Fighting the lag ...

My first few days in Salisbury are over .. phew! I am still feeling really tired! But, the fun has begun - we started out by getting groceries and cleaning the house for our visitors to arrive ... not much else, oh, and introducing Fletch to his new play areas around the neighbourhood. On Monday we went to Salisbury to see some street theatre which turned out to be really weird and not very interesting. We watched one guy perform to a bunch of Queen songs, being short I couldn't really see anything, but apparently I wasn't missing much. We then watched a group performance which made no sense at first and then turned into a lesson on the importance of composting ... needless to say we left before it was over.

Tuesday, Peter's mom and dad arrived and we picked them up at Heathrow at 8:30 in the morning. They had a long wait at customs and we ended up having a long wait in the arrivals area, fun. We brought them home and showed them around Amesbury and then went into Salisbury to walk through the market. Everyone was tired early so we had a pretty uneventful evening.

Today, we visited Old Sarum to take some pictures etc. We thought there was a really cool thing happening there called 'The Normans return to Old Sarum' ... when we arrived there was one tent set up with a 'jousting instructor' complete with a toy horse ... we were kinda disappointed, and it was later that we found out that the real event had taken place on the weekend and this was just the kids event, boo-urns. Following that we went to the Salisbury Cathedral where we listened to a Philharmoic Orchestra practice for a bit, Dave took lots of photos, we checked out the Magna Carta and then went back inside to listen to the church choir perform. It was a full day, especially for those of us still getting over jet-lag.



Tomorrow we are heading into London! We have a full day planned and hope the weather will cooperate ... we'll keep you posted!

Team PM

Landed ; )

Fletch and I are now in England! After dropping Fletch off around 3:30 to AC Cargo in Ottawa, my parents took me up to the terminal to check in etc. The flight took off about 15 minutes late, but then arrived almost 30 minutes early! That was nice, I was ready to be off that plane and anxious to get to Fletch. Although, I have to say that the new Boeing 767's with in-seat on demand movies/tv/music is pretty cool ... I watched two movies and listened to some music. I also sat next a guy who works for the UN - he was on his way to Rwanda! He was telling me alot about working there for the past 5 years ... so that made the time go by.

Once I met up with Peter after collecting my baggage and getting through customs we drove home to drop off my stuff, we got home at 8 am. As soon as we got home I called the people who were handling Fletch to see when he would be ready. The woman told me he had passed the DEFRA regulations and had already been inspected by the federal vet and that he would be ready by 8:45! WOW - that was fast we said. So, we pretty much went right back out the door and got to the Animal Reception Center about 9:45. Needless to say, Fletch was super excited to see us, mostly Peter, and as such he piddled on their floor ; ) We got him outside on some grass to play ball and run around a bit while we took his crate apart and put it in our car - it fit perfectly! We were a little worried that it might not fit.

Now, we are back home: Fletch has thoroughly inspected the house (which is, by the way, a complete mess thanks to Peter living alone for 5 months!), then we took Fletch to play some ball at a very nearby dog run ... now he is laying down and finally ready to sleep I think.

We just wanted to keep you all posted and I'll write more when I've had some sleep! Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers, the process could not have gone smoother.

Team PM

"The Real Top Guns"

Peter sent me this article about ETPS; it talks alot about the course he's on and the history of the program. Its a good article and made me feel even more proud of him and what he's accomplishing over there. Keep in mind that Peter is not a test pilot, but the course is the same for test pilots and flight test engineers - they have to learn how to do test flights together as a team.

www.salisburyjournal.co.uk/features/journalfeatures/display.var.1388280.0.meet_the_real_top_guns.php

Team PM

Last Saturday ...

Well, today is my last Saturday here in Ottawa. Its weird, but lately I have been appreciating Ottawa more than I ever have ... I'm so nostalgic eh? But seriously, Ottawa is a very scenic city, and its so pretty this time of year with all the tulips and other flowers/plants coming in. I think I've been taking it for advantage, having lived here for 27 years! I will miss it here I know ... there is something to be said for being so familiar with a place. Next Saturday at this time, Fletch and I will be with Peter in Amesbury - there is a lot to be said for that too! I know Peter is getting really bored living alone and is anxious for us to join him. We have a summer full of cycling, walking, site-seeing and entertaining friends/family ahead of us - it should be lotsa fun :)

Just a little food for thought on a Saturday morning ...

Team PM

Tulip Festival

Well, I am very bored today ... my parents are getting new cupboards/countertops installed in the kitchen and since I am crashing here right now, I was appointed to 'stick around the house' during the process ... so, I've decided to post some pics from the Tulip Festival. On Sunday, my parents and I went downtown to Majors Hill Park to check it out - this was part of our Mothers Day celebration. I posted more pics on www.flickr.com/photos/teampm, but here are a few samples:

Pet Cargo cont'd ...

Earlier this week my flight to England was booked for Friday, May 25th at 6:35 pm. After that was done, I called Air Canada Cargo to 'reserve' a spot for Fletch on the flight. I gave the guy all the measurements of the crate (its huge!) as well as the weight of the pet (100 lbs.!) and he put me on hold to calculate the quote .... yeah, so, its going to cost $3000 to ship Fletch to the UK!!! Isn't that crazy!? I have no idea why it costs so much, and thank goodness we don't have to pay for it out of our own pockets, or no offense Fletch, but I don't think you'd be coming along! Regardless of the cost associated with it, the whole process I learned, is completely different from what I thought it would be. I was initially very worried about trying to get myself, my luggage, Fletch and his crate into the airport to check in. When I say the crate is huge, I really mean it - its so huge that it would never fit on the airport carts that they have for luggage...so how on earth was I going to get it around once inside the airport!? This is where much of my anxiety was coming from surrounding the flight with Fletch - I discovered I wasn't that worried about him actually flying, it was more the details of trying to physically handle everything. Well, as it turns out, due to the fact that he is considered 'CARGO', because he's over 70 lbs., he doesn't have to come into the airport with me, I have to drop him off ahead of time at the cargo building .. phew. As hard as its going to be to leave him there, in his crate, it is so much better than me trying to get that monstrosity of a crate around inside a crowded terminal.

All that to say - I feel much better about travelling with Fletch now. Once we get to Heathrow, someone will come and take him off the plane while I go about the usual business of going through customs and getting my luggage. Fletch will be taken to the Animal Reception Center which is about 2 miles away from the airport, and we pick him up there 4-5 hours after the plane arrives. This will give us time to go home, drop off my stuff and then go back to get Fletch ... I know he will be in good hands.

And don't worry - I'll let you know how it goes :)

Team PM
p.s...you know the song 'His eye is on the sparrow'? Do you suppose His eye is on dogs too? I do ;)