Project: Repatriation

Swan Song

2009-07-26T17:02:00.000-07:00

[Note: I started writing this post about a week ago. Had several paragraphs written, but then I had to shelve it for a while. When I went back to it later, it was gone. I blame the software I’m now using to publish to the blog: Windows Live Writer. It somehow lost or deleted my draft. Anyway, the following is take 2.]

We have been remiss. Very, very remiss. When we left the UK, this blog was supposed to turn into a “repatriation” blog with stories of our trials and tribulations of integrating with American society after a long time away. Using a newfound perspective, I was going to spend our first year back remarking on the differences between American and European society and sharing our repatriation experience. It would bring this 5+ year journey to a nice, neat close; ready to publish as a bathroom or coffee-table book (OK, maybe not).

Well, it didn’t quite work out that way. You see, we kind of just got too busy living the experience to sit down and write about it. That sounds incredibly self-important, but it’s the truth. Too, part of it was that I just got a little bit lazy about blogging. What with looking for a place to live, hunting for jobs, acquiring both, and then getting more and more busy with everything that goes along with those things, I ended up re-prioritizing things a bit. The closest I have come to blogging is posting updates on Facebook and Twitter. Eventually, we decided that we would just go ahead and wrap it up early. Premature closure is better than no closure at all. That kind of thing. After all, we’re pretty much repatriated already. It was easier than we thought it would be!

Sure, when we arrived last November, we were pretty overwhelmed (too much whelm, much too much). In fact, we were initially in a kind of psychic recovery position. So much going on. Drama at home (don’t want to go into the details), new awesome President elected, Thanksgiving and Christmas coming up, tons of mail to go through, getting to grips with being back, etc. It was impossible to concentrate enough to write an email, even less a blog. A few weeks later, I was able to muster the strength to coalesce a few of the thoughts and emotions into a stream-of-consciousness piece about the arrival. Then it was time to start concentrating on our move to the opposite corner of the United States. Look for a job. Then a place to live. Then plan our road trip across the country. We bought a car. We got mobile phones. We had a Christmas From Hell (long story). And then we set off. Great road trip that put us in Eugene, OR just in time for New Year’s. But we were so tired that we couldn’t even stay up to midnight, though we did watch some of the East Coast celebrations on TV with Nanny.

After a couple of days catching up with ourselves in Eugene, we headed out to Central Oregon to stay at Kristen’s aunt & uncle’s ranch in Sisters. We had been invited to stay there for as long as we needed to. Looking back now, I don’t think we would have recuperated from the stress of November and December (well, probably the stress of all of last year, if we’re honest) if we had not had this opportunity. Staying out there in the peace and solace of Willows Ranch was just the kind of panacea we needed. We’re just sad we couldn’t stay longer! We pretty much were just there for the month of January, a month that saw the most Project: Expatriated blog posts of 2009. It didn’t take very long for one of us to find a job (me getting hired on an Americorps contract at Portland YouthBuilders) – that was our plan: stay in Sisters until one of us found a job and then we would look for a place to live near that job.

At the end of January, I was hired as a Learning Coordinator at at the Computer Technology site of Portland YouthBuilders and I started a mere week later on February 5th. The week before that we found an apartment in Milwaukie, OR (just south of the Sellwood neighborhood of Portland) and moved in almost immediately. I hit the ground running with this job and time has just been FLYING by. And I just love it. It has really cemented my aspirations to go into secondary education (high school or middle school).

Kristen had a bit more of a challenge finding a suitable job. What can I say? She’s got a more specialized skillset! She went the networking route (the way most people find a job in Portland, Oregon) and eventually was hired as a Program Manager of the Project Management course at Portland State University’s Professional Development Center. She loves her job, too.

Speaking of loving stuff, we just LOVE Portland. We say that to ourselves on a regular basis. “I love this town!” It has EVERYTHING we could possibly want. Great: food, culture, beer, people, activities, character, bands/music/venues, neighborhoods, and resources. It’s cosmopolitan, liberal, forward-thinking, cool, and just plain awesome. And it’s kind of below the radar. People seem to think it just rains in Oregon and the lumber comes from here. And to be honest, as hypocritical as this sounds, we like it that way. We don’t want more people to move here (except for my sister, her fiance, and my mom). Really. Don’t. If that doesn’t convince you, let me just say that it is REALLY HARD to find a job here. Oregon’s economy is syrupy slow at the best of times. From what I’ve been told by friends and colleagues here, Kristen and I are INSANELY fortunate to have found the jobs that we did so quickly. It usually takes up to a year or more to find anything viable. Not sure what we did to make it happen so easily, but it’s apparently rare. Who knows what will happen when my Americorps contract runs out?

We really like the place we live. It’s a great apartment complex/community (Waverley Greens). We have great neighbors and we are in close proximity to all necessities and within walking distance of Old Town Milwaukie. It ain’t cool or hip like areas in Portland (not yet anyway), but it’s quiet, affordable, and cozy. Sort of old school, in a way. It’s 5.6 miles from my current workplace and about 6 miles from Kristen’s office. We have a nice little one-bed flat on the ground floor with a sizable back patio, covered parking, amenities, and a communal garden plot. Things were a bit bare at first, but after a couple of months here, we have made this into a cozy little abode. A place we intended to stay for at least a year. [Yeah, I wrote intended.]

This past week (July 20th until now) has been action-packed! Kristen has been looking at the real estate market in Portland for almost a year. Checking all the neighborhoods we are interested in for houses. Just to keep a toe in the water, really. We haven’t really looked at any in person because we have been operating under the assumption that this is something we will do in a year or two.

We had an impromptu tour of another house several weeks ago just because we walked by and the owner was there. It was a wonderful little place that we briefly entertained going for, but then changed out minds because we felt we weren’t ready. Then last Saturday she found a house with a good price tag in a nearby neighborhood and scheduled a viewing. Just for fun.

It rocked our world. Though small, it had EVERYTHING on our wish-list plus a GIANT backyard. We fell deeply in love with it. And we enlisted the house listing agent as our realtor. And we viewed another property with her, just as a contrast. And we MADE A FRIGGIN’ OFFER on the first house we viewed! It sounds crazy, but it’s not. Trust me.

Well, this past Friday, while my sister was here visiting from Florida, we won the bid. Kristen had a tense afternoon back and forth on the phone with the listing agent/our realtor. There was another buyer interested in the house (interested almost as much as us), so we entered into a bit of a bidding war. A war that we won. And we still got a great deal on the house. It’s a place we can see ourselves staying for a LONG time. But this is all so crazy and sudden that it hasn’t really sunken in yet. We have a tentative closing date of September 15th. Both of us are SO looking forward to taking over this house, though we’re not too thrilled with the prospect of moving again as we only got to this apartment in February! At least a lot of our boxes are still unpacked! (Yeah, stashed in a couple of closets and in Nanny’s garage).

In our not-too-distant-future, we will be homeowners and we will be able to get a dog, some chickens, a lush garden, and the home we have been craving for so long. A new adventure begins.

So, without further a-do, we would like to call Project: Expatriation/Expatriated/Repatriation to a successful close. It’s been an amazing journey. We hope you have enjoyed following along.

PS – As this new adventure begins to unfold, we will have plenty of things to share, but we are going to do it in a different format. That of a private Ning social network. We would like to invite our loyal readers to join our network “The RK Corral” where we will post photos, blog entries, videos, and other goodies on a semi-regular, informal basis. It’s a private network, so you will need to sign in to view it. Friends and family will receive an invitation when we are ready to go live with the site. Otherwise, surf on over to it and submit a request to become a member. Don’t worry, it’s free and easy to join.

2009-05-16T12:07:00.000-07:00

Some tasty, tasty apples!

2009-05-01T16:37:00.000-07:00

It's official! Kristen has landed a full-time job in Portland! She was working on two leads that she gained through the fantastic networking she has been doing here (big thanks to Jake for providing the first connection in that chain). It looked almost sure that she was going to be hired at a PR company that was considering actually creating a position for her. Then that seemed to fizzle out, while at the same time one of the people she had met with many weeks ago contacted her. He asked to meet with her again, but did not specify any type of job opportunity. That was about two weeks ago. She met with him and had a "job interview" for a position that was opening up immediately. It went really well, but quite some time went by before she heard back from him. Just when we thought it was a lost cause, he offered her the job. Needless to say, we were both ecstatic and VERY relieved!

She will be starting as a Program Manager at Portland State University's Professional Development Center on May 19th. Until then, she is going to keep working at the Aurora Mill (where both of us worked in 2003 before moving to Belgium). She has been helping them set up a website for online sales.

The position at PSU is such a fantastic opportunity for her and it is going to challenge her in all the right ways. It is really good to be affiliated with a university. Good pay, great benefits, many avenues for advancement. She's really looking forward to it.

Proof-positive that networking does work!

Sore Losers Going Insane

2009-04-24T09:21:00.000-07:00

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart

M - Th 11p / 10c

Baracknophobia - Obey

thedailyshow.com

Daily Show
Full Episodes

Economic Crisis

Political Humor

A cheesy video about the program I'm affiliated with

2009-04-23T10:42:00.003-07:00

Fulfilling a call to service

2009-04-11T12:31:00.002-07:00

So, I've fulfilled about two months of my twelve-month Americorps service contract at the Portland division of YouthBuild USA. Two months that have just flown by! The first few weeks were just a complete blur because I came in at a really busy time (during a 3-week program when they test out new student recruits that want to join the program) and while that was happening I had to learn what my duties are and get used to the processes, procedures, rules, etc. Unfortunately, there wasn't much time put aside for training, so I had to kind of figure things out on my own. Funnily enough, working at AIB actually gave me some good preparation for taking on this job because it is almost as chaotic.

My work schedule is pretty good. We have the students on site Tuesday through Friday, so Monday is a day when we can plan, have a staff meeting, and complete some pressing tasks. Plus, I don't have to be at work until 9:30. However, the rest of the week we start at 7:30, which means I get up at 6:00. Something I still haven't quite gotten used to. Consequently, by the end of the week, I'm pretty tired. The good thing is I usually leave around between 3:30 and 4:30, so Kristen and I have nice, long evenings at our disposal.

What do I do? Well, it's sort of hard to explain, but my title is "Service Learning Coordinator" and that kind of fits the bill. I assist the Computer Technology Trainer and the Multimedia Trainer by being a facilitator, tracking attendance, and helping to shepherd the students. I also teach the Internet Core Computing Certification classes, which is quite challenging because there is A LOT of stuff they have to learn to be able to pass the exams and they really hate part of the training -- the part that requires them to sit in front of the computer taking quizzes and watching Flash presentations on computer hardware, software, and pretty much everything related. It is a major challenge and I am trying to come up with novel, more engaging ways of teaching the material, but that is something that takes time. And so I can have a bit more credibility, I am working on getting the certification myself (I have taken 2 of the 3 exams, so far).

There's also a fair amount of administrative and non-student-oriented tasks I am responsible for such as dealing with computer donations and other things that crop up from sitting in what is basically the reception area. When a company donates computers to us, I have to go pick them up, usually with some student helpers. And after we refurbish the computers and they are sold (for the meager sum of $75) to customers, I do a bit of customer service. I also do a fair amount of troubleshooting and administration of on-site IT. There's a WIFI and a hardwire network that sometimes has problems, plus the semi-regular occurance of computers breaking down with either hardware faults or software conflicts. The students are not gentle with this stuff!

This school also teaches construction. That's the only thing it taught when it first started out. We have two campuses: the main campus and the computer technology "work site". The main campus is used for the academic portion of the program as well as the construction program. The majority of staff also have their offices there. I'm at the computer technology site, which is about 15 minutes away from the main campus and much closer to downtown Portland. There are only three (sometimes four) staff members there, including me. The students are divided into two "crews" on a 2-week rotation. Each crew has two weeks on a worksite (either computer tech or construction, depending on which program they are enrolled) and two weeks at the school doing normal high school academics. They are working towards getting a GED or a high school degree. While they are doing that, they get work experience and get a small stipend -- they are also Americorps members like me, but on a different contract. It's a really great opportunity for them because, if they make it onto the program and can manage to stay engaged, they get paid to finish high school and at the same time get work experience. And after they graduate, they still get a lot of support from us, including help to get into college and some job placements.

It is really rewarding to work with these students. They have been through a lot of crap. A lot have been cast aside or spit out of the school system because of drug or alcohol problems, bad family situations, learning disabilities, or have gotten in trouble with "the law". Some of them come out of rehab or a stint in jail and get on this program. They are given a second chance to get their life back on track. When you see them succeed, it is just so heart-warming and gives you a really nice feeling that you have been a part of that. It actually makes me think I wouldn't want to teach "normal" high school kids; the ones that have had a relatively easy life and are pretty much spoiled little brats because of it. The other day when there was yet another school shooting somewhere, I thought about my students and how I could not see them doing something like that. They are beyond it somehow. I certainly don't fear for my safety there! Many of the students are just from low income families, but there are others that have come out of horrible home lives with parents that basically don't give a shit about them. I mean this is a place that some students get disappointed when it is spring break or summer break because that means they have to go home! It's sad, but true. Sure, we have a few trouble-makers and a few that are having trouble staying on the straight and narrow, but for the most part, they are all working really hard to make something of themselves.

I've got 10 more months here and I'm really looking forward to seeing these students succeed. And hopefully, I can finagle a more permanent position here.

2 Months

2009-03-28T14:09:00.000-07:00

We've been in Portland for almost 2 months now. The time has just FLOWN. This week, for example, was over in an instant. Well, that was partially because I worked from home on Monday and then we closed for spring break on Wednesday (though I did go in that day to get some stuff done). Even then, I couldn't believe how quickly that all took place. It's been nice to have some days off during the week.

Our lives have been quite busy since we moved to Portland. Kristen has been having lots of meetings to network with some really good people; networking that will hopefully bear fruit in the next week or so. And we've been busy integrating into the community and exploring the area. Two weeks ago, I was invited to a brew-day at another local homebrewer's house. He's someone I've kept in touch with since we left for Belgium in 2003. And we've been reading each others blogs. He writes one called Rooftop. Funnily enough, when I was at his house, we discovered that he knows my boss! Small world. Small town! They worked together when she was at PCC. Anyway, the brew day was fun, though I couldn't stay for the whole thing because that evening we were going to Mother Bea's wake (kind of)/posthumous birthday party. Andy gave me several ounces of whole hops. He has a PLENTIFUL supply because his wife comes from a hop-growing family! I haven't been able to use them yet because my brewery is still defunct (for financial and equipment reasons). It was also great to see Andy's suburban chickens, something I very much want to get into when we eventually buy a house.

Mother Bea's birthday party was kind of fun actually (despite the circumstances). It was a HUGE family gathering and everyone was really nice and fun to be around. There was lots of wine and beer-induced merriment, good home-cooked food, and for dessert, 94 candles divided among three birthday cakes.

The day after that (a Monday), we went to the Catholic church service. Though we're not religious in the least, it was a very moving service and a heartfelt memorial. The way the family spoke about her made me really glad that we had met her, however briefly.

My job is going really well. I really love it. And it is very fulfilling and engaging. Workload-wise it is very much like my last job (i.e.- too much to do and too little time to do it), so I'm used to working that way and have some valuable crossover skills that help me cope. One of these days, I'll write some more about what it is I do, exactly. Another great thing is that I have been able to ride my bike to work most days. It takes about 25-30 minutes each way (it's about 5 miles), so I get some good exercise and I think I'm finally starting to lose a little bit of weight, which is always nice. Unfortunately, my weight-lifting regime has mostly fallen by the wayside. We don't belong to a gym at the moment, so I just go to the fitness center here in the complex a couple of days per week. It's very small and pretty much only has a universal machine for strength training. Right now, I'm just trying to keep from losing the muscle mass I built up from going to the YMCA in England and then the awesome gym in Florida.

We've been exploring the area a lot because it's an engaging, free activity (for the most part). Last weekend, we checked out the Saturday Market (too crowded and too cheesy for my taste) and went to the free day at the Portland Art Museum -- they had a large donation this year so that they could have free admission 4 days per year. That day, we also purchased tickets for Neko Case at the Crystal Ballroom in June. Should be fun. She's always great live. We're going with Jenna and Mike.

This weekend is shaping up to be an all-about-the-garden weekend. This morning we went to a free class about growing vegetables in a small plot and had our soil pH tested (it's 6.6). Got some really good information and found out the best places to buy soil, seeds, etc. The people running the class were a bit overwhelmed because they only expected 20 or so people (similar numbers to previous years), but there was probably double that. Lots of people are getting into gardening now, spurred on by the recession. Though, in my opinion, the average garden doesn't really save money. At best, you break even. I just want to do it because I love gardening! Tomorrow we are going to another free class: backyard hop cultivation! Our plan is to plant two hop rhizomes in pots on our back patio. There's a small trellis that they can climb up, though I have a feeling that we might be a bit overwhelmed by August/September because hops can grow 20 feet or more! Then, hopefully, by this Autumn my brewery will be up and running and I can make some beers using fresh hops. Luckily, hop vines are nice to look at, too!

Finally, I just want to say "I LOVE PORTLAND!" I am so glad we were able to move here! It's such a great city. We keep having these moments doing mundane things when we think to ourselves "I love this town." Great vibe, nice people, lots of character, very green (both vernal and environmental), fabulous restaurants, and it's cool. One thing I've learned, though, is I'm not special as a homebrewer or beer-lover here!

Update via photographs

2009-03-18T21:24:00.001-07:00

Bea Jacobs

2009-03-16T16:35:00.002-07:00

Mother Bea died last week and this morning we attended her funeral.
We were so lucky to meet her and be part of her family!

Read about this wonderful person here: Bea Jacobs

K & R

Slight change of plans

2009-03-01T16:35:00.002-08:00

This is going to sound completely insane considering the state of the economy and the job market, but Kristen has decided to pass on the background investigation job. Her gut instinct was that it wasn't right for her. Plus: there wouldn't really be any potential for advancement; the pay was not very good (especially considering the nature of the job); and it would mean that all the Portland networking momentum that she has built up would cease entirely. And that networking will definitely lead to the job that she really wants. We talked at length about it and she did some soul-searching before deciding to pass. It's a gamble and a half, but it's a gamble that I am sure will pay off. For the moment, Kristen will try freelancing as a researcher. We will give that a try for 3 months or so to see how it goes (networking all the while).

2009-03-01T10:33:00.005-08:00

Great News!

2009-02-23T20:33:00.003-08:00

Kristen landed a job today! She will be a research analyst for a background investigation firm nearby that does background checks for employers, banks, government agencies, and law enforcement. Training starts on Friday.

I'm really proud of us for getting hired in this economy, amid all the doom and gloom of rising unemployment. At least we know we're hire-able!

Say NO to the new Oregon beer tax

2009-02-23T20:16:00.002-08:00

Stuff! STUFF!!

2009-02-22T17:42:00.002-08:00

Erm... we picked an apartment that is a bit too small for all of our stuff!

The shipment from England arrived on Thursday. Kristen went down to Eugene to receive it that afternoon. Then, after work on Friday, we picked up what was supposed to be a moving van. However, when the guy pulled it around front, it was a fairly large, diesel moving truck. That's internet booking for you, I guess. It was the same price as the van, so we just took it. Didn't have a choice because that was the smallest vehicle they had. But a wearying 2-hour drive to Eugene in that thing!

Saturday morning, we got up pretty early to start going through the stuff we had stored in Nanny's garage. The multitude of boxes from the England shipment, we just chucked right into the truck, but we wanted to have a brief sift-through of the things we put in storage over 5 years ago since we didn't fully remember what we had elected to hold onto at that point. Some stuff we set aside to sell at a yard sale. Some we threw away. Some we decided to keep storing at Nanny's until we buy a house (looks like we probably should have left a bit more there!). The rest we put in the truck.

We had to rush back to Portland because the truck had to be returned by 5. And that was after unloading it, filling it up with diesel, and then driving to the rental place in Tigard. We got to our place around quarter to 3, so we very quickly unloaded all the boxes into the apartment and then I took off in the truck while Kristen continued unpacking.

It is overwhelming how much stuff we suddenly have. And very few places to put it! We need to buy more furniture to store it, but that is going to have to wait. I went to IKEA today to get a stainless steel shelf to use in the kitchen. Little by little, we will get some bookshelves, a small computer desk, and some dressers for the bedroom. At this point, we've gotten to a reasonable level of order, though there are still boxes in every room. The closet on the back patio that I was going to use as a "brewing shed" is, at the moment, a multi-purpose storage shed instead. Eventually, we'll get it sorted out.

Tomorrow, I'll be riding my bike to work for the first time. Should be fun.

Kristen has three more "informational interviews" this week and will hopefully hear back from the company where she had an interview on Friday. They will be doing second interviews with the candidates they are most interested in.

Things are starting to happen

2009-02-17T17:38:00.003-08:00

*Yesterday, Kristen was invited for an interview (this Friday) at a firm in Wilsonville that does background investigations. A great relief to get an interview!

*Today, she had an "informational interview" with someone at PSU. Sounds like that might lead to something, but we'll see. Keeping our fingers crossed!

*Also today, we got a call from the shipping company to let us know that our shipment will be delivered on Thursday afternoon.

*Thursday, Kristen will have to drive down to Eugene to accept the shipment (I can't get the day off work) because one of us has to be there.

*Saturday (or possibly Friday evening), we'll drive down to Eugene to pick up our stuff. There is probably some that we will donate to Goodwill. Not the stuff we paid a hefty sum to have shipped to the US, but some of the stuff that we stored in Nanny's garage a couple of years ago.

Busy week!

Our stuff

2009-02-15T17:27:00.003-08:00

We finally heard from the moving company on Friday (well, Kristen actually had to contact them) and we have been informed that our shipment is due to arrive in Oregon by the end of this coming week. They will inform us of the exact date when it's a day or two away. We will have to pay a fee because customs decided to x-ray the container our stuff was in. Luckily, this is something we budgeted for.

I'm going to try to arrange to get the day off so we can drive down to Eugene. We're going to need a moving van. Really looking forward to getting our stuff back, especially my bicycle so I can start riding my bike to work.

By the way, the moving company picked up our stuff in England on Nov. 14th. Surface shipping takes a LONG time!

The Week That Was (and what a week it was!)

2009-02-08T10:53:00.004-08:00

This week was quite a tiring one, but we now have a place in Portland! Here we are a week later and it seems like it was a month ago that we were last in Sisters. An incredible amount of progress in one week!

*Saturday: We got up fairly early to finish packing up our stuff from Jim & Judy's ranch in Sisters and then drive to Eugene. It was sad to leave after such a relaxing, therapeutic, idyllic stay in Central Oregon (we'll be back!), but by the same token, we were also excited to get the next chapter started. We said farewell and headed out, stopping at Sisters Coffee on the way. When we got to Nanny's house in Eugene, we spent the whole afternoon looking on Craigslist.com for apartments to view the following Monday. The Portland Craigslist is particularly vibrant and I think the only real way to find apartments in that town because it seems to be the only place people list them. There are new listings at least every hour or so.

*Sunday: More apartment hunting. We started looking pretty early in the morning and also made some appointments for viewings on Monday. Of course, this was also Super Bowl Sunday, so we could not let that go unnoticed. As a little break from apartment research, we went to Kristen's dad's for a Super Bowl mini-party. What a game (well, at least that last quarter and definitely the last 2 minutes)!

