This is probably the most strange time to do a blog entry….its actually 22:27 where I am, 04:27 the next day in the UK. Twenty four hours ago I got out of my bed, packed the last of my stuff, showered and got in the car with my brother, we drove to Gatwick Airport, left the car, checked into Delta flight 11 and flew to Atlanta.

We were on the plane for nearly 10 hours, waited a couple of hours to transfer, and then landed in Chicago. What a journey.

The pictures tell a better story than I can….all I can say, is that its 24 hours, I’ve had no sleep, but I’m determined to get into this time zone, ready to drive the Mississippi road tomorrow.

We’re staying the night in Cindy and Gary’s house. They put on a great meal for us as we arrived. Gary is Shirley’s brother, you’ll meet Shirley later in the week, as we head to a wedding in Neenah Wisconsin.

Right, bed.

The pictures tell the story: Day 1 Photographs. (ignore the date/time stamps, they are wrong!)

The fish pond had not been cleaned out for 4 years.

Catching the 67 fish, including 5 babies was a nightmare. 2 frogs came along for the ride.

We emptied it, cleaned it and filled it again….the fish return to their home today at some point, 24 hours after moving into temporary accommodation, a massive fish tank.

Some of those fish I remember buying in 1989.

I meant what I said Dad about those shorts last week, bin them.

Over the weekend I headed down to Oxfordshire to see a remarkable young lady, Ivy, age 99, 100 in a couple of months time.

Not only is Ivy one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet, she’s one of the most active people I’ve seen.

Ivy was born in London in 1905, living there all her life, moving to Oxfordshire to be near her son, 14 years ago, after her husband Rube died.

Ivy has been a friend of my family for many years, meeting my late Nan, Ada Pearce at ‘keep fit’. We’ve stayed in touch.

Recently, Ivy went to the doctors out of concern that all her friends and neighbours take medication, and they are younger than her, and she does not take any, and should she be taking some…to which the Doctor replied “No, you are fine”.

Ivy is talking here about going to Spain next year on holiday. A great young lady.

A few weeks ago Ultralab’s Tom Stacey joined other citizens in the formation of a new country, yet to be named.

Danny Wallace from London (England) has created a new country, written a constitution, created a flag and declared independence. His new country is ‘landlocked by Britian’ (its actually his flat) and anyone can join, even the French. 28,851 people are now citizens at this moment in time.

Genius.

Tom persuaded me to join, and together we now sing the national anthem each day, Tom knows all the Dance Moves (download) too. We’re trying to get Gina to join.

The great thing about it all is that the community of ‘citizens’ are pulling together to define what a country actually needs. Ironically, there does not seem to be a department for ‘education’ and there is one for ‘iPods’.

The best bit is the message boards. In the ‘Department of Message Boards’ the community are encouraged to debate the future, plan and organise themselves. We all know that every forum on the Internet has its very own “spoiling posters” who enjoy getting kicks from creating problems and causing bad feeling, so King Danny the 1st has created a Prison for those posters who cause problems to go and talk amongst themselves, they get let out on good behaviour.

On Sunday, Tracey and I ran most of the way to Chelmsford, although it was very hot, and I had to walk some of it…now will I be able to manage a run in Wisconsin next Sunday?

I gotta get me an iPod Shuffle to run along to…

Wow, I’m number 1 now for ‘Matthew’s Blog’ on Google.com and I don’t even have ‘Matthew’s Blog’ as a URL…

Come on Jonathan’s Blog, you can get the number 1 spot too….

There must be millions of Matthew’s that do a Blog too…

Ultralab’s very own ‘Woman of the Year 1997, Polar Explorer, Health Project Co-ordinator, and lots of other things…. has moved to a sparkly fresh URL.

Sarah Jones, Sarah’s Blog and Sarah Jones Blog (can you see I’m helping her with some Google Juice)…can be found at the following link: http://www.sarahjones.biz. Surf over now…

Last Monday Ultralab’s Tom Stacey, Violet Ultracab and myself headed to Birmingham to deliver Violet to the Birmingham Museums & Art Gallery for their use on the Every Object Tells a Story project which is run by Ultralab, the V&A, Culture Online and Channel 4.

Violet managed her top speed of 58mph, which increased as she went down a hill.

Violet is an automatic, made in 1989, she is on her second engine and has a very comfortable driving seat.

It was great to drive a London cab, its an experience everyone should try, they have an amazing turning circle, and buses and other taxi’s let you out at junctions, which was strange, but I found I was doing the same back….. Now, if we all let each other out at junctions, and were not in a hurry as much, wouldn’t the roads of this country be a nicer place to be?

I think so.

Here is a picture taken shortly after we arrived, it shows Anita and her trainee’s from the museum exploring ports on the side of iBook computers:

If you would like to see the journey film recorded by myself and Tom, come and see me….it is very funny…

On route to Witham Railway Station I pass the doctors surgery, and this sign has always made me laugh….don’t you just love phone camera’s….

Great

Standing holding a ladder gives you sunburn.