ENTR 210 'Launch and Learn'

Welp. This semester is the one where I start a business. And discuss it in class. In front of people. People that aren't my mother.

At first, I was really scared of this class. Last semester's Intro to Entrepreneurship class intimidated me because I was surrounded by all these really smart kids who knew just what they wanted to do in the business world or already had businesses of their own, etc. The first day of this new class, I felt dread. I do, in fact, know what I want to do in the business world. It's just not something I'm really comfortable starting on just yet, especially while I'm in school.

And the thing about ENTR 210 is that you actually have to start a business start a business start a business start a business.

After today I am no longer as intimidated. Brother Porter had us each tell the class who we were and our business idea. Some kids still didn't have ideas and others had too many. Oh, I thought. I'm not the only human kid here, I guess.

Now that I have my idea (which I will be sharing here very soon!) I'm pretty excited to get started. It's going to take a while, but an Irishman in my class told me it could get me to SL Comic Con in April, and maybe September!

Another Best Buy Follow-Up

It's been forty-eight hours since my last post, and I finally received the response I was promised on Twitter! Yay! Here is the email I received as a follow-up to my tweets to Best Buy and my response:

Hello Olivia-

I absolutely apologize that we were not able to ship this order for you.  It would certainly be disappointing.

Our deliveries are based on the UPS delivery database, so wherever they can deliver, we can usually ship to within the United States.  Unfortunately, we were not able to verify that this was a deliverable address and so could not ship this order to you.  You can find more information on the Conditions of Use for BestBuy.com here.

If you have a better address that we could ship to, you could certainly try to re-order, otherwise, my other recommendation would be to purchase this item in your local Best Buy store, if available.

I am sorry for any disappointment that this may cause you.

Sincerely,

Bill

Social Connections and Innovation

Community Connector

Bill:

My aunt, with whom I live, runs a business from her home, shipping products nationwide. She ships with UPS and USPS every single business day, so I find it pretty difficult to accept this excuse. I also do not understand why I was not contacted about this before my order was cancelled, so that we could work together to find a solution. I live very near a Best Buy store - we could have simply arranged for store pickup instead, making things easier on everyone, I'm sure. My disappointment mostly stems from the company's failure to attempt to resolve the problem.

As for reordering, I was informed that to do so would be to re-purchase the product at the current price. I was told that matching the price I originally paid would be impossible, so I have taken my business elsewhere.

Thank you anyway for your time. Perhaps Best Buy will be able to better assist the next customer that encounters this problem.

Cheers,

Olivia Sunday 

I'm really not convinced that my address is impossible to ship to, considering the fact that my aunt ships stuff to and from our address every single day...

Best Buy's Customer Service Follow-up post

It has been over twenty-four hours since I contacted Best Buy about my cancelled order, plenty of time for them to have followed up with me and tried to make things right.

My letter to Lisa Smith was never replied to. I suppose this is understandable, considering she is an executive and quite busy. However, I see no reason for her to have passed it along to someone beneath her.

I remembered learning from a lecture about how Twitter and Facebook were such instrumental tools in the hands of consumers now, so I posted about the situation on both platforms. On Facebook I received a great response from my friends and several of them shared the link to my blog. Probably didn't actually do much, but @BestBuySupport replied to my tweet within minutes, saying, "We regret to hear of your experience. If you like, email twitter@bestbuy.com and we'll look into this for you." I forwarded the letter I wrote to Lisa Smith too the email address provided, and got this automatic response:

Your message has been received by Best Buy. A member of our team will do their best to assist you within to 1-2 business days. Thank you for your patience.

Regards,

ECC Social Connections & Innovation

Best Buy Corporate

Bull.

Anyway, I called my father to tell him about the whole shenanigan. I was about to just order directly from Apple, but he told me I should look at buying my computer from B&H Photo Video in New York. Their prices are pretty much the best you'll find anywhere (plus - free shipping and no sales tax!). After adding both a 13.3" MacBook Air 256GB and an AppleCare policy to my cart, I found the total price $115 less than buying everything directly from Apple Store for Education! (The difference would be $165 from the regular Apple Store.) I was absolutely thrilled and immediately placed my order. The checkout was smooth and hassle-free, and I got a shipping notice about twelve hours later. Best Buy didn't even try shipping my order for three business days.

Happy ending: B&H have been sending me updates on my order and have been stellar examples of after-sale service. I sang B&H's praises on Twitter and Facebook. I had some friends commit to abstain from giving Best Buy their business for the rest of their lives, and I gained a new favourite electronics dealer in B&H Photo Video. B&H Photo Video gained a new loyal customer. I'm expecting a shiny new MacBook on my doorstep by the end of the semester.

UPDATE: Henry Posner, the online reputation manager for B&H replied to my second tweet and thanked me for my order. See? This is how you follow up with customers. Observe.

Best Buy's Customer Service is a Joke

When attending a business school, one naturally expects to learn a few things about customer service. One of my teachers related to my class a tale involving the clothing retail giant Nordstrom's accepting the return and refunding the purchase of a used car tire. This and other such stories have given me a standard of customer service to hold my future business to, and my current dealings with existing businesses. I think you'll see why I was upset when the events described in the following letter transpired. I've thrown down my gauntlet....


