Kitchen Crisis Averted!

Per the final comment in the last post...

I was describing the hot hot kitchen to someone at work today, and they said "don't you have those Velux windows"? I said, I don't think so, just some skylights. (See picture of Jason in kitchen, just above his head.)

I rushed home tonight to try it. The skylights open! Sweet! This will make the whole cooking experience quite a bit more pleasant in the summertime. Except when it rains.

You can't have it all!

A little homier

Whew! It's been a busy past few days! Here it is, in pictures:

Friday 25 July: Our stuff arrived!

Nice, huh?
This was the only ruined box, and it contained
1) an empty box
2) some wrapping paper + ribbons
3) the plastic tote at bottom left, whose cover did not survive but whose contents (winter clothing) did.

We also lost the tail end of the waffle iron, and one of 2 Halloween-themed votive holder that I've been lugging around since... college, maybe?

After receiving our stuff, I felt a strong impulse to remove half of what was delivered and bring it to Jason's mom's garage in Colchester. So, we went car shopping. Haven't purchased one yet (even a cheap VW ain't cheap here, we discovered), but speaking of Colchester...

Saturday 26 July: We went to Colchester!

No joke. Here's proof:

We did not go to the Colchester Zoo, if you're wondering. We spent the day shopping with Carole, a bit of clothes but mainly furniture & household goods. Had a homecooked meal (first in awhile!) which brings me to...

Sunday 27 July: We cooked! And started to get organized!

We spent Sunday cleaning dishes and getting started on finding homes for things, but not until after I convinced Jason to lug a 50lb bookcase home from the store (see note above about no car). Since it's hiding in the corner or our as-yet unorganized living room (though really, it's the bedrooms that are scariest), I wanted to make sure the one area of serenity got the attention it deserves. I spend a lot of time looking at the bookcase, now.

Finally, Sunday night we cooked dinner. We made a pork roast, with little potatoes and a salad. Seemed British enough. After not being able to spend less than 20GBP ($40) - and frequently quite more - for a dinner for 2 for the last month, we were happy to cook at home! I think my waistline will appreciate it, too. :-)


Our dinner, and the chef:











We cooked again tonight, too, and after 2 nights we have discovering that our lofted kitchen will require us to expand our dinner repetoire into some no-cook meals. With no AC or fans, it's pretty tough to be in a high enclosed space on an 85-degree day, with 2 burners going!


Til next time...

A small list of good things

I'm sure my numerous loyal readers are wondering where the heck the riveting updates are.

Well, here are some pieces of good news!

- We have an internet connection at home! Jason just spent the last 45 mins on the phone to IT in India trying to get his VPN working, but mine works fine, so I guess this still qualifies as good news.

- We had a fabulous weekend in Barcelona. I'll post something about this once I get the desktop hooked up so that I can upload our pictures and put a link in. It was 80 degrees and sunny, we ate really good food, and felt relaxed for the first time in awhile.

- I did NOT get food poisoning on my latest trip home from the Netherlands, which made for a much more pleasant journey than my previous adventure in the Amsterdam airport.

- Today, I learned the local trick to cheating the National Rail, thus saving myself the need to purchase a 12.30GBP (i.e. $25) round trip train ticket every day. NOW we're talking!

- The best for last... Our stuff comes tomorrow! The movers are supposed to arrive at 9AM. Hopefully they are more timely (i.e. come on the scheduled date) than the movers in the US. Thus, you know what the weekend will be all about... (Also arriving late morning: the plumber! Turns out caulking does not fix leaky pipes, and Paul downstairs is kind of tired of a soggy second bedroom.)

So... it will be an exciting day tomorrow, and a busy weekend. More details to follow!

Business Trips

Last week I had a business trip to the Netherlands. I will be going there a lot, as Unilever has a large office in Rotterdam (being an Anglo-Dutch company and all). I spent Tuesday in Rotterdam and Wednesday in Vlaardingen, which is probably where I will visit most often. Now, just so you don't get jealous, here is a picture of the view from the office in Vlaardingen:

This week, they have shipped me away to Stiges, Spain. It's about a 40 minute ride from Barcelona, right on the sea. This is so you do get jealous:

View from the balcony in my room (not the best view in the house but I'm not complaining!