*Monday: Left for Portland around 8 in the morning because we had our first apartment viewing was at 10am; a place really close to where I would be working. It's not the best neighborhood, as we suspected, but we had to see an example of what a $1000 per month gets you in that part of town. It was a huge apartment, but quite disgusting. Maybe something I would have lived in during college. We took an application from the French landlord and got the hell out of there. Kristen was taking notes on the information sheets we had printed. On this one she wrote "Disgusting! Only if desperate!" That was for damn sure! The next appointment was at 11 and we had a little time to kill, so we drove to the Sellwood area to get a feel for what kind of houses were for rent there. There were a couple we could potentially view the next day, but after seeing them from the outside, we pretty much decided we did not want to rent a house there. Buy one, definitely. Rent, no way. The next appointment as at an apartment complex near the Waverley Country Club in Milwaukie, which is just across the county line into Clackamas county, so technically not in Portland (a point which I belabored quite a bit with Kristen). After viewing four different apartments, it was clear that we would get a lot more for our money there. It also happened to be a pretty nice complex with lots of amenities. And a straight 5-mile shot up to where I would be working (a nice bike ride, too). After this, the next appointment was at 2pm. We drove around a bit in the Hawthorne area and then stopped for lunch at the Cup & Saucer, a historic, trendy spot on Hawthorne Blvd. The 2pm apartment was in NE Portland; a 1-bed above a 3-car garage. It looked promising on paper and seemed like an interesting prospect. Turned out not to be the ideal fit for us. It would feel too much like being a guest in someone's house and it was way overpriced at $1000 excluding utilities. The decision was clear. We would go for the Milwaukie apartment, so we headed back down to the SE area. The manager at Waverley didn't think we'd have any trouble being approved for it. She would let us know the next morning. Nothing to do but to drive back to Eugene. Spoke to my soon-to-be manager on the way and found out that I would start the job on Thursday instead of Wednesday. Good news because that meant we'd have an extra day to move in.

*Tuesday: We proceeded under the assumption that we would be approved for the apartment. We didn't hear about it until fairly late in the morning, right about the time I had started sweating it a bit. The car was mostly loaded and ready to go. We had a definite departure time of noon because I had a 2pm appointment to go sign some papers at my new employer's office. I was cramming some of our belongings into the Audi when Kristen came out to tell me we were good to go. Whew! We finished stuffing the car with odds and ends that we thought we might need to get us going in the apartment. A couple of pots and pans, cutlery, bedding, espresso machine, clothes, etc. Then, off to Portland again. After filling out the paperwork, we claimed our new apartment, off-loading the little stuff we had managed to bring with us. Since we had absolutely no furniture, most importantly no bed, we took Kristen's sister up on her offer to stay with her again. She and her fiance, Mike, wanted to take us out for a Celebratory/Welcome dinner. They took us to PF Chang's. Yum!

*Wednesday: A day for continuing our "move-in" by populating the apartment with more stuff. We bought a TV at Mike's company, using a Friends & Family discount. Nice! That was in Northwest Portland. Then we drove to a Sleep Country USA near our apartment and bought a bed. Unfortunately, they could not deliver it until the next day, which meant we'd have a bit of a rough night's sleep, so we thought we'd go get a memory-foam pillow top to sleep on which we could then add to the bed when we got it. But first, we needed to get back to the apartment because we had an appointment with Comcast to set up our internet connection. He was an hour late and took a really long time to finish. By the time we were able to head out again it was 4.30. We had planned to go to Costco to set up membership, buy the pillow top (they memory-foam mattresses at a pretty good price), and then go to IKEA for other household items. Both of us were pretty knackered by this point, so weren't to enthused about the idea. Alas, we needed something to sleep on. Since it was getting late, we decided to just go to Costco. We got as far as setting up the membership, then discovered that they didn't have the pillowtop. To IKEA, then. Where we spent almost 3 hours, but luckily not as much money as we thought we would. It was about 8pm when we got back to the apartment. Almost bedtime since I had to get up at 6 the next morning for the first day at my new job. Didn't get much sleep because the floor was pretty hard, even with the pillowtop, and because it was the first night in the apartment, so we had all new noises and things to get used to.

Thursday: Woken by the alarm at an hour that I haven't been woken at for some time. Groggy as hell, but managed to get myself showered, fed, dressed, and to work on time. Good first day -- will talk more about it in another blog entry. When I got home, we needed to go buy more provisions and supplies, so we went to Fred Meyer (a supermarket/department store). Again, we spent almost 3 hours in there and quite a bit of dough. But, hell, we have to start pretty much completely from scratch. No furniture. No pantry items. No household products. All that stuff you accumulate over time and take for granted, we had to buy it a-new. We have food now, though! And the place was starting to feel a bit more like home.

Friday: Kristen had a lunch meeting with a longtime friend of her family. Also a first step in starting to network with people in Portland. Gotta reel in a job soon! That night, we cooked our first real dinner in the apartment. And we watched a bit of TV, sitting on the floor since we still don't have any furniture.

Saturday: Exercised in the fitness center. Then we headed into Milwaukie to explore a bit. Grabbed coffee at a local coffee spot, then peeked into a few thrift shops. The task for this weekend was to find a couch and a kitchen table and chairs. Then Jenna came by with a housewarming gift plus some bits and pieces for the apartment. After her visit, we went to some more thrift shops and furniture stores. Not much luck on our mission. Nothing that would really fit our needs or budget. Another couchless night.

Sunday (today): We had the first "Sunday Ritual" in the apartment, a nice, relaxing morning. Then it was off to continue hunting for furniture. We bought a couch at Macy's, on sale. No delivery until Thursday. Four more couchless evenings. No luck on the table and chairs. We found a good set at Sears, but the pieces weren't in stock. Then we checked several other places including K-Mart, where we found something do-able. Guess what? Not in stock!

We're also still waiting for our England shipment to arrive. According to the shipping company's paperwork, we should be getting an ETA within the next couple of days. The plan is that when it arrives in Eugene, we will rent a truck to collect all of it plus the stuff we've been storing in Nanny's garage. But if that doesn't happen soon, we will just have to take an earlier trip to Eugene in our car to take some more stuff up here. There are some things that it would be really nice to have (like more than two plates, two glasses, and two coffee cups). To that end, Kristen will probably drive down on Wednesday.

It's pretty much llike we're "fading into" normalcy. Little by little, we're getting our things and setting up our lives here. We've really been looking forward to getting back into a routine. It's been a long two and a half months since getting back to the US. It can be pretty tiring to live out of suitcases and not having our own place. Thinking back to November 19th, when we arrived in Florida, it seems like it was such a long time ago. So much has happened since then. And there's more to come, I think! For one thing, we'll be sitting in a couch on Thursday!

PS - We finally got the deposit back from our landlord in England. Well, what was left after he had his way with it.

Sisters, OR

2009-01-30T17:51:00.003-08:00

View Larger Map

Today is our last day in Sisters (for this part of our journey). We're packing up our stuff and getting ready to head to the valley tomorrow. The plan is to stay at Kristen's grandmother's house on Saturday and Sunday. While we're there, we will set up plenty of apartment viewings for Monday and possibly Tuesday. Hopefully, we'll find a place fairly quickly because I'm due to start my new job on Wednesday. I'll write more about that in a couple of weeks' time, after I have settled in a bit.

Beautiful day today. 59 degrees. The mountains were in full view. We will definitely miss being out here and are a bit sad to leave, even though we are looking forward to starting the next chapter. We're so grateful to have gotten the chance to stay here at Kristen's aunt'n'uncle's ranch.

I just want to say a few words about Sisters, OR. If you're ever coming through this part of the country, be sure to...

*Hang out at Sisters Coffee Company. They've got free wi-fi and will happily let you sit there using it as long as you've bought something from them. Their coffee is AMAZING! I never really drink "drip" coffee, but I have fallen in love with theirs. So damn good! Even Kristen, who is a devout Starbucks-ite, loves it (albeit, the iced lattes with flavoring). I highly recommend the Black Butte Gold house coffee. Really balanced and wonderfully aromatic. A rich, caramelly aftertaste. Also good as a "Black Butte Bomber" (i.e.- espresso to which you can add any of their brewed coffees from the coffee bar). Also good, the mexican mocha. Their baked goods are delicious and they sell all of their coffee beans at a fair price. We bought a bag of their espresso blend to take with us.

*Grab lunch at Depot Deli. Great sandwiches and interesting daily specials. Quirky decor, complete with a model steam-train at ceiling level above the seating area. They also serve local Oregon ales in bottles and from draft.

*Sip some brews at Three Creeks Brewing Co. We went there for lunch the other day and, boy howdy, was that good! Their beers are a little more interesting than the usual brewpub. For example, instead of keeping an IPA in their stable, they brew a unique style called IBA (India Black Ale). This is a fairly new hybrid style that originated in Central and Eastern Oregon. It's pretty strong and it is FLAVORFUL! Not for the faint of heart. Also fairly unique is their Stonefly Rye. This is their version of the ubiquitous wheat beer. They've added rye malt to it, so it has an extra dimension that makes it stand out.

*Go to a movie at Sisters Movie House. This is a quirky little movie theater (right next to Three Creeks Brewing... hint, hint) in the theme of a big red barn. The decor inside fits that motif, too, with things like axe door-handles, pitchfork velvet-rope stansions, and aluminum roof vents as lamp-shades. They have four screens with a pretty good standard of projection, all film. Furthermore, they've got a snack bar serving paninis, wraps, burgers, pizza, coffees, soft drinks, wine, and beer! "And I'm not talking about now paper cup. I'm talking about a glass of beer!" You can eat your snacks in the cafe, take them into the theater, or have them delivered directly to your seat. The cinema experience is going by the wayside what with all the home theaters and the bad economy, so get it while you still can (and support a great local, independent company, too).

*Pig out at Sisters Bakery. They bake everything fresh daily on premises. Their donuts are amazing and I'm told their apple fritters are out of this world. I wouldn't know because they're always sold out! The donuts are a dollar a piece but so are Dunkin Donuts and these are 10 times better. Their breads a bit pricey, though.

There are other things to do here and other restaurants to enjoy, but these are the ones we had time to fully investigate during our time here. Also check out: Black Butte Ranch, a golf resort, basically, and one of the places that a lot of Oregonians come to this area for.

Waiting and Not Waiting

2009-01-29T10:40:00.003-08:00

We are very close to severing ourselves from England. The landlord responded to my letter (that was more than a week ago, though) and denied pretty much all of my claims, but he did relent on one thing, so I decided to just give in. It wasn't worth the continued chasing and arguments. All that remained was to send in a signed form to the management company so they can release the funds. We just got an email from them today saying they had received the form, but there is a backlog in the finance department so it would take 7-10 days to release it. Ridiculous! How could their possibly be that many deposits to process? Utter BS. Then again, there's the tea breaks, socializing, vacation, and sick days to account for, so I guess that's how it could take that long. We've waited since November 19th, I suppose we can wait a little longer.

Another thing we're waiting for is the license plate for our car. We started the process of registering the car in Oregon and have sent in all the forms, paid the fees, and so on. There was a little trouble proving that we are Oregon residents, though, so we had to send in some more paperwork. To keep us legal until we get the plate, we have renewed our temporary plate for the third time. The plates will probably come through soon. Then the next step is to change our driver's licenses to Oregon, which requires an address and taking the written test. So, we're waiting to do that until we get an apartment in Portland.

AND we're waiting for our shipment from England. It will have made its way across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, and into the Pacific. Supposedly, it has arrived in Los Angeles on the 24th. It will take ten days to get through customs and then another three to six days to let us know when it is going to be delivered to us in Oregon. So, it is probably going to be mid- to late- February before we have our stuff back.

Finally, we're still waiting to hear from the jobs we've applied for. The closing date for a few of them have passed during the course of the last week or so. And of course, I had the interview on Monday for one of them and was waiting to hear the outcome.

Well, on Tuesday, just as we got back to Sisters, an email came through on my BlackBerry stating that they are ready to offer me the job, providing that my references check out. Good news, but there was a bit of nail-biting because it was difficult to get a hold of the references I listed from England, so I actually had to give them some alternative people to check with. When I woke up this morning, I was thinking that it was going to be a while before this is all resolved, but while I was in the shower, I got an email and a voice-mail offering me the job. Sweet!

So, I can officially say "I'm employed!" I will be starting next week, probably on Wednesday, if not sooner. They'd like me to start ASAP. Problem is, we still need to find an apartment. We were planning to head into the valley on Saturday, then check out some apartments on Monday. At the moment, though, we're thinking we might need to go sooner. Like tomorrow, so we can look for apartments on Saturday. We're suddenly busy as hell!

Portland Trip #2

2009-01-26T17:55:00.005-08:00

So, we're in Portland today. I had my job interview this morning. Went really well (I think) and I'm really excited about the prospect now. It would be a GREAT experience and a GREAT stepping stone. No idea when they will notify me, but they did ask me when I could potentially start. We'll see!

We also checked out an apartment building in the Pearl district. It's a "green" building, brand new. Lots of cool amenities like a fitness center, a "fido field" (an astro-turf area with a fire hydrant) and swanky, common areas with free wi-fi. Unfortunately, it's a bit too pricey, especially since neither of us is employed yet! But it also caused us to re-evaluate our plan of moving to Portland with or without jobs (so that we can be "in it" to do the networking). It's probably a bit over-ambitious, so we will wait until at least one of us has a job. Then we will find a place near that. Another thing we realized is that we don't want to live in a studio apartment or possibly not a small 1 bedroom either. We're done with being squished! This means we will probably have to give up our idea of living downtown. It would be fun and a great experience, but too pricey. We might check some other parts of the downtown area, though.

For now, it's back to Central Oregon again tomorrow.

Good news

2009-01-25T09:39:00.002-08:00

I've been invited to an interview for the Americorps job. It's on Monday, so we're heading to the valley today. We'll spend the night in Eugene, after doing some quick clothing shopping for an interview "ensemble", then drive up to Portland in the morning. There are also a couple of apartments we might take a look at.

Things might start happening very quickly now!

Jawbs

2009-01-23T12:04:00.006-08:00

There's a lot of doom'n'gloom on the news every day about the economy, job cuts, high unemployment, and so on. Stuff like this:

In December 174,819 Oregonians were unemployed, an increase of 69,966 from the December 2007 level of 104,853. December marked the largest number of unemployed since January 1983 when 176,815 Oregonians were unemployed.

Or this (not a very good article, but the comments are interesting!):

The seasonally adjusted figure -- the highest in more than 23 years -- could well increase further, economists said Tuesday. The recession is dealing Oregon one of the highest unemployment rates in the country, which had a 7.2 percent jobless rate in December.

And this:
Intel announces that it will close or stop production at five of its manufacturing facilities, including plants in Oregon and California. The closin gs will take place in 2009 and could affect between 5,000 and 6,000 employees once all of Intel's plans are finalized.

In the face of news like this, we must be STUPID to try to find jobs, right? Rest assured, we do realize the gravity of the situation and that we will be VERY fortunate to find a job each, not to mention jobs that we actually desire. I sure as hell will be damn proud of us when we accomplish this seemingly daunting task. Notice I said "when" and not "if"!

The thing is, it's not as dire as it seems. When you see these figures in the media, they don't always qualify the data with further details. For example, in Oregon, the worst hit job markets are Construction, Manufacturing, and Trade/Transportation/Utilities. Take a look at this graph from the Oregon Employment Department:

Notice how Government and Financial Activities haven't really dropped that much? Now look at Educational & Health Services. It has actually been climbing steadily! Furthermore, it has been said that having a degree (I have 2, Kristen has 3) really helps you to stay out of the jobless ranks. There was an article in The Bend Bulletin titled "In hard times, having a degree is a lifesaver". I've included a LINK to the article. Unfortunately, you can only read the first paragraph (unless you have a subscription), but there's also this PIECE from the New York Times which states: "The job situation is likely to weaken considerably for less-educated workers as the downturn persists, however, because employers are likely to raise skill requirements. Employers tend to be more selective in downturns. A study by Paul Devereux, for example, found 'the education levels of new hires within occupations are higher when the unemployment rate is high and this effect is more pronounced in lower-paying occupations.'" This bodes well for us. Sure, we might not end up in the job of our dreams at this point, but that's OK. First of all, we live quite modestly by most standards, have relatively low debt, and don't have any dependents. We're not looking to become millionaires. As long as our basic needs are being met and we can afford to go to a movie or out for dinner once in a while, we'll be happy. The 5 years we spent in Europe really taught us to re-evaluate what's important and to take a much less materialistic approach to life. That certainly has been helpful for us when we got back to the US to find the economy collapsing. People have been living irresponsibly, way beyond their means. That's just how the American society has been for the last 50 years or so. Consume, consume, consume. If you want to find a positive side to how things look here now, the fact that people are starting to change their consumer behavior and re-priortize is a REALLY good thing! Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who have had to learn this lesson the hard way and are close to, if not firmly-planted, in destitute. The economy is such a complex organism and things will level off eventually and then we can all start putting things back together and rebuilding. The America that will come out of that will be so much stronger than before. We just all need to be a part of the solution. Anyway, I digress...

Some more evidence that we aren't insane for thinking that we can find jobs in this economy:

When we went to Portland last week, we spoke to two professionals who told us that Portland has not been hit as hard as many other cities in the country. The city is still thriving. There might be more of an effect in the future, but at the moment, it's OK. There as jobs out there. You just have to be more pro-active in finding them (i.e.- networking).
We have each applied for 5 to 6 jobs already and there are more in progress. And these are pretty much all for jobs that we would actually want! We haven't started reaching for the bottom of the barrel yet. As I'm writing this, Kristen is sitting across from me applying for two more jobs.
Monster.com, for example, has 1373 jobs listed for Portland, OR today. Sure, they aren't all ones that we are qualified for or interested in. We definitely would have more job options if we had a degree in healthcare, law, or finance, but there are plenty of jobs out there for us to apply for. By the way, we don't use Monster because they don't have a lot of listings for the kinds of jobs we're looking for.
And one final piece of news is that I have had a nibble on the Americorps job I applied for. This morning, I had a prelimanary telephone interview. There are two other people who are being seriously considered for the job. The interview went really well and it seemed like I made a good impression. I feel pretty good about my chances.

So, we might have to go to Portland for an in-person interview on Monday, which will be good anyway because then we can try to find an apartment. Regardless of what happens with that job, we will need to establish a physical presence in Portland soon. There have been several job fairs and other networking opportunities that we have missed already. Plus, if we're there, we can find some kind of part-time job to keep us afloat longer while we continue the search.

One thing is for sure, the Portland momentum has started. The Po Mo, as Kristen has dubbed it.

Historic Moment

2009-01-20T13:16:00.004-08:00

We're planted here in front of the television watching the Inauguration of President Barack Obama and a new dawn for America. I can't help but to think about how different, how disheartening, it would have been if it was McCain and Palin being sworn in up there. Instead of being filled with hope and pride in this country, I would feel dispair and anger. For that reason, and for so many others, we are so emotional and happy about this very historic moment in history. And so thrilled to actually be in the US to experience it, albeit in front of the television!

[See also this great message from Michael Moore].

For the past couple of days, we've have been surrounded by freezing fog hear in Sisters. And I was suddenly attacked by a vicious "Man Flu". Things were looking a little gloomy, but today, the future just looks a lot brighter. The sun is even shining again now. It is also quite appropriate that today I got an email from one of the jobs I had applied for, an Americorps position in Portland, requesting a phone interview this week. Should the interview go my way, I will be able to spend a year serving the community by teaching low-income teenagers, which will also give me really good experience to take into a career in secondary education.

We're still working on our job search and other job applications. Our trip to Portland went really well. It was nice to walk around in the city. Such a nice vibe. And our "informational meeting" was very useful. We got a lot of really good advice for how to find a job, especially in the current economic climate, which put a bit of wind in our sails. It is highly likely that we will move to Portland in about a week, so that we can be there because it is a bit difficult to do an effective job search from here. Our hope is that it will not be too much longer before we're both employed, but we thought we'd try to find a fairly cheap studio apartment in the city to use as a launch pad. This will give us time to get to know the city, too.

January Update

2009-01-12T19:49:00.004-08:00

We're still out on the ranch in Central Oregon. And LOVING it! When we're next in a big city, it's going to be culture shock!

It was unseasonably warm today at about 55 deg F. That's really warm for this time of year, even in this part of Oregon. Weather like that makes you think twice about moving to the more cloudy, rainy Willamette Valley! Though, personally, I don't mind rain. More water for making beer with!

On the job front, it's looking a bit sparse, but there are definitely jobs out there for us. I've applied for three or four jobs, ones that would actually be pretty good jobs (i.e.- not scraping the bottom of the barrel). Kristen has also found a couple that she has applied for. Sure, under normal circumstances, there would be more jobs out there, but it's not as bad as the Media makes it out to be. Then again, we're not in the industries that are hardest hit. In Oregon, that's all the industries related to construction, particularly the lumber industry.

Oh, and we still haven't fully "detached" ourselves from England. The deposit from our flat is still in hock. Can you believe it!? I've been contacting the management company periodically since we found out that the landlord wanted to charge us for some stuff. That was in late November. It was not until last Thursday that finally received the list of charges. And they were a little bit absurd. I wrote a frank letter back to them to refute some of the charges and to make counter-offers against the rest of them (basically 50%) based on the validity of the charges, the "hardships" we endured during our tenancy, and the long time that has passed since we moved out of the flat (50 days at the time of writing the letter). Still have not heard anything back from them. Hopefully tomorrow.

What else... we are taking the car in for a check-up at the dealership tomorrow. It's still under warranty, so we thought we'd take advantage of that and have it checked after its long road-trip. Also, during the trip, I broke the latch in the center console armrest (I just barely touched it!). Hopefully, they will fix that under warranty.

On Wednesday, we're going to Portland to have a bit of a look around and to hang with Kristen's sister. Also, my renewed Danish passport is ready for collection at the embassy (it was due to expire on December 24th, so I renewed it in Florida and they were kind enough to ship it to Portland). Then on Thursday, we are having a "face to face" with someone who might be able to give us some good job leads in Portland. After that, we'll head down to Eugene to stay the night before driving back to Sisters on Friday. The unseasonably warm weather should allow us to drive there and back without snow trouble.

Keep an eye on the Sisters, OR photo album as we have been adding pictures periodically.

We're still here!

2009-01-07T17:24:00.010-08:00

Please forgive me if you had the impression that we got stuck somewhere in Little Rock after Day 3 of our road trip. It was my intention to write a bit more during the journey, but then the internet connection in the hotels were sometimes too shoddy or I was just too damn tired to write a blog. Our road-trip stamina is not what it used to be. And we were doing relatively short days of 8-9 hours! Suffice it to say that the rest of the trip was really good – no adverse driving conditions other than some fog in Sacramento – and we made it to Eugene, OR on December 31st. The photos will have to say the rest:

We arrived in Eugene around 8 o'clock, but we were too tired to stay up until midnight, so we just watched some of the festivities from other parts of the world with Kristen's Grandma and then hit the sack by 10. I did wake up when the fireworks started. And promptly went back to sleep. Took it fairly easy the next couple of days. Just visiting relatives, unpacking the car, opening the boxes of stuff we had ordered from Amazon during the course of last year, taking car of the car registration, and so on. We even had a “little christmas” with Don (Kristen's Dad) and Bev.

This past Saturday, we hit the road again. A much shorter trip this time: to Sisters in Central Oregon. It's a small town near Black Butte, about 20 miles from Bend. Despite the snow remnants and risk of icy roads while ascending and descending the Santiam Pass, it took us about two and a half hours to get to Jim and Judy's ranch (Kristen's aunt and uncle). Though we did not have snow tires, the A4 made it without the slightest trouble. We didn't even have to put the chains on.