Wednesday 04 December, 2013 17:47

To Lisa Smith, Vice President, Enterprise Customer Care at Best Buy:

This Black Friday, I purchased a MacBook Air on the BestBuy website at a $150 discount. I was sent a confirmation email that said my order had been processed and was ready to ship. So you'll understand why I was surprised and dismayed to find this in my inbox:

Hello Olivia,        

We're sorry, but the order listed below has been canceled because we are unable to ship to the address provided.        

Be assured that if you paid by credit card, it has not been charged, and any other method of payment has been credited. If you used a Gift Card for this order and no longer have it, please call the number below and we'll send you a replacement. Please note that this cancellation might affect your order's free shipping eligibility, bundle pricing, or gift-with-purchase eligibility.        

If you have any questions — or if you'd like to place this order again — please contact us at 1-888-BEST BUY (1-888-237-8289). If possible, please have your order number handy.        

Once again, we're sorry for this inconvenience. We hope to hear from you soon.                                              Sincerely,

Lisa Smith

Vice President

Best Buy Customer Care

My first reaction upon reading your reason for cancelling my order included wondering why I was not simply contacted to verify my address, give a different address if necessary, or just arrange for an in-store pickup. As requested in your last line, I called the Customer Care number listed in the email and spoke with an associate named Yolanda. She was as helpful as she could be, and was very patient with me. She confirmed the address I had given for shipping, and upon finding that it was indeed correct, informed me that there was no good reason why my order should have been cancelled. Why, then, was it? I asked to reorder my purchase and requested that the sale price I originally paid be honoured. She told me this wasn’t possible and apologised for the inconvenience. Additionally, Yolanda informed me that this exact same scenario had happened more than once this weekend!

This is a mockery of customer service. I, as well as customers facing similar predicaments, was promised a price and paid it, expecting the computer I ordered. I was not expecting this transaction to leave me empty-handed. Unless I am allowed to reorder the computer at the promised price, you can expect no further business from me or my friends and family.

Looking forward to your response,

Olivia Sunday 

....think they'll pick it up?

Regarding SSHS's production of Once Upon A Mattress

So...after three days of grueling auditions and feeling like a horrible person when I laughed at people's singing (yes I actually did. I tried so hard not to, so give me a pat on the back for effort) I have a piece of news that I think will interest anyone who knows me personally! I am playing the role of Queen Aggravain in my high school's production of Once Upon A Mattress. I'm so excited because I know this year the musical will be quality. Our last music teacher barely knew what he was doing and our new teacher is SO AMAZING (a trained opera singer) I don't even have enough words to describe her skills. She knows everything there is to know about your voice after just a few minutes of hearing you speak or sing, and sometimes all she needs is to look at you. It's kind of creepy. She knows how to really teach people to sing and adapt to individual learning needs, something the last teacher lacked. Also, her husband is a legitimate film and stage director so he is directing our musical. It's already turning out well and we only just today read the script...I'm feeling really confident! I have until January 7th to memorise Act I, and until January 24th to memorise Act II. I feel confident because I know that my teacher (I'm not saying her name on here because I don't know how kindly she would take my plastering her name all over my blog) can help me be truly amazing. Last year I wouldn't have felt this confident.

Another thing I really like about her is that you don't get the feeling she's thinking about doing you when you make eye contact (unfortunately, everyone agrees that our last music teacher gave off that vibe. Even the boys). That's always a plus.

And also I'm really good friends with her daughter, who watched DOCTOR WHO!! Finally! Another teenage Soda Springs Whovian!

And boy did this post veer from the original subject...by the way, Tokio Hotel is supposedly releasing a new album next year. Thought you ought to know.

Pinkie Pie

My favourite pony. ^_^

You can expect Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the future as well :)

Grammar Mistakes Everyone Should Know How to Prevent

Prevalent in a few of my friends' Facebook posts are simple grammatical errors. All of them are made repeatedly, so I'm pretty sure these people are under the impression that no mistakes are being made. I've done a couple of short corrective posts, which only a few people noticed. Nothing came of them, so I began correcting every status, shared item, meme, and comment (unless they were a valid keyboard slip) with the correct usage and an asterisk. I'm not trying to be rude, and I'm not trying to seem like I am the grammar guru and you should all feel inferior; I just want people to be aware of what they are writing. Really, how long does it take to proofread your Facebook status, or a short text? Perhaps four seconds if it needs correcting? We learned this in third grade, guys. Write a rough draft. Re-read it! Does it sound off? Fix it! Are their blaring spelling errors? Fix them! Did you use that comma properly? Are you sure? The Internet is not an excuse to use improper grammar. Take the time to care. If you don't, you will come off as 'uneducated,' at least to folks like me.

Now, the mistakes I'm addressing today are apostrophe neglect, too/to mixups, their/they're/there mixups, the insistence upon spelling 'tomorrow' as 'tomarrow', the its/it's conundrum, your/you're mixups, and the supposedly interchangeable me/I. There are actually more, but I don't want to spend all day writing this. I may do another post like this one later.

