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| It's been really difficult to get photos from the 7th floor of my new office without them being obliterated by reflections from the office windows, but here are some.
I hope to get some better ones on a day with less sunshine.
We can see the Chiltern Hills to the north, right around, both east and west, all the way down to the South Downs.... amazingly enough to the south.
You can also see that Reading has quite a few Medieval churches.
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/Orbilia/FountainHouse#
Fee |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
 
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Does this mean you didn't get the "ax". If so, that's pretty cool that they gave you a new office instead, 
That one building on Oxford Road...looks like one I saw in the last James Bond movie, LOL!!
Well, not the very last, it was "Casino Royale" I think.. The latest one, is totally awesome...I just love the Italian scenes!!
Okay Fee, congratulations on your new office. BTW, Where are the trees????? |
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| Its central Reading - they don't "do" trees... 
Come to Milton Keynes - we have a Cathedral of Trees !
Wikimapia is a new one on me http://wikimapia.org/1207152/Cathedral-Of-Trees
John
Edited by jpk 2008-11-25 4:42 PM
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| Hi Cyndi,
we still don't know who's affected by the 1 in 4 redundancy. This is meant to be an interim move as my old building's lease runs for 2 years longer than the proposed permenant move to Reading One (where the red cranes are) and we've found someone to sub-let.
Since the council paved over Broad Street, there have been an avenue of trees running down the middle of what was the road. You can sort of see a blur in the middle distance on one shot to the East that's actually the crown of one of the trees.
Just in front of the red cranes is the remains of one of the Abbey's gardens, the Forbury. This is full of mature trees and has recently been refurbished back to the last major re-design to give it a very Victorian feel. There is even an iron bandstand where you can sit and listen to live music on a Sunday afternoon in the summers : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forbury_Gardens and http://www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/reading_abbey.html
Popular rumour has it that the Forbury Lion has 'wrong legs' (the gait's wrong for a cat) and that the sculptor committed suicide after having that pointed out. I've never checked out the veracity of the rumour.
St. Mary's ( http://www.berkshirehistory.com/churches/reading_stmary.html ) and St. Laurence's ( http://www.berkshirehistory.com/maps/reading_abbey/rdgab01.html ) both have tree adorned grave yards. St. Laurence's also has the dubious distinction of housing the earthly remains of the only person to have been killed by a tornado in Britain.
As an aside, John Kendrick, as mentioned in the St. Mary's link above, founded my secondary school, Kendrick Girls' Grammar from his legacy.
There are a number of parks around the town too. West Reading (where I live) could use some more smaller green spaces however. Most of the suburbs look green due to people's gardens and several areas are designated conservation zones, the rules around which include restrictions on tree felling.
There's also quite a lot of interesting stuff on Reading on the museum's web-site : http://www.readingmuseum.org.uk/ and on the main Wikipedia page for Reading itself : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading,_Berkshire
Fee
Edited by Orbilia 2008-11-26 5:29 AM
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | One of these days I'm coming for a visit. I love it. I'm sure we'll find some trees to climb, LOL!!
I'll keep my fingers crossed so you can keep your new office.
Have a great Thanks-for-giving Day Fee....do ya'll even celebrate this day in the UK??? |
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| Thanks Cyndi.
We have an announcement about the redundancies at 11 today. I feel kinda naseous already.
No, we don't have thanks-giving.
Hallowe'en has gone rather American so the only 'true Brit' autumn celebration is Guy Fawkes night on 05/11 where we celebrate a bunch of Catholics trying to blow up the House of Commons with barrels of dynamite placed in the basement...... we like to let ourr politicians know where they stand *wg*
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes_Night
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes
Fee |
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| I just found out that my team is to reduce headcount by one but as we have someone seconded at the moment we don't know if that's one from 4 or one from 5, or even 1 from 6 depending on where they're counting our overall manager.
There's supposedly a letter bering sent to those at risk later today but whether that's all on an affected team or just to the individual being 'not targetted' on the affected team, we don't know.
Fee |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Orbilia - 2008-11-27 5:00 AM
Hallowe'en has gone rather American so the only 'true Brit' autumn celebration is Guy Fawkes night on 05/11 where we celebrate a bunch of Catholics trying to blow up the House of Commons with barrels of dynamite placed in the basement...... we like to let ourr politicians know where they stand *wg*
I loved Halloween in Italy, it was sooo much fun - totally not American!!! Europeans are indeed the best when it comes to celebrating, Yee Haw!! Although, Nepalis are pretty wild about their festivals too,
Today, I'm making the traditional usual...my family loves this day. We're having an organic free-range Turkey from Whole Foods Market, with my southern cornbread dressing, cranberry relish, gravy, sweet potatoes that are totally awesome, bok choy, and blueberry pie. Of course, I won't eat all this at once, I'll be pacing myself over the next few days...a week at least, LOL!!
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| Just been handed my redundancy letter. I will be given the so-call 'voluntary' redundancy quote by the 10th December.
Fee |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 8442
  
| Oh Fee! That's too bad! You are clever and talented so I'm sure you'll find something soon. Big hugs. |
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| Thanks Glenda.... wish I were that optomistic |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | We'll be sending good vibes your way Fee. Cheer up, "brighter days are ahead", sometimes getting through the crossfire is a big challenge. Glenda's right, with your talent, you'll get through this.
I got laid off once. I kept looking at all the positives and utilized my time wisely, cause I had sooo much of it. It was all good and it all turned out good too. Try not to resist whatever's going on...try to embrace it as much as possible so you can plan a good strategy.
Cheers! |
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| Thanks Cyndi. I'm working on my CV at the moment. On the plus side, it was up to date. On the down side, it needs restructuring and a sales pitch. |
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Expert Yogi
Posts: 5098
Location: Somewhere in the Mountains of Western NC | Oh don't worry about the sales pitch part...we can help guide you along on that. Hmmmm, or maybe not????  |
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My New Office