Central Oregon is very different from the Willamette Valley region. It is drier and higher elevation (3100 in Sisters). Lots of Pondersa pines and scrubland. And LOTS of wildlife! The weather can be much more harsh in the winter (bitterly cold) and summer (searing heat). When we arrived, it was most definitely COLD! There was still lots of snow on the ground, though it had been plowed away from the roads. We are staying in a 100-year-old ranch house (it was originally the main house on the property) right by a small stream and pastures with cows, alpacas, and Friesian horses. Right now there are hundreds of robins hopping around on the grass by the living room windows and in the pasture. (I always thought they were solitary birds). It's not as cold now as it was when we got here. In fact, most of the snow has melted and it's almost Spring-like. It is VERY peaceful out here. And SO much SPACE! This is just the kind of decompression we needed after living in England and after our time in Florida [photos].

We are little-by-little getting our life started here and I'm working on becoming an Oregonian. (It's not going to be difficult for me... I feel like I've been on a 33-year journey to get to the place I'm supposed to be!). Today we set up a PO Box here so we have a mailing address while we figure out where we are headed. The employment situation in Central Oregon is not so good (unemployment is around 10% right now), but we are looking here even though our main goal is still to move to Portland. I'm a bit torn because I find both prospects quite appealing (living in an amazing city VS. living in the “wilderness”). We are casting our net wide and will go where the job is. It's either Bend or Portland. Right now, it's anybody's guess, though job-wise Portland is ahead because we have already found and applied for 2-3 jobs each in Portland and zero in Bend. This kind of open-ended, follow-your-fate existence is both invigorating and frightening. Although, I'd say we are in a much better position now (mentally and financially) than we were when we landed in Belgium, almost on a whim. Sure, we have to pinch our pennies right now because neither of us has full-time employment, but we're safe at the moment and I feel strongly that one (or both) of us will reel in a job in the near future. Then we'll be on our way to a little house with a dog, three chickens, and a garden. And soon I will be able to brew beer again!

---

OK, so that's you all caught up (for the most part). Now there's just this business of the year-end wrap up as is our custom on this blog. Better late than never!

2008 was a year of...

*Change. Not just Barack Obama's Change (for which we are incredibly relieved, to be sure!), but the change that we have enacted by pulling the plug on our life in England and heading back to the US (a change that we had been getting ready for all year). The change of acclimating to American culture. The change of being homeless (i.e.- living out of a suitcase and staying with family) for a while. The change of getting ready for our life in the US, under very different circumstances than when we left a little over 5 years ago.

*Scholarship. Kristen finished writing her PhD thesis in June and endured a brutal viva (defense) in August. Then after making the required changes and additions, she was granted her doctoral title in November. She kicked the ass of that PhD; finishing it in record time!

*Drama. There was always something going on in the Kingsgate building. If it wasn't the cadre of pensioners trying to assert themselves against us, it was the various maintenance issues requiring utmost patience and endurance while trying to find resolution. I still think the Rosemary's Baby allusion is particularly apt. They kept wanting to get in our apartment!

*Spain. After spending a long weekend in the Catalan region of Spain, we absolutely fell in love with it. We were completely taken by surprise, actually. At the moment, we are completely done with long-haul flights, but when we recuperate from that at some stage, we definitely want to explore more of that country. It is beautiful, laid back, and filled with amazing food! We have been cooking a lot more Spanish dishes since then and will continue to do so.

*Planning. We had to keep it a secret for a long time because I didn't want my job to find out about it prematurely, but from the beginning of 2008, we knew we were going to move back to the US. We bought the tickets in December of 2007. It was a bit frustrating because there was a lot of juicy stuff we could have talked about on the blog. We came up with our "exit strategy" and then there was a long process of weighing the pros and cons of various places we might like to live. The list started out quite long and was whittled down to two or three places eventually. It wasn't easy! As our departure date got closer, we had to figure out all the logistics of the move.

*Fitness. I continued with my classes at the Minnesota Kali Group UK and also achieved Level 1 grading in Jun Fan/Jeet Kun Do. Kristen started taking some of the classes, too; mostly the kickboxing, but eventually I convinced her to try Kali. And sure enough, she liked it. We also added an extra element to our fitness routines. Kristen started volunteering 2 days per week at the YMCA in town which meant that she could use the gym for free. Then she convinced me to get a membership (cheap as chips at the Y!) and start weight training. The resident trainer drew up some training programs for us and the rest is history. Both of us are hooked now (Kristen more than me probably, but I pretty much hate exercise!), so much so that the day after we arrived in Florida, we got a temporary membership at the local gym there! Anyway, we've both seen major improvements from this added exercise, so we're really happy about that.

*Politics. The 2008 Presidential Election. What a doozy! We didn't realize exactly how tense we had been about it until, to our ecstatic relief, we saw Barack Obama give his victory speech at 5am (UK time). Both of us reached an historic level of interest in politics and activism during that race. We felt like our post-repatriation happiness absolutely counted on an Obama win. So, between emails and Facebook, both of us partook heavily in the internet war for the White House, fighting for Obama's team. And we feel so proud of the US now.

*Facebook. Speaking of which, I spent a fair amount of time on Facebook last year. This social networking site is quite addictive. Kristen eventually folded and signed up for it, too. More evidence for my theory that, eventually, EVERYONE ends up on Facebook!

*Lack. We only posted 67 blog entries in 2008. And that was down from 72 in 2007. Our peak was 122 in 2004 with 109 in 2006 and 107 in 2005. Shameful! I guess between getting exhausted from my job, feeling a bit burned out by blogging, and having our hands "tied" for job security reasons, the blog suffered. To be honest, I'm not sure what the future holds for this blog. It's "Project: Repatriation" now. Once we're "repatriated", then what? We will probably keep it going for at least one more year to see us through our process of settling in Oregon because I'm sure there will be a lot to talk about. After that, perhaps it gets retired. Or perhaps we start a new blog. Maybe a member-based one on Ning.com? We'll see, I guess!

Beginning of Day 3

2008-12-28T05:52:00.003-08:00

We're in Little Rock, Arkansas. It has finally gotten a bit colder. All the way through Florida, Alabama, and the corner of Tennessee, it was around 70 degrees, but when we arrived in Little Rock, it was in the 50s.

The trip so far has been really nice. The only upset was when I got pulled over by the Highway Patrol outside of Tallahassee, FL. There were two police cars on the right-side shoulder. One officer was busy giving someone a ticket. When we drove by, the other officer sped onto the highway and up to us with his lights flashing, so we pulled over. Office Swindle (that was actually his name!) informed me that, since 2002, there is a "Move Over" law in Florida (you have to change lanes if there is an emergency vehicle on the shoulder with flashing lights). I had some really bad excuses and forgot to say "I'm sorry, officer" and I didn't think to explain at first that we hadn't lived in Florida since 1999. He took my license and registration and went back to his patrol car. A long time passed and he came back with a clipboard in his hand. I then did my "sorry, officer" bit and explained we hadn't lived here in a long time. He said my license was registered in 2005 and then shoved the clipboard at me. At that point, there wasn't much point in trying to explain why I had that license (I had renewed my license during a visit home from England). The citation was for $136! Annoyingly, I almost did change lanes, but because the person ahead of us didn't, I thought it was OK. I certainly would have done so had I known it was a law!

Anyway, we made it to Troy, Alabama (our first stop) about an hour and a half later. Had dinner at a good little Mexican restaurant. The Hampton Inn we stayed in was really nice. Got a good night's sleep.

Day 2 went by without any problems. It was a nice drive through Alabama, across Mississippi, and through Memphis. We were on a smaller highway most of the way so there was a bit of character. Had some trouble finding a place to eat lunch because we were in a particularly undeveloped section of the country. That lost us some time.

Last night, when we finally reached the I-40 in Arkansas, it started PISSING DOWN! I don't think I have ever driven in such heavy rain. It was incredible. And a welcome rinsing of the car! It had mostly let up by the time we got close to Little Rock.

After checking in at the Holiday Inn in North Little Rock, we drove across the river to downtown Little Rock (really nice, by the way). I had read about a couple of brewpubs that were worth trying. We went to one called Boscos. The parking was a bit pricey in that area ($5), but we had a scrumptious dinner and I sampled a few of their beers.

This morning, we have a 8-9 hour tripped plotted to Amarillo, TX. I need to re-jig some of the stuff in the car so we have a bit more room and then we are going to take a quick drive through Little Rock to see what it's like in the daytime, before getting back on I-40W.

Tonight: The Big Texas Steak Ranch on Route 66 in Amarillo! Not going to try the 72 oz challenge, though!

Fixin' to leave

2008-12-26T03:51:00.002-08:00

Kristen has just gone for a 6am run. I cheesed out on the pre- road trip exercise, though. The car is packed to the gills and we still have some more stuff to shove in there, including ourselves, so I might have to jig things around a bit.

The plan is to hit the road at 8am (knowing that it will probably be more like 9) and making it to Troy, AL by 6ish. Why Troy? No reason, really. It's just the first biggest 8-10-hours-away town on our route.

Oregon, here we come!

We've picked our route!

2008-12-22T16:36:00.003-08:00

After some research and some advice from AAA, we have settled on our route across the country. This one combines the relative safety (weather-wise) of the more southern routes with the interest-factor of taking a road other than the oft-travelled I-10. We plan to do the trip in 6 days, driving 8-10 hours per day and we will leave on Wednesday, December 24th.

View Larger Map

We have made hotel reservations to stop over in Troy, Alabama; Little Rock, Arkansas; Amarillo, Texas; Kingman, Arizona; and Sacramento, California. Then we can hopefully make it through the pass into Oregon during daylight hours.

At this point, we do not know where we are going to go in Oregon. Kristen has yet to hear from the job she interviewed for in Salem and that's the only job lead we have at the moment. I've applied for one so far and there are a couple more I will apply for, most of them in Portland.

Possible trajectories across the country

2008-12-17T19:42:00.004-08:00

Google's default:

View Larger Map

This one is interesting because we haven't really driven through any of those middle states, so it would be different scenery. However, the weather might present a problem. Hard to say. Definitely depends on how quickly we need to get there.

---

Less chance of snow (without taking the oft-used I-10):

View Larger Map

Not as direct, but still not doing the I-10 thing. We kind of like this one. Might be able to drive on Route 66 for part of it.

---

Using I-10 going up California:

View Larger Map

This is the route we have usually taken when going from Florida to California. I've driven it twice. It goes through the widest part of Texas and, boy, is that sole-destroying. I did put in a stop-over in Austin though, to make it more interesting. There are some friends there we could visit. And there's a stop-over in San Fran. Friends there, too. There's also people we could see in Arizona and Los Angeles, but we'd prefer to steer cleer of LA during this trip.

A stream-of-consciousness (free writing) summary of how it feels to be back -- because it's too hard to formulate this into concrete thought

2008-12-10T12:59:00.003-08:00

Numb at first.

Are we really staying for good? Isn't this just a vacation?

Warm. Florida sunshine. Tropical. Food. Unlimited icecubes. Tumble dryer. Amenities that we grew up with. Thanksgiving. Random people saying Hello. Taco Bell. Pollo Tropical.

Authority. Police presence. Immigration. Citizenship.

Space to breathe. Space to drive. Opportunity.

Barack Obama. New America. Optimism. Can-do attitude. New beginning. Rebirth. The road ahead. Civic duty.

Endless television. Endless television commercials.

Relief. All our stuff! Driving on the right side of the road. No cars parked in the street. Yellow school buses.

Going to the gym. Suburbia. Neighborhoods. Yards. Lawns.

Commerce. Consumer freedoms. Malls. Giant parking lots. Car dealerships.

Have a nice day!

Home.

Going mobile

2008-12-04T18:32:00.004-08:00

A couple of days ago, we starting doing a bit of research into cars. The original plan was to rent a car to drive across the country in and then buy a car in Oregon, but a couple of things made us re-evaluate that idea. There aren't many cars available at this time of year for a one-way rental. And it would cost about $800-$1000, not counting the gasoline. So we started thinking about the idea of buying a car here, which also had its hitching points.

For one, Florida has 6% sales tax (and Oregon doesn't), so that could make the car more expensive in comparison to buying one in Oregon. However, we realized that the tax we'd pay here would probably be about as much the cost of renting a car (and that rental cost would be just money down the drain, basically). Secondly, because we have a fair amount of crap to take with us, we would need a car that was sizable enough for that. And this was before weighing the usual criteria for buying a car.

Speaking of which, we will most likely both have to have a car at some stage and, hopefully, strategically selected to make sure that whomever has the longest commute has the car with the best gas mileage. If we can get away with only one car, that would be fantastic. Not easy to arrange, but we are going to try! Having said that, we do want to be able to do household chores and gardening which often requires some type of truck or SUV. In that scenario, we would like to have a car and a truck.

We started researching different types of cars, trucks, and SUVs. The primary criteria are cost, gas mileage preferably above 20 mpg average, leather interior (for a car or SUV), all-wheel or 4-wheel drive, normal mileage, and to be honest, looks. Because we're meticulous, list-making Virgo nerds, we made a spreadsheet with the different vehicles that fit our criteria detailing the advertised price in Florida, the Kelly Blue Book value, miles per gallon, and average cost for a similar vehicle in Oregon.

Then we went for a drive.

---

The purpose of today's expedition was to see the cars in person and possibly test drive a couple. Just a fact-finding mission. Not a trip to buy a car. Vehicles we were looking out for:

- 2004-2005 Audi A4

- 2005 Volvo S60 or S40

- 2005-2006 Nissan Murano

- 2005-2006 Mercedes C280 or C240

- 2004-2007 Ford F150

- 2002-2005 Toyota Tacoma

- and others

We started off at Carmax, looking at the types of vehicles in our spreadsheet. The MPG criterion was a very difficult one because most of the vehicles out there (in our price range) are below 20 mpg average, certainly the trucks and SUVs.

It was also tough to decide on whether to get Kristen's car or my truck. The car would get better gas mileage across the country and for all the running about we will need to do when we arrive, but the truck would give us much more room to haul our crap across the country and would be very helpful in the house-move(s) we would be doing. We decided to leave it to fate to decide. The vehicle that presented itself to us as the one would be the vehicle we would go after.

After Carmax, we drove up State Road 7 (a long road with lots of car dealerships) because there was a Volvo dealership and then an Audi dealership we wanted to check out. On the way, we basically decided to rule out an SUV because a) we wanted a nice, safe sedan with good gas mileage as the main get-around car; and b) the "utility" vehicle should really be a truck because SUVs aren't really that great for hauling dirt, wood, etc. since they are, more often than not, to

o nice inside and don't actually have that much hauling space. This left us to decide on getting the truck or the car.

One thing we started doing when pulling in to a dealership was that I would start the timer on my watch as soon as we got out of the car. I would stop it when a salesman approached. Car salespeople must have learned some manners since the last time I shopped for a car because, for the most part, it took several minutes before we were descended upon. However, at a run-down looking Toyota dealership, it took 3 seconds. In fact, I didn't even have a chance to start the timer! This would end up being the start of a perfect example of the stereotypical car salesman. We were quite bemused.

This guy was trying every trick in the book and constantly peppering us with banter and "get to know ya" questions. I asked if they had any Toyota Tacomas. At first, he said no but asked us to "come inside to his office". We reluctantly agreed. Then we sat there while he tried to convince us that we needed to buy the 2008 Toyota Tundra instead. When he saw that we weren't biting, he said there might be a Tacoma in the back lot that just came in a couple of days before. OK, let's go have a look.

It was a 1998. Good-looking on the outside, but quite disgusting on the inside. He insisted on going to get the key for it, so we waited while he take his sweet time about it. I started it up and noticed few clouds of smoke drift by. We tried to find out how much they were asking and he couldn't give us an answer because he needed to have his boss make the evaluation. He talked us into driving the truck around front with him and then basically tricked me into test driving it by telling me the wrong way to the front of the lot (ooh, look... this is the exit of the dealership!). The truck was pretty much crap. Ran rough and was really dirty inside. And it had about 130,000 miles on it!

When we got back to the dealership, I parked it out front and told them we had to go. Suddenly, the manager came out and introduced himself. At this point, someone came up behind us and said "Don't buy a car from these people. They're cheats. The managers are assholes. They play good cop/bad cop" and so on. The salespeople tried to laugh it off like "Eh? What a nutcase, huh?" At this point, our salesman was looking really desperate because it was clear that he couldn't reel us in. We told him we would call in a couple of days when they had evaluate

d the truck and could give us a price. They weren't having that! The manager went inside right away (funny that he did the evaluation without looking at the truck) and came out a minute later saying "$4900!" As we backed towards our car, I told him we would think it over. Thanks for your time, etc. We got in the car and laughed our heads off. It felt like we were lucky to escape with our clothes on and my wallet still in my pocket.

Then we drove to the Audi dealership and had a POLAR OPPOSITE experience!

There was a 2005 Audi A4 that I had found on the internet. We found it almost right away and had a chance to look it over before a salesman approached. He was quite laid back and a nice guy, but we were both pretty wary at first because of the Toyota dealer. The car looked really promising inside and out. The sticker price was quite a bit more than what we found on the internet. I pointed that out and he said they had lowered the price for the internet to sell the car because it had been on the lot for a little while and they were trying to make room for new stock. Red flags would normally go up at this point (and they did) but I should add that it was a "Certified Pre-Owned" and it still had 6 months of the original warranty on it (plus the 1 year dealer warranty).

We took it for a test drive. And from this point, things sort of happened quite quickly. Kristen fell in love with it and I concurred. The price was about $7,000 below the Kelly Blue Book estimate. It fit our criteria quite perfectly. We had no choice. We had to buy it.

I was able to negotiate it down by $250 (not much, but still good) and we got a good, low monthly payments financing deal with a small chunk of change paid down. Since we weren't planning on buying anything today, we didn't have any of the pertinent information with us (insurance details, bank info, checkbook, etc.). We got around that with a little ingenuity and due to the really awesome salesman. That dealership is awesome! Apparently, it's the biggest in the world. They even have a Starbucks inside! The service area was SPARKLING. We might consider staying in Coral Springs just for this car dealership! (OK, not really).

But that's how this day went! We're car owners now. And we're really happy with this vehicle. No buyers remorse whatsoever. And now we feel a bit more settled.

It's going to be a nice drive across the country. I might have to fight Kristen for the chance to drive for a bit!

Recovery Position

2008-12-01T13:53:00.003-08:00

It's been almost two weeks now that we have been back in the US and we're both having trouble crystallizing our feelings about it. I've been trying to write this blog entry for about 2 hours, but I keep switching to other web pages to procrastinate. Don't get me wrong; we're really happy to be back and we are really enjoying the time off. We've been sleeping-in (a bit) and have already joined a gym. We've been doing some chores around the house and had a nice Thanksgiving. Kristen has even had a job interview (over the phone), but I guess it's still too soon to talk about it. It's still too soon to put it into words.

It's like we're in a psychic recovery position.

---

Well, for now... here are some pictures from our time in Coral Springs so far.

We're baaaaack!

2008-11-19T17:56:00.003-08:00

It's been a LONG day, but we're now back on American soil. The trip was a trouble-free (so we must be doing the right thing!).

Now time for a shower and then a good long sleep! Repatriation starts tomorrow!

Final Fleeting Images of our Life In England

The end of an era

2008-11-18T12:58:00.003-08:00

This is it.

This is the end of our last day in England. The last day in Europe. And the last day of our 5-year stint living outside the US. We turn our ship now towards the "New World" once again. It will have changed A LOT in the 5 years we were away and we now return at the precipice of great Change. It is both immensely exciting and somewhat scary. The future is still uncertain and unpredictable, but we are looking forward to it, whatever the outcome.

---

Today has been a hectic churn of activity, making our way through our To Do list. All the little things you normally need to do when moving out of a property, plus a few extra concerns that need to be taken care of when moving out of a country. Things like:

-Mail a check to the moving company (happy to report that the cost of shipping is quite a bit cheaper than the original estimate);
-Give a set of keys to the tenancy management company;
-Get rid of some furniture and the remaining contents of our pantry and refrigerator (most of this went to my work colleagues);
-Report the final meter reading to the the gas/electric company;
-Online flight check-in;
-Deposit some money (from the sale of furniture, etc.);
-Put everything back the way it was when we moved in (furnished apartment);
-Donate things to thrift shops;
-Clean the hell out of the flat.

Laced through these menial chores are lots of "lasts". The last time going to the Post Office (well, the Royal Mail Post Office). The last time riding the A bus. The last time having a shower in our horrible shower stall.

We just got back from our last dinner at our favorite restaurant in Westbourne: The Coffee Club. Before that, we stopped at our "local" for the last time and I had a last pint of real ale (Ringwood's Old Thumper from cask is just devine!). Right now, as we're packing, we're watching a last bit of British television (I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here). And I'm writing our last blog entry in England.

---

We were talking about how we are feeling about this whole thing. I mean, it's quite a big deal! We've been out of the country for 5 years. Yeah, we're used to moving, so that's no big deal, but this time we're moving out of England and back into the US, a country that is familiar and foreign now. Despite all this, we feel mostly... well, numb. Like we're just moving down the street or something. It's weird. I've had a few little pangs here and there when realizing that I might not see certain people again. Or for example, when we were in the pub and I was looking at the pump clips (the emblems on the real ale pump handles), I had a mild, wistful thought that it's going to be a long time before I have that again. I guess it's the realization of losing the things you have been taking for granted. This whole thing is going to hit home in stages, I think.

Right now, we're REALLY ready to go home (that's one thing that is contributing to the ambivalent feelings), but there are things I/we are going to miss about England:

(Uh oh, another list)

-Terry Wogan's Eurovision commentary
-London
-British comedy
-Brendan Westwood (our martial arts instructor)
-The quality of their dairy products and produce
-PAL video standard
-Wagtails (one of the cutest birds on Earth!) and Jays (an elusive bird that looks like it's assembled from the parts of other birds)
-Real Ale
-Branston baked beans
-Roundabouts
-Fewer television commercials (or none at all!)
-Bournemouth (living near the sea)
-Colleagues
-And probably a fair few things we don't realize yet.

Well, it's time to unplug our internet connection, pack up this ol' laptop, and finish packing so we can get some shut-eye before catching our 6.00am bus to Heathrow tomorrow morning. Not that we'll be able to sleep very soundly!

In about 24 hours, we will have landed in Miami to start the next leg of our journey. When PROJECT: REPATRIATION kicks into gear. We will keep this blog going for as long as it takes us to fully settle into life in America. After that, who knows what will happen?

Down to the wire

2008-11-18T00:05:00.002-08:00

We got up pretty early this morning, on our last full day in England. First, we sat in bed making a list of all the stuff we need to get done today. Now it's breakfast before we launch in to the chores.

Crazy. We're down to less than 24 hours before we get on the bus to Heathrow, leaving Westbourne forever (most likely).

Will write more later (when the dust has settled).

Two major hurdles jumped in one day

2008-11-15T01:59:00.003-08:00

Yesterday was kind of a big day in terms of our repatriation to the US. It was my last day of work and the day the movers came to pack up all the stuff we're shipping to Portland.

My workday went by in a bewildering, frantic flash. Because I had to do one-on-one assessment (grading) with 35 students from Monday through Thursday, I didn't have any time to do all the stuff you need to do to effectively hand over your job to someone else. I had to try to pack it all into one day, which didn't really work because I had so much to do. And I had a lot of students coming by to say goodbye with various tokens of their appreciation. It was overwhelming, but really nice to get so much good feedback and know that I will be missed.

During the last couple of hours of the day I was rushing around like a headless chicken giving this stuff to that person, dropping these off in the office over there, saying bye to various colleagues, and generally fretting about all the stuff I didn't get to finish. In fact, I was the last person to leave the office because I carried on working for an hour after the college closed. My plan to leave a clean, clear desk and all the loose ends tied up had been severely downgraded to getting the bare essentials done and getting out of there.