Contractions mostly always use an apostrophe. Gonna is a well-known contraction that does not actually use one. However, most do; the words 'cant' and 'wont' actually have their own meanings. If you're not willing to use the apostrophe, don't use the contraction. However, if you are not willing to use an apostrophe you must be a lazy writer, so writing out 'I am' and 'have not' and 'let us' and 'you are' all the time probably would not be your favourite option. Really, just one more tap in your typing won't hurt you. You don't even have to use the shift key.

This next one is way too annoying to overlook. (See what I did there?) Too is used to indicate excess or in addition to something else, as in 'too cold' or 'I would like to go too'. To is a preposition or part of a verb in the infinitive, as in 'to a friend's house' or 'to write'.

Their is the possesive form of they, as in 'their party was a blast.' They're is a contraction! It's a fairly easy one to figure out. Next, I really didn't think it was possible to misuse there until I joined Facebook. Use it to indicate the location of something or someone, as in "she is standing there" or "there is a TARDIS in my backyard".

This next one is a bit ridiculous in my opinion. The reason I'm not letting it slide is because the A and O keys are on opposite sides of the keyboard. There is no way this is just a finger-slip. T-O-M-O-R-R-O-W. Tomarrow doesn't even make sense. I mean, just look at it. It almost makes me laugh.

Now, I myself used to have quite a bit of trouble remembering the rule for this one, but I now have it down. Everyone else my age should at this point too. It's is a contraction for "it is". Its is a complete word, all by itself, and is the possessive form of it. It's kind of tricky, because many possessive forms use apostrophes. So, how does one know which one to use? What got it to stick with me was simply knowing there is a difference. You might have a funny little rhyme or something.

I'm almost done, guys. You're probably considering leaving this page, if your eyes haven't wandered off already. You're is another contraction; your is the possessive form of you. You wouldn't say 'this towel is you'res' now, would you?

Have you ever said, "Me and so-and-so are gonna go outside?" I'd be willing to bet you have. This is one of my biggest pet peeves, yet I find myself using it all the time. However, while writing, I never use it. I think the verbal me/I is past repair as it has become so ingrained into all of our minds. Would you say, "Me is gonna go outside?" Of course not! You would say I am. So why would you say, "Me and so-and-so are gonna go outside?" In this instance, me should be I. Another issue with this sentence is that I shouldn't even be the first thing mentioned! It ought to say, "So-and-so and I are going outside."

If you've spotted any mistakes in my grammar, by all means, please point them out.

Footnote: Just so you know, gonna is a well-used contraction of going and to. It doesn't use an apostrophe.

Phew!

I just organised all my Europe pictures and uploaded them to Facebook. I also took several video clips that I might make into a YouTube video later so the public can see it. So if you are my friend on Facebook, go check out the photos!

Day 14: Castle Party! (July 16th)

Today we were set free in the streets of Edinburgh! On the way into town I saw many lovely stores (unfortunately most of them chains, but still, its not everyday you go shopping in Scotland!) so Dad took me shopping! Aaand I didn't buy anything. :( I was too intimidated! Allsaints Spitalfields, Burberry, Superdry, Desigual, etc, are all super expensive, but even the affordable, like Monsoon and Apricot didn't make any money from us! :( I regret it now.

For lunch we sought out the Elephant House, the 'birthplace of Harry Potter.' Several of our tourmates were there as well. I had a delicious quiche and their classic elephant-shaped shortbread cookies! The shop had lots of pictures of Jo writing on one of their tables and newspaper clippings about her on the walls.

After we took our pictures in front of the cafe, we tried to find a graveyard we'd heard of. This particular graveyard has stones with the names McGonagall, Moody, Riddle, and others from Potter. Unfortunately, we couldn't find it so we went down an extremely Diagon Alley-esque street. It had plenty of interesting shops, including one that sold very fancy handmade hats. It started to rain, so we mailed off our latest postcards, bought a couple of candy bars, and returned to the hotel to nap before the big party in the castle tonight.

I tried curling my hair again today. My iron is working again! :D I didn't start early enough though, so I had to just straighten it again :( Now it looks super wonky. I am also wearing my uniform!

At Edinburgh Castle, Karen set us free to tour the place ourselves. She gave us little scavenger hunt papers that looked like the Marauders' Map. It was really a map of the castle, and the margins had history trivia questions to fill in answers. I found all of them while wandering the place. Pretty much what I was thinking about the whole time in this castle was not Harry Potter (nothing was filmed here, by the way) but all the history! The fact that I was walking the same floors as Queen Mary once did was almost overwhelming! I went in her room!!! It was like I stole the TARDIS or something! Dad was particularly engrossed by the Honours of Scotland, which are their crown jewels. We also went into the dungeons.

For dinner there was a ham dish that was the best I've ever had, along with some weird tasty meat that I didn't catch the name of. During dinner, Karen gave us all Alivan's wands and had us make little pouches full of plants that were supposed to be 'magical.' Dad and I threw ours away because we don't want our luggage opened when we go home.

When everybody finished eating, we moved into the Great Hall for a little-kid-style story time, and then a wild party. In a corridor near the Hall I found a group of children all decked out in robes and ties dueling with their new wands. I got a pretty good shot of them!

