WOW…RIP…Way too soon to go…

I am ESTATIC that I’ll soon be a member of School of Information Studies at Syracuse University (iSchool). However, it’s been a rather very hard past couple months. I’ve been on a yo-yo between Syracuse University’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarship Programs and Direct Loans, studentloans.gov, the U.S. Department of Education, Common Origination and Disbursement (COD) School Relations Center, etc. trying to finalize a loan so I could go pursue my MLIS at the The School of Information Studies at Syracuse University (iSchool).

It has been quite an arduous and, at times, upsetting experience. Long story short, there were many emails, letters, phone calls and faxes and an ongoing finger pointing exercise between Financial Aid and the various government organizations listed above.

Drove me BONKERS and was hanging over my head for MONTHS.

I kept pretty detailed notes on emails, phone calls, faxes and letters as well as promised timelines and the names of involved parties. During this frustrating period my vengeful side kept saying, ‘When everything gets worked out, unleash this beast of negative exposure and get people in trouble.’ I opted against that and literally got rid of all non-essential documents and records related to the loan. It felt good to purge those feelings and memories.

I’ve had to keep a lot of this under wraps at work for obvious reasons but FINALLY this Monday I got that giving notice thing at work taken care of. Next? Update Facebook. Done. Update LinkedIn. Done…Work…….YES…finally done. I was originally hoping to give work notice at least 2 weeks earlier but due to the delays with the aforementioned Financial Aid, I couldn’t do it until this week. I was really hoping to be in Syracuse at the beginning of August, then go out to LA for Emily and Nick’s wedding, then return to Syracuse, but I just couldn’t leave my employer high and dry. I’ve worked there too long and have to much respect for the organization to do otherwise. Gotta finish strong and transition appropriately.

So essentially it’s all over now. On to the next chapter in life. Gave my notice at work on Monday. In other news, I just watched The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (Man som hatar kvinnor). Great movie. Haven’t read the book.

Eyjafjallajökull

Well, the Eyjafjallajokull eruption sends smoke bellowing once again. The airport was empty. I didn’t travel.

Details are still sketchy for flights into and out of London. I hope everything clears up and I can travel tomorrow (April 20, 2010).

So I’m off to Nottingham. Including maps, I have a 19 page document of stuff to do/checkout. Probably won’t get to all of it but it’s there just in case. Scroll down for all the info. Downloadable PDFs (I separated the infosheet from the maps for easy reference) are available at the very end of the post.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010 – Virgin Atlantic # 18

Newark Liberty Int’l (EWR) to London Heathrow (LHR)
Departure (EWR): April 20, 8:00 AM EDT (morning)
Arrival (LHR): April 20, 8:00 PM BST (evening)

Monday, April 26, 2010 – Virgin Atlantic # 17

London Heathrow (LHR) to Newark Liberty Int’l (EWR)
Departure (LHR): April 26, 8:25 PM BST (evening)
Arrival (EWR): April 26, 11:10 PM EDT (evening)

Information

• http://www.thingstodoinnottinghamshire.co.uk
• http://en.godine.co.uk/
• http://www.itsnottingham.info/
• http://www.visitnottingham.com

Tourism centre

1-4 Smithy Row, Nottingham NG1 2BY

Food

• Alley Cafe Bar Longrow West, Nottingham – Tel 0115 9551013 www.alleycafe.co.uk
• Fish Fryer? 108 Trent Boulevard, Nottingham, NG2 5BL – Tel 0115 982 0658?
• Brown Bettys 17b St. James’s Street Nottingham NG1 6FH – Tel 0115 941 34 64

Transport

• Bunneys Bikes 97 Carrington Street Nottingham NG1 7FE Phone: 0115 9472713
• Nottingham Express Transit
• I’ll be renting a car as well

Attractions

Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve

Edwinstowe Mansfield Nottinghamshire, England NG21 9HN General enquiries: tel: 0844 9 80 80 80 (8am – 8pm Mon-Fri; 8am – 12 noon Sat) or tel: 01623 823202 (10am – 5pm Monday to Friday) Park rangers and office tel: 01623 823202

