These are just some random observations:

• I’m forcing myself to comprehend the whole “driving on the opposite side of the road” idea. I’ve gotten the jaywalking thing down pat. but it means I spend a lot of time reminding myself which side of the street the cars are driving. Never fear Mom, I am not blindly crossing the street. I spend a long time determining which direction the traffic is coming from and then cross. And, as I walk along the street, I keep reminding myself whic direction the traffic next to me is going.
• I’ve picked up 2 more smart cards. In the US, I had a smart card to get into the office building and to use the CTA. Now, I have another card for the UK office and an Oyster Card. That and the hotel room card means i have a lot of magnetic stripe and smart cards
• Gastropubs have some tasty, but not cheap food. Plus if usually guarantees that they will have some hand-pumped ales (yummy!)
• I have found a single pub with beer that is cheaper than an American pint. Granted, an imperial pint is about 20% more than a US pint 🙂
• I had strike one on my housing hunt. The place my coworker Ben found his place said they had nothing available with my criteria. I’m a little worried I sounded to rigid or that they thought I had rigid criteria. The tricky thing is that many estate agents only focus on a single borough or two. If they have nothing in those boroughs, I need to look at others. Anyways, tomorrow, I will walk into places and make it clear I’m more flexible.
• I like the questions to the Prime Minister. Granted, I think he knows what to expect more than you might think (he’s clearly reading off prepared notes), but I’d love to see Bush answering questions from Congress or the Senate 🙂

That’s a serious question. In the US, we more or less drive on the right side of the road and walk on the right side of the sidwalk. In the UK, they drive on the left side of the road. Interestingly, with a lot of thought, I’m about 60% used to this. However, when I walk on a sidewalk, I have no idea whether to be on the left or right side of the sidewalk.

Anyhoo (is that better mom/dad/a friend??), i kind of hit a jetlag wall. I woke up early this morning to see if I couldn’t check a little of the east end out, but it was cold and I was almost asleep on my feet. So I headed to work for morning, did a little work and kept trying to take in the city (digitally, of course) without feeling overwhelmed. Since one of the primary purposes of this trip is to actually get a grasp of this enormous city, I left after lunch and went for a wander. I’ve now seen a little bit of the city center (not gonna live there), the east end (I need to see more), Islington (nice but I doubt I can afford it) and now Camden. Camden seems like a good candidate. It’s got a little bit of an edge, but not in an unsafe way and it has all the nice aspects of a London borough. I almost feel ready to talk to an estate agent so I can be shown places and still have some idea what area I’m looking at!!

I promise, in the next few days, my camera will come out and you’ll get pictures of London, not 2 year old pictures of my broken bruised body and Carolyn’s broken and totaled car 🙂

PS – If the British news folks talk about the Brits who got nominated for an Oscar again, I’m gonna kill someone!! The BBC isn’t doing themselves too proud based on what I’ve been watching on the tele! It’s almost worse than the US entertainment folks in that they are supposed to be respectable news and all they can talk about is some silly fucking movie with Helen Mirran (I liked her in Gosford Park but I have zero interest in hearing anything about a pampered “royal” like Queen Elizabeth!) and Judy Dench. Oh yeah, that and people have been looting the shit that has washed up on shore from that half-sunken freighter.

Alrighty, lemme try to sum up the fun of the last few days with some bullet point observations:

• The US domestic airlines can’t do international flights for shit. I flew American to London in October and they kindly provided a seat and some movies and nothing else. I just flew British Airways and they provided toothpaste/brush, good food, unlimited booze and nicer seats. And there is less of a sense that you are just a piece of cattle to them
• London is a little overwhelming. I need to focus my energies on getting a good feel for this city, but that’s a tall order in just a couple of weeks.
• The local football team, Arsenal, beat Manchester United in an exciting match. I found a pub that wasn’t packed to the gills and had a couple of pints whilst enjoying some friendly (and happy) football fans. It was interesting to see all sorts of people I recognized from watching the world cup this summer
• The UK office is very nice. I like the design and, after they crammed our desks together in the US, I’m used to the lack of workspace every one has. I should be able to do all sorts of fun work that will keep me nice and busy for a while
• Jetlag hasn’t been too bad and i’m managed to avoid getting sick after a flight. hurray!

Thus endeth my first list post of things in London. Tomorrow I’m going to try to spend more daylight hours taking in the city and working a little less. Hopefully, I’ll also see some apartments and see what the UK housing market has to offer.

As I’ve pointed out before , this is going to be a slow-moving blog for a little while. And yet, I keep writing :). Regardless, things really get “interesting” (pictures! stories! adventure! Europe!) very soon. This week is all about boring errands I should have done earlier but now have to do since I’m leaving the country. But on Saturday night, I hop a plane and begin learning all I can about London, living in London and my new job. I’m really looking forward to it  because it’ll mean I’m done with the worst part of all of this and can begin truly enjoying what is happening and not just dreaming about it. Wheee!

In the meantime, here’s a picture of some very nice people.