Then I had a somewhat odd final exit of the building. Because I had decided to leave my office keys on the manager's desk, I had to lock the office from the inside and then exit from the fire escape into the back courtyard. I was in a bit of a rush because my bus was due in about 5 minutes, so I tried to cut back around the side and into the ground floor of the building so I could go out the doors nearest the bus stop, but when I got inside I discovered the main doors locked. So I had to make my way down a pitch-black corridor, past the film studios, up a small flight stairs and out another fire exit (luckily, all the fire exits in this building have non-functioning alarms), which I then had trouble closing from the outside despite the fact that EVERY other time anyone has exited from there they have to take extra precautions to make sure the door didn't latch closed if they needed to get back in that way.

Alas, I made my escape, in a hurry, and made it to the bus stop just in time to be able to wait around for the 10-minutes-late bus. Then it started to dawn on me that I am actually quite annoyed that I couldn't have a nice, calm last day saying farewell to people, walking around the campus to see things for the last time, and then leave peacefully. I suppose my exit is in keeping with the tumultuous nature of how things work there, especially on the film course. Oh well!

While all this was happening at work, Kristen was at home waiting for the movers to pack up our stuff and load it on a truck. It went quite smoothly and we actually came in under the original 180 cubic foot estimate; our stuff totaling about 120 instead. That should make it a bit cheaper. They came around 11am and it only took them 2-3 hours to finish. Now our boxes are probably sitting on a palette in London somewhere, waiting to be loaded into a shipping container bound for the Port of Los Angeles. I think it's kind of cool that our stuff is going to get on a ship and travel through the Panama Canal. Oh, the things it will see!

This flat is furnished, so when you walk around, it kind of seems like the movers haven't been here, which only adds to the illusion that we're not actually moving. We're just packing our suitcases and going on vacation.

Last night, Kristen and I met up with my (now) former colleagues and went to a couple of pubs. Not Kristen's preferred activity by any stretch of the imagination, but she relented! It was fun to pal around with them a bit and I was able to resist their attempts to get me completely smashed. Though no one vomited, it was a great display of British drunkenness on a "night out". Particularly in the second (and last) pub we went to, The Goat & Tricycle. As we were getting ready to leave, a pugilistic, drunk couple of girls started arguing with one of my colleagues (who admittedly is a bit of a shit-stirrer). They made us leave by separate entrances and then we stood outside on the sidewalk carrying on for about 15 minutes. It was a fitting end to our social life in England, except for one last thing: they're taking me paintballing on Sunday. I have heard rumors that I will be target Numero Uno, so I have a feeling I am going to have a lot of bruises and welts by the end of the day!

On Monday, Kristen is going to her campus for the last time to have a final meeting and lunch with her PhD supervisor, as well as making arrangements to have her PhD printed and bound in leather (as required by the university). We could have gotten that done a long time ago if the external examiners would have acted a bit quicker. Kristen finally heard back from one of them (an approval of her changes), but is still waiting on the second one (the one that asked for the most changes). We will probably end up having to do the printing from the US. Luckily, there is a company on the Arts Institute campus that can do it and we have enlisted the help of one of my colleagues to collect them when they are done and deliver them to the university.

Though we only have a little over three days left here, we are anxious to leave. No point hanging around here any longer!

Holy crap!

2008-11-13T10:22:00.001-08:00

Too much to do! Much too much to do!

America [Disclaimer: Yes, we know we're cheeseballs!]

2008-11-09T05:26:00.003-08:00

We're at the 10 days-to-go milestone now. In ten days, we will be touching down on American soil using our one-way tickets with Virgin-Atlantic. It doesn't seem that long ago that we were forlornly thinking about the 300+ days to go. Time has just flown by. This week will be no different. Not only will I be very busy at work, but we have a lot of things to do still. For one, we haven't packed a damn thing yet! That's worse than it sounds because we only have to worry about the stuff we're bringing to Florida in the four suitcases we have. Everything else that we're keeping will be packed by the moving company on Friday.

Last month was very stressful. We didn't realize how much the election was weighing on us until it was over and the huge weight lifted from our shoulders. Now, five days later, we are still stopping to marvel at this historic moment. We have just fallen in love with America again and we are just filled with hope and optimism. So much so that we might not even need Virgin-Atlantic to get back to the US -- we can just float back on our cloud of hope and pride!

I just downloaded Neil Diamond's "America". We listened to it twice this morning. It has taken on new meaning and resonance for us (see the lyrics below).

Far
We've been travelling far
Without a home
But not without a star

Free
Only want to be free
We huddle close
Hang on to a dream

On the boats and on the planes
They're coming to America
Never looking back again
They're coming to America

Home, don't it seem so far away
Oh, we're travelling light today
In the eye of the storm
In the eye of the storm

Home, to a new and a shiny place
Make our bed, and we'll say our grace
Freedom's light burning warm
Freedom's light burning warm

Everywhere around the world
They're coming to America
Every time that flag's unfurled
They're coming to America

Got a dream to take them there
They're coming to America
Got a dream they've come to share
They're coming to America

They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
They're coming to America
Today, today, today, today, today

My country 'tis of thee
(Today)
Sweet land of liberty
(today)
Of thee I sing
(today)
Of thee I sing
(today)

(today)

(today)

(today)

President Barrack Hussein Obama!!!

2008-11-04T21:33:00.004-08:00

WE ARE SO RELIEVED!

After staying up to 11.30, sleeping for a couple of hours and then watching TV for another hour and then sleeping for a couple more hours, we woke up to the dawn of a new America. Kristen was still asleep, but something made me wake up at 5.00. I checked the news online and saw something about McCain's concession speech, so I rushed over and turned on the TV just in time for us to watch Obama's speech.

We're tired as hell, but floating on hope, pride, and relief. Personally, my faith in America and American politics has been completely restored (and I think the rest of the world, most of it, feels the same way).

This is so amazing.

Thank you, New America!

We Endorse Barack Obama

2008-11-04T12:02:00.005-08:00

I'm sure that's not a big surprise!

We can't believe this day is finally here and that tomorrow we will know whether or not we will be able to move back to the US or not.

Ok, just kidding. We're moving back either way.

Tonight we will stay up as late as possible to watch the results roll in. It won't be until around 2am that any concrete information will come out. We are going to drag our mattress into the living room and put it in front of the TV so we can drift in and out of sleep while watching.

I've been "documenting" the day on a video camera I borrowed from work. Recorded some comments from students and staff. Everyone is for Obama over here. Well, pretty much the rest of the world! And the bookies over here are predicting an Obama win.

The world is watching. The world is supporting Obama. Do the right thing, America. And do it CLEANLY!

A Pressure-cooker of STRESS

2008-11-01T03:13:00.005-07:00

It is said that moving house is one of the most stressful things a couple can do. I suppose that's true, but Kristen and I are sort of ol' pros at this now. We're practically nomads. To be sure, it's not stress-free and moving out of a country entirely adds an extra level of complication, of course. However, the practical elements of this move aren't really that complicated. For example, since this is a furnished apartment, there isn't really any furniture we have to deal with (just a table and some shelves). The only things we're taking with us are clothes, books, CDs, DVDs, a few souvenirs, and some kitchen-ware. Oh, and my beer glasses! We have selected an overseas shipping company that does all the packing. No packing stress, then. We've taken care of a lot of the other little loose ends like selling the car, notifying our utilities, and the landlord. The airline we're flying with is still in business. We've got our exit and entry strategies in place. On the relocation front, things are generally quite "sorted". BUT...

We're stressed, alright! Though not for the most obvious reasons.

*Kristen still has not gotten 100% confirmation on completing her PhD. She finished the changes that the external examiners required and sent the updated draft to them on Oct. 4th. They had "promised" that they would turn it around within 2 weeks so that she can get it printed and bound before leaving the UK. Nearly a month has gone by now and she just found out that at least one of them hasn't even looked at it yet. Very frustrating, particularly because she has been on tenterhooks since she sent it to them. Though I'm feeling pretty positive about it, she is afraid that they will want more changes.

*The US Election has us climbing the walls. There has been a steady nervous energy about it for the past couple of months. Personally, I am freaking out about it a bit. I'm slightly terrified about the events of Nov. 4th. We are going to stay up all night to watch the results and will hopefully crash in the wee hours of the morning after waking all the neighbors with howls of glee when Obama is announced victorious. If he doesn't win, I am going into a deep depression because I predict that it will be the end for the US. A McCain/Palin win will be the straw that breaks the camels back and the US will crumble irreparably within 20 years. I know, that's cynical as hell but I am as sure of this as I am sure of my need to breathe air. So, yeah... little bit of stress there!

*I made the mistake of "opening a can of worms" at work that I have been having trouble handling now because it turned out to be a bigger project than I realized: reorganizing and cataloging the archive of student films going back to the mid-Sixties. This has been keeping me from having a sound night's sleep on many occasions. So much so, that Kristen has been coming in two to three times per week for a few hours to help me with it. It's starting to get under control now, but partially due to changing tactics and lowering my expectations of achievement. My colleagues think I'm crazy because I'm spending many extra hours at work without being paid for it. Well, that's obsession for you!

*We are getting intruded upon in our apartment repeatedly. Not only do we have frequent visits by estate agents (Realtors) trying to sell the flat, but we have had to have plumbers come in to repair the boiler and now we have been forced to allow a decorator to work in our bedroom to fix the giant crack in the wall. Apparently, there were two buyers that were really interested in the flat until they saw that crack, so the landlord wants it fixed ASAP. Kristen tried her best to get the landlord to wait until after we leave but he wouldn't have it. The decorator has to come here over the course of three to four days and probably work for up to 5 hours each time. This means Kristen will have to let him in and either sit around waiting for him to finish or we just have to let him work here unattended. Neither option is one we are really thrilled with and it is really quite irritating that we have no control over who comes into our flat and when. And then there's the ever-present threat of one of the self-important old farts deciding they need to come in here for some reason.

*We have been REALLY busy over the past several weeks. There's the extended hours at work. Our exercise routines. Various social engagements. Chores and errands to do. Listing things for sale on Gumtree (and then dealing with buyers coming to pick the things up). And so on. There have been plenty of things to write blogs about, but we haven't really felt like it when we finally do have some time to spare!

*Then there are the little niggling worries about moving back to the US. What will it feel like? How heavy will the culture shock be? Will we be able to deal with the "American" way of life after getting used to the European way? What if we feel completely alienated? What if McCain is president? Is this the worst possible time to move back?

Having said that, we are SO looking forward to moving. There are 17 more days (and only 10 working days) before we go and sometimes even that is an unbearably long period of time!

---

PS - The weather is utter SHIT today. It is not only cold (that damp, bone-creaking, spirit-crushing cold that permeates the very core of your existence), but it is raining and foggy. This wouldn't be such an "insult" if we actually had a summer this year, but the weather was abysmal then, too. Our mantra is "...in Florida." For example, we'll rest in Florida. We'll be warm in Florida. We'll have time off in Florida.

Get to know Barack Obama

2008-10-26T11:08:00.004-07:00

Today there were a bunch of interviews with people who know/have known Barack Obama. Want to get to know him a little better before you cast your vote for him on the 4th? Read the articles online from The Observer.

And while I'm at it, let me just paste in something I got from Moveon.org the other day:

TOP 5 REASONS OBAMA SUPPORTERS SHOULDN'T REST EASY

1. The polls may be wrong. This is an unprecedented election. No one knows how racism may affect what voters tell pollsters—or what they do in the voting booth. And the polls are narrowing anyway. In the last few days, John McCain has gained ground in most national polls, as his campaign has gone even more negative.

2. Dirty tricks. Republicans are already illegally purging voters from the rolls in some states. They're whipping up hysteria over ACORN to justify more challenges to new voters. Misleading flyers about the voting process have started appearing in black neighborhoods. And of course, many counties still use unsecure voting machines.

3. October surprise. In politics, 15 days is a long time. The next McCain smear could dominate the news for a week. There could be a crisis with Iran, or Bin Laden could release another tape, or worse.

4. Those who forget history... In 2000, Al Gore won the popular vote after trailing by seven points in the final days of the race. In 1980, Reagan was eight points down in the polls in late October and came back to win. Races can shift—fast!

5. Landslide. Even with Barack Obama in the White House, passing universal health care and a new clean-energy policy is going to be hard. Insurance, drug and oil companies will fight us every step of the way. We need the kind of landslide that will give Barack a huge mandate.

If you agree that we shouldn't rest easy, please sign up to volunteer at your local Obama office by clicking here:

http://pol.moveon.org/obama/office.html?source=blog&id=14534-5946886-Mon3lBx&t=1

Woah

2008-10-25T12:56:00.002-07:00

We have three more Saturdays and three more Sundays.
We have four more Mondays and four more Tuesdays.
We have three more Wednesdays and three more Thursdays and three more Fridays.
And then we're coming home.

Crazy.

We live in the UKraine

2008-10-18T06:03:00.004-07:00

We just got back from having our first shower in over 48 hours. See... our boiler is out of order so we have no heat or hot water. This started Thursday night and will continue to be the case until at least Tuesday. A neighbor has left us her keys so we can use her shower (it's the landlady of the flat we used to live in downstairs... she basically doesn't live there anymore because she is in the process of moving in with her fiance). Lucky for us that this is the case. Otherwise, we'd be a bit stuffed because I'll be damned if we're going to ask to borrow one of the old farts' bathrooms!

Some backstory...
About half a year ago, the resident geezers complained that we had a pipe dripping outside which has made the wall wet and stained the building. We called and called the management company but never really got much response. A couple of plumbers have tried to fix it to no avail.

This lead to a revolt of sorts by the residents. They recently started a campaign of lies and lawsuit threats against our landlord. So, the plumber came out again this past Thursday. He bypassed a valve which was responsible for the leak, but warned that doing this might cause us to lose pressure and consequently have no hot water in the morning. He said to give him call if that happened. Next morning, we had to do just that because the boiler did not spring to life at 7am as it used to do. The plumber could not come until after 5pm so both of us had to go to work unshowered.

Yesterday evening, the plumber was here to work on the boiler. He installed a "pressure bulb" (the bulbous red thing in the photo) and re-routed a pipe or two. Unfortunately, after doing this, he discovered that something else was no wrong with it. Most likely a burned out electrical component. Of course, this is a part he has to order which he will not be able to do until Monday.

Fortunately, we were able to get in touch with our former landlady who happily has allowed us to use her shower this weekend. Even better, this means we can take showers with actual water pressure. Because her flat is on the ground floor, it does not suffer from the piss-poor pressure that ours does. Almost makes me wish they will NEVER be able to fix our boiler!

Oh, and another annoying piece of information. Apparently, there is a pressure-boosting pump on this site which, if switched on, would greatly improve the water pressure in the whole building. The plumber found this out when he was in our flat a week or two ago with a couple of the old "battle axes" trying to fix the leak, which at the time was thought to come from the toilet somehow. The toilet tank was very slow to fill and the old biddies wondered why. He explained that the pressure was poor. They said, "Oh, we don't have a problem" and then mentioned the pump which has never been used because "no one seems to have had a problem". Grrr! Had we known this a year ago, we might have tried to convince them to switch the damn thing on!

We must be living in an Eastern Block country or something! One of the tenets of Western civilization is good water pressure! But here we are having to do all these folksy work-arounds to make things work properly. Things like having to turn on central heating to be able to get hot water for the shower or for the kitchen sink. Or having to hang our clothing all over the apartment because there's no tumble dryer. Or needing to clear stagnant water in our shower drain by blowing through an empty toilet paper roll because the plumbing is so poorly laid that the water has to go uphill or something (when we do this, the sink and bathtub drains gurgle and spurt). Or the fact that we now have to wear a jacket or thick sweater, wool socks, and maybe a scarf INDOORS. And did you know that some buildings in the UK still use coin-operated electricity meters? It's true! There's a little box on the wall with a meter and a coin slot like those in an old-school candy machine -- the kind that you put in a coin and then turn the dial to make it go in. If you forget to keep it filled, the electricity suddenly cuts off. We haven't had to live with one of these in any of the properties we've been in, but some friends of ours did. Hilarious!

Now, I know it's in poor taste to complain about stuff like this when there are people in the world have have it 1000 times worse off. Our "difficulties" are obviously very minor in comparison. It just makes you appreciate the small conveniences in life. The things you take for granted. Something we are going to stay mindful of when re-patriating to the US, the land of gluttony and excess. Well, I suppose that's changing now, though. A positive thing to come out of this whole economic meltdown.

Change

2008-10-10T06:50:00.002-07:00

A great article from an "elite intellectual" magazine, The New Yorker. The link to the site is above, but I've pasted it in here; highlighting the particularly salient points.

The Choice
October 13, 2008

Never in living memory has an election been more critical than the one fast approaching—that’s the quadrennial cliché, as expected as the balloons and the bombast. And yet when has it ever felt so urgently true? When have so many Americans had so clear a sense that a Presidency has—at the levels of competence, vision, and integrity—undermined the country and its ideals?

The incumbent Administration has distinguished itself for the ages. The Presidency of George W. Bush is the worst since Reconstruction, so there is no mystery about why the Republican Party—which has held dominion over the executive branch of the federal government for the past eight years and the legislative branch for most of that time—has little desire to defend its record, domestic or foreign. The only speaker at the Convention in St. Paul who uttered more than a sentence or two in support of the President was his wife, Laura. Meanwhile, the nominee, John McCain, played the part of a vaudeville illusionist, asking to be regarded as an apostle of change after years of embracing the essentials of the Bush agenda with ever-increasing ardor.

The Republican disaster begins at home. Even before taking into account whatever fantastically expensive plan eventually emerges to help rescue the financial system from Wall Street’s long-running pyramid schemes, the economic and fiscal picture is bleak. During the Bush Administration, the national debt, now approaching ten trillion dollars, has nearly doubled. Next year’s federal budget is projected to run a half-trillion-dollar deficit, a precipitous fall from the seven-hundred-billion-dollar surplus that was projected when Bill Clinton left office. Private-sector job creation has been a sixth of what it was under President Clinton. Five million people have fallen into poverty. The number of Americans without health insurance has grown by seven million, while average premiums have nearly doubled. Meanwhile, the principal domestic achievement of the Bush Administration has been to shift the relative burden of taxation from the rich to the rest. For the top one per cent of us, the Bush tax cuts are worth, on average, about a thousand dollars a week; for the bottom fifth, about a dollar and a half. The unfairness will only increase if the painful, yet necessary, effort to rescue the credit markets ends up preventing the rescue of our health-care system, our environment, and our physical, educational, and industrial infrastructure.

At the same time, a hundred and fifty thousand American troops are in Iraq and thirty-three thousand are in Afghanistan. There is still disagreement about the wisdom of overthrowing Saddam Hussein and his horrific regime, but there is no longer the slightest doubt that the Bush Administration manipulated, bullied, and lied the American public into this war and then mismanaged its prosecution in nearly every aspect. The direct costs, besides an expenditure of more than six hundred billion dollars, have included the loss of more than four thousand Americans, the wounding of thirty thousand, the deaths of tens of thousands of Iraqis, and the displacement of four and a half million men, women, and children. Only now, after American forces have been fighting for a year longer than they did in the Second World War, is there a glimmer of hope that the conflict in Iraq has entered a stage of fragile stability.

The indirect costs, both of the war in particular and of the Administration’s unilateralist approach to foreign policy in general, have also been immense. The torture of prisoners, authorized at the highest level, has been an ethical and a public-diplomacy catastrophe. At a moment when the global environment, the global economy, and global stability all demand a transition to new sources of energy, the United States has been a global retrograde, wasteful in its consumption and heedless in its policy. Strategically and morally, the Bush Administration has squandered the American capacity to counter the example and the swagger of its rivals. China, Russia, Iran, Saudi Arabia, and other illiberal states have concluded, each in its own way, that democratic principles and human rights need not be components of a stable, prosperous future. At recent meetings of the United Nations, emboldened despots like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad of Iran came to town sneering at our predicament and hailing the “end of the American era.”

The election of 2008 is the first in more than half a century in which no incumbent President or Vice-President is on the ballot. There is, however, an incumbent party, and that party has been lucky enough to find itself, apparently against the wishes of its “base,” with a nominee who evidently disliked George W. Bush before it became fashionable to do so. In South Carolina in 2000, Bush crushed John McCain with a sub-rosa primary campaign of such viciousness that McCain lashed out memorably against Bush’s Christian-right allies. So profound was McCain’s anger that in 2004 he flirted with the possibility of joining the Democratic ticket under John Kerry. Bush, who took office as a “compassionate conservative,” governed immediately as a rightist ideologue. During that first term, McCain bolstered his reputation, sometimes deserved, as a “maverick” willing to work with Democrats on such issues as normalizing relations with Vietnam, campaign-finance reform, and immigration reform. He co-sponsored, with John Edwards and Edward Kennedy, a patients’ bill of rights. In 2001 and 2003, he voted against the Bush tax cuts. With John Kerry, he co-sponsored a bill raising auto-fuel efficiency standards and, with Joseph Lieberman, a cap-and-trade regime on carbon emissions. He was one of a minority of Republicans opposed to unlimited drilling for oil and gas off America’s shores.

Since the 2004 election, however, McCain has moved remorselessly rightward in his quest for the Republican nomination. He paid obeisance to Jerry Falwell and preachers of his ilk. He abandoned immigration reform, eventually coming out against his own bill. Most shocking, McCain, who had repeatedly denounced torture under all circumstances, voted in February against a ban on the very techniques of “enhanced interrogation” that he himself once endured in Vietnam—as long as the torturers were civilians employed by the C.I.A.

On almost every issue, McCain and the Democratic Party’s nominee, Barack Obama, speak the generalized language of “reform,” but only Obama has provided a convincing, rational, and fully developed vision. McCain has abandoned his opposition to the Bush-era tax cuts and has taken up the demagogic call—in the midst of recession and Wall Street calamity, with looming crises in Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid—for more tax cuts. Bush’s expire in 2011. If McCain, as he has proposed, cuts taxes for corporations and estates, the benefits once more would go disproportionately to the wealthy.

In Washington, the craze for pure market triumphalism is over. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson arrived in town (via Goldman Sachs) a Republican, but it seems that he will leave a Democrat. In other words, he has come to see that the abuses that led to the current financial crisis––not least, excessive speculation on borrowed capital––can be fixed only with government regulation and oversight. McCain, who has never evinced much interest in, or knowledge of, economic questions, has had little of substance to say about the crisis. His most notable gesture of concern—a melodramatic call last month to suspend his campaign and postpone the first Presidential debate until the government bailout plan was ready—soon revealed itself as an empty diversionary tactic.

By contrast, Obama has made a serious study of the mechanics and the history of this economic disaster and of the possibilities of stimulating a recovery. Last March, in New York, in a speech notable for its depth, balance, and foresight, he said, “A complete disdain for pay-as-you-go budgeting, coupled with a generally scornful attitude towards oversight and enforcement, allowed far too many to put short-term gain ahead of long-term consequences.” Obama is committed to reforms that value not only the restoration of stability but also the protection of the vast majority of the population, which did not partake of the fruits of the binge years. He has called for greater and more programmatic regulation of the financial system; the creation of a National Infrastructure Reinvestment Bank, which would help reverse the decay of our roads, bridges, and mass-transit systems, and create millions of jobs; and a major investment in the green-energy sector.

On energy and global warming, Obama offers a set of forceful proposals. He supports a cap-and-trade program to reduce America’s carbon emissions by eighty per cent by 2050—an enormously ambitious goal, but one that many climate scientists say must be met if atmospheric carbon dioxide is to be kept below disastrous levels. Large emitters, like utilities, would acquire carbon allowances, and those which emit less carbon dioxide than their allotment could sell the resulting credits to those which emit more; over time, the available allowances would decline. Significantly, Obama wants to auction off the allowances; this would provide fifteen billion dollars a year for developing alternative-energy sources and creating job-training programs in green technologies. He also wants to raise federal fuel-economy standards and to require that ten per cent of America’s electricity be generated from renewable sources by 2012. Taken together, his proposals represent the most coherent and far-sighted strategy ever offered by a Presidential candidate for reducing the nation’s reliance on fossil fuels.