Dining area + view:

Living large! They are certainly making us work for it (I'm on a training course) but the couple hours of downtime in the day are quite enjoyable!

Jason is flying into Barcelona on Thursday night -- we'll stay there (in the city) through Sunday for a much-needed long weekend (before I head to scenic Vlaardingen again on Sunday night)!

A little about the flat

Greetings and salutations!

We do not have internet at home yet so it's very difficult to maintain this with regularity when we can't log on at home. We signed up for it, but it will take them 10 days. Not that they need to come to our place or anything. They just flip a switch. But it will take 10 days. Right. Great.

In other news...

We have had some watery fun in our apartment! 3 separate events:

1. A nice "welcome" note from the neighbor downstairs on morning #2. Something from our apt. above is "pouring" into his apt. below. Turns out to be the master shower. We use the other "shower" (a tub + a hose). We call the landlord, he caulks. We use the shower again. Another friendly note from Paul downstairs (same problem but not as bad). We call the landlord, he caulks, I get the feeling this may not be a simple leaky thing... perhaps a plumber might be better? We use the shower again... several times... no note. Hope there's no lawsuit pending.

2. Last Saturday morning, I awoke to the gentle pitter patter of falling rain on the window sill. How pleasant! A nice welcome to my first sleep-in in awhile. Then: splat, splat, splat, splat... the unmistakeable sound of dripping water on soggy carpet. Jason informs me that I missed the waterfall down the window sill. It's obvious from watermarks this is not the first time this has happened. We call the landlord. He cleans the gutter and moves around some wires that the phone company installed. It rained all day yesterday, and we're dry inside.

3. As noted on our 16-page move-in inventory, the freezer was so badly frosted over that the door wouldn't shut. We call the landlord. He said go ahead & defrost; he would not hold us liable for damage. Have you ever defrosted a freezer with scissors and a hammer? I have! I chipped away but Jason diligently monitored the 3-day unfreezing PROcess. We now have a fully functional freezer!

In case your wondering about the landlord... bought the "flat" in recent months with his girlfriend. Moved in. 2 weeks later, moved out. Ah, cohabitation (nor not). Anyhow, poor "bloke" is in a rough spot and I'm pretty sure our rent is not covering the mortgage. But it's got to be better than nothing and it's still a lot of dough! He's a really nice guy and has been fine to deal with, but hopefully we don't face anything major because I get the feeling he's not interested in investing a lot in the place!

Scary

The other day, Jason said "Cheers" to a bartender... unintentionally.

I guess it was bound to happen some time.

Oh, the irony! (Post Date: Friday, July 4)

OK this one I really wish I had a picture for. Today I worked on the 4th of July for the first time ever. I knew it was coming but I only realized the date after receiving my bought-incorrectly-on-board train ticket and seeing 4 Jul 08 stamped on it.

I didn’t think of it again until I went down to lunch. This was my first lunch in the Unilever cafeteria (I was at a TV shoot Wednesday and the ad agency Thursday). As I walked downstairs with a couple girls from my group, I saw a sign: “American Barbeque!”. Yep, there they were, Brits celebrating the 4th of July. They had a grill set up on a patio area, serving “Manhattan Burgers”, hot dogs, chicken, and kebabs, along with grilled corn on the cob. It was actually pretty good, even if I did have to go inside to hunt down ketchup packets from the condiment bar.

They had little American flag banners decorating the outside, and the chefs had tall Uncle Sam hats on. There was a woman giving 1oz samples of “American cloudy lemonade”, so you could try before you spent 50p ($1) on a full glass. As a “real live American” I was asked my opinion (always willing to give: it was good but a bit weak for my tastes; I bought a glass anyways – WITH ice).

I thanked my team for setting this up for me (ha ha, in case it wasn’t clear), and scrambled for stories of 4th of Julys past, as for at least the past three I have been out of the country. Now make that 4.

Oh and in case the irony’s not obvious: On my first working Independence Day, I am in the country from which we celebrate … wait for it … our independence. (Glad I could help explain that.)

Must be time to go find a Bud Light.

