Hi everyone. The concert at the beginning of February went OK; the chorus managed to hang on by their fingertips and made it through the entire piece. But I have to say my heart fell to the floor at the rehearsal following the concert, when the conductor asked us all: Do you want to make the Vespers part of our repertoire, so we can continue to polish it and make it better over time? I was ready to raise my hand enthusiastically when several people around me hollered in disgusted tones: "Noooo!" So I went off and joined the Ukrainian chorus, and although I haven't formally quit the original chorus, I'm attending a lot fewer rehearsals there. Perhaps it's divine retribution, but the original chorus got kicked out of its really nice rehearsal space in Riverside Church, and now the only digs they can afford are an old church in an iffy neighborhood. The building is under renovation, and their next door plot is being turned into a condo, so there's heavy machinery noise...and the old church smells a little like cat pee. And perhaps I'm experiencing some kind of dictate from a will not my own: this is the Orthodox Lenten season, and although I hadn't intended to observe it, I sort of have been for the past week, since a stomach bug has left me unable to eat anything except toast with jelly, rice, gingerale, bananas, and chicken broth. I've lost seven pounds over the past three days. As I wait for this very slow Spring we're having in our region to take off, I think about how food must have become scarce in centuries past right about this time of year, when nothing is really growing yet except a few onion-type things, and the winter stores would have been dwindling or gone. Dostoino yest (it is fitting, Old Church Slavonic) to have a lean season once in a while. All the richness is going into the Easter eggs (see gallery).

Rosewitch, England was definitely one of my favorite places I have ever visited. My folks took me there when I was 14, and I remember bits and pieces the Crown jewels, walking amongst the Stonehenge stones (roped off now, vandalism), Stratford upon Avon. Time for me to take my own 14YO. Im trying to think how I can get over there for a whole summer, LOL. Dlynn, I could have worked so much more. I didnt really look at night time stuff and there was loads to do. Greece: cant help you, but shoot Yasou a line, she went a few years ago. LOL Annie! Teresa, well go together. I wanted to explore more cooking and food shops/stores but didnt get to. Terri, here is more a link to Pictures of England, a website pointed out to me by Denise. I started it on Bourton on the Water, where we stayed for a few days. Thanks Sharon, I was actually thinking how can I even come close to posting her quality of travel guides, I dont do the pictures she does LOL. We might have sat at the same table in the Cheshire Cheeses dining room! Sawdust still there, but we didnt make it to the cellar. I missed a lot of the British Museum. It has changed.check out the new atrium. I couldnt keep up with DH and DS16. Afternoons, when I planned museums, I crashed. Next time! Pam, lots of people did more than we did per day! Theater every night, more attractions, I cant imagine. Gina heh heh yeah I need another vacation like a hole in my head. Speaking of whichDH has another week off in August. Nooooooooo! Kathleen, DH says he took an average of 200 pictures a day. Yup. Me, I just buy the post cards or Google the images, same thing (DARFC from the photo bugs here) Cathy, thanks for giving me the War and Peace moniker heh heh. Next time I go with CF friends! LindaC, I know. Im still exhausted. Speaking of the V&A, did you know there was a Dale Chihuly chandelier in the entrance room?

It's not a Quonset Hut, but like a Quonset, these types of structures are designed to provide a large interior area free of load-bearing walls and/or columns. Quonsets were developed and used during WWII to fill the need of shipping easily packaged materials anywhere in the world and erecting them without skilled labor. They were no where as large as the structures shown in the photos. The large structures in the photographs will take detailed engineering and experienced erection--experience not normally found in many residential builders. In seismic and high wind areas, special engineering details will be required to keep these structures stable and anchored to their foundations. In return for the large, interior column-free space, large HVAC systems will be required, and other systems, such as lighting, will need careful and experienced design. These are probably not for the novice.

I've seen several of the videos of that incident. The security personnel might have been more gentle but I thought that passenger's conduct was inexcusable and outrageous. Federal law requires compliance with airline crew instructions. He got bumped along with three other passengers. They left the plane without incident. He refused, got dragged off, and then ran back on, repeatedly saying "I have to go home, I have to go home". Guess what, bunky - people get bumped from overbooked flights and/or lose their seats to reassignment, at the option of the airline. Picture the scene of his being dragged down the aisle. Would you act in such a way that would be necessary? No, of course not and I wouldn't either. So whose fault was it?