The shuttles were slated to pick everyone up at 11:00, which is ridiculous. They should have sent an earlier one for people who didn't want to party all night, like Dad and me, because after a while it just got ridiculous. Fat people were trying to congo...

*shudder*

Day 13: Alnwick Castle (July 15th)

Today Karen let us sleep in until 10, because we got to bed at like 4:00 in the morning. :)


Today we visited Alnwick Castle in Northumberland. It's actually lived in by an actual duke or earl, I can't remember what he is. After we got ready (my straightener has stopped working!!!) we met up with our group and drove to Northumberland...

...and drove..

..and slept..

..and drove...

...and boy, did it take a long time!

I woke up when the coach pulled into the Alnwick driveway. Our tickets had been reserved for us, but Dad and I did some quick looking around the office and realised our particular tickets didn't allow garden access (which we really wanted to see), so we upgraded. :) There are a ton of cool and exotic gardens and fountains here! Nobody else upgraded though, plus Dad got in for next to nothing because I was his 'caretaker' since he's 'blind.' ;)

Karen took us on a walk around the grounds of the castle so we could see all the filming locations here. Most of the most memorable scenes from the first two films were shot here; Neville's mishap and the Remembrall chase, Quidditch lessons, Hagrid's Hut, and the mound of earth that Robbie Coltrane walked along to look taller while talking to the Trio about Nicholas Flamel!

Dad and I utilised our garden tickets and toured the Poison Garden while the others played a pathetic version of Quidditch. It was sweet! There were all sorts of poisonous plants, including mandrakes! Some plants were in cages so we couldn't touch them, and one we weren't allowed near because its smell would make you pass out. The point of the garden is drug awareness, so of course it housed several drug plants, such as poppies and cannabis and the like. The guide told us that their cocaine plant was stolen that morning! She said it was there the previous day, but it was missing today. I was one of the ones in a cage. There was nothing but a little pile of upturned earth. Scary!

Dad and I wandered through the other gardens, and got lost in the bamboo labrynth. :) But we got out in time for tea! We were served either tea, coffee, or juice (that's what I had), with an assortment of scones, little sandwiches, and tarts! It was very proper. ^_^

After tea Dad and I went to the Tree House. Its amazing! It's one of the neatest things ever! It took a while to explore, it was so big. It was full of staircases and balconies and a swinging rope bridge. Basically it was like an oversized playground for adults.

There is a small town next to the castle. Like Hogsmeade! It turned out to be extremely boring, so we just rested in the park after we strolled through the trail by the tree house.
When we arrived back at the hotel we were all so exhausted we didn't eat dinner. Straight to bed!

MOVIE REVIEW

Well...

...I may or may not be a tad disappointed...

...and I will now attempt to tell why in writing.

It was SO slowly paced! Also, I noticed all sorts of magic being used that was in contradiction to the rules of magic established in the books, so it never should have worked. And then there was an attempt at unnecessary comic relief every two seconds, and that just made the scene lame! Then someone started snoring at some point, and there was an uproar in the tiny theatre from everyone yelling at them to wake up.

Oh. And I won't even mention Neville and Luna. Okay, I actually will. Neville/Luna is a strictly fan only ship. You can't, repeat, CANNOT bring fan ships into a movie! It's not as if the movies were canon to begin with, but still...

Day 12: Glencoe to Edinburgh (July 14th)

This morning I dressed up in my Hogwarts uniform, and emerged forom our hotel room to find that many others in my group did the same, for today would be a great photo op; this is the day we ride the Hogwarts Express!! Gosh, it was so incredibly exciting!

After breakfast and packing, the nerds mingled in the lobby and took many pictures. Also, I have two ribs out of place from my tumble yesterday. I consider myself lucky though; usually when this happens its only one rib and I cannot breathe. Right now though its just a rather annoying stab in my back and boob - I can even yawn, which means I'll probably make it until we get home, then I can see the chiropractor.

After Karen shooed us into our coach, we left for the train station! The movie engine, Olton Hall, is in a museum so we will be taken by another engine, the Jacobite. We got special tickets! The train even still had its Hogwarts emblem on the side! AAhh it was so cool! There are no words...

We rode to this place called Mollaig on the regular cars. When we stopped at the station there Dad and I ate lunch at this nice seafood place and went into a gift shop, where I was approached by a Scottish kid. He asked if he could see my copy of Deathly Hallows (I had brought it along to read on the train), so I let him look at it. It was so funny! Only American versions have illustrations, and he wanted to see Mary GrandPre's artwork.

Dad and I rode back in the movie cars!! It was fun-I stuck my head out the window and got a face sprinkling of water. There might have been some soot too...When we were sitting in our car, I wondered if Dan, Rupert, and Emma had ever been in this car. I just kept thinking about all the cast members that could have possibly sat on those seats, and I imagined Luna passing out the Quibbler in the hall. We were visited by the trolley lady as well as dementors, which was pretty swell. The trolley lady gave us each little bags of 'magical' candy. It was quite disgusting (it was just el cheapo crap, not licensed HP stuff), except for the liquorice wand.