UK Week 1 (Post Date: Friday, July 4)

Given that this week has felt about 9 days long (whereas I arrived 4 nights ago), I will try for a digest of the highlights* of the week.

Maple Explosion
After having assured the Chill folks that I was indeed taking real NH maple syrup with me to England, that decision came back to bite me. However, it did mean that I immediately got to try out my funny little washing machine, located as standard in the kitchen. And, even though I later realized(1) that I put the detergent in the ‘pre-wash’ slot instead of the ‘wash’ slot, the fact that the thing ran for nearly 3 hours gave me great confidence that the clothes were clean!

The next load I ran with detergent in the right slot, and on the “short” cycle: about 90 mins.

(1)Please someone kick me the first time I type “realise”.

A Day “Off”
Tuesday I spent in Clapham, my new (area? town? village?). Found a coffee shop to squat at for about 3-4 hours for the price of 1 cappuccino (2.05 GBP, if you’re wondering). Managed to steal a spotty but free internet connection and took care of a bunch of administrative stuff, including sending details for my work permit application. This is the document that says I am more qualified for my job than anyone already living & working here.

I sat for lunch at a place that will probably become a breakfast favorite (The Boiled Egg & Soldiers). While/st waiting for my lunch, Billy Joel’s New York State of Mind played softly, followed by the Sex & the City theme (no, not Labels & Love, just the 30-second instrumental opener). I guess that someone out there was a bit late providing me my sentimental Hollywood moment (see previous post), and at this one I had to roll my eyes and chuckle.

Public Transportation
I think I have spent no less than 20 hours in the Greater London public transportation system this week (in the 3 days I have used it!!), and have probably spent something like 20GBP more than I should have. (Conversion: 1 GBP = $2) This included: a subway delay, a cab ride in an unfamiliar area, a 25-min ‘layover’ 1 stop from my train station, a couple trains I missed but wouldn’t have if I knew the schedule or how to read the board. Also included several incorrectly used Oyster-card reads (refillable Underground pass), one train ticket bought on-board when should have been pre-bought, and other mishaps for which I used my charming “not from here” accent to get out of. They may catch on…

I’m sure there have been other moments and I will share as they come back to me…

*term used loosely.

Final Week in USA (Post Date: Sunday, June 29)

Want to give a big shout out to the folks made my last week in the US so awesome. It could have been a hellish week (and was in some ways, for example with the movers not actually coming the day they were supposed to), but it turned out to be a really special one. I saw friends from HS, college, bschool, and work, as well as my immediate fam and ‘extended’ Chill family up in NH (having seen the real extended fam and Julie the previous weekend).

Over the course of the week I participated in one of my favorite activities (karaoke) with the Unilever crew; had a girls’ wine & cheese night in; enjoyed a picnic and Philharmonic in the Park with Sternies – a good distraction on my 2nd wedding anniversary; laughed with a few of my favorite people over a few pints and nachos on the UWS; and savored a fantastic bottle of red with Mom *not Mum* and Dad. (I’m flattered Dad deemed my departure special enough for the Duckhorn Cab he had been saving.)

Going backwards… on my last morning in NYC I had a nice UES brunch with Unilever friends Franck and Hope, in between disposing of my third- and second-to-last pieces of furniture to some very dependable strangers. After brunch, Gregory stopped by to help me dispose of the one piece of remaining furniture – which proved to be a bit more difficult than might have been expected – and begrudgingly took my remaining case of beer off my hands. Hope, also of Normandie Court domicile, turned out to be a last-minute angel in providing move-out and moral support. I could not have made it through the move-out without Greg or Hope.

As I left my empty apartment to make my fifth and final trip down to load up the Jetta for one more drive to NH, I tried to conjure up wistful feelings about leaving Normandie Court, but they didn’t come. I tried for reflective as I drove out of Manhattan, but leaving over the Willis Ave Bridge rather than something more made for this Hollywood moment seemed to prevent it. Or it could have been that, for the first time in months, I had nothing left to do at that moment to prepare for the move, at which point I allowed myself to feel nothing other than exhausted. Even in absence of pre-nostalgia, I know I will miss the dormish first apartment Jason & I shared, and a magnificent city in which I leave incredible friends but from which I will take countless fond memories.