There was once reason to hope that McCain and Obama would have a sensible debate about energy and climate policy. McCain was one of the first Republicans in the Senate to support federal limits on carbon dioxide, and he has touted his own support for a less ambitious cap-and-trade program as evidence of his independence from the White House. But, as polls showed Americans growing jittery about gasoline prices, McCain apparently found it expedient in this area, too, to shift course. He took a dubious idea—lifting the federal moratorium on offshore oil drilling—and placed it at the very center of his campaign. Opening up America’s coastal waters to drilling would have no impact on gasoline prices in the short term, and, even over the long term, the effect, according to a recent analysis by the Department of Energy, would be “insignificant.” Such inconvenient facts, however, are waved away by a campaign that finally found its voice with the slogan “Drill, baby, drill!”
The contrast between the candidates is even sharper with respect to the third branch of government. A tense equipoise currently prevails among the Justices of the Supreme Court, where four hard-core conservatives face off against four moderate liberals. Anthony M. Kennedy is the swing vote, determining the outcome of case after case.

McCain cites Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito, two reliable conservatives, as models for his own prospective appointments. If he means what he says, and if he replaces even one moderate on the current Supreme Court, then Roe v. Wade will be reversed, and states will again be allowed to impose absolute bans on abortion. McCain’s views have hardened on this issue. In 1999, he said he opposed overturning Roe; by 2006, he was saying that its demise “wouldn’t bother me any”; by 2008, he no longer supported adding rape and incest as exceptions to his party’s platform opposing abortion.

But scrapping Roe—which, after all, would leave states as free to permit abortion as to criminalize it—would be just the beginning. Given the ideological agenda that the existing conservative bloc has pursued, it’s safe to predict that affirmative action of all kinds would likely be outlawed by a McCain Court. Efforts to expand executive power, which, in recent years, certain Justices have nobly tried to resist, would likely increase. Barriers between church and state would fall; executions would soar; legal checks on corporate power would wither—all with just one new conservative nominee on the Court. And the next President is likely to make three appointments.

Obama, who taught constitutional law at the University of Chicago, voted against confirming not only Roberts and Alito but also several unqualified lower-court nominees. As an Illinois state senator, he won the support of prosecutors and police organizations for new protections against convicting the innocent in capital cases. While McCain voted to continue to deny habeas-corpus rights to detainees, perpetuating the Bush Administration’s regime of state-sponsored extra-legal detention, Obama took the opposite side, pushing to restore the right of all U.S.-held prisoners to a hearing. The judicial future would be safe in his care.

In the shorthand of political commentary, the Iraq war seems to leave McCain and Obama roughly even. Opposing it before the invasion, Obama had the prescience to warn of a costly and indefinite occupation and rising anti-American radicalism around the world; supporting it, McCain foresaw none of this. More recently, in early 2007 McCain risked his Presidential prospects on the proposition that five additional combat brigades could salvage a war that by then appeared hopeless. Obama, along with most of the country, had decided that it was time to cut American losses. Neither candidate’s calculations on Iraq have been as cheaply political as McCain’s repeated assertion that Obama values his career over his country; both men based their positions, right or wrong, on judgment and principle.

President Bush’s successor will inherit two wars and the realities of limited resources, flagging popular will, and the dwindling possibilities of what can be achieved by American power. McCain’s views on these subjects range from the simplistic to the unknown. In Iraq, he seeks “victory”—a word that General David Petraeus refuses to use, and one that fundamentally misrepresents the messy, open-ended nature of the conflict. As for Afghanistan, on the rare occasions when McCain mentions it he implies that the surge can be transferred directly from Iraq, which suggests that his grasp of counterinsurgency is not as firm as he insisted it was during the first Presidential debate. McCain always displays more faith in force than interest in its strategic consequences. Unlike Obama, McCain has no political strategy for either war, only the dubious hope that greater security will allow things to work out. Obama has long warned of deterioration along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, and has a considered grasp of its vital importance. His strategy for both Afghanistan and Iraq shows an understanding of the role that internal politics, economics, corruption, and regional diplomacy play in wars where there is no battlefield victory.

Unimaginably painful personal experience taught McCain that war is above all a test of honor: maintain the will to fight on, be prepared to risk everything, and you will prevail. Asked during the first debate to outline “the lessons of Iraq,” McCain said, “I think the lessons of Iraq are very clear: that you cannot have a failed strategy that will then cause you to nearly lose a conflict.” A soldier’s answer––but a statesman must have a broader view of war and peace. The years ahead will demand not only determination but also diplomacy, flexibility, patience, judiciousness, and intellectual engagement. These are no more McCain’s strong suit than the current President’s. Obama, for his part, seems to know that more will be required than willpower and force to extract some advantage from the wreckage of the Bush years.
Obama is also better suited for the task of renewing the bedrock foundations of American influence. An American restoration in foreign affairs will require a commitment not only to international coöperation but also to international institutions that can address global warming, the dislocations of what will likely be a deepening global economic crisis, disease epidemics, nuclear proliferation, terrorism, and other, more traditional security challenges. Many of the Cold War-era vehicles for engagement and negotiation—the United Nations, the World Bank, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty regime, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization—are moribund, tattered, or outdated. Obama has the generational outlook that will be required to revive or reinvent these compacts. He would be the first postwar American President unencumbered by the legacies of either Munich or Vietnam.

The next President must also restore American moral credibility. Closing Guantánamo, banning all torture, and ending the Iraq war as responsibly as possible will provide a start, but only that. The modern Presidency is as much a vehicle for communication as for decision-making, and the relevant audiences are global. Obama has inspired many Americans in part because he holds up a mirror to their own idealism. His election would do no less—and likely more—overseas.

What most distinguishes the candidates, however, is character—and here, contrary to conventional wisdom, Obama is clearly the stronger of the two. Not long ago, Rick Davis, McCain’s campaign manager, said, “This election is not about issues. This election is about a composite view of what people take away from these candidates.” The view that this election is about personalities leaves out policy, complexity, and accountability. Even so, there’s some truth in what Davis said––but it hardly points to the conclusion that he intended.

Echoing Obama, McCain has made “change” one of his campaign mantras. But the change he has actually provided has been in himself, and it is not just a matter of altering his positions. A willingness to pander and even lie has come to define his Presidential campaign and its televised advertisements. A contemptuous duplicity, a meanness, has entered his talk on the stump—so much so that it seems obvious that, in the drive for victory, he is willing to replicate some of the same underhanded methods that defeated him eight years ago in South Carolina.

Perhaps nothing revealed McCain’s cynicism more than his choice of Sarah Palin, the former mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, who had been governor of that state for twenty-one months, as the Republican nominee for Vice-President. In the interviews she has given since her nomination, she has had difficulty uttering coherent unscripted responses about the most basic issues of the day. We are watching a candidate for Vice-President cram for her ongoing exam in elementary domestic and foreign policy. This is funny as a Tina Fey routine on “Saturday Night Live,” but as a vision of the political future it’s deeply unsettling. Palin has no business being the backup to a President of any age, much less to one who is seventy-two and in imperfect health. In choosing her, McCain committed an act of breathtaking heedlessness and irresponsibility. Obama’s choice, Joe Biden, is not without imperfections. His tongue sometimes runs in advance of his mind, providing his own fodder for late-night comedians, but there is no comparison with Palin. His deep experience in foreign affairs, the judiciary, and social policy makes him an assuring and complementary partner for Obama.

The longer the campaign goes on, the more the issues of personality and character have reflected badly on McCain. Unless appearances are very deceiving, he is impulsive, impatient, self-dramatizing, erratic, and a compulsive risk-taker. These qualities may have contributed to his usefulness as a “maverick” senator. But in a President they would be a menace.

By contrast, Obama’s transformative message is accompanied by a sense of pragmatic calm. A tropism for unity is an essential part of his character and of his campaign. It is part of what allowed him to overcome a Democratic opponent who entered the race with tremendous advantages. It is what helped him forge a political career relying both on the liberals of Hyde Park and on the political regulars of downtown Chicago. His policy preferences are distinctly liberal, but he is determined to speak to a broad range of Americans who do not necessarily share his every value or opinion. For some who oppose him, his equanimity even under the ugliest attack seems like hauteur; for some who support him, his reluctance to counterattack in the same vein seems like self-defeating detachment. Yet it is Obama’s temperament—and not McCain’s—that seems appropriate for the office both men seek and for the volatile and dangerous era in which we live. Those who dismiss his centeredness as self-centeredness or his composure as indifference are as wrong as those who mistook Eisenhower’s stolidity for denseness or Lincoln’s humor for lack of seriousness.

Nowadays, almost every politician who thinks about running for President arranges to become an author. Obama’s books are different: he wrote them. “The Audacity of Hope” (2006) is a set of policy disquisitions loosely structured around an account of his freshman year in the United States Senate. Though a campaign manifesto of sorts, it is superior to that genre’s usual blowsy pastiche of ghostwritten speeches. But it is Obama’s first book, “Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance” (1995), that offers an unprecedented glimpse into the mind and heart of a potential President. Obama began writing it in his early thirties, before he was a candidate for anything. Not since Theodore Roosevelt has an American politician this close to the pinnacle of power produced such a sustained, highly personal work of literary merit before being definitively swept up by the tides of political ambition.

A Presidential election is not the awarding of a Pulitzer Prize: we elect a politician and, we hope, a statesman, not an author. But Obama’s first book is valuable in the way that it reveals his fundamental attitudes of mind and spirit. “Dreams from My Father” is an illuminating memoir not only in the substance of Obama’s own peculiarly American story but also in the qualities he brings to the telling: a formidable intelligence, emotional empathy, self-reflection, balance, and a remarkable ability to see life and the world through the eyes of people very different from himself. In common with nearly all other senators and governors of his generation, Obama does not count military service as part of his biography. But his life has been full of tests—personal, spiritual, racial, political—that bear on his preparation for great responsibility.

It is perfectly legitimate to call attention, as McCain has done, to Obama’s lack of conventional national and international policymaking experience. We, too, wish he had more of it. But office-holding is not the only kind of experience relevant to the task of leading a wildly variegated nation. Obama’s immersion in diverse human environments (Hawaii’s racial rainbow, Chicago’s racial cauldron, countercultural New York, middle-class Kansas, predominantly Muslim Indonesia), his years of organizing among the poor, his taste of corporate law and his grounding in public-interest and constitutional law—these, too, are experiences. And his books show that he has wrung from them every drop of insight and breadth of perspective they contained.

The exhaustingly, sometimes infuriatingly long campaign of 2008 (and 2007) has had at least one virtue: it has demonstrated that Obama’s intelligence and steady temperament are not just figments of the writer’s craft. He has made mistakes, to be sure. (His failure to accept McCain’s imaginative proposal for a series of unmediated joint appearances was among them.) But, on the whole, his campaign has been marked by patience, planning, discipline, organization, technological proficiency, and strategic astuteness. Obama has often looked two or three moves ahead, relatively impervious to the permanent hysteria of the hourly news cycle and the cable-news shouters. And when crisis has struck, as it did when the divisive antics of his ex-pastor threatened to bring down his campaign, he has proved equal to the moment, rescuing himself with a speech that not only drew the poison but also demonstrated a profound respect for the electorate. Although his opponents have tried to attack him as a man of “mere” words, Obama has returned eloquence to its essential place in American politics. The choice between experience and eloquence is a false one––something that Lincoln, out of office after a single term in Congress, proved in his own campaign of political and national renewal. Obama’s “mere” speeches on everything from the economy and foreign affairs to race have been at the center of his campaign and its success; if he wins, his eloquence will be central to his ability to govern.

We cannot expect one man to heal every wound, to solve every major crisis of policy. So much of the Presidency, as they say, is a matter of waking up in the morning and trying to drink from a fire hydrant. In the quiet of the Oval Office, the noise of immediate demands can be deafening. And yet Obama has precisely the temperament to shut out the noise when necessary and concentrate on the essential. The election of Obama—a man of mixed ethnicity, at once comfortable in the world and utterly representative of twenty-first-century America—would, at a stroke, reverse our country’s image abroad and refresh its spirit at home. His ascendance to the Presidency would be a symbolic culmination of the civil- and voting-rights acts of the nineteen-sixties and the century-long struggles for equality that preceded them. It could not help but say something encouraging, even exhilarating, about the country, about its dedication to tolerance and inclusiveness, about its fidelity, after all, to the values it proclaims in its textbooks. At a moment of economic calamity, international perplexity, political failure, and battered morale, America needs both uplift and realism, both change and steadiness. It needs a leader temperamentally, intellectually, and emotionally attuned to the complexities of our troubled globe. That leader’s name is Barack Obama.
—The Editors

Putting our Exit Strategy into action

2008-10-04T00:55:00.005-07:00

We've been quiet for a while on here. Time has just been flying by! Both of us have been very busy with work. Term started for me on September 22nd and when the students return, my workload always increases by 100-fold; to the point when you can't really get much done because there are so many plates up in the air to keep spinning. Kristen has been working on her PhD changes (just finished them), doing a couple of research projects for CEMP and still volunteering at the Y. Every Friday for the past few weeks, we've just been shocked that another week has gone by. The weekends have been busy, too. Between my dad visiting, another two-day martial arts seminar, planning/executing our return to the US, keeping an eye on the election, and our usual chores, there's not much time for rest! That's why we are REALLY looking forward to our one-way flight to Florida on November 19th. It will be so nice to spend Thanksgiving and Christmas at my mom's. But before that happens, we have a lot of things to get done. Kristen and I were talking about it last night. There are so many little things that need to be planned and considered.

Decide what we want to take with us. When we made our initial trek to Europe over 5 years ago, we came with two suitcases each. Little by little, we have amassed more belongings purchased here as well as the things we have been bringing over from our various trips back to the States. It's not a lot of stuff by American standards, but definitely enough to warrant bulk shipping. And we're still selling some things.
Schedule an "inventory" appointment with the estate agent so that we can get our deposit back. Because we are flying out on the 19th in the morning, we need to leave the flat on the 18th, which means the appointment needs to be on that morning. By that point, we need to have the apartment spic-n-span and our suitcases packed so we can just walk out the door after they've checked the place. Then we're going to stay in a hotel near Heathrow that night so we can have a relatively stress-free morning on our departure day. As bad as appointments with various external parties usually go in this country, I am a little paranoid that the estate agent won't stick to it. Therefore, I'm going to be on them like a hound-dog to make sure they don't screw it up for us.
We've picked an overseas "removals" (moving) company and have paid a deposit. They will come by to do a quote based on what we are going to ship. We have scheduled the collection day for November 14th (when they will come to our apartment to pack everything, put it on pallets and take it away). But it's sort of difficult to figure out what we want to ship and what we will put in our suitcases. Obviously, most of our stuff will be shipped, but which articles of clothing will we pack for Nov./Dec. in Florida (pretty mild temperatures, but sometimes a little nippy) knowing that, come January, we will be driving across country to Portland, OR through parts of the country that are going to be butt-ass cold. Which items do we not mind being without for 8-12 weeks as our belongings float across the Atlantic, through the Panama Canal, into the Pacific and then up the West coast? And what about our bed linen? And other daily-use items? We're staying here for 5 days after the removals company takes our stuff. Plus there's the futon mattress that we've put on top of the mattress that came with the flat. Do we just surreptitiously leave that behind? Or do we need to try to dump it somewhere? What if we miscalculate how much stuff to send with the shipping company and how much to pack in our suitcases? I suppose we might need to do a "dry run" of packing the suitcases to be sure.
We also need to cancel all our utilities. That needs to happen fairly soon because most of them require 30 days notice.
Another issue is our mail. We don't really get that much, but we need to make sure that people aren't receiving our post here long after we're gone. We'll cancel any subscriptions we can and also purchase overseas mail-forwarding from the Royal Mail. Either 3 months or 6 months.
Set up health insurance for when we arrive in the US. No more NHS after the 19th! We will take advantage of it before we go, though. Free health check-ups and teeth check-ups.
Figure out if we need to get part time jobs in Florida for the 1-2 months we're there.
Give away/throw away condiments, spices, flour, liquor and stuff like that if we haven't used it by the time we are cleaning the flat for the last time.
Re-hang all of the landlord's frames and artwork.
Transfer all of our £s to the US and make sure that we will be able to close our bank account without being there. We will have to leave it open until our last paychecks go through and we receive our deposit back from the flat. Related to this, we need to cancel all direct debits.
Take a last couple of touristy trips. Probably just up to London for a day soon. There are still a couple of places we wanted to see there. I really want to go to the Tate Modern. It's a great city, so we really just want to see it one more time and say farewell. Probably won't be there again for a very, very long time.
Keep our fingers crossed that we won't be moving back to 4 years of McCain/Palin. Yak, gag, shiver with fright!

Sheeeeeee's leaving home... bye byyyyyyyyyyyyye...

2008-09-19T12:08:00.001-07:00

Our trusty BMW has now moved on to a new owner (the guy on the right; that's his dad next to him). We were a bit nervous that we wouldn't be able to sell it and then would have to donate it or crap it or something. I had it advertised the old-fashioned way -- flyers in the windows and posted various places -- for a couple of weeks. Not a peep. Then I put it up on Gumtree. Still nothing. Finally, I put it up on Autotrader and a couple of days later, I had one buyer coming out to have a look at it and another scheduled to see it the next day. This was yesterday. The first buyer that contacted me is the guy in the picture. We agreed on a price pretty much right away and I got the exact value of the car, so we're really happy about that. He didn't have time to take care of a deposit or pay for it last night, so I gave him a "gentleman's agreement" to come back today by noon. Since I had another potential buyer on the hook, I wasn't too worried. And this morning, yet another one called about it.

Last night I had a quiet word with her and told her that she had been a great car and we are really going to miss her, but not to worry because she was going to a good home. Then I said my goodbye and walked away. Kristen would be the one closing the deal because I would be at work. We were both a bit depressed, actually. It was a great car and we have fond memories. So it was sad to see it go.

Anyway, he came by this morning and paid the full whack. He was very happy with it, so that made us feel better. I think he will take care of it at least as good as I have, if not better.

It really feels like we're leaving now. Selling the car was one of the bigger hurdles we had to jump in this process and now that's done. Weird.

Last week, we also managed to sell our filing cabinet and this 6' clothing rack we had. A few more bits and pieces still to go, but we will wait until later in October.

40 working days left at my job and 60 days before we move back.

Cringe-worthy

2008-09-16T12:31:00.001-07:00

And this is a great spoof of the above by the fantastic LisaNova:

Matt Damon on Sarah Palin

2008-09-13T00:59:00.000-07:00

Amazing Commentary from Keith Olbermann

2008-09-11T00:36:00.002-07:00

Think about this today when you see the Republicans "commemorate" 9/11.

Here's the transcript:

"As promised, a Special Comment about our sad anniversary tomorrow.

Or, more correctly, what our sad anniversary tomorrow has been turned into by the presidential administration, and the current Republican candidates for President and Vice President.

This is supposed to be a day of remembrance. Remembrance of the attack, remembrance of the national unity which followed it.

Most important of all, remembrance of the dead.

But 9/11 has become a brand name. A Republican campaign slogan. Propaganda of the lowest form. 9/11 has become 9/11 with a trademark logo.

9/11 (TM) has sustained a president who long ago should have been dismissed, or impeached. It has kept him and his gang of financial and constitutional crooks in office without — literally — any visible means of support.

9/11 (TM) has made possible the greatest sleight-of-hand in our nation’s history.

The political party in office at the time of the attacks, at the local, state and national levels, the party which uniformly ignored the warnings and the presidential administration already through twenty percent of its first term and no longer wet behind the ears, have not only thus far escaped any blame for the malfeasance and criminal neglect that allowed the attacks to occur, but that presidency and that party, have managed to make it seem as if the other political party would be solely and irredeemably responsible for any similar catastrophe in the future.

Thus, Sen. McCain, were you able to accomplish a further inversion of reality at your party’s nominating convention last week.

There was the former Mayor of the City of New York, the one who took no counter-terrorism measure in his seven years in office between the first attack on the World Trade Center, and the second attack.

Nothing, except to insist, despite all advice and warning, that his Emergency Command Center be moved directly into the World Trade Center.

Yet there was this man, Sir, Rudolph Giuliani, quite succinctly dismissed as “A Noun, a Verb, and 9/11,” and repudiated even by Republican voters, transformed into the keynote speaker, Sen. McCain at your convention.

And his childish, squealing, braying, Tourette’s-like repetition of 9/11 (TM), was greeted not as conclusive evidence that he is consumed by massive guilt - hard-earned guilt, in fact but rather as some kind of political tour-de-force, an endorsement of your Vice Presidential nominee, a rookie governor , a facile and slick con artist.

The blind endorsing the bland, to a chorus of 9/11 (TM), 9/11 (TM), 9/11 (TM.)

Your ringing mindless cheer of “We’ve Kept You Safe Since Then.”While nobody asks “doesn’t then count?”

All of this, sadistically disrespecting the dead of New York, and Washington, and Shanksville. Endorsed, Sen. McCain. Exploited, Sen. McCain. Trademarked, Sen. McCain by you.

And yet of course the exact moment in which Sen. McCain’s Republicans showed the nation exactly how far they have fallen from the Better Angels of Mr. Lincoln’s Nature, came the next night.

The television networks were told that the Convention would pause, early in the evening, when children could still be watching, for a 9/11 Tribute, and they were encouraged to broadcast it.

What we got was not a tribute to the dead of 9/11, nor even a tribute to the responders, or the singularity of purpose we all felt. The Republicans gave us sociological pornography, a virtual snuff film.

Years ago, responsible television networks, to the applause of the nation, and the relief of its mental health authorities, voluntarily stopped showing the most graphic of the images of the World Trade Center, except with the strongest of warnings.

And yet, the Republicans, at their convention, having virtually seized control of the cable news operations, showed the worst of it.

This is all anyone with a conscience can show you of what the Republicans showed you. The actual collapse of the smoking towers.

A fleeting image of what might have been a victim leaping to his death from a thousand feet up. And something new. From this angle, ground-level, perfectly framed, images, of the fireball created when the second plane hit the second tower.

It was terrifying. After all its object was to terrify. Not to commemorate, not to call for unity, not to remember the dead. But to terrify.

To open again the horrible wounds, to brand the skin of this nation with the message — as hateful as the terrorists’ own, that you must vote Republican or this will happen again and you will die.

And just in case that was not enough, to also dishonestly and profanely conflate 9/11 with the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis, to stoke the flames of paranoia about another Middle Eastern Nation.

This was a 9/11 Tribute. Not to the dead, nor to the unity. But a tribute to how valuable 9/11 has been as a political tool for the Republican Party. 9/11... (TM.)

Sen. McCain, you had promised us a clean campaign. You could be Snow-White the rest of the way, Sir, yet that manipulative videotape from your convention should tar you always in the minds of decent Americans.

And still, as this seventh 9/11 (TM) approaches that, Sir, is not the worst of your contributions to the utter politicizing of a day that should be sacrosanct to all of us.

Hard to believe, but the Senator has done worse with 9/11 and the evil behind it.

We heard it last week in Minnesota, we’ve heard it off and on since January but Senator McCain said it most concisely in June.

“Look,” he said. “I know the area, I’ve been there, I know wars, I know how to win wars, and I know how to improve our capabilities so that we will capture Osama bin Laden — or put it this way, bring him to justice. We will do it. I know how to do it.”

Sen. McCain seems to be quite serious, that he and he alone, not the CIA, nor the U.S. Military, nor the current President can capture bin Laden.

Thus we must take him at his word, that this is no mere ludicrous campaign boast.