Aftter the train ride, I had a long coach ride ahead to read and sleep. After all, we were watching the movie in about ten hours! Gah! So excited!

We stopped again in Callender, and Dad and I went to the same sweet shop as before. This time we got a block of Scottish macaroon, which let me tell you, turned out to be very disappointing. Basically, itz a huge block of solidified sugar coated in roasted coconut. I wish we had gotten fudge. :/
Our Edinburgh hotel also turned out to be a disappointment; our room has a bed and a futon. Grand. Especially since two of my ribs dont need to stab me any harder.

Dad and I wanted to explore Edinburgh, but as it was 9:30, all the shops were closed. So we just ate a very small dinner in the hotel resaurant. We got the soup special, which was about 40% black pepper, and therefore absolutely disgusting. And in the case of my friend Rachel, deadly. But the waitress knocked half off our bill for complaining! Haha!

I finished my book and rested as we waited for 11:30; thats when we go see the movie!! I'm squealing!!! Jennifer has been emailing me during this whole trip so I wrote her back as I waited.

Day 11: Steall Falls (July 13th)

This morning we departed after breakfast for our hike up to Steall Falls. There is an extremely attractive Russian waiter here, by the way.

We drove and drove into the mountains on our big coach, and stopped somewhere to see the Black Lake and the viaduct that the Hogwarts Express drives along! I even got a picture of it as a train was going!

We drove some more and stopped again at a little place to eat lunch. I had an Irn Bru, which I didnt really like. My uncle Derrick drank them all the time when he was in Scotland, and he absolutely loves it. He probably subscribes to it on Amazon. But I really didn't think it was all that great. Dad and i only ate half of our sandwiches and saved the other half for later.

We drove and drove some more, until our big coach couldnt go any furthur, so we transferred to a littler coach. At last we reached Steall Falls! Our hiking guide told us all about the trail. It's apparently really dangerous, and plenty of folks have even died on it! That just made me look forward to it all the more. And let. me. tell. you. That was the greatest hike ever. If I lived anywhere close to it, that trail would probably be my favourite way to spend a weekend with friends or a date or something. On the way, someone found a huge black slug. He was quite charming, and when we turned around he had gone a few feet along the trail. Most of the Americans had to stop super often for breaks. Dad and I, however, pressed on. I never even broke a sweat! Not that it would have been that easy to do, because it was so cool. I'm so glad it didn't rain!

We reached this little river that everyone took their shoes off to cross. I thought I could make my own way across by just stepping on rocks, but I soon regretted it. The other's wet feet dried in no time but my shoes were soggy until we got back to the hotel. :( Haha, it was pretty funny though. Around the falls, a few people pointed out tiny yellow frogs. Even Dad saw them! But I never did!

Somewhere around here we frolicked around on the hill the Hagrid's hut scenes (PoA thru DH) were filmed on. As we were leaving the location I tried jumping off this little hillock and ended up rolling down it instead, tearing a hole in my pant knee. It was so funny! I wish I could have gotten a recording of myself. I must have looked ridiculous. I mean, it was a very small hill, I don't know why I fell.

After we made our way back down the mountain, we hopped back into the coach. On the trip back to the hotel, we passed the real Black Lake and saw the island they filmed Dumbledore's tomb on.

At the hotel, I took a shower and tried drying, then curling my hair with my iron. I wanted to be pretty for the little party we were having later. It worked until I ran out of time, then i just had to straighten my 80% curled hair. :( Sigh. Oh well.

Before the party a hired storyteller told us stories. One I remember was quite interesting, but I don't remember anything about it anymore. For the 'party' there were a few 'magical' activities, like potion making and cool stuff, but it was like a 'first-come only-served' basis, so Dad and i went to bed instead of joining in.
It was worth it. ^_^

PS There's a girl in my group who has Kermit the Frog dressed as Eleven in the TARDIS tattooed on her underarm!

Day 10: British Airlines (July 12th)

Today we are off to Glasgow! And we don't leave til 10:30 so we got to have a much-needed lie-in! :) I am wearing my new dress with my Hogwarts cardigan today, and I curled my hair (it's SO big!) so I look pretty swell.

We had the same thing for breakfast as yesterday (seriously, these mushrooms are the most amazing things in this world). After we ate, we packed up our luggage and took it downstairs ourselves. We don't really want to risk it with the caddies. I read until it was time to board the coach. I just got to Malfoy Manor, so I have a pretty good chance of finishing before the 15th.

It only took an hour to get to Heathrow, so I guess traffic is quite good today. Karen gave us a little history commentary as we drove. Did I mention while we were in Oxford there was this huge accident and like three of four lanes were closed? Yikes...

I got patted down in customs! It was so weird...now I've had my bag checked by hand AND I've been patted down. Right now I am basically just sitting here waiting for 2:15. Currently it is 12:38. :/ There really aren't any interesting shops in this airport, unless you've got a few quid to spend on something like an iPad or a designer sweater. Or cologne...
...
Eventually, we flew to Glasgow! And landed! In the hall that you walk through after you get out of your plane I overheard the conversation of two girls in my group. They were talking about a scene in Deathly Hallows where Snape jumps out of a window and appears to be flying away. They were convinced he had turned into a bat because of the wording Jo had used to describe him flying away. Just because you appear 'bat-like' does not mean you turned into a bat, geez...