Anna and Chewy left with my parents this morning to begin a 6 month adventure. They have lived in this particular apartment for almost 3 years and now they get to spend the next 6 months in CT and Michigan before boarding a plane for England. I’ll miss them a lot but I know my parents will take good care of them until they are cleared to make a big ol’ trip.

Me and two very sweet kitties.

I’ll stop writing about this now 🙂

My parents have arrived with a nice big car. They leave tomorrow and they take with them two very cute cats. In their honor, here are a few pictures of them. It’s going to be a sad 6 months without them 🙁

Chewy and Anna playing with a toy on a string.

Chewy sitting on the couch. When I’m home, this is one of his favorite spots. He just likes to lounge.

My mom put these pillows in the living room like this. Anna likes it. She tends to like small squares to sit and perch on.

Part of my preparation in moving to London involves moving the cats over there. In the past (I believe before around 2000), the rule was, if you wanted your pets to move with you, you had to quarantine them for 6 months. In my world, that sounds like bringing them to the UK and keeping them in a cage for 6 months. That’s downright cruel to a pet-owner. Thankfully, this rule has been changed so that the cats can move 6 months after a rabies-free blood test as long as all their shots are up-to-date and they have a microchip in them.

Since I really kind of like my cats, I decided I would do what it takes to get them across the pond to England. The first two steps were easy (they are already chipped and they were due for their rabies tests anyways). Little did I know that the third part, the blood test, would be such an ordeal.

Now, to my human perspective, all you need to do for a blood test is to stick your arm out and have them put a needle in your arm for a little bit. No big deal. Cats aren’t quite as good. First of all, they are cats and, by their very nature, a little bit squirmy. Second, how exactly do you find a vein to stick a needle in when they have all that fur. Yesterday, I foud out how they do it.

I’m pretty sure that, as far as my cats go, I’m a wimp. If they so much as look funny, I decide they are deathly ill. So picture my reaction to watching a vet assistant holding one of my cats (Anna went first) in a head lock while the vet probes around looking for a pulse on one of my cats front legs, then back legs, then neck. Each time, he jabbed her with a needle and she twitched and growled and freaked out. Meanwhile, he couldn’t quite tap a vein and she is completely freaked out and pissed. Finally, he shaves a tuft of hair from her neck and gets about 1/4 the needed blood. In the end, he got just about the right amount. And it only took 10 tries!! 🙂

Chewy went second and if you were wondering about my vet’s competence, he managed to strike blood on the first try. And Chewy was a good patient. He was, however, the model of a split personality. His big beautiful eyes had a total look of fear in him. His left front paw, however, was doing this kneading action with his claws. This is something he does when he’s relaxed and comfortable!

Anyways, as long as the tests come back clean, the clock starts ticking today and the cats will spend 6 months in CT and Michigan with my parents and then will be sent over the UK to live the life of British cats. Only one more checkup (no shots, no needles) to go!

So this is starting to feel more like a done deal with every passing day. Friday started the Visa fun. Based on what HR has told me, I don’t need to do a whole lot of weird legal stuff and waiting on lines, but I do need to provide them with a whole lot of information. It’s mostly professional-related info, but I’m required to put together a CV, something I haven’t done since I started working at Morningstar (almost 5 years ago).  I also need a copy of my diploma, something I haven’t seen since, well, since I graduated.

The next sign that this is a done deal was the announcement of my replacement(!). They are doing an internal re-organization type thing so it’s not like they had a whole hiring process. But my heart-felt congrats to Hong on joining my now former group!

The final piece is taking a visit over to London. Today I bought a plane ticket to spend January 20th until February 3rd in the UK. During that time, I’ll get acquainted with my soon-to-be new coworkers, wander the streets of London and see if I can adjust from grid-like Chicago to the mazes of the London streets. And finally, I’ll be checking out neighborhoods and “flats” (I won’t start talking like a Brit just yet) so I know about my living situation. When I get back, I may very well have a lease!

Anyways, a lot of movement going on. It’s all pretty cool and making this whole thing seem real and not some weird dream. And now the exciting things are happening. Hell, I get to go back to Europe when I was just there 3 months ago. Sweet!

This blog will be a little slow going in the first couple of weeks, but here’s the latest information:

The last week has been pretty tough. I imagine all people, when they have been living in the same town for 5 years accumulate crap. Prior to living in Chicago, I’d pretty much moved every 10 months. Then, after a short stint in an apartment here, I actually renewed my first lease. Then, 2 years later, I bought a place! Now I have an enormous apartment that has been building up shit for 3 years, so the last week has been spent trying to clear out the shit to prep the place for selling. Hopefully, in the next day or two, the junk will be gone and then I can move forward with things.

In the meantime, my parents will be coming out next weekend to say hello and help out in any way they can. Alas, when they leave, they will be taking two of the sweetest cats in the world. While I plan on taking them with me to London, there is a 6 month waiting period before they can move to the UK. Soooo, while I have to move sometime soon (end of February is looking like the most likely time), they will be hanging out in CT and Michigan with my very nice parents who will definitely spoil them and treat them very well. All the same, it’s very sad that I only have one more week with my cats before a 6 month separation.

I’ll leave you with a happy note: I’m moving to London!!! 🙂