn’t even think to ask our name or where we lived, in turn delaying the process of the sandbaggers getting to us before we were swept into the sea. we tried everything to stop the water from running down into the house…big rocks, bricks, digging-even attempting to divert the water with our own bodies. it was absolute madness!! at one point i just stood at the top of the drive with my mouth hanging open and said “holy schizer!!” it was so unreal and frankly quite scary. the following week i was to be home alone while they were on holiday and i can’t imagine what i would have done if i’d been on my own! the restaurant also got flooded and we were closed for a week. we lost all of our stock in the basement...300 bottles of beer, 2 kegs, nearly 1000 bottles of wine, loads of liquor, juice and soda. pasta was floating everywhere, the freezers were on the ceiling, and the amount of steak, lobster, salmon, etc. that had been lost was sickening! it was all insured, but it was horrible to see everything go to waste! however, nothing in the main part of the restaurant, nor the kitchen, was damaged---thankfully!

now everything is relatively back to normal…i joined the gym a few weeks after I got back from europe and have been forcing myself to get up at either 6:30 or 7:30 every morning (at first it was so hard to get up, but now i love being up so early!) so i can get the bus into town, work out and still have time to do stuff when i get back before having to head down to work. i have been feeling pretty decent and am still having a great time over here…however, i can’t wait to get home!

sorry this has taken ages to update, but u don’t have much access to a computer, let alone the internet!!

i miss you all loads and would love to get emails. i know i am not always prompt in returning them, but remember there’s only one of me and a huge amount of you guys!!!

take it easy and see you soon~~~