We must assume Sen. McCain truly believes he is capable of doing this, and has been capable of doing this, since last January. “We will capture Osama bin Laden… we will do it. I know how to do it.”

Well then, Senator, you’d better go and do it hadn’t you?

Because, Sir, if a man or woman in this nation, Democrat or Republican, had a clear and effective means of capturing or killing Osama bin Laden…

If that person had been advertising his claim, Senator for eight months.

But if that person not only refused to go to responsible authorities in government and advise them of this plan to catch bin Laden, but further announced he would not even begin to enact this secret plan to corral the world’s most hated man until the end of next January.

What would be your description of such an individual, Senator? Charlatan? Do-nothing? Opportunist? Sen. McCain, if you have, if you have had a means of capturing Osama bin Laden, and you do not immediately inform some responsible authority of the full scope of that plan, you are to some degree great or small aiding and abetting Osama bin Laden.

If you could assist in capturing him now, Sen. McCain, but you have chosen not to you, Sir, have helped Osama bin Laden stay free.

Free to inspire and supervise the terrorists. Free to plan or execute attacks here.

You, Sir, are blackmailing some portion of the American electorate into voting for your party, by promising to help in the capture of bin Laden only if you are made president!

I’d rather win an election than catch bin Laden! No more cynical calculation has ever been made in this nation’s history, Sir. If you lose the election, Senator, are you not going to tell the President-Elect?

Are you intending to keep this a secret until the next election and your party’s next nominee? Senator, as you and your Republicans shed your phony, crocodile, opportunistic tears tomorrow on 9/11 TM, in front of the utterly disingenuous banner “Country First,” the fact is, you have shown that it is John McCain first, and the country last.

The fact is, Sir, by holding out on your secret plan to catch bin Laden by searing those images into our collective wounded American psyche at your nomination last week, terrorists are not what you, John McCain, fight. Terrorists are what you, John McCain, use." -- Keith Olbermann

Ok, let's get serious about this

2008-09-09T14:38:00.004-07:00

[If you are in email contact with me and you are a US citizen, you most likely received this message from me already, but I'm posting it on the blog too with slight changes to make it more blog-post-like.]

Kristen and I have been living outside the US for 5 years now. It has been interesting to view America from the outside. You don't realize it when you're living there, but the media that you're exposed to is very US-centric. It really is like being inside a bubble. You probably haven't been exposed much to how the rest of the world sees the US. America used to be the guiding light, the inspiration for other nations, the country where everyone wanted to emigrate to and start a new life. Well, that reputation has taken a hell of a beating over the last 8 years and especially the past 4-5 years -- mostly because of the Bush administration and the Republican party. The foreign policy. The war in Iraq. The environmental policy. The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. And Bush acting like a complete idiot everywhere he goes. That's to name just a few.

But you know what? You can't solely blame Bush and his cronies. And let me tell you, they aren't the only ones being targeted for criticism by the world outside the bubble. The comment we hear the most often over here is "How could you guys elect that idiot twice?" They have a point. We dropped the ball. We let the whole world down. And now we just look like a bunch of jerks with egg on our faces.

That is why this election is SO important. We need to prove to the world that we're not a bunch of apathetic assholes squandering the whole idea behind democracy. To bring the US back to its roots as an inspiration and as a good example, we need a president that is intelligent, articulate, open-minded, aware, and inspiring.

I can't vote because I'm not a citizen (yet), so I really want to encourage my family and friends to vote. By now, it is obvious how I would vote if I was able to, but of course, I am not going to be so crass as to try bullying you to vote the same way. I just really would like to ask that you vote, period. (Hopefully, most of you will vote for Obama, though!) Kristen and I are moving back to the US on November 19th. A McCain/Palin win is almost enough to make me change my mind about coming back at all and I really want to come back, so please help!

A further piece of very troubling news: the Cuban news media in Miami, FL (clearly led by the far Right) are cultivating the idea among their viewers that Obama is a Communist! Can you believe that!? This preys upon one of the worst fears of Cuban Americans: that the US will turn into a Communist nation. If the fact that people are ready to believe that doesn't send a chill down your spine, then have a look at this THREAD. Please help to dispel this RIDICULOUS notion!

Apathy is not an option anymore. Did you know that there are statistically more Democrats in the US than Republicans? There are 72 million registered Democrats, 55 million Republicans, and 42 million Independents (though this data is from 2004, the numbers couldn't have changed enough to make a noticeable difference). If all 72 million voted, the win would be by a healthy margin. So please make plans to vote. Set aside the time now. Plan ahead. And please encourage everyone you know to do the same.

If you haven't registered, you need to get on the ball because the deadlines are right around the corner: Registration Deadlines

Also see Voting Is Easy.

Bush Tours America To Survey Damage Caused By His Disastrous Presidency

Moosing Sarah

2008-09-08T14:13:00.002-07:00

Another good article. This time I'm pasting in the whole thing:

Moosing Sarah -- Time for the Dems to Leash the Pitbull

"It seems forever since the Democrats completed their triumphant Convention in Denver with its Obama/Biden/Clinton/Kennedy unity ticket and its intoxicating sense of take-it-to-the-finish line momentum. What happened? Not Sarah Palin. How could a small-time Alaska mayor and first term Governor derail the Obama freight train? No it was not Sarah Palin but the extraordinary reaction to McCain's wildly irresponsible decision to make her his running mate that seems to have paralyzed the Party.

Something about Palin scrambled the otherwise steady nerves of the Obama campaign. As if they were believing everything she was saying. Assuming that the Republican base was the country and hence thinking her success at her Convention there would be replicated nationally. (Did you see the face of that convention? Is that really the face of America?) Afraid to be accused of sexism (ironic after how it disposed of Hillary); or of unwarranted anger (Obama sometimes seems like Governor Dukakis, unwilling to rise to the bait even when it would be politically smart to do so).

Why is it so hard simply to tell the truth about Palin? Yes she is a successful and politically smart woman to be admired for that reason. But she is also a typical Republican values hypocrite preaching choice for women - except when it comes to pregnancy; preaching that family should be kept out of the political searchlight - except when it is useful to parade her own family on center stage; preaching against earmarks - except when it help her career to solicit them for Alaska; preaching about America first - except that she actually has made a career out of putting Palin first, Alaska second and America last (check out her Alaska secessionist husband).

She is a successful and politically smart woman, but she is also a right wing extremist who tried to delete books she didn't approve of from the town library where she was mayor and tried to fire the librarian when that didn't work; who is a creationist and, like the current occupant of the White House, who has little use for science, whether it is the science of evolution or the science of global warming; who never had a passport until last year when she visited her National Guard troops in Kuwait. Otherwise a stranger to the world in which America must make its way.

She is a successful and politically smart woman, but she is not merely pro-life, she is a no-exceptions-never-mind-rape-or-incest pro-lifer who thinks woman have no right to participate in decisions about what happens to their bodies if they become pregnant.

What the Democratic leadership has yet to figure out is that the real gender bias in the Palin appointment is the patronizing attitude that assumes what would and should be savaged and ridiculed in a man must be condoned or even welcomed in a woman.

Dukakis was skewered by twisted stories about rapists and released prisoners because he wanted to appear reasonable. War hero Kerry got swift-boated by men who never served in the military. Is Obama now going to let himself get moosed by a parochial Alaskan know-nothing because she's a woman?

Time to get mad. At Palin. At McCain. At the Bushes (yes both of them). Gender equality means women can't hide their biases and dogmatism behind gender.

Speaking of men, it is not really Palin but McCain who is the perpetrator we need to criticize. It is McCain who cynically chose a far right wing ideologue who shares the worst biases of the current administration in Washington and made her his running mate in a "campaign against Washington."

In other words, it is not the pit-bull in lipstick but the man who unleashed her who bears the responsibility. Michael Vick went to prison for turning his pit-bulls loose on others. I'm not recommending putting McCain in jail, just keeping him and his snarling (or is that a smile?) running mate out of the White House. Your move, Senator Obama."

--Benjamin R. Barber, The Huffington Post

Sale! Sale! Everything must go!

2008-09-07T11:45:00.001-07:00

We've started selling some of our stuff, in preparation for re-patriating (which is now 72 days away). The most important thing to sell is the BMW. It will hopefully pay for most of the cost of shipping the belongings we do want to keep back to the US because that won't be cheap! We're trying to sell the B'mer for £1000, the exact price it is valued at.

The things we're selling:

The BMW
Clothing Rack
File cabinet
Widescreen television
Xbox + games
Dining room table
Stereo
Vacuum cleaner
Stereo rack

The things we're shipping:

Books
CDs
DVDs
Files
Yoga mats
Beer glasses
Drinks glasses and mugs
Spanish pottery
Rug
Banjo
Bicycle
Waffle maker
Some utensils
Some plates and bowls
A couple of pots and pans
Mementos
Shoes
Clothing
Bed Linen
Bits and pieces
HDD/DVD player

(We've been getting lots of different quotes from shipping companies. Most of them are consolidators. That is, they pack your stuff in boxes and it gets lumped in with other people's boxes in a container. Then it will go by sea. Shipping will take about 8-12 weeks.)

Everything else will be donated to charities, friends, and students.

PS - By the way, we've decided to move to Portland, OR. More about that later!

Sarah Palin: lipstick pitbull

2008-09-07T10:07:00.005-07:00

Is this who you want as a Vice President? Sure, the picture is a fake, unfortunately (the real one is HERE), but it might as well be true! [I poached this picture from HERE].

There was a very funny/scary/informative article by AA Gill in The Sunday Times today. I've attached the link in the post title above (click on it to read the whole thing). If you don't feel like it, I've pasted a few of the more interesting sections below:

"The Republicans chose St Paul for their convention because, like Colorado, Minnesota is a swing state. It doesn’t swing very far and it doesn’t swing very often and it doesn’t swing in a way that is exciting. This is where the Swedes and Norwegians came to try to whittle Scandinavia out of the hem of Canada. Back home they grew to be the most liberal nations in the world. Here they grew silent and maudlin. There’s a Minnesotan joke – only the one. It goes like this: there was an old Norwegian man who loved his wife so much he almost told her. That was so funny I almost laughed."

"At this convention the Republicans have just 36 black delegates. That is perhaps the most shocking statistic of the whole election. That’s less than 2% of all the delegates. Fewer than one per state and less than any other election for 40 years. THOSE are the interesting things that I found out on Monday and Tuesday. But on Wednesday everything changes. It all gets Technicolor with sprinkles on top and it comes back to the subject closest to Republican hearts: sex. Sex and the young. Hot, procreative sex."

" Depending on how fundamentally hard right you are, Palin is either a godsend who speaks to the experience of ordinary small-town large-breasted American women and sticks two fingers in the eyes of the coastal latte liberals. Or she’s a hideously embarrassing mistake that will swamp the election in underclass redneck sexual incontinence and that everything is about damage limitation and trying not to think about what would happen if President McCain died and this was the first family. Not so much from igloo to White House as igloo to White Trailer."

"She has been given a speech that is as well oiled and finely crafted as a synchronised beaver trap. It’s very aggressive. It goes for the throat of liberals and Obama. It mocks and it ridicules. And some of it hits home. It’s good for the room. They cheer to the echo. But outside, down the unforgiving prurient tube, I think she looks hard and calculating and a bit of a bitch. I can imagine people all over the country saying, I wouldn’t want her for my mom. The first poll seems to indicate that she loses a vote for every one she wins."

"Yet the most sustained excitement of the week isn’t for Trig or Sarah or even McCain, or sticking it to Barack. It’s for oil. For self-sufficiency. For cutting the umbilical pipeline with the eyeball-eating, terrorist-funding Middle East and the commie gangsters of Latin America and Russia. Let the world wallow in its own sump and turpitude. America needs to drill, drill for its dream. The marvellously priapic image of getting the bit between the loins had them chanting, then shouting, then roaring: 'Drill baby, drill baby, drill baby, drill.'"

Republican Hootenanny

2008-09-04T06:25:00.006-07:00

Watched a bit of the Republican National Convention this morning and I must say it filled me with distaste, rage, frustration, and worry. How can there be so many ignorant, short-sighted assholes in the world? How can so many people think the status quo is A-OK? That the Bush Administration has been a good thing? The speakers spent most of the time attacking Obama on petty, exaggerated, and often hypocritical grounds. And the people in the audience were hooting and hollering in agreement! They all looked like a bunch of soul-less automatons. Perhaps a deep-seated guilt eating away at them on a subconscious level?

If McCain wins this election, I think I will have to become a serial killer of Republicans and greedy, ignorant people (usually they are one and the same). Even though I say we cannot move back if he wins, we still will. It's just going to be with SERIOUS misgivings, anger and fear.

Palin's speech was a snide, smarmy, fear-mongering, childish attack piece written by Bush's speech writer (who only met her once last week, apparently). The whole thing just makes me sick.

On the plus side, some people within the Republican party (hopefully a large percentage) aren't too confident about the whole thing:

TRANSCRIPT:

Mike Murphy, former McCain advisor: You know, because I come out of the blue swing state governor work. Engler, Whitman, Thompson, Mitt Romney, Jeb Bush. And these guys, this is all like how you want to (inaudible) this race. You know, just run it up. And it's not gonna work.

Peggy Noonan, former Reagan speechwriter: It's over.

Murphy: Still, McCain can give a version of the Lieberman speech to do himself some good.

NBC's Chuck Todd: Don't you think the Palin pick was insulting to Kay Bailey Hutchinson, too (inaudible)

Noonan: I saw Kay this morning.

Murphy: They're all bummed out.

Todd: I mean, is she really the most qualified woman they could have turned to?

Noonan: The most qualified? No. I think they went for this, excuse me, political [B.S.] about narratives and (inaudible) the picture.

Murphy: I totally agree.

Noonan: Every time the Republicans do that because that's not where they live and it's not what they're good at and they blow it.

Murphy: You know what's really the worst thing about it? The greatness of McCain is no cynicism and this is cynical.

Todd: And as you called it, gimmicky.

The election to reconstruct America

2008-08-29T06:05:00.003-07:00

Today I came home from work to find out who McCain chose for his VP. I was floored. He picked a woman. I didn't even think of that possibility (stupidly) while wondering about who both he and Obama would pick. I've been saying a Obama/Clinton ticket would be a nuclear bomb on the Republican campaign (obviously not alone in that sentiment), not that I was particularly happy about that concept. But I wasn't sure who the Republicans could pick to really threaten the Obama/Biden campaign. Then I heard about this. Governor Sarah Palin, a choice so bleeding obvious and calculated that I was just flabbergasted and immediately began getting gloomy about it. For example, "Plan O": Obama wins, we move back to the US; "Plan M": McCain wins, we stay out of the US because they will drive the last nail through the coffin of America's faltering world standing. I'm serious... four more years of Republicans and the US will be completely ruined. The damage that Bush and his cronies have done will be firmly and irreparably set in place.

Then we watched the coverage of the last day of the Democratic National Convention which has been replaying continuously on the BBC Parliament channel. Though it was slightly over-sentimental, I was really moved by it. We were eating dinner when we saw Obama's acceptance speech and I was getting all teary and choked up so I could hardly swallow my food. What an amazing speech and what an amazing convention. Over 80,000 people in there and the line to get in was six MILES long!

Seeing this speech restored my hope that Obama will be our next president and has really stoked the coals under my political motivations. I really wish I could vote, but at least K can. And I really wish we could be in the US now to help out with the election. The best we can do is donate some money, pester our friends and relatives, and keep a close eye on what's going on. We will probably stay up all night to watch the election in November (because we'll need to know as soon as possible whether or not we need to cancel our plans to move back! Hee hee.)

Some political info we've been reading:

Facts about Sarah Palin

Michael Moore's Election Guide

An Open Letter to God

And if you haven't register to vote (shame on you), please do. It's easy!:

Rock the Vote

Ignorance is not bliss

2008-08-26T02:33:00.002-07:00

If you're as "lucky" as me, you might have received an email forward at some point alleging that Barack Obama hates white people and so on. The email starts like this: "Think you know who this man is? This possible President of the United States !! Read Below and ask yourselves, is this REALLY someone we can see as the President of our great nation!!!"

It then goes on to (inaccurately) cite quotes from a couple of the books he has written. It's just so easy to misquote someone or quote something completely out of context and make it sound insidious. And because people are a bit lazy when it comes to verifying facts or doing a little research on their own, this kind of tripe gets bounced around the internet, eventually turning into "fact". Anyway, I got this email a couple of months ago (no offense to the person who forwarded it to me), but it really annoyed me, so I spent about half an hour finding the actual quotes and putting them in context. That work follows below. The information in the email forward (with the > next to it) is followed by the actual quote and then a summary of what the true quote means in context.

> ______________________________

__
> Subject: FW: Books

>
> If you don't read anything else, read the last statement Obama made.
>
> Think you know who this man is?
> This possible President of the United States !! Read Below and
> ask yourselves, is this REALLY someone we can see as the
> President of our great nation!!!!
>
> Below are a few lines from Obama's books; In his words!
>
> From Dreams of My Father: 'I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites.'

True quote: "When people who don't know me well, black or white, discover my background (and it is usually a discovery, for I ceased to advertise my mother's race at the age of 12 or 13, when I began to suspect that by doing so I was ingratiating myself to whites) I see the the split-second adjustments they have to make, the searching of my eyes for some telltale sign." [Meaning: He didn't go around calling himself white just so he didn't get discriminated against by white people.]

> From Dreams of My Father : 'I found a solace in nursing a pervasive sense of grievance and animosity against my mother's race.'

True quote: NONE. IT DOES NOT EXIST. COMPLETELY MADE UP.

> From Dreams of My Father: 'There was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white.'

True quote: "He was smart, I decided. He seemed committed to his work. Still, there was something about him that made me wary, a little too sure of himself, maybe. And white - he'd said himself that was a problem." [Meaning: The guy he was talking about admitted that the fact that he is white might be a problem for the project they were working on together in the Southside Chicago community.]

> From Dreams of My Father: 'It remained necessary to prove which side you were on, to show your loyalty to the black masses, to strike out and name names.'

True quote: This one hasn't been mis-quoted, but if you put it in context of the chapter of the book, he is just talking about his days in college (a time filled with political activism, radicals, etc.).

> From Dreams of My Father: 'I never emulate white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa, that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela.'

True quote: (in context, he is specifically addressing his earlier attitude towards his stepfather and grandfather): "...men I might love but never emulate, white men and brown men whose fates didn't speak to my own. It was into my father's image, the black man, son of Africa , that I'd packed all the attributes I sought in myself, the attributes of Martin and Malcolm, DuBois and Mandela." Later he writes, "Now...that image had suddenly vanished." "To think all my life I had been wrestling with nothing more than a ghost!" [In other words, he was talking about FATHER ISSUES and who doesn't have those?]

>
> And FINALLY the Most Damming one of ALL of them!!!
>
> From Audacity of Hope: 'I will stand with the Muslims should the political winds shift in an ugly direction.'

"Of course, not all my conversations in immigrant communities follow this easy pattern. In the wake of 9/11, my meetings with Arab and Pakistani Americans, for example, have a more urgent quality, for the stories of detentions and FBI questioning and hard stares from neighbors have shaken their sense of security and belonging. They have been reminded that the history of immigration in this country has a dark underbelly; they need specific reassurances that their citizenship really means something, that America has learned the right lessons from the Japanese internments during World War II, and that I will stand with them should the political winds shift in an ugly direction." [Meaning: he will stand by any Americans who are discriminated against]

Another landmark

2008-08-19T01:30:00.003-07:00

I know we keep announcing these "fatalistic" time-based landmarks relating to our evermore imminent departure from these isles, but this one is quite significant which kind of struck us unawares this morning.

Exactly 3 months from this point (around 9:30 on November 19th, barring any air traffic delays) we will be seated in the airplane that is taking us one-way-ticket back to the US.

3 months. That's nothing! It will be gone in an instant.

It's scary and exciting all at once. How we will feel exactly when we arrive is any body's guess. Doubtless it will take some time to settle in, at which point we will try to think back to the day we landed in Brussels with one-way tickets -- at the start of this adventure -- with nary but our suitcases and the clothes on our backs.

We've broken the 100 day barrier

2008-08-11T13:51:00.003-07:00

Today we have hit a landmark. There are only 99 days left before we move back to the US. Just a little more than 3 months. Things are really moving quickly now. We have cleared two of our major hurdles as of last week.

Kristen passed her PhD viva. And last Monday, I notified my line manager that I would be leaving in November. Something I had been worrying over for a long time (sometimes it filled me with dread), but it went REALLY well! Though he was disappointed, he was really happy for me and offered to give me a reference letter and to put me in contact with some people he knows at a production company in Portland, OR. He adores Portland, too. Afterwards, I felt really silly for worrying about it in the first place (deep down, I knew that would be the case) and I felt a HUGE weight off my shoulders. I've been telling my colleagues little by little.

Both of us have found some interesting job prospects in Portland. We applied for them yesterday. The one for me was actually at the company my line manager recommended. There was actually an opening there!

We are getting close to figuring out which company we want to use for shipping our stuff to the US. We've got a re-patriation budget put together (Kristen did that).

I'm really looking forward to it. It's going to be a whole new adventure. Both the end of an amazing era and the beginning of an exciting new one.

The Great British Beer Festival 2008

2008-08-09T19:00:00.002-07:00

It's 2.49 in the morning. I just got back to my little room at King's College - Great Dover Street after the CAMRA Great British Beer Festival final day. I've been volunteering here since Thursday, pulling pints (serving beer) for hundreds and hundreds of punters (customers). If you work both the AM and PM session (which I did) your day lasts from 11.00 to 23.00. Then there's "chill-out" in the staff area upstairs until 24.30 or so, during which the festival director tells everyone how the business went that day, etc. and you get to kick back with a pint or two or three or four. The festival rents buses to take the volunteers to the various accommodations around London. One is really well taken care of volunteering at the GBBF.

Because this was the last day, when the festival closes at 7pm, we have a 3-hour cleaning session and then at 10 o'clock there's a big staff party with free buffet and all the beer you can drink. Plus various beer nerd frivolities. Then there's a 12.30 bus and a 2.00 bus. I took the later one because I was enjoying myself.

On the way home tonight, I got a bit wistful seeing London pass by my bus window. It's a great city with a great vibe. A vibe that you can feel even at 2.00 in the morning. I got wistful because I was thinking about the fact that we are leaving in November. A bit silly since we never even lived in London (we both kind of regret not doing that, at least when we first moved to England), but it's just great to see all the historical buildings and what not. And the Thames river looks amazing at night. At 2.00 in the morning, there isn't much activity and most buildings are dark, but here and there lights are on, the bridges are lit up, and the clock on Big Ben is glowing. Last night we drove past the Battersea power station (the one on the cover of the Pink Floyd "Animals" record). I've only ever seen it from the train, but this time we were on the other side of it and really up close. Quite a building. I will definitely miss this place.

Having said that, I am really looking forward to moving back to the US. We're ready. It's been 5 years living in Europe (four years in England) and it's not exactly easy being in a foreign country by yourself with all family far away.

Last year when I did volunteered at this festival for the first time, I ended up working with a great team and for a really down-to-earth manager. We got along, so they added me as "permanent" staff this year (i.e.- the staffing people assign me to that team permanently and don't try to bounce me around to other bars at the festival as needed). Whereas last year, I went into the situation blind, this year I had an idea what the whole thing is like and went into it already accepted in a team. And more prepared for the whole thing. I had a great time and tried a lot of really good beers. My favorites were St. Peter's Mild, Theakston's Grousebeater, and Regal Blonde.

Hopefully, at some point, even though we will be back in the US, we can come back during the festival and I can work there again. We'll see what happens with air travel, though!

