By PromptBoston

September 13th, 2010

A friendly challenge for the NFL season

A friendly challenge for the NFL season

We’re a diverse group here at Prompt. Not only do we operate offices across an ocean and the entire US, the backgrounds are different as well. We have people from Scotland, Wales, England, Rhode Island, New York among other locales. With each locale comes different customs and ideals. One of these is the sport teams we root for.

Being a native New Englander (I’m the guy from Rhode Island), most of my cheering is done for the Red Sox and Patriots. With the NFL season beginning this past weekend, I now begin the stressful job of managing my emotions every Sunday with the Patriots and my fantasy football team. Thankfully the Patriots won yesterday over the Cincinnati Bengals pretty handily. Laurie, who is from New York, actually got to watch her team in person, and unfortunately didn’t get the chance to feel the same joy watching her team earn a victory. When I say New York, I mean the state itself, not the metro area. She’s a Buffalo Bills fan.

It’s likely to be a tough year for Laurie and her Bills. I’ll spare the details and simply say they’re talent deficient. But being the charitable person I am, I’ll spare all my inter-divisional trash talk – especially after week one – and simply offer her this: In the two match-ups between our teams this season, if the Patriots lose both games or just one game by more than 17 points, I’ll write an entire edition of our Impromptu Weekly newsletter (subscribe!). Every section, no exceptions. However if the Bills lose both games or one game by 35 points or more, she must do the same. Your move Ms. SantaLucia

By Hazel Butters

September 7th, 2010

London Underground grinds to a halt (well, our bit anyway)

London Underground grinds to a halt (well, our bit anyway)

Samuel Johnson once said: “You find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”

Well if Mr Johnson were alive today and trying to leave London, it wouldn’t be very easy anyway, no matter how willing he was.  Last night members of two London Underground unions, the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT), and the Transport Salaried Staffs Associations (TSSA) went on a 24-hour strike.  The strike is a reaction to 800 job cuts and a reduction in opening hours for ticket offices in less central areas.

An estimated two-thirds of London Underground trains are not running, with whole lines closed.  For example, to visit our London offices we would usually recommend the District Line, but that’s currently completely suspended (though the TFL website doesn’t seem to have been updated).  So whether you are willing or not to leave London, today you’d better stay put.

PS – I don’t know if Mr Johnson had any strong views on travelling around or having a willingness to leave France, but on hearing President Sarkozy’s plans to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62, workers have gone on strike with train, plane, metro and bus services severely interrupted across the whole country.