We had to wait for what felt like DAYS for some people's luggage. I wish everyone would have the sense to pack like Dad and me: one carry-on, and one 'personal item.' That way you can pack quite a lot, actually, without having to check a tandem coffin.

Back in the coach, we had a pit stop in a little town called Callender. We were given a chunk of time to roam its streets. Dad and I found this little Honeydukes-esque fudge shop where we purchased a large slab of honeycomb fudge. It was soooo good!

We left Callender and made it to the Isles of Glencoe, where we'll be staying for the next bit. The new hotel is simply adorable (I wish I had taken a picture!) and has the best view I've ever seen. The foliage here in Scotland is impossibly lush, and from our room window I can see plenty of it, including a loch that resembles the Black Lake. It feels like I'm on Hogwarts campus! The weather is also great. It's the perfect temperature all the time. I just hope it doesn't rain on our hike tomorrow. :0 I didn't bring my raincoat. :(

The hotel served us dinner. This place may look nice, but the food really wasn't that praiseworthy, and the service just sucked.

I'm in chapter 23!

Day 9: Stonehenge and Lacock

Breakfast today was quite good. Many of these hotel breakfasts have grapefruit juice and huge field mushrooms, so breakfast is usually quite good. Also, I didn't have to pack this morning because we are staying here for another night! Phew!

In the coach on the way to Stonehenge, a storyteller told us a few myths and legends and the like, and then she had us try to 'divine answers' to yes or no questions using pendulums. I didn't really participate; I like to watch my own future take place, thanks. *rolls eyes*

Stonehenge is really interesting and beautiful and all, but it has absolutely nothing to do with Harry Potter. There are so many Harry Potter related places here. We could have stayed in Oxford and seen the library! We didnt even get to see the library! Oh well. I got a Stonehenge postcard. I like sending postcards.

After Stonehenge we went to Avesbury (why?!) and then to Lacock. Lacock is one of the prettiest towns I have ever seen. It has doubled for both Budleigh Babberton and Godric's Hollow. We got to see the Potter's house and Dad and I had lunch in the restaurant that Harry and Dumbledore walk past when going to where Slughorn's staying. Also, during our walk around Lacock, I saw a little boy, no older than three, hanging out of his window, hitting the frame with a toy hammer. And there wasn't a thread of clothing to be seen on this child.

Knees weak with laughing at the kid, we made our way to the Abbey. Our group hit the gift shop first, where basically everyone bought the same thing: an extensive guide to Harry Potter locations. Dad got the last copy! :O It was close.

Lacock Abbey houses Snape's first classroom, Quirrell's classroom, another one of the courtyards that I love, and McGonagall's classroom/Mirror of Erised classroom. Also, our guide tried to tell us that room also had the flying keys in it, but it looks too small. I think that must have been a set.

After the tour of the abbey, Dad and I set off to find the house that Slughorn used, but we never could find it. But we did find a neast old graveyard with all sorts of wacky crumbling headstones.

Back in Oxford, we had free time to shop. I found some lovely boutiques, but they were closing almost as soon as we walked in so I didn't get anything. :( The stores here all close early.

Day 8: First Filming Locations!

Americans really are lazy. Its really quite incredible. I've noticed that Parisians are very lean, because they walk everywhere, and Londoners are mostly too, but now that I'm surrounded by Americans I'm marvelling at how fat everybody is! These bigger people have bigger luggage, as well. I swear some people are packing around people in their bags. Didn't anyone tell these guys that the joke, "Let me come in your suitcase!" is just a joke? Anyway, back to the original thought: today we were told that if we wished so we could leav our luggage outisde our door for the porters to load onto the coach. Dad and I were like the only people that brought our luggage to the lobby ourselves.

Sigh. Whatever.

Eventually everyone boarded the tour coach and we began touring! XD First we visited the London film sites, of course. We went to the first Leaky Cauldron, which is pharmacy; Gringotts; the second Leaky Cauldron, a flower shop; and visited King's Cross and St. Pancras. Platforms 9 and 10 are under renovation right now, so we couldn't go in and take pictures of ourselves pushing the half-trolley at Platform 9 3/4. :( But we did see the platforms 4 and 5, which played 9 and 10 in the movie. St. Pancras's exterior doubles for King's Cross in the movie because, well, King's Cross is boring and St. Pancras looks amazing. We also walked on the Millenium Bridge and saw St Paul's Cathedral, although the tour group hadn't scheduled for us to go in.

Then we went to Oxford. There was much farmland to be seen on the way.

Yippee, we visited Christ Church! (and the others, that I can't remember their names...) Home to the staircase in which the first years wait to be Sorted, the Great Hall in PS, the courtyards, the outdoorish corridors (I got my picture sitting in a window!), the Hogwarts library, and the tree by which Draco was turned into a ferret by Moody Crouch Jr.

After walking around the colleges for several hours (we were the only tour group today that got to see everything!) we checked into our hotel, and then were turned loose into Oxford for dinner. In town, Dad bought a postcard. For dinner, we found an itty bitty place that sold pasties, so we had those and toffee cheesecake. It was very yummy.

