Better make this quick as I'm gonna run outta juice and air time. Had the best jetliner ride I ever had from JFK to LHR - - slept for half an hour before we ever left the ground, had dinner, watched the Michael Jackson movie "This Is It" twice on my personal video screen, started listening to some jazz on the AA channel, had a continental breakfast (croissant and OJ) and landed. There was snow on the ground at Heathrow!!! It was quite cold the first day or two but it's been warming up since. It was sunny at first too but has been gray and drizzly since. Ironing my hair EVERY night, as I thought I would.
Found a place to live on Tuesday - - it's a semi-detached house with a lovely solarium and back garden (back yard.) I move in the 18th or 19th. It's close to work, I can walk into town and it's close to Ashford International rail station too. Between now and Sunday, when I move into the Hilton in Maidstone for induction, I don't have anything I have to do. Yesterday after signing documents for the house, the relo lady dropped me off in the Maidstone high street and I wandered around there for hours and went to the Chequers mall. Today I'm at the Society Rooms/Wetherspoon restaurant for the free wifi. It's in the Maidstone high street too. When I leave here I may walk back to the Chequers mall - - there's a used book I want to buy there. Or I may go back to the B&B. This laptop is HEAVY when you cart it around without a shoulder strap.
Having a blast so far though!!! The TV is great!!! Have seen some good documentaries, some funny shows, and the chat shows discuss interesting topics with people in their fields. Not so celebrity-driven. I've learned a lot about Afghanistan and the economy from watching TV, and am trying to pick up on British social habits from talking to Brits and listening to conversations on the streets.
I like the word "blimey."
More later . . .
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So here comes the envy again! Make sure to share all of your tales! I'm really looking forward to hearing about your adventures. What were you required to do to get your semi-attached home? The solarium sounds wonderful...I'm sure that Toby will love it when he comes...I know that mine would.
ReplyDeleteI had to make a deposit of 250 pounds. The letting office couldn't read my US credit card - - no chip in it - - so I had to give cash. Could have given a check but didn't have any - - never used them in the US and the ones here hadn't come in. And, I needed "American reference," which in my case turned out to be 3 months of bank statements. We were talking at our first dinner tonight about whether we actually "have" the properties we think we do - - another social worker came 3 weeks early and thinks she's booked her property in Folkestone but hasn't heard - - maybe the move-in process is more complex than we're yet realizing. I think it'll all work out, maybe with some twists and turns to come though.
ReplyDeleteI do believe I got the solarium for Toby. I know he will love it. I will too, but he may have more time to enjoy it than I will. In that I learned today my shipment's not coming until March 8, I'm leaning toward sending for him as soon as I move into the house. We can camp out together. I'll get an Aerobed or something and I can pick him up some food and a bed. I miss him desperately, of course, and am anxious to make sure he makes the journey okay. He was all right when I called Traveling Tails last week, but it's hard to relax until I know he's safely here.
Oh yeah, the email - - I just email my sister and bcc everyone else on my list - - an old habit from when I was a team leader at my MT job and was taught NEVER to send cc's, only bcc's. So that's why I do things that way. It's a habit now.
Cats rule!!! But geez, is it ever hard here to get a place when you have even one pet. *sigh* I think we decided at dinner that if possible we pet-lovers should get short-term leases and once we've been here longer maybe it'll be easier to find places on our own that are more pet-friendly than when others are looking for us. I mean, there have got to be more out there. I think.