Update

My T-Mobile broadbabd USB stick has been blocking my access to this site since I bought it last Thursday, but I was able to get it to stop after calling the company. I bought it at Carphone Warehouse for 40 pounds and have 90 days free mobile broadband. Much cheaper than the 75 pounds a week for wireless broadband at the hotel.

Since I last updated I've been in to the office 3 times, found out my lease car isn't coming until April 1, had more trainings here at the hotel, and walked into the town centre of Ashford to register with my NHS doctor, Dr. Pinnock. His office is called North Street Surgery (surgery is what doctors' offices are called in the UK and it's on North Street.) He was recommended to me by one of the managers who interviewed me, Teresa, when we had a luncheon last week. I called his office and was told to come in to register in person, so when I was in the office yesterday, I did. It took me less than an hour to walk from my office to his, register, and walk back. I could have done it faster even probably. I have a nurse appointment Friday and have just finished filling out the paperwork for that. I only have enough carvedilol to get through Friday so hope they can hook me up with that PDQ. It's a beta blocker and the last time I ran out briefly my anxiety skyrocketed - - it definitely helps with anxiety.

Thought I could walk to work from home, but turns out it's too far, so I have been investigating buses. Emailed the bus company to enquire which bus line to take (I knew it would be B-line or C-line) and they recommended C-line boarding at Church Road. Since I didn't know where on Church Road the bus stop was, I called, and this time I was told there is a bus on Luckhurst Road (where my house is) that I can board to take to Town Centre, from which I can walk to the Civic Centre, where my office is. I guess, after I get the house keys on Friday, I can see where the bus stop is. Haven't heard yet when to be at work Monday morning but one of the trainers today told me 9:30 would be good, as my manager would probably want to deal with the rubbish on her desk before having to deal with a new worker first thing Monday, LOL.

I've ordered an Aerobed and before I could get hold of the delivery company (had to wait for Amazon.co.uk's seller to forward me the consignment number) it had been delivered and signed for by a D. Jones, who is apparently one of my neighbours. Hopefully I will be able to get it without difficulty, as well as make my nurse appointment at 4:40 p.m. Friday.

Many people here order groceries online and have them delivered, and since I'll be without a car for a while, I will probably do the same. Planning to camp out in the house until my shipment comes, ETA March 8, Also hoping to send for Toby once I get the keys to the house and see how much money I have left. Money will still be tight at least until my second paycheck. Pretty much everyone in our group of new social workers is worried about not having brought enough money and I even heard one of the most stable-seeming of us today musing about whether she had enough money for a plane ticket home. At lunch she said she had hit the wall in regards to making decisions about so many things every day and had decided not to make any more decisions for a while. We tend to talk each other down when one or the other of us gets wrapped around the axle, which happens to all of us at one time or another.

I'm going into Maidstone tomorrow to get 2 passport photographs, which I will need for my work ID, and hopefully get to the bank when it is open so I can deposit the check I've been carrying from selling my car in the US. I'd also like to transfer the money on my US debit card to my UK debit card and deposit the small amount of US currency I have. The banks are generally open about 10 to 4:30 and I haven't been able to get to a branch since receiving my debit card and other banking info a week ago Monday. It's not an emergency but it is something I would like to get done.

I'm working on trying to slow down in general - - it takes longer to get things done here and the pace of life is generally slower, which I wanted, but I didn't realize how much I was used to getting things done immediately if not sooner. For instance, I set up broadband and phone at the house on February 13 and the first available install date was March 1. It's fine, just different. Once I hit the groove I know I will enjoy slowing down very much. Not to mention 26 days off a year, plus holidays!!!

Driving in the UK is a sepaarate post and I'm not going there yet.

All in all I'm doing well and feeling quite happy. I do have occasional stabs of loneliness and try to avoid using my mobile as it costs 80p (what, about $1.50)a minute to call the US. I've topped it up with 10 pounds at least 4-5 times. Can't figure out what happened this last time. As far as I can tell I only used the mobile for local calls after my last top-up and it ran out of money in absolutely no time. Maybe it's the same rate to make calls within the UK as it is to call the US. I don't think it is but I haven't checked specifically. I'm on a PAYG (pay as you go) plan and changed my tariff (rate plan) to one that looked more affordable than the one I started with, but it would probably be cheaper to get a contract. However, not all the new social workers have been able to get phone contracts as they require credit, which we don't yet have in the UK. We've been told different things about how long one has to be here to get credit; 3-6 months is the average. I still have my US cell phone, which I like very much, but don't know about using it - - it's out of date already, of course, and I want to keep my UK mobile number, which I've finally only just memorized. I was given a mobile at work too but I don't seem able to charge it up with the charger I have for my other UK mobile, which is odd in that they're both Nokias. It seems to plug in with the charger I have but the indicator doesn't start flashing while it's charging as it does for my other phone. Oh well, filing that under ongoing mysteries of UK life.

I so can't tell what people are saying the first sentence they say to me, When they realize I'm American they slow down and it gets better. Still a lot of "what does that mean?" on my part though. Quite funny sometimes IMO. The woman sitting next to me in the office, on my asking why the radiator next to me was making odd noises, said she'd "had a moan" about it, meaning she'd called maintenance. I didn't understand her at first and when I did I busted out laughing. Fortunately she didn't take it personally - - it just hit me funny at that particular point. I really find that I'm taking on phraseology quite a bit; it's part of congruency in my social work practice and also there are lots of expressions and words I quite like, and I'd like people to forget I'm American to the extent I can by modifying my speech.

I hear seagulls every time I'm in Ashford, where I'm working. It's only about 10 miles from the coast so it's not surprising, but it just intrigues me. I haven't seen the ocean since I've been here and there has been a lot of snow in Ashford, and I associate seagulls with the warm, palmy beaches of my childhood. It kinda makes me feel as if I'm in a Pink Floyd video.

I'll write more when I have time and now that I can get onto my blog. :)