You know, bus stops here have anti-homeless person benches. They are just wide enough for someone to sit on, but they are rounded so if you were to try to lay on one you would instantly roll right off!

Day 7: Little Old...Nerds?

Today we woke up promptly at 7 and packed to check out of the hotel. Today is the beginning of our Harry Potter tour!

After we had eaten and checked out we went to Earl's Court station, the station we left from every day, and there by the entrance I noticed something I had never seen my whole time here!

A big, old fashioned, blue police phone box!

Oh, my joy and ecstasy as I took off my backpack and began to take photographs of myself standing in front of it. I would have gone inside, but the door wouldn't open. But I still saw an actual TARDIS!!! :D

Anyway. Back to the real world. The real world is filled with large and confusing train stations, and it took us a very long time to figure out how to get to our hotel in east London. Once we got there, we hurriedly checked in and grabbed a cab to our street art tour. I took probably way too many pictures. This particular tour, I thought, started out fairly interesting. We saw, well, a lot of professional graffiti. After two hours though it all began to look the same. So I stopped paying attention to the guide and the graffiti and just wished it would end.

When it finally did, Dad and I returned to the hotel to meet up with our tour group. And guess what? My group is filled with little old ladies! I didn't even know little old ladies could be Harry Potter nerds! I thought most of them either thought it was witchcraft and devil worship or else just didn't really care. You learn something every day, I guess....

After we recieved our lanyards and itineraries, we were set free to go take naps. Geez, I was tired, and I've decided I miss my own pillow. It's the kind with a dent in the middle, and hotels always have like six enormous fluffy pillows that I am now sick of.

We woke up just in time to go eat dinner. Dad and I sat with Ellen and Judith, two little old ladies from Florida. They were wearing their house shirts that they got from the theme park. I quite like them (the ladies, not their shirts).

Our hotel is in the docklands, so its right by the Thames. Dad and I took a walk around the area after dinner, but didn't find anything more interesting than an old sandwich and a 'no fouling' sign, both of which we laughed hysterically at. We probably laughed more at the sign though. No Fouling...hehe.

Day 6: Tate and Tennant

Today we didn't sleep in, but I was really slow getting out of bed. Oh, and then as I was getting ready for the day I realised I had left the purple tights at the restaurant yesterday! We were going back to Harrod's later anyway, so we decided to go back and look in the restaurant too.

Once we got out of our hotel, we made our way to the river for our boat ride! We got there early, so we ate breakfast at the building next to the Eye, and I feel really pathetic for not remembering what it was called.

After breakfast we went to our pier and our guide gave us rain jackets to wear under our life vests. They were really nice, because it was pretty cold. Then we hopped into the boat and went on a speedy adventure down the Thames! It was amazing. Our guide was really funny and had a Northern accent, so it made it all the better. ^_^ Except halfway through it started raining, and speeding down the river into the rain proved rather painful. By the end my hair was becoming dreadlocks.

We went back to the hotel to warm up and get our umbrellas, and then went to Harrod's! On the way of course we stopped at the Persian restaurant for lunch and they had found and saved my tights! :) And this time in Harrod's my feet were dry, and I got my first pair of platform heels. THey are epic.

We dropped off the shopping at our hotel room, and then took the underground to Wyndham's Theatre to see MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING. I was rather looking forward to seeing David Tennant and Catherine Tate. Onstage, in person, from the second row.

We always get to our theatres early so we can walk around their neighbourhood and eat dinner before we see the play. I got a Union flag t-shirt, and we went to M&Ms World and got a bag of fancy M&Ms. They actually tasted creamier than ones you get at the store, probably because they were a lot fresher. This place, you know, is three levels of stuffed M&Ms, M&Ms magnets, toys, bags, shirts, and generally junk that you would throw out after a few years. It was amazing!

After we escaped the M&Ms, we ate dinner at a lovely Lebanese place which had the best service we had yet encountered; they actually came to check on us more than once every hour! It was incredible! It seems that over here its a sort of challenge to see how long you can make one glass of water last during your meal. They don't refill your glasses!

After we ate, we went back to the theatre. You know, they let you bring your own food into theatres here. I bet you could bring in a little folding table and a Christmas dinner and they wouldn't so much as look at you twice!

My favourite part of Much Ado was when Catherine tripped over one of her lines. Everybody was laughing at her-the other actors, the audience, and herself. She tried multiple times to say it, but it was a sort of tongue-twister. It was really quite unfortunate! She actually walked off stage to get a grip on herself she was laughing so hard! And then when she came back out she had an extremely serious face on and that only made everybody laugh harder! I wish I could have recorded the whole thing...oh it was funny.

Day 5: The Premiere

We slept in again today, but this time I wasn't too happy about it. I decided to wear my white shirt, tie, and sweater. Just because. But I ended up regretting the sweater; it was really rainy, but I got super hot and ended up carrying it under my arm the whole day.

We tried going to the museum of Natural History, but the queue was soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long we would have been waiting for hours and hours. So instead we went to Harrod's (all the stores are having huge sales), but all we got was a pair of purple tights to wear with the dress I got in Paris. I was going to try on some shoes and hopefully buy a pair, but my feet were soaked so I couldn't get them in or out.