Great British Beer Festival 2008

The British Inquisition

2008-08-04T08:08:00.002-07:00

On Friday, August 1st I passed my PhD defense. It was one of the most unpleasant events I have ever experienced and I am so happy I never have to do it again. Why was it not fun? Well, I do not think anyone goes into their defense full of happiness and joy, but I was not aware of how stressed I was about it until afterwards when I got home and slept for ten hours.

The defense was scheduled for 10am so I arrived around 9:15 to go over my notes and pace around. My supervisor arrived at 9:45 and we waited together until it was time to go into the conference room. The panel chair came to fetch us just after 10am and we went up to the 5th floor. I was sort of numb and not feeling my nervousness - it was an out-of-body experience. As we walked into the room, the examiners stood up, introduced themselves, shook my hand and then we all sat down. The panel chair (who looks exactly like Stephen King) went over the order of proceedings. The examiners would have specific questions first, and then it would be more of an open discussion. I am not sure exactly when the 'open discussion' happened because I certainly missed it. As soon as the chair handed over to the examiners, they fired questions continuously for two hours. I expected difficult questions. That is what the defense is all about.

Lots of the questions were testing me to see if I really did the work, so those were not hard to deal with. There were particular aspects of my work that they seemed to have problems with - mostly word and term choices, and my fundamental philosophy regarding the media and society. I expected them to zero in on what I knew were the weaknesses of my research, not stuff like that! One of the examiners comes from a sociology background and he wanted to know why I didn't reference a particular theorist that he especially likes. Umm, because I didn't use sociological theories!? He had the same question about a term I used to refer to the connection between news and society - why didn't I use the sociological term for it? These questions seemed pointless and designed to highlight my lack of knowledge, but they were still manageable. The absolute worst part of the defense was dealing with the other examiner. She had a really strong Italian accent and had the most abrupt way of speaking that most of the time I couldn't tell if she was asking me a question or making a statement. Even worse, when I answered her questions she gave no sign of even hearing what I said. No nodding or comment or disagreement - nothing! It was incredibly uncomfortable.

When they had asked all of their questions, the chair asked me to wait downstairs and he would come get me when they had made their decision. My supervisor and I left the room and as we walked to the elevator, he turned to me and said 'wow, they really gave you a grilling but you did great.' At the time I wasn't thinking of it that way, I suppose because I had no idea what to expect. Apparently my defense was quite intense compared with others he has been to. Lucky me! He also mentioned how difficult the Italian examiner was to understand and talk with. At least it wasn't just my own feeling towards her!

So we went and sat back where we had been only two hours earlier and waited. And waited. And waited. For 50 minutes. Finally the panel chair came to get us and didn't give anything away. As soon as I walked into the room the examiners were smiling and said 'congratulations' and shook my hand. I was surprised because it took them so long to make their decision I thought there must have been some disagreement between them. Maybe there was, but the panel chair read the results and they voted to pass my thesis with nine changes. As he was reading I kept thinking, nine changes seems like a lot, how could it pass? I felt confused. The examiners had been unpleasant, especially the Italian woman, and now they were smiling at me. But I also had to make changes or 'final polishing' as the panel chair phrased it. Several of the things they wanted me to change were pointless and would not improve my work. It was all so odd. During the interrogation they acted like they hated my work and now it just needed 'polishing'? After that, they congratulated me again and I left.

R met me downstairs and from my facial expression he surely must have thought I had failed. Indeed, I felt like I had failed for some reason. Even though I was granted the PhD and can use the 'Dr.' in front of my name, it did not (and still does not) feel like an achievement. It feels more like I survived a horrible hazing ritual to get into an exclusive secret society. A couple of weeks ago I read somewhere that the post-defense reaction is typically similar to post-natal depression, and I can understand that now. Maybe it is simply recovering from the intense stress of the situation which had been building from the moment I finished writing. Or maybe it is the realization that the huge amount of time and effort spent researching and writing the thesis, preparing for the defense, getting through the defense, and making the necessary changes is all to gain entry into a club that I am not convinced I want to belong to.

~K

July Update

2008-07-22T08:06:00.005-07:00

It's been busy. Very, very bissy! So, we haven't been able to write a blog entry for a while. Here's one to get you caught up.

K's PhD. She has gotten the date of her "viva": August 1st, 10 am. This is when she will meet with the panel that is going to approve her PhD. It is also known as a "defense". She will have to answer any questions they have about her thesis and hear about any changes that they feel need to be done before it can be approved, if any. Wish her luck!

Visitors. My sister and her fiance have just been here for about 10 days. It was their first time in England, so it was great to show them around. We went to Stonehenge, the Jurassic coast, Winchester, Salisbury, and a trip to London for two days. Other than that, we just were hanging out around here, partaking in various aspects of English culture. It was great just to spend time with them and we were sad to see them leave. Photos HERE.

On the work front. As you know, I've been struggling a bit with what to do about giving notice of my departure. When is the right time? What exactly should I say? Etc. Well, a few weeks ago, I took my former line manager aside to ask his advice. Not only because he has worked there for 14 years and I trust him, but also because I really wanted him to be able to make plans for losing me in November. So as per K's suggestion, I went for it. He took it really well and was happy for me, though he said I would be sorely missed (nice to hear!). Because he wasn't quite sure what to tell me with regard to giving official notice, he said he would ask someone that he knows well in HR without giving any clues as to who it is he is asking about. I got some pretty good advice. Basically, I can give unofficial notice at any time (to my line manager or the school director, for example) to allow them time to plan accordingly. However, until I have given official written notice, they can't do anything (whether it be accepting my resignation or taking action to get me out of there sooner). HR also said that it was unlikely that they would fire someone earlier than the date stated in a resignation letter, especially if it was a good employee. They were glad to hear that this mystery person was actually concerned about leaving them in good stead, but they also said that sometimes it's better to be selfish. In other words, only give the required amount of notice (in my case, 2 months). --- I've been mulling this over for a while now and I haven't really come to any firm decision on my own. K and I talked about the idea that I give them notice after her PhD viva is over (on August 1st). My problem is that both the course leader and the school director will be away for most of August. Furthermore, my hand is basically being forced now because one of my colleagues is trying to get the school director to OK the expenditure of a new laptop for me and I'm running out of excuses! The cat might be completely out of the bag within the next week or so!

K is working several days per month for the media school doing research and currently has two interesting projects underway: one on journalists and emotionality in relation to traumatic news events; and the other on Islam and terrorism on UK university campuses. She has also started volunteering for two days per week at the Bournemouth YMCA gym.

Exercise. We're still going to kickboxing "drill rounds" on Saturdays together and I am continuing with Jeet Kune Do and Kali. On August 3rd, I will be "grading" for Level 1 Jun Fan (Jeet Kune Do). This is instead of Level 2 Kali because I couldn't find anyone to train with me that had Level 1 Kali. Also, K has started doing weight lifting twice per week at the YMCA. One of the guys that works there is giving her free personal training sessions in exchange for yoga instruction. He has also offered to give me free weight training sessions, too. I am going to start with that tomorrow evening in an effort to bulk up my upper body.

Where Our Sights Are Set

2008-06-26T12:38:00.004-07:00

We have just hit the 145-day mark in our countdown to repatriation. Every once in a while one of us has a tiny little "freak-out" about the whole thing. It's kind of scary actually. K probably feels like I did when we moved to Europe (not as scared because it's almost like going home). We will just have some major readjusting to do and we have no idea where fate will take us.

The US is an enormous country, but strangely, we have been having a tough time picking a place we would like to live. We would like to try to maintain a "European lifestyle" (public transportation or walking, small neighborhood with good independent shops and restaurants, etc.); have good job opportunities to do something we enjoy; be near family and/or friends; have good transport links to easily see family and friends that don't live near us; not rely on a car; vibrant cultural scene (concerts, movie theatres, festivals); liberal political atmosphere with opportunities for activism of various kinds; good beer brewing; the possibility outdoor fitness activities; and a chance for us to buy a nice, reasonably priced house.

So, we have a list of places. A list that keeps fluctuating. Sometimes there's just one place on it, other times there have been a lot of places on it. This is something that has been going on for well over a year, but now that repatriation is imminent, we are looking at it much more seriously. By this time next year, we will hopefully be firmly ensconced in this new place of our dreams. The plan is to move "there" in January 2009.

Below is the list. It is divided into three sections. THE LIST! is a list of the places we like the most. If you were to say it out loud, you would have to put one or two thumbs up and say it with gusto and a smile. The List is the "batter's box" for places that we like, but don't necessarily tick off enough of our criteria to make it into THE LIST!, though might jump up there at some point. Again, to say it out loud, you say it somewhat flatly, but with a positive inflection in your voice. Finally, the list is for places that we definitely do not want to live in. Pronounce it with a slight hiss and contempt in your voice. Without further ado, in no particular order:

THE LIST!
St. Petersburg (or Tampa area), FL
Portland, OR
San Francisco (area), CA
Austin, TX
Idaho
Seattle, WA

The List
Charleston, SC
Savannah, GA
Arizona
Montana
Washington DC
New Hampshire
Colorado
New Mexico
Hawaii

the list
Everywhere not listed above

---

Hmm... decisions, decisions!

145 Days, 12 Hours, 46 Minutes

Cabinet minister: Brits are 'bloody miserable'

2008-06-23T01:12:00.000-07:00

Politics.co.uk - Friday, June 20 10:35 am

The junior transport minister has caused a minor political storm by calling his countrymen "bloody miserable".

Writing on his blog, Tom Harris, MP for Glasgow South, said Britain had never had it so good, but that it had not made most Britons any less grumpy.

"There are more two-car homes in Britain today than there are homes without a car at all," he said.

"We live longer, eat healthier (if we choose), have better access to forms of entertainment never imagined a generation ago (satellite TV, DVD, computer games), the majority of us have fast access to the worldwide web, which we use to enable even more spending and for entertainment. Crime is down.

"So why is everyone so bloody miserable?

"What happened to that post-war optimism and commitment to common values?" he continues.

"Are they gone forever and if so, why? If not, how can we bring them back?"

The blog provoked an instant response from the Tories, with shadow treasury chief secretary Philip Hammond saying: "The short answer to Mr Harris's question asking why everyone is so miserable is, 'We've got Gordon Brown as our prime minister'."

The "Hoggle Situation" has been handled

2008-06-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, because we hadn't received the keys, I went over to Hoggle's apartment after work. I asked for him to give the keys back. He said no. Then we had a debate for about 10 minutes. It was quite involved and actually kind of funny, but it would be difficult to put it in writing. To sum it up in a few sentences:

- Hoggle did not want to give us the keys because they are not his to give. The landlord gave them to him personally and until he is contacted directly, he will hold onto them. [Fair enough; perfectly reasonable].

- He is offended that we don't trust him with the keys. Lots of other tenants have trusted him.

This evening, he came over with the keys. He asked me to sign a little handwritten receipt, which I complied with. Then he told a story about how when he was little he was wrongly accused of being a thief. After that, I told him sorry about this turning into a big thing. It was never our intention. No, hard feelings? No hard feelings. And we shook on it.

All is well.

Result!

2008-06-16T13:27:00.000-07:00

We've got Hoggle on the ropes! Though, he doesn't know it yet.

This morning the management company for this flat called me at work to let me know that they had spoken with the management in this building regarding the "regulations" for spare keys. THERE IS NO SUCH THING! Nobody has to give their keys to anyone!

She said they will be sending Hoggle a letter today to notify him that he has to return our keys with immediate effect.

Now let's hope he doesn't make copies of them first!

Hoggle Wants His Keys Back

2008-06-15T08:32:00.004-07:00

We've had another run-in with one of the "locals" here. You know, we're just trying to bide our time here; trying to get along, minding our own business for the rest of our days in England.

WHY DO THEY HAVE TO KEEP BOTHERING US?

The neighbor directly across from us on our landing is now on our shit list (and we're probably on his). This kind of came out of the blue. It started about half a year ago when we discovered that, unbeknownst to us, this gentleman had a set of keys to the flat we're renting. At the time, it was fortunate because the lady that we had given a spare set to (at the request of the building "management") was not home and I was locked out. I rang his doorbell on the off-chance that he might have a key. Well, as I said, he did. Hurrah, saved the day. It wasn't until later when I told K -- and her ensuing reaction was one of discomfort -- that I realised that this was indeed a bit strange, but we left it.

Then at some point, when we were away on vacation (I think it was when we were last in Florida) he entered our flat without our permission. We have a bi-weekly delivery of fresh eggs that I had forgotten to cancel before leaving, so our nosy neighbor decided that he needed to go in our flat to put the eggs in our refrigerator. He obviously didn't think of just putting them in his own fridge and then giving them to us when we got back. No, he had to go in. And there was another time when he went in with a package that had been delivered. That wasn't even a time when we were on vacation. It was just during a weekend when we happened to be out for the day. Is it just us or is that just a tiny bit unacceptable?

Cut to several months ago when K had a bit of a "moment" with the tenant below us (I think I mentioned it here, but basically, it was obvious that our actions were being monitored). K got increasingly annoyed and channeled that into reclaiming our keys from the neighbor across the landing in an effort to reclaim a bit more control over our lives in this building.

Cut to yesterday when I was about to go to my martial arts class. This neighbor (who looks a bit like Hoggle from the 80's film Labyrinth, see pic above) was down by the garages and waved for me to stop as I was driving out. He related this story of how we had "borrowed" the keys a while back and asked that we return them to him because "by regulations" someone has to hold a set of keys to the flat in case of emergencies. He added "I only went into your flat that once to put the eggs in your fridge when you were away." Um... yeah... anyway... I explained that we had given a key to the lady below us. Well, he still wanted those keys back I said, "Yeah, OK" and drove off with the intention of "forgetting" to bring them to him.

Well, that didn't put him off because this morning he rang the doorbell. K answered. He basically demanded the keys back and K explained the whole thing again. He said it was in the regulations that he kept a set of keys for our flat and he had been given those keys by the landlord (not true). He persisted. Eventually K let her ire bubble to the surface, "OK, you know what, Tony? You can take the keys back. HERE. But don't you EVER come into our apartment again." He said, "Don't take that tone with me young lady. That's rude." Then he went through the whole thing about the eggs again. K said, "You could have taken them to your flat." Well, he didn't think of that at the time. It kind of devolved from there and eventually he trudged back to his flat and we kind of slammed the door at each other.

So, I immediately sent an email to our rental agent that manages this apartment explaining this whole situation and asking that they contact our landlord to ask who HE would like to hold the spare set of keys. Now we just wait to hear back from them.

Let's see what happens next!

Barcelona/Jafre Trip

2008-06-08T10:18:00.009-07:00

We're back from our trip to Spain to celebrate our 4-year Anniversary. Here's how we spent it...

Thursday - June 5th

Our flight out of Bournemouth was at 4.30pm, so it was a relaxed morning. No need to get up at the ass-crack of dawn and make your way, bleary-eyed, to the airport. I even had time for a quick cat-nap right before we left. I didn't mean to; I just fell asleep while reading a magazine on the couch.

The funny thing about this trip is that neither of us had really done much research or preparation other than booking the flight and K finding the B&B. In fact, we weren't even "excited" about the trip and K was actually a bit reluctant to go. Reluctant because of the language barrier, the driving on the right side of the road (which is a bit foreign to me now), and because of the hassle of air travel. That aside, the flight was OK and only took about 2 hours in the air. Our hearts sank a bit when, approaching the Girona (Barcelona) airport, we flew through thick rain clouds (not what we had pictured for Spain). And it was raining a bit, not heavily, but we had to skip over a couple of puddles walking into the terminal. Spain is supposed to be sunny! And the rain is supposed to fall mainly in the plain!

Well, it was around 7.30 when we got there. The airport is small, but nice. Lots of construction at the moment -- probably RyanAir-induced expansion. There was a long line to pick up our rental car, but after that, the trip went quite smoothly. The Las Nenes B&B is in Jafre, about 30 minutes from the Girona airport and about one and a half hours from Barcelona. Luckily, it was still fairly light out when we headed onto the road (reminding myself repeatedly to stay on the right side). Strangely, the country-side surrounding the airport is reminiscent of the area around the Portland, OR airport. Weren't expecting that!

The drive was beautiful, despite the sprinkling rain. Amazing countryside. We did get a bit lost in Jafre, though. It is a tiny little village up the side of a small hill. The roads are narrow and winding. Very old-European looking. It took us a while to find the place and we had to call for directions. Turned out we were about 50 yards from the place at that point.

When we rang the bell, we heard two dogs start barking frantically inside the house. Katy, the proprietor of Las Nenes, opened the greeted us. She had warned that we shouldn't be shocked when we saw her because she had two black eyes, lots of bruising, and some stitches from a bad fall the week earlier. She didn't look as bad as she had described!

The B&B has a lovely little front garden, surrounded by stone walls crawling with jasmine. It smelled amazingly perfumey. When we entered the house, there were some other guests finishing dinner. They were Americans. From Missouri.

Our room was on the 2nd floor with a separate bathroom that we didn't have to share because the other guests shared the en-suite. Queen size bed and a "view" of the front garden. I say "view" because the window was quite small. Still nice. There are A LOT of birds in Jaffre and they are still singing their little hearts out at 9 o'clock at night. It's nice.

While we were getting settled and getting ready to go out for dinner (restaurants don't usually open before 9pm here), the two dogs were released and came running in to say hello. They were some kind Australian Shepherd/Springer Spaniel mixed breeds. Very friendly. And very loud. Ricky and Gretta. They love visitors and announce this by barking continuously while you're trying to pet them.

For dinner, Katy recommended a restaurant in Verges, a neighboring town about 2 miles away. It is called Mas Pi (Pine Farmhouse). The waitress seated us in a cozy little cave-like nook that made it seem like we were completely alone. She gave us English menus, which is quite helpful even though we had a phrase book. After we were seated, they brought us a free glass of house Cava (the Spanish version of champagne), bread, and slices of local sausage. The cava was so good that we just had to order a full bottle. They brought it out in an ice bucket. Since it's a house wine, there's no label on the bottle. Doesn't get more "house" than that! The food was knee-tremblingly scrumptious. As a starter, we had escalivada with brie. Escalivada is a Catalonian specialty: roasted red pepper, eggplant, and onion in olive oil. Very tasty. For the main course, K had seared duck breast with a balsamic-based sauce (it had a Catalonian name, but I forget what it was called). I had Catalan-style lamb shoulder with roast potatoes. The lamb was slow-roasted on a bed of rosemary with garlic and lots of olive oil. Mmm... the meat just fell apart on its own, it was so tender. For dessert, I had Mas Pi -style crema catalana and K had a Xocolat Coulant, molten-centre chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream. When we got the bill, instead of giving us mints, the waitress came with two frozen shot glasses and offered us limoncello (a lemon schnappes). Classy!

After this, we were on a food high (and a bit merry). Any reluctance experienced before the trip was long gone. So far, quite impressed with Catalonia!

Friday - June 6th

A fairly good night's sleep, though a bit tossy-turny due to the cava and the church bells. The bells in the town's church tower ring every 15 minutes, 24 hours a day. They chime the hour, then there is one chime at 15 past, two at 30 past, and three at 45 past. Then four times on the hour before ringing the hour again. At 8.05AM, 1.05PM, and 8.05PM during the weekdays it rings a special ring to tell people to go to work, go for a siesta, and go back home, respectively. It's not insanely loud from the B&B and we were prepared with ear-plugs because we knew about it ahead of time. But we still woke up from time to time. And the birds! They are almost louder than the bells with their morning song. A mellifluous cacophony that starts around 5 in the morning.

Though we weren't sure what we were going to do today, we "slept in" until about 9 o'clock and went down for breakfast about a half hour later. Breakfast is served from 8.30-10.00. Coffee, tea, orange juice, sliced bread, muffins, yogurt, cereal, and fruit. We had a leisurely breakfast and chatted to Katy about our plans for the weekend. Since it was a bit late to head in to Barcelona (a 1.5 hour trip on the train), we decided to use this day to drive around the area a bit and out to the Mediterranean so I could go for a swim -- given the opportunity, I just had to go for a dip in a foreign sea. Then in the evening, we would do our cooking lesson. K had scoped out a sea-side town that wasn't too far away, L'Estartit. Katy said, "No, you don't want to go to L'Estartit. It's icky. Beyond icky." She recommended a town further north called St. Marti de Empuries which is also near another town called L'Escala. Connecting the two is a long coastal pathway that is nice to walk along. Before going there, though, we planned to go to Figueres, north of Jafre. There's a Dali Museum there, designed by Dali himself. So... we had our agenda for the day.

We headed out around 11 o'clock and made it of Figueres in about 30 minutes. It's a nice little city that we didn't investigate fully, but I really liked the feel of it. Took a while to find somewhere to park. Eventually, we found a free spot in a jam-packed lot not too far from the museum. There were a fair number of other tourists going in to the museum right when we got there. Almost enough to make put us off, but we braved it anyway. The building is really funky. Painted pink with plaster bread rolls stuck all over it and egg-shaped turrets and gold statues on top of it. And the interior lay-out is really unique, sort of a oblong circle with a central atrium. Several floors of halls with Dali's artwork displayed, not his most famous stuff (funnily enough, most of that is at the museum in St. Pete, FL). We spent about an hour and a half there before getting completely sick of the crowds.

The weather was fabulous. We had some good ice cream at a park cafe before getting back in the car to drive to St. Marti. It's been a while since we've been somewhere we couldn't really communicate with people. When you order stuff, you have to point at things and use rudimentary phrases in English and, if you can, the local language. The Catalans are fairly nice and OK with speaking a little English. We read somewhere that you shouldn't speak Spanish to them because that they might take offense at since they consider themselves independent from Spain. Not sure how true that is. Probably just a minority.

In St. Marti de Empuries we went for a walk along the coastal pathway along the Mediterranean, at some points crossing down to the shore to walk on the sand. In some areas, you can see the remnants of the ancient city walls. There was a large Greek population that lived there long ago. Also near this are some Greek ruins that you can visit, but we didn't go in because we didn't feel like paying for it and we were really hungry, so tried to get to L'Escala as soon as possible. It took a lot longer to walk down there than we thought it would and the town looked deserted at first because we got there in the middle of siesta (between 1 and 4 usually). Eventually, we reached an area with a few restaurants. We chose one right by the sea and had a late-afternoon "snack" which turned into a pizza each because we were really starving.

Then, in direct violation of every mother's primary rule when at the beach, I went swimming less than half an hour after eating. First, we walked back towards St. Marti to give the sun time to pop back out again (it had gotten a bit cloudy with some rain clouds in the distance). The beaches were almost desolate despite the good weather, so it wasn't difficult to find a good spot to go for a dip. K wasn't as interested in getting in the fairly cold water, so it was just me that went for a swim. Not so bad after I got used to it. After the initial dunk, it was actually kind of nice. But it was really windy so it got a bit chilly when I got out. Chilly and prickly from the sand blasting.

We made it back to the B&B around 6 o'clock. I had a little nap before we started our "La Cuina Catalana" cooking lesson. Katy gave us each a white apron, dish cloth, and a sharp knife. Over the course of the next two hours she showed us how to chop vegetables correctly and how to make the following three course meal:

Starter
Pa amb tomaquet (Bread with tomato)
Escalivada
w/ L'Escala anchovies

Main Course
Chicken with Chorizo, potatoes, and sofregit (a tomato sauce base)

Dessert
Summer Pudding of cake, poached pears, and strawberry sauce

The meal was really tasty and we were, once again, really stuffed. I learned a few good tricks and recipes that I will definitely be putting into my cooking repertoire. We will definitely buy a Spanish cookbook as soon as possible.

