xkcd

by **pseudoidiot** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 6:54 pm UTC

pseudoidiot wrote:the first week of May (8th-15th to be exact)

by **existential_elevator** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 6:57 pm UTC

I can only really do weekends, but I'd love to meet you and find out if you really do explode into presents if I hit you.

by **pseudoidiot** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 6:59 pm UTC

I'm pretty sure my wife would strongly encourage you to hit me.

We're arriving at Heathrow around 0730 on the 8th, and leaving sometime around noon on the 15th, I think? So that leaves a good chunk of the 8th and all day of the 14th for physical abuse.

by **existential_elevator** » Mon Apr 11, 2011 7:03 pm UTC

Man, you guys will surely be so jetlagged on the 8th you won't even know where you are? I'd suggest the 14th

by **Plasma Man** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 3:24 pm UTC

I would probably be able to come along on the 14th.

by **pseudoidiot** » Tue Apr 12, 2011 5:36 pm UTC

14th sounds great. I'll say tentatively for now. Should know within a week what our final day-by-day plans are. Shouldn't be a problem to plan on leaving Saturday open for some sort of hangings out.

We're quire excited because just got confirmation of tickets to see a taping of the Graham Norton show while we're there. Woo!

by **Artemisia** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 9:40 pm UTC

i'll be watching this topic for updates but in case i forget, you have my number too (:

by **RoadieRich** » Wed Apr 13, 2011 10:56 pm UTC

The 14th? I might be able to make that, too, although I'll be travelling back on the last train that day (10pm), unless someone has a sofa I can crash on overnight.

by **Artemisia** » Thu Apr 14, 2011 11:32 am UTC

I would have a sofa available if necessary (:

RR: could I ask how the meetup went last weekend? I decided against it in the end as it was quite a trip to make and meet people I hadn't even interacted with on the fora :oops:

by **RoadieRich** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 7:59 pm UTC

The Nottingham meetup went great.

I'll type it up in the appropriate place.

by **Artemisia** » Fri Apr 15, 2011 8:25 pm UTC

awesome (: thanks for sharing!

by **RoadieRich** » Sat Apr 16, 2011 6:09 pm UTC

Ok, looks like I can't make the 14th after all

by **Artemisia** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 12:14 am UTC

sorry, i didn't know my couch was such a horrendous place to end up on - you don't have to take me up on the offer, y'know

*booohooooo*

(;

by **RoadieRich** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 2:07 am UTC

Artemisia wrote:sorry, i didn't know my couch was such a horrendous place to end up on - you don't have to take me up on the offer, y'know

*booohooooo*

(;

Yeah, it was the couch that did it, and not the fact that I'd already got tickets to a Launch event that day.

I was writing the PM to take you up on the offer when I noticed the ticket in my pocket. There'll be other meetups, but Synergy only gets launched once. And I've paid for the ticket. I'm disappointed, but the launch should be fun. Although it's 11-4pm. If I leave early (for a 16:02 train), I can get into London for about 6pm. Gives time for food and a few drinks and meeting people, maybe?

Alas, eastmidlandstrains is having problems, so I can't check ticket prices.

Edit: Well, I can get into London St Pancras for 6pm, I'll then need to take the tube to wherever everyone else is, but that shouldn't take too long, right?

by **pseudoidiot** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:18 pm UTC

Saturday May 14th is a go. We've pretty well got the rest of the week planned out. Day trips away from the city, sight-seeing around London, etc.

So we're totally open to suggestions as to what would be fun to do on Saturday.

The hotel we're staying at is right near Paddington station so we should be able to get to any meeting place pretty easily.

by **TaintedDeity** » Sun Apr 17, 2011 11:22 pm UTC

That day is my birthday. I won't be able to come, but you should get a cake in my honour.

by **RoadieRich** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 12:38 am UTC

I also have an exam on the Monday, so it's definitely off for me.

by **Mumpy** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 3:10 am UTC

And I'm on the wrong side of the pond all of a sudden. Daaaaang, shucks and several other expletives. Don't suppose you'd be flying back through Seattle?

by **Artemisia** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:24 am UTC

plasma and I are still in. Paddington is relatively easy for me though I don't have much of an idea for restaurants or things to do. Im sure my hubby would be up for strolling along, he used to live around that area.

Pseudo what are your plans? then I won't suggest things you're already doing later on :mrgreen:

@RR: enjoy the festival, don't hesitate to take me up on the couch offer any other time (:

by **pseudoidiot** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 4:29 pm UTC

Plans for our days in London are a little more laid back. We'll spend one day doing a hop-on hop-off tour just to see around the city and some of the major attractions that we're interested in. For the rest we've got a list of things we want to see and just plan on getting around on the metro.

My hope is that by Saturday we've seen the biggest majority of what we really want to see so it'll be open to maybe some slightly aimless wandering/exploring.

The only real thoughts I have at the moment is trying to keep things kind of open so no one's having to make any real time commitment. Could just be a nice lunch/dinner somewhere. Maybe hang out in a park somewhere. Chat. Wander around. In line with that I was thinking maybe just have some general ideas of what might be fun to do. Decide on a time & place to meet, plan on some time for chatting and introductions, then figure out where we want to go from there.

I'm not much of a planner so I'm wide open to thoughts/suggestions at this point

by **bigglesworth** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:09 pm UTC

pseudoidiot wrote:the metro.

It's more like a series of tubes.

by **pseudoidiot** » Mon Apr 18, 2011 11:19 pm UTC

Al Gore invented it?

by **Plasma Man** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 5:31 pm UTC

I'm afraid I'm not going to be able to make the 14th now. One of my best friends has decided to have her 30th birthday celebration on that day, so I'll be going to that instead.

by **Artemisia** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 6:14 pm UTC

aww! well uhm we could do it another day? though saturday for me is most convenient.

