Tax Season (File under: British Humour)

Based on the subject, this could be the driest post ever. I'll try to keep it short & colourful.

As you may be aware, the English like to do things in their own quirky way. Exhibit A: left-side driving; Exhibit B: warm beer.

Following tradition, the tax year here ends on April 5, naturally, and submission date is January 31. I will spare you all the details of the incompetencies of Ernst & Young (especially those hired by S&P; Unilever's were okay), but suffice it to say that Jason pretty much ended up doing our taxes even though the world's #1 tax firm were on the case.

But this is not about Ernst & Young; it is about the lovely people at HM Revenue & Customs, from whom Jason received this notice, dated 17 Feb 2010:

Dear Mr Willey

Thank you for your Tax Return for the year ended 5 April 2009 which we received on 28 January 2010.

I will treat the form for all purposes as though you sent it in response to a notice from us which required you to deliver it to us by the date we received it.

Yours sincerely,
S Watson, Revenue Assistant

WHAT!?!?!?! 10 points to the first person who can translate the above.* Personally I'm a little concerned that they haven't yet let me know if they'll treat my form in the same way. Or maybe I'm relieved. I'll never be sure.

*I will have no idea if you're correct.

Festive Season Parts II-VI

Before this gets to be too much more of a distant memory, I'm posting pictures and a few tidbits about the rest of the 2009 Festive Season, which kicked off with our Alentejo trip and continued straight up to and through New Years in California.

Festive Season Part II: We rounded up our friends (Jocelin & John) and made a proper Thanksgiving feast. Sure, it was the Saturday after the real turkey day, and sure, we didn't have any Ocean Spray canned cranberry sauce with those delicious ridges, but we did manage to stuff ourselves silly and play a solid Trivial Pursuit game. I will graciously say I can't remember who won.

From Festive Season 2009 - Nov-Dec '09

Festive Season, Part III: The following weekend, Jason & I headed off to Munich, Germany, to visit the Christmas Markets. We chose Munich for no reason other than flights to Munich were cheaper than any other Christmas market town we could find. We spent a glorious weekend eating and drinking our way through town, taking breaks from mulled wine and beer to enjoy various fried greasy breads or sausages. It certainly cemented my previously lacking Christmas spirit; I returned ready to face the rest of the Festive Season.

From Munich - December '09

From Munich - December '09

Festive Season Part IV: The weekend following our trip to Munich, 2 visitors from a wonderful land arrived on our doorstop: Carlo & Paola Marchi, my surrogate Italian parents, ready for their first-ever visit to England. They arrived with a seemingly sensible amount of luggage, only to reveal that one of their two baggagli was stuffed to the brim with food! In addition to fresh pasta, homemade pesto, tomato sauce, tartes, fresh cheeses, and breakfast biscotti, which you arguably might not find here, they had also packed garlic, chicken breasts, a packaged pouch of grated parm, bread, and dried spaghetti. England may not be known for its food, but these precautions seemed a little unnecessary. I told my Italian work friend Max about it. He wasn't at all surprised. We ate like kings during their 4-day stay, and slightly regretted already having plans one evening. With this bounty of food, the language barrier I was worried about disappeared.

During this weekend, I also carried on the tradition of personalized gingerbread folks, which went over very well down at the Unilever ranch.

From Festive Season 2009 - Nov-Dec '09

From Festive Season 2009 - Nov-Dec '09

Festive Season Part V: After the Marchi's departure, only 2 events remained before our trip back to the States. The first was the annual Unilever UK Christmas Party. Last year's was the famous 'Posh & Becks' Christmas' ... this year, 'Cirque Noel', complete with acrobats, jugglers on stilts, bumper cars, and a carnival ride which somehow defied the likelihood of being a very dangerous combination with the copious amounts of alcohol being consumed. Not quite as good as last year's, but a good time all the same.

And finally...

Festive Season Part VI: The first of many family events to come, we spent a snowy weekend in Colchester with Carole, keeping warm with a roast dinner and mulled wine, and exchanging the first of the gifts. A cozy end to the Festive Season!

From Festive Season 2009 - Nov-Dec '09

New content

So, how about those New Year's Resolutions? ... ... ...

Anyway, we expect we've got more or less one year remaining in our Great British adventure. Putting this down on paper feels like a 'famous last words' situation, but 1 1/2 years in, we're becoming more & more confident about the things we'll miss and those which we certainly won't when we do ultimately get off this island.

So, we started a list at right. Well, 2, actually. In our first go, I can't believe our 'things we'll miss' outnumbers 'things we won't', but I wager that's bound to change.

Also opted for a facelift of the page while I was at it. Hoping to get some more pix & stories up this weekend... stay tuned!