Peak District National Park

Bakewell Visitor Centre Old Market Hall, Bridge Street, Bakewell, Derbyshire DE45 1DS Opening times 1 April until 31 October: 9:30am – 5:30pm Telephone: 01629 816558

City of Caves

Enter and explore a whole new world in the caves underneath Nottingham city and descend
into the dark depths of the original Anglo-Saxon tunnels, meeting real cave-dwellers from its dramatic hidden past. See how these caves have been used and adapted over the Centuries by
local people to escape and take refuge from the world above.
Broadmarsh Shopping Centre Lister Gate Nottingham, Nottinghamshire England NG1 7LL Phone: 0115 9153784

Museum of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard

The Museum of Nottingham Life at Brewhouse Yard is housed within five 17th century cottages where you can learn about the people of Nottingham through the objects made, used or owned and the stories they tell us.

This delightful museum is sited in Brewhouse Yard at the base of Castle Rock, a location that itself reveals much about Nottingham’s social history. The museum depicts the social history of Nottingham over the last 300 years and is housed in five 17th century cottages adjacent to the famous ‘Trip to Jerusalem’ public house. Brewhouse Yard once contained a thriving community of 20 houses, with a population of 127 people at its peak. Today the surviving buildings house the museum and contain a mixture of reconstructed room and shop settings, and gallery displays including ‘Toys’ and ‘Community Showcase’ which highlights work by local groups or individuals.

In the adjacent Rock Cottage is a reconstructed Victorian Schoolroom and a new exhibition ‘Growing up in Nottingham’. Also discover a system of man-made caves built into the rock. Once used by the former residents, they now house museum displays including a reconstructed air raid shelter, and are fully wheelchair accessible.
Castle Boulevard Nottingham NG7 1FB Phone: 0844 4775678 Open Tuesday – Sunday* 10am – 4.30pm

Galleries Of Justice Museum

England’s history of crime and punishment is a shocking one. As are the sinister and grim stories of Nottingham’s own outlaws which are brought to life in the building where they were judged, imprisoned and executed.

To capture and explain this grim and gruesome history, we use actors, audio guides, guide
sheets & boards, lighting, sounds, set dressing and exhibitions. Our aim is to educate and entertain and inform everyone who comes through our doors.

As well as the museum we also run the ‘City of Caves’ attraction in Nottingham’s Broadmarsh Centre.

We are the only museum of its kind in Europe! We preserve the site of Nottinghamshire’s old courthouse and county gaol as well as maintaining a vast collection of spine chilling artifacts relating to crime and punishment over the last three centuries.

We are an independent museum, and a charity as part of The Egalitarian Trust and this means we rely upon admission charges, fundraising and providing corporate hospitality.
High Pavement Nottingham NG1 1HN Phone: 0115 952 0555 Open Every day: 10.30 – 17.00

Lodging (just in case…)

Igloo Hostel
Rates: £14.50 p.p.p.n Directions: 110 Mansfield Road Nottingham NG1 3HL Phone: 0115 947 5250

Maps

• Heathrow to Nottingham
• Sherwood Forest National Nature Reserve
• Sherwood Forest Cycling
• Peak District National Park
• Igloo Hostel A
• Igloo Hostel B
  

Travel Document

• Nottingham Short List

My super sister Emily had her company, I Heart Pies, featured on NBC Los Angeles’ Food Blog.

Way to go Emily!

Check it out at Codeorgan

My sister Heidi (the Olympic Hopeful) just landed a new job at Hudson River Sloop Clearwater as their Director of Development! Congratulations!

Figured it’s about time for an updated theme. Liking this one…

Selalu 1.0 by Nurudin Jauhari

Created by Jauhari Network.

custom header, fixed width, two columns, widgets

Gorgeous day. Great exercise with Heidi. I want to go to Clarence Fahnestock State Park every day and XC ski!

Olympic Hopeful Heidi Kitlas