I don't know why, but clothes shopping always makes feel very awkward, and when I'm with Dad its worse than usual. I can tell he isn't comfortable, and I barely am, so his awkwardness just amplifies mine. I love going shopping, but not really with him. :/

Just as we were heading out I spotted a Burberry sale rack (which is something I thought I would never see. ever.)but I didn't point it out; I think Dad was starving at that point. We found a cute little Persian restaurant and ate breakfast/lunch there, with baklava for pudding.

After lunch we headed for Trafalgar Square, hoping to be able to catch a glimpse of the goings-on in there, but it had been blockaded off. Only the people who had camped out in the night got to be in there, since they were in there before it got blocked off. :'(

Instead, we decided to seek out the big Apple Store. We walked the entire length of Regent Street, found it, got in, wondering why the heck we even bothered seeing as it was just like any other Apple Store, and left. I was pretty annoyed. Oh well.

The entire length of Regent Street, plus Piccadilly, plus half of Trafalgar Square, plus the entire length of Strand, is quite a long distance. The Apple store is at the head of Regent Street, and the theatre showing The Lion King is on the corner of Strand and Wellington. But we walked the whole way, like proper troopers. I actually find it rather fun to walk around large cities. It makes me feel cool :)

On our way back down Regent, we stopped at a Burberry store. I absolutely love Burberry. Dad knows this, so he insisted we take a look around (the dear) even though I asked what the point was, it wasn't as if we would buy anything. But I still like looking, so he went to the men's side and I admired all the pretty trench coats (This season they have this blueish one, it reminds me of the Starry Night by Van Gogh). When I felt like leaving, I walked up to Dad, who was examining a blue polo shirt, and told him how much it was (L295). Then we left.

Someday when I am quite rich, I will own quite a few coats by Burberry, I should think.

So we made our way to the Lyceum Theatre, occasionally poking our heads into shops along the way. We had dinner right next to the theatre, and got out just in time for our show to start. I loved it! Rafiki was my favourite character. In this production he was a she, and she was brilliant! The animals would occasionally run down the aisles; I got snarled at by a hyena! :)

Tomorrow we are seeing Much Ado About Nothing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! XD XD XD

Day 4: The Underground and the nerd campground

This morning I slept in. It was niiiice. By the time I was all awake and ready to go, it was almost lunchtime, so Dad and I just walked over to Sainsbury's and bought some sandwiches, nectarines, granola bars (for the theatre; they let you bring in your own food!) and smoothies. They were pretty good; I had a egg-tomato sandwich with a carrot-orange-ginger smoothie.

After lunch, we set off to find Queen's Theatre, where we would be watching Les Miserables at 2:30. We took the underground for the first time to get there! Queen's is also right across the street from Her Majesty's Theatre, where we're seeing the Phantom of the Opera. How convenient, right?

Since we still had a few hours till the show started, and since we were by Regent Street, we decided to try to find the Regent Street Apple store. By the way, yesterday, while we were watching Wicked, the Malfoy family and Matt Lewis were there for a fan meet-and-greet. I wish we had gone, but it is too far away from the Apollo Victoria. :(

Regent Street is insanely long, so we never did find the Apple Store, but instead backtracked to make our show on time. Mom had told me a revolving stage was used for Les Mis in order to show more than one scene, but I couldn't even imagine how incredible it actually was. It reminded me of a movie, because the actors could actually walk around for some distance without actually moving, and the sets would move so as to create illusion of a panning camera. There were even scenes in slow motion!

Phantom wasn't until 7:30, so we had several hours to kill. We wandered around, and I saw that one theatre was showing Much Ado About Nothing. I explained to Dad how we just had to buy tickets, because David Tennant and Cathering Tate were starring, so we did!! Dad asked for close seats because he can't see well, and the lady cut our price in half because he's disabled; we ended up getting seats in the second row for L20 each!!! AAHH! My heart is fluttering...

We found a little pub that had 'traditional British food,' so we stopped there for dinner. I had fish and chips and Dad got a meat pie with mashed potatoes. It was so yummy!!!

After dinner we tried to get back to Her Majesty's, but got lost in Trafalgar Square. We saw where the Deathly Hallows Part II premiere is being held, and saw all the nerds camping there in robes and ties.* I noticed that there was a pretty even amount of people in all houses, which made me glad, because in America I always see like 80% Gryffindor, 9% Slytherin, 8% Ravenclaw, and 3% Hufflepuff, which makes me feel sorry for all the close minded people.

Anyway, we asked for directions from a postcard salesman, and found our way back to the theatre, literally just in time. I won't even spend any time trying to say how amazing Phantom was. I was simply in awe of the set; absolutely incredible.

We took the underground back to the hotel and watched some weird science show on BBC.

Tomorrow we shall be going to Harrod's. Hopefully I can find some white leggings so I can wear the dress I got in France.

*Also, tomorrow is the red carpet premiere! Actors start arriving at 4:00, but we haven't yet decided what time we want to be there. I'll be in my Ravenclaw sweater!