A Week of Firsts!

Oh happy day.

Yesterday, Sunday, March 15 marked the first day in over 5 months in which I got to putter around London without being swathed in a coat and scarf. Yea mobility! What a glorious day it was.

Oh (I say casually, like it isn't important...), and yesterday also commerates my first anniversary with Simon. One year-hopefully of many to come.

Also, T-minus 4 days and counting to Simon & I moving in together. Another first!

Happy Anniversary to Me!

This is really sad....It just dawned on me last night that I've officially been in the UK for a year. I was so caught up in my birthday, getting ready to move in with Simon, and a few other odds & ends that it really slipped right by me!
But, as with most anniversaries/milestones, there's been a fair amount of reflection since last nite as I ponder the good, the bad, the 'what next', and the 'TBD.'

The Good:
-London is an AMAZING place to live (if you can put up with some of the bad.. ;)). My Saturdays at Borough Market, the times I pop over to the Tate Modern, or even the Sunday afternoons I'm in my lovely local, The Mitre, having a pint, make me realize what a great place this city is. I love living here. For now. I know I won't be able to do it forever (or even for many years more...), but for now, as much as I miss Seattle, I'm still in awe enough to want to stay here a bit longer.
-Public transportation will never get old for me. I love the tube. I love the train. I even love the busses (now that I've figured out how to ride them. a milestone..). Yea, public transport. I just wish more cities in the US were this hooked-up.
-And of course, the travel. Five airports, the Eurostar, and even the local trains to places in England make London as a base for travel exceptional. I am becoming spoiled.
-Oh, and let's not forget Simon. Meeting him has truly been the best things to come to my life from this move, and I don't take it for granted for even a second.

The Bad:
-Damn, this is one expensive town. As excited as I am to move in with Simon and 'save money' on rent, the fact of the matter is, it's still ridiculous what we'll be paying: £600 a week, or around £2400 a month. Even as low as the GBP/USD rate is right now, that's still $3360. There is nothing about that number to like. Grr.
-Customer service doesn't exist. I am already cringing at the poor customer service I am going to receive when I move flats in a week and have to get TV/Internet/Power...sorted. My life will be a living hell for about two weeks while I deal with customer service reps that don't give a monkey's arse about whether or not I'm happy/they've answered my question/they've done their jobs/etc...All they'll care about is getting me off the phone quickly. Can't wait.
-It's not Seattle. There are still days, or occasions, where there is a palpable pain in my heart when I think about not being in Seattle. I miss my friends (though the friends I've made here are great); I miss the 'city'-though as I said, London is fantastic; I miss 'home'-and all of the easiness of life that comes with living there.

-Though I've always been on top of my finances and cognizant of the situation, moving here has added a layer of obsession about my finances that I didn't think existed. How much I have in savings here, how much I have in savings in the US, when the US credit card bill is due-and do I need to transfer money from savings to checking to pay for it, am I going to be able to find replacement renters during the worst period of time in recent history to have to find renters...urgh. It's enough to keep you awake some nights. And, it has. I just try to take a deep breath and tell myself that a) it's only money and b) worst-case scenario, I pack it up and go back to the States.

What's Next:
-Well, I guess front and center is moving in with Simon and getting settled. This will be his first time living with a partner, and only my second (and we all know how well that ended...). I should be nervous, but for some reason, I'm not-I'm actually pretty darned excited!

TBD:
-Depending on how the 'what's next' goes...TBD could mean moving back to Seattle-perhaps solo, perhaps with Simon in tow. Next year. Two years from now...Moving somewhere else...in the US, not in the US....urgh. The options are endless enough to boggle the mind. I guess I just need to sit tight with What's Next for a few months, and depending on how that goes (and possibly the economy here or in the US...), TBD may become much easier to actually um, D.

A few fun things

Seems there have been a rash of fun things I've come across lately-TV Commericals, websites, restaurants...stuff...and I wanted to make mention of a few of them. Somewhat for posterity, somewhat because it's been a while since I've blogged and am feeling the need to update, somewhat because I'm in need of a good chuckle. Anyhoo, enjoy.

My current favorite TV Commercial (totally worth the full 2.8 minutes for the music and the cameos). Apparently this is a re-worked Frankie Valli song!:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMI-3DAX-3I&feature=channel

My new favorite place to go for happy hour:
http://www.dirtymartini.uk.com/london/cocktailbar/index.asp
Outside of cute, little restaurant in Homer, AK (seriously...), they serve the best chocolate martini I've ever had!

Best viral website I've seen in ages:
http://www.phdcomics.com/proceedings/viewtopic.php?t=11087

And, this one I just came across today in the Seattle Times online version. It's almost enough to make me cry, but I hope to god some of those fortunate souls are going to take advantage!:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2008819518_lawyerpay06.html

I'm A 'Non-European/Other'

I had my first PT appointment today to get my hip sorted out, and the NHS, in their never-ending attempt to ethnically categorize every patient they come in contact with made me fill out a brief form.

There were no slots for 'American' and, let's face it, as we're mostly mutts in the USA; the closest categorization we'd have in the US would be based on race-not 'ethnic background.'

The next-best category I could find?....Apparently, I'm a 'Non-European/Other'

hmph.