I really like embankment area in the evening; that's where I always take guests for a drink (Giraffe is there, they have great cocktails; food is also nice but Expensive). Gorgeous all the lighting around big ben,parliament, the footbridge and london eye. I can also recommend london eye at night (not during the day!)

I am incidentally also quite good at guiding people in Tate modern, with the art history Master et all.

I am open to requests (:

by **pseudoidiot** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 6:40 pm UTC

My wife's initial thought was maybe just meet up somewhere for food/drinks/conversation. If everyone feels up for more beyond that, great! If not, more pressure.

I'm about to pick her up from the airport so I will get further input.

e_e: were you still interested in showing up?

by **existential_elevator** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 7:06 pm UTC

Sue, I totally have it pencilled in my diary. I am definitely more of an afternoon meeter-upper as I struggle with my energy levels and don't tend to be a chatty bunny much after 6pm. Definitely up for food/drinks/conversation, potentially in a lunchtime capacity. I have also noted on my travels through London that the Natural History Museum have a sexy display at the moment, though I've no idea if it's a paid one. If it would be helpful to have my number, PM me, otherwise I'm happy tagging along with whatever is mentioned in thread.

by **Artemisia** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:08 pm UTC

afternoon means def only sat for me. I'm cool with whatever place for drinks, e_e specific ideas? or everyone happy with giraffe?

by **existential_elevator** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 9:16 pm UTC

I really don't know London all that well, so I'm pretty happy to defer to anyone else's better judgement.

by **Artemisia** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 10:44 pm UTC

Cool. Giraffe southbank centre: http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&hl=en ... =addr&om=1

shall we say... 3pm? on 14th May, Sat. just to be clear.

edit: I feel obliged to point out that they're not really cheap, but I'm happy to buy a first drink for anyone who might prefer something a bit more low budget, and I don't mind finding something cheaper after the initial beverage (:

by **pseudoidiot** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 11:55 pm UTC

This Giraffe? I wouldn't consider them too expensive, but I realize everyone's price-point for that is different.

3pm.. are we thinking a late lunch? Or just drinking & chatting? Asking because normally I aim for a lunch between 1 & 2. I don't mind having a later lunch, just want to plan accordingly.

by **Artemisia** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:40 am UTC

I'll end up having lunch there anyway I'm sure :mrgreen:

want to make it a little bit earlier at 2pm? I don't know where e_e is coming from (I do have her number now though yayy!)

by **existential_elevator** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:46 am UTC

I'm coming from Coventry - for me any time after 11am is achievable without too much stress

by **Artemisia** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:54 am UTC

I'm suddenly realising you might want to have lunch slightly earlier if you still want to have time to go to a museum. I'm also thinking for museums south kensington might be a better meetup place... but I don't know any places there. Nice area though. Would we want to make it a bit earlier then&go to s kensington right away?

[edit] http://www.kensingtoncreperie.com/index.html ?

by **pseudoidiot** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:28 pm UTC

Did you have a specific museum in mind?

by **bigglesworth** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:48 pm UTC

British Museum is love, as is the Natural History museum (though the dinosaurs will have long queues).

by **Artemisia** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 7:43 pm UTC

@Pseudo:

existential_elevator wrote:Definitely up for food/drinks/conversation, potentially in a lunchtime capacity. I have also noted on my travels through London that the Natural History Museum have a sexy display at the moment, though I've no idea if it's a paid one.

somebody has :mrgreen:

South Kensington is an area with lots of museums such as the V&A, Science Museum and aforementioned Natural History Museum.

British Museum is pretty awesome, though I wouldn't be really interested in seeing that again. It's also incidentally around Holborn area, not so ridiculously close to South Kensington.

by **pseudoidiot** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:37 pm UTC

K. Just making sure because I can't say for sure which, if any, museums we might see before Saturday. I'll make sure to keep that in mind. Shouldn't be a problem. There's so much to see and do I'm sure we can keep ourselves occupied and save that for Saturday

by **existential_elevator** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:47 pm UTC

I wasn't about to force the issue and I'm happy to let it skip. Last time I tried to get in to Natural History on a Saturday we were queuing for 45 minutes. Which, uh, isn't all that fun.

by **pseudoidiot** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 9:22 pm UTC

Good point. That's why I'm thinking it might be best to keep a few things in mind that we can talk about over lunch while we get to know one another.

Also, while I'm thinking about it, I don't think we're going to bother getting any sort of pre-paid phone or anything while we're there, so chances are the best way of contacting me will be here/e-mail/Facebook (I'm pretty sure the hotel has internet) or my wife's work e-mail address. She'll have her Blackberry, so she'll be able to check that wherever we are.

by **Worker Bee** » Wed Apr 27, 2011 5:54 pm UTC

Hey all, just having a flick through this and was surprised to see Giraffe mentioned - I first went there recently and have been back a few times, very nice place and if you go before a certain time (4pm? 7pm?) you can get 5 sharing things for quite cheap and it's 2-for-1 on drinks (possibly not alcoholic ones though, as I haven't drunk in there. But the citrus crush cocktails I had were nice). Anyway I got this deal when I went there with me (of course) and two girls and we were all full up from that.

Anyhoo was just posting to say that no trip to London is complete without a visit to the Trocadero - it's got every arcade machine ever, a bar, plus a load of Pump it Up and DDR machines! Too much amusement is to be had there :-)

Oh and it's really central too so wherever you are you'll not be far so can just pop in for a little bit if you feel like some Street Fighter or jumping about on a dance mat!

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