Winter Blizard 2009

Or, as the Brits would call it: A lot of snow. :)

It basically paralyzed the city on Monday-no tube (mostly...), no bus, no train. I worked from home-Simon took the day off to begin with as it was his birthday, and we were supposed to spend the afternoon flat searching. But, with 6 plus inches of snow...plans changed.

We saw two flats, went for a stroll thru Hyde Park (truly stunning. hope you like the photos...), and then after lunch, Simon decided to head home, as one of the two lines actually running on the tube was the one he needed, and there was no guarantee he'd make it home.

Oh well. At least the snow was beautiful while it lasted!

The NHS: Ultra Progressive or Third World Country-Like?

Finally, after almost a year here, I had my first 'real' interaction with the NHS today. The NHS is the UK's privatized health care system (National Health Service to be exact), and up until now, I had only been to my doctor's office twice: once to 'register' with them, and once to get travel meds for my trip to the Dominican in October. Now, I know many people could write reams on what is broken about the US system. I don't disagree with that-and that's not the point of my post. But, what happened today was certainly worth mentioning-at least in my book...

Long story short, I had to pop up to the local hospital today for an X-Ray, and then go have some blood drawn (Settle down-it's nothing major. Just some hip-joint pain, and my GP wants to rule out any type of bone problems...). Anyhoo...how this all worked today is both pretty cool-and alarmingly dated.

With my X-Ray referral in hand from my GP, all I had to do was go to the hospital (no x-ray capability in the doc's office..), with my form and they worked me in for the day. No appointment, no nothing. First come, first served. And, as I arrived there right when they opened up this morning, there was also no queue. I was in and out in 15 minutes; it took me longer to walk there and back then the actual appointment itself. Yea. That's the progressive part.

Here comes the scary part...

A few hours later, I went to my GPs office to have some blood drawn. How do I put this delicately?...I don't want to imply that the 'US IS BEST' by what I'm about to say, but it certainly can't be too far from the truth: My arm didn't get swabbed with anti-bacterial anything, and the lady who took the blood?...DIDN'T EVEN WEAR GLOVES!!!!

I was so taken aback, that I actually stopped her and asked: why aren't you cleaning my arm? In the US, I would get swabbed before getting stuck. Hint. Hint. Her reply was that, since she pokes my arm after swabbing (with her finger to find a vein), she continues to transfer germs (um. well, the gloves would certainly take care of that problem!!!), and she would also have to wait until the wetness dries to be effective-otherwise, it's just useless (and can actually sting a bit when putting the needle in you). Her words, not mine. I couldn't help but think: well then, WAIT. An extra minute won't kill *you*, and newsflash: I've got a needle going in my arm. I'll never be able to tell if the pain is from then needle or the antiseptic.

Wow. Now, I certainly can't comment as to whether or not my experience today with the phlebotomist is the NHS standard, or if it's simply her way of doing things. So, I'm trying not to indict the entire NHS for this one experience. But, after coming from a health system where, I wouldn't be surprised to see receptionists wearing surgical gloves at some point in the near future, it did at least make me take note of the experience.

A Very British Week

Last Friday seemed to be the kickoff to a very odd, very British week...

I met a friend in Borough Market on Friday inbetween my in-town meetings for the day. We had a few minutes to kill before our lunch reservation at Roast, so while we were puttering in the market talking, we came across this. No words are needed:


And, as we all know and think about with great hope and (dare I say it?...) American Pride, Obama was inaugurated as the 44th President of the US on Tuesday. And for some reason, perfect strangers have taken the opportunity to strike up a chat with me about this over the past week; for lunch on Friday, my local kebab shop owner seemed to upgrade my 'small' combo to an 'american-size extra large' as we were talking about the (hopefully...) good things Obama will do-not only for the US, but for the world. A year ago, I would not have dared have this conversation with someone, and now, it's nice to be able to talk about the US (especially while not *in* the US) with a sense of pride.
Then, I get my paystub for January the other day and find that not only have I not had tax withheld, but I've also gotten a very fat refund-the net effect was a tripling of my normal 'after-tax' pay. woo. As I've been whinging about all this time...the British tax system seems to be even more bizarre than the US, and here is yet another example. Now that 'last years' tax return has been filed here, the HMRC *finally* recognizes that they're over-withholding my taxes. So, this is their lame attempt at fixing the situation. 9 months into the current tax year. Yeesh...

Lastly, the annual 'Amazon post-Christmas, Holiday bash' was last night. Yes..I know it's Janurary already, but in reality, December is too hectic for us to have our 'do' then, so even in the US, our party is in January. This isn't the British/odd part. Here comes the odd part...Apparently the UK version of these parties can only be described as the hook-up fest to end all hook-up fests. And though at first, I thought the rumors I had heard about last year were overblown, I can now say after what I saw last night...the rumors are actually true! Folks that are normally very buttoned up (and in some cases, very married...) suddenly-or at least for one night only-become these dancing, drinking, raging party animals on the lookout for, as the British best describe it, a good snogging; you could actually feel it in the air. I decided to be a good girl and left around 10.30p last night, and even though there were still several hours left in the party-and it was early, I could already see it going quickly downhill. It really was just amazing. Part of me wanted to just sit back and watch, and part of me was just so surprised, I couldn't believe it! Good times...