Saturday - June 7th

Today was our Barcelona day. The intention was to take the 9.05 train into the city which meant we had to get up fairly early, so we grudgingly got up at 8.00. I really wanted to get some breakfast beforehand, but that wasn't until 8.30. The idea was that I would quickly scarf down a bit and then we would hit the road around 8.40 (the train station was about 15 minutes away). This proved to be poor time management. Though it was absurd to think we would make it in time, I thought we should try. We got in the car and I started having doubts. Should we just stay here? Is it pointless to go if we have to wait for the 10.00 train? I don't know. Eventually, I made up my mind and we drove to the train station, resigned to taking the later train. It took us a little longer than 15 minutes to get to the station and find the parking lot, but even then, we had to wait about 40 minutes for the train.

Katy said we could probably get away with not buying a ticket because more often than not, the conductor never shows up and if he does, you can just buy the ticket on the train. Despite our building paranoia, we decided to take this approach. And we almost got away with it, but with about 10 minutes to go, he came through the train car. Oh well, we then bought two round-trip tickets for 29 Euros (not bad).

We had no real plan for what we wanted to do in the city. The only sites we were concerned with at the time were the Sagrada Familia and Las Ramblas. Since the train station was closest to Sagrada Familia, we decided to go there first. It was a really nice 20-minute walk through the remarkably clean Barcelona streets. The architecture is really unique, even discounting the many Gaudi buildings around.

Visiting the Sagrada Familia was one of the main reasons I wanted to go to Barcelona. I've been wanting to see these very unique, "organic" cathedral for a long time. Of course, it being June, the area was crammed with other tourists. We took in the site from the two parks on either side of it, but we didn't go in. Not only did it look crowded, but it seemed like certain areas were closed due to construction. This cathedral started being built in 1883 and it is still evolving. Antoni Gaudi died in 1926, but the idea is that the cathedral would continue to be added to. It is probably the most unique cathedral in existence. You can't really put it in any particular architectural style. At the moment, there seems to be quite a bit of construction taking place because there were several cranes and construction fences around it. A bit of a shame because we didn't really get a full sense of it, but I'm still glad we saw it. They're aiming to finish it by the centenary of Gaudi's death in 2026. Maybe we'll go back then!

After milling about there for a while, we started walking towards Las Ramblas, the "bohemian"-style shopping district. But first, a Starbucks. K had ascertained that there were 15 Starbucks in the city. One of them was right next to the Sagrada Familia. We ordered as best we could from the Catalan menu, feeling very American as we walked out the door. Walking down through the middle of Barcelona, we decided that we really like this city. K said it is her favorite city in Europe so far. I'm a Copenhagen man myself, but Barcelona and probably Brussels are tied for second place.

All the guide books and travel sites say that one should be vigilant over their belongings in Las Ramblas because pick-pocketing is a major issue. I was carrying everything in a messenger bag, which I kept slung in front of me when we were in crowded areas. And I always put my wallet in my front pocket. Whether it was our precautions or just luck, we managed to navigate Las Ramblas without losing any possessions. "Bustling" would be one word to describe this area of the city. Filled with tourists and locals, it is very vibrant. Particularly the Mercat de la Boqueria, the most famous central market. Under a huge iron and glass canopy are at least a hundred small stalls selling fresh fruit, meat, seafood, cured meats and sausages, bread, olives and candy. It was overwhelming. And it made us fiercely hungry. It was around two o'clock so we went in search of a good restaurant. We found an interesting one in our guidebook, Los Caracoles, accessed from a narrow, cobble-stone street of the main part of Las Ramblas. When you first enter you are in a bar, then you go further in and have to walk through the middle of the kitchen to get to the restaurant part, which is on three or four split levels. It is a maze of a place and really quaint. Lots of dark wood paneling everywhere and waiters in black vests. K had a tuna salad and I had a seafood and chicken paella. Both were amazing. For dessert, the traditional crema catalana (their version of creme brulee).

By this time, we were pretty worn out so we decided to make our way back to Jafre. We walked back up to the train station, stopping in a supermarket on the way to pick up a jar of L'Escala anchovies and some dried sausages to bring back to England. There was a bit of time to kill before the 5.30pm train so we had a look at Gaudi's Manzana de la Discordia and then sat on a bench to do a bit of people watching. The train ride back was a bit slow. Funnily enough, we were sitting directly across from a British couple who had taken the very same train in to Barcelona that we did. Weird how that happens!

No dinner tonight, just a little snack and then we did some reading in the B&B's lounge with the two dogs and one of the cats. Very relaxing.

Sunday - June 8th

Today was a day for taking it easy before flying back to Bournemouth. Our flight was at 3.15pm, so we had a bit of time. A leisurely breakfast and a bit of packing. We took the dogs for a walk around the little town. There are a lot of dogs in Spain (Gossos in Catalan) and as we made our way around the town, we provoked a lot of barking from the neighbors. Katy could probably have followed our progress by listening to the direction of the barking. It was very cute.

On the way to the airport, we wanted to stop in a town called La Bisbal d'Emporda. K had been eying some of Katy's ceramic serving bowls. She told us they were from that town, which specializes in this type of pottery. It was kind of on our way to the airport so we packed our bags to allow for some extra space in the carry-ons. We got as much as we could carry and it only cost us about 45 euros in total. A few small serving dishes and two cassolas (the type of crockery that we used to cook the chicken on Friday). The shop was called La Botiga and it is run by two little old ladies. Very friendly. We interacted in a mix of English, Spanish, and Catalan. They meticulously wrapped everything in paper to protect it. A heavy load, but very much worth it. K really wants to go back there to get more before we move back to the US.

The last thing to do before heading to the airport was to fill up the rental car before returning it. I wanted to get as close to the airport as possible before doing this, but then we had some trouble finding a place and had to do a bit of back-tracking and driving around. Eventually we found a place and it only cost us about 21 euros to fill it back up because we had only used half a tank. Our little Nissan Micra got very good gas mileage.

Check-in was a breeze and we had time for a light lunch before boarding the plane. Unfortunately, we ended up sitting among a party of slightly drunk British stag party blokes. Very noisy and smelly. Flying on these low-cost airlines is basically like riding a bus in the sky. Fairly cheap, but not very comfortable. Then again, no flight is comfortable these days unless you can afford the king's ransom for business class.

Very sunny when we arrived in Bournemouth and almost warmer than Spain. It made the re-entry a bit easier to handle than if it had been gray and rainy. We both could have done with staying in Barcelona a bit longer. It was a great trip and we will definitely return some day.

---

Please have a look at the pictures of our trip HERE.

Things To Do Before Re-Patriating

2008-06-01T04:19:00.003-07:00

Before moving back to the US, there are a few things we would like to accomplish/do. Herewith, a bullet-point list of those things. Some are things we both want to achieve/do and a few are personal. You can probably guess which is which. We've got about 170 days to cross everything off!

Dentist and health check-up at a free NHS clinic
Lose 10-15 lbs.
Visit an English hop farm at or near harvest-time
Visit a brewery or two
Go to a pub Quiz Night
Review, on BeerAdvocate, all the CAMRA-listed local pubs
Trip to Brussels (maybe)
Trip to Barcelona
Trip to Italy? (probably won't be able to squeeze this in)
Sell the car
Go to Eden Project
See Phantom of the Opera - DONE!
Volunteer at the Great British Beer Festival
Achieve Level 2 grading in Kali
Graduate with a Doctoral degree
Hike to Durdle Door and Studland
Go to Brownsea Island (and hopefully see the native brown squirrels)
Trip to Copenhagen and Nordjylland
Buy England mementos and/or furniture

Cities in a vacuum

2008-05-28T23:30:00.003-07:00

If I had to choose an American city to live in without any other deciding factors than the way I feel about the city (i.e.- family, friends, money, etc. are not a concern). In other words, choosing a city "in a vacuum". It would be one of these:

Portland, OR
Boston, MA
Los Angeles, CA
San Francisco, CA
New York (or environs), NY
Prescott, AZ

There would probably be others, but these are all cities I've been to and I wouldn't like to list one that I had not been to. Another caveat is that a large part of me really wants to have a big piece of land with some animals on it which is obviously not possible in most of the above, but I'd be hard-pressed to come up with a city/town at this point.

Our Exit Strategy

2008-05-24T09:33:00.005-07:00

While the Bush Administration and the Military Industrial Complex wrangles with "the Liberals" over an exit strategy for Iraq, K and I have come up with ours for leaving England/Europe. It is called Project: Repatriation. You'll notice that the title of our blog has changed to thus.

We concocted this plan late last year. I say "we" but it was really K who came up with it. We had decided that we definitely were going to move back to the US soon after her PhD graduation (this Fall). It was a real mind-f*ck to contemplate the subject. Where do we move back to? How do we apply for jobs from here? How do we bring our stuff back over? How do we tie up loose ends here? Just too many factors to make sense of. That's when K had the brilliant idea: use Florida as an intermediate step/launch-pad.

It would go something like this. Move to my parents' house in South Florida initially for a couple of months of re-acclimating to American life and getting our feet under us. Basically, staying there for the holidays and then move "somewhere" yet-to-be-determined in the beginning of 2009. We would get rid of all the stuff here that we don't want to keep and ship the rest to the Florida address. It should arrive by the time we are ready to move "somewhere". K's e-Employment plus our savings from earning Pounds Sterling will be enough to cover the basics for a couple of months. We will sell the BMW which should cover the cost of shipping our belongings with a bit left over. The deposit from our UK apartment will be put towards a new computer and other necessities. Additionally, we have been "feathering our nest" by purchasing household items on Amazon.com (taking advantage of the exchange rate and free shipping). This structured, meticulous strategy should allow us to maintain our current quality of life without going into major debt like we did when we moved to Europe. Less like starting from scratch!

During our re-acclimation period in Florida, we will apply for jobs in various places we would like to live (more about that in a future post) and possibly take up some part-time employment, but mostly, we will be relaxing a bit and helping my mom fix stuff around the house. And, hey, I might try to write a book about these 5 years in Europe/England using this blog as a basis.

We're looking forward to repatriation, but we will definitely have a wistful departure. It's been a great adventure. K has utmost confidence in this process and doesn't seem to have any fear about it. I'm a bit frightened, though. This is going to be a major change and a shock to the system and it means I will be pulling myself out of the momentum of my job here and sort of starting again. It would be great if I could transplant my job to the US. And I've always considered myself European, so it will be hard for me to leave. Having said that, I feel just as much of a pull to go back to the US (slightly different reasons than K, though). We just don't see ourselves living in Europe, certainly not England, for the rest of our lives. The main reason is family. As I said before, we're just tired of being so far away from everyone. And, man, are we tired of trans-Atlantic flights!

But tonight we're going to revel in our Europeaness and watch The Eurovision Song Contest!

Countdown: 178 Days, 15 Hours, 41 Minutes

The Times They Are a'Changing

2008-05-19T12:15:00.008-07:00

[Pic from: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/ABPub/2008/05/18/2004423477.jpg ]

This is just incredible. Way to get the Republicans (and Hillary who?) on the ropes. Gee, do you think there are some people crying out for a change? Well, there must be a few in Oregon, at least! This is fantastic. Makes me proud to be married to an Oregonian. Very interesting times we're living in.

---

PS - Speaking of change... today marks the 6-month milestone to when K and I move back to the US. There, I said it. We're making it official (to our blog-readers, at least). This is something we have been mulling over for quite some time and something that we didn't start considering seriously until sometime last year. We've always known that we would eventually move back; just not when. It's been a challenge to not talk about it here for so long. There has been a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes regarding this subject and we just can't keep it bottled up any longer. It's important to express it on this blog that has been with us since we started this adventure in 2003. In September, it will be 5 YEARS since we left! That's a long time. We miss our family in Florida and Oregon. And we've been in this near-limbo for long enough. So, on November 19th, we're getting on a plane with one-way tickets to the US. We have a re-entry strategy which we will share with you over the coming months, but we just wanted to get this announcement out of the way (bet you're really surprised... not!).

There's a bit of a problem with "outing" ourselves: no one knows about it at my workplace and I don't intend to tell them until the late summer at the earliest. I have to give two months notice (and so do they). I'd like to tell them earlier so that a) I get it off my chest; and b) they can plan accordingly. But I'm really paranoid that they'll say, "Nah... please leave as soon as possible." That would be a catastrophe. Yeah, I know... we just outed ourselves on the internet. Well, I haven't told anyone at work about this blog, we've removed our names from every entry, and I've tested a few times by Googling. We should be fairly safe. Famous last words, right? Let's hope not!

Day-Trip to London

2008-05-13T15:00:00.001-07:00

From Day-trip to L...

Today I took the day off work so K and I could go up to London to see a matinee performance of The Phantom of the Opera in its birthplace: Her Majesty's Theatre. We bought the tickets about a month ago. It's something we'd been talking about doing for a long time now. K had never seen the musical and since we're living in England, we thought we'd better go see it!

We took a 9.55 train from Bournemouth to London Waterloo. The last time I had taken a train to London was when I worked there. It's much nicer to travel outside of rush hour! There were plenty of seats and the trip was fairly quick.

Arrived in London around 12 o'clock. An absolutely glorious day. The sun was out, but not too hot. We had a leisurely walk across the river and up through Trafalgar Square and into Soho. The plan was to have lunch at Maoz, an Israeli franchise specialising in falafel, then head to Her Majesty's Theatre around 2pm. We got to Maoz at the perfect time just before lunch. Good appetite from the walk and the initial sensory overload of London. Had lunch facing the window to watch the colorful Soho characters walk by. K had a salad of various pickled vegetables, olives, etc., with fried aubergine, falafel, and hummus. She said it was the best hummus she has ever tasted! I got my usual: the Maoz sandwich meal. A wheat pita stuffed with falafel, aubergine, hummus, pickled veg, and tahini sauce. And it comes with luscious Belgian-style fries (chunky, twice-cooked). Very filling but oh-so-scrumptious.

After lunch, we strolled back through Soho and Leicester Square. K got a frappuccino from one of the 10 Starbucks we passed.

From Day-trip to L...

Down by Trafalgar Square, I had a quick peak in the National Portrait Gallery. K wasn't allowed in with her frapp. Then we sat in the Square for a while and did some people-watching, trying to pick out the American tourists in the crowd. At one point, a 100-strong flock of Spanish tourists came around the corner. They basically enveloped us because we had a nice place to sit, apparently. [Spain called. They want their people back.] Luckily, it was just about time to head over to Her Majesty's Theatre. When we rounded the corner to the theatre, there was a stream of pensioners on their way into the theatre. Haven't they seen this play by now? It's been running for 30 years!

We were sitting in a sea of white, yellowy, and light gray hair. The theatre is quite small and the stage seemed a lot more compact than the two US tours I've seen as a teenager. We had pretty good seats; central in the Grand Circle (the middle bracket of ticket prices). Of course, the seats were very cramped and small. No surprise there.

[I saw Phantom for the first time when I was about 13. I was ENTHRALLED! Subsequently, I became a Phantom fanatic for about 3 years. Put together the costume and everything. Knew all the lyrics. It was quite nerdy, looking back at it now!]

Even though I've seen it before, I still got goose bumps a few times and even a bit choked up.

The current London cast is quite good. Ramin Karimloo, the Phantom, was fantastic. He brought some interesting elements to the role and some nice melodic changes. Very good voice. Robyn North, Christine, was good in the louder, fuller bars of the songs, but a bit shrill at times. The staging and special effects were, as usual, amazing. They squeezed every inch of utility out of that tiny theatre. Despite being a bit creaky, the set is probably one of the most jaw-dropping aspects of the show. We're really glad we went to see it, but having said that, we probably won't see it again. This was a good note to end on. It's just a bit pricey.

After the show, we had about 3 hours to kill before our return train. So, we wandered up to Oxford Street to go to Selfridges. I was vaguely interested in getting some Venezuelan Black 100% Cocoa, but mostly, it was just something to do. It took a while to get there because part of Oxford Street (which is ALWAYS crammed with pedestrians) was even more crowded because they shut down one side and the entire road due to a knife murder that had taken place yesterday. The police were still there searching for clues. Not sure why. Seems like a open/shut case. Lots of witnesses. Murder weapon found.

Selfridges is nice. We looked at all the posh (over-priced) food. It's like Harrod's or Fortnam & Mason. You can buy a package of imported Oreos for £7. Funnily enough, the Venezuelan Black cocoa was also £7, but for a scant 200 grams. We didn't buy any.

By this time, it was getting to be time for dinner. We avoided the bustling Oxford Street this time by taking the quieter streets paralleling it. For dinner, we were craving some good Thai or Vietnamese food. I had written down a couple of options in Soho. The one we ended up at was Busaba Eathai, a bustling, chi-chi restaurant with "communal" tables. The dinner was REALLY good. K had these little banana-leaf wrapped chicken parcels with a lush teriyaki dipping sauce that she said reminded her of Hawaii and some coconut steamed rice. I had a seafood stir-fry with jasmine rice. The service was speedy and friendly enough. We'll definitely remember this one. If we lived in London, we would eat out much more often than we have been doing. That's for sure.

After dinner, we had a brisk walk back to Waterloo, making it to our train with about 15 minutes to spare. We were a bit exhausted from all the walking we had done. Both of us had sore feet. The train we were on was one of the slower ones that stops at more of the smaller stations. We got home around 10.30 and soaked our feet in cold water for a while. Then we slept like two rocks.

It was a good little day out.

The American Empire

2008-05-12T12:16:00.002-07:00

I've sort of been harboring the belief that America The Empire is on the downward slide a la the Roman Empire (or at least the British Empire!). It's hard to escape the visual image of fat Roman senators, in their wealth, sitting blind to the crumbling power they had come to take for granted. Every empire will fall. It's only a matter of time. K disagrees with me, of course. And so does this guy (and the optimist in me hopes he's right):

Forget the naysayers - America remains an inspiration to us all

Browsing through an American bookshop does not lift the spirits. Books that chart the end of American supremacy, predict wars over finite natural resources, study the squeezed middle class or the catastrophic Bush presidency proliferate. The United States is going through a period of introspection and the Boston bookshelves, at which I spent part of last week, heave with the results.

In one respect, it is hardly surprising. Iraq, Afghanistan and the rise of China. The credit crunch. The $124 a barrel oil price. The unbelievable unfairness of Bush's tax cuts. The racism and violence that still pockmark American life. Yet the pessimism is overdone. The more I visit the US the more I think the pundits predicting the US's imminent economic and political decline hugely overstate their case. Rather, the next 50 years will be as dominated by the US as the last 50. The US will widen its technological and scientific dominance, sustain its military hegemony, launch a period of reindustrialisation and continue to define modernity both in culture and industry.

The fashionable view is that the American economy is a busted flush, a hollowed-out, deindustrialised shell housed in decaying infrastructure that delivers McJobs and has survived courtesy only of a ramped-up housing market and the willingness of foreigners to hold trillions of dollars of American debts.

China and India are set to overtake it in the foreseeable future. At best, the US will have to get used to living in a multipolar world it cannot dominate. At worst, it will have to accept, along with the West, that the new economic and political heart of the world is Asia.

The US economy is certainly in transition, made vastly more difficult by the spreading impact of the credit crunch. But the underlying story is much stronger. The country is developing the prototypical knowledge economy of the 21st century, an economy in which the division between manufacturing and services becomes less clear cut, in a world where the deployment of knowledge, brain power and problem-solving are the sources of wealth generation.

What counts is the strength of a country's universities, research base, commitment to information and communications technology and new technologies along with a network of institutions that supports new enterprise. Here, the US is so far ahead of the rest of the world it is painful.

The figures make your head spin. Of the world's top 100 universities, 37 are American. The country spends more proportionately on research and design, universities and software than any other, including Sweden and Japan. Of the world's top 50 companies ranked by R&D, 20 are American. Fifty-two of the world's top 100 brands are American. Half the world's new patents are registered by American companies.

This year, American exports have grown by 13 per cent, helped by the falling dollar, so that the US has reclaimed its position as the world's number one exporter. Moreover, and little remarked on, two-thirds of America's imports come from affiliates of American companies that determinedly keep most of the value added in the US. The US certainly has a trade deficit, but importantly it is largely with itself.

The US will recover from the credit crunch. Already there is an aggression and activism about how to respond that makes the British look limp in comparison. Four-fifths of new mortgages are underwritten by public mortgage banks, interest rates have been slashed and a bank bail-out was launched instantly. More activism is planned. There is a dynamic readiness to fix things in a tight economic corner, irrespective of ideology, that can only be admired.

It is a dynamism that infects the political process. I was in the US on the day Indiana and North Carolina went to the polls in the Democratic primaries. The conventional wisdom is that Obama and Clinton's fight is self-defeating and it would be better if Clinton had stood down earlier. I disagree. It has brought politics alive. Democrats are enrolling to vote in their hundreds of thousands because their vote and opinion now count. They will stay enrolled and vote in November.

There is also a great maturity about the process. It is a political argument that necessarily demands respect for your opponent because if you win you will need their support in November. Americans do public argument well. The tradition might have corrupted since de Tocqueville made the same observation in 1835, but it lives on. And it is a vital underpinning of American success.

It is this strange cocktail of argument, of plural institutions that check and balance, of investing in knowledge and of a belief that no problem can't be fixed that underpins American strength. China is the only country in the world with a similar continental-scale economy and bigger population that conceivably could mount a challenge, but it has none of these institutions and processes. Despite its size, it has only three universities in the top 100, not one brand in the top 100, not one company in the world top 50 ranked by R&D and it registers virtually no patents.

China has no tradition of public argument, nor independent judiciary. Unless and until its institutions change, it will always trail the US in the 21st century knowledge economy and experience upheaval and possible revolution along the way. India, a democracy with the right institutions, is much better placed - but with income per head 2 or 3 per cent of that in the US, a challenge will take centuries rather than decades.

It is the maligned EU that has the institutions and economic prowess to emerge as a genuine knowledge economy counterweight to America.

Sure, the US has problems. It runs its financial system like a casino. It is a grossly unfair society. Its road and rail systems have been neglected for decades. University entrance has become too expensive. It has fetishised deregulation. Money corrupts its political process. To compromise the rule of law in order to 'win' the war on terror was stupid. But none of those problems can't be fixed and the US is about to elect a President who will promise to try, in a world in which it remains the indispensable power.

Anybody who would prefer China's communists needs to see their doctor. The greatest danger is that we start believing the pessimism. The United States is - and remains - formidable. Which is just as well for all of us.

-- Will Hutton , The Observer, Sunday May 11 2008

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2008/may/11/usa

Slip of the tongue

2008-04-27T03:30:00.002-07:00

This morning when we were having our usual Sunday "Ritual" (an extended breakfast with the newspaper and mellow music), K made a quite hilarious slip of the tongue. With some reservations about possibly offending our British readers, I just had to share it.

She was reading an article about different films that may or may not have changed the world. Pointing at a still from Brokeback Mountain, she said "I really love that film. It was so beautiful and I'm sure that kind of thing happens. I'm sure there are British cowboys." I said, "British?" Then she turned bright red and started cracking up... "Gay cowboys! I meant gay cowboys!" We were in tears.

Funny cuz it's probably true (unfortunately)

2008-04-25T03:28:00.000-07:00

The Return of the Drip

2008-04-20T05:24:00.002-07:00

Despite having been vindicated from responsibility for the leaking pipe and stain on the exterior of the building (see previous blog entry: The Old People Won't Leave Us Alone), we have recently found out that there is indeed a leak from our flat.

When we got back from Florida several weeks ago, we discovered a funky, cheesy smell from the utility closet where the boiler lives. We weren't sure where it came from for a few days, but then K noticed that the carpet in the closet was wet. A small pipe at the bottom of the boiler had been dripping since sometime while we were gone. She put a bowl under it to catch the leak while we waited for the plumber (a process that, as you know, can take a very long time). We finally managed to secure an appointment with him for this past Wednesday. However, last weekend we discovered a second leak; this one from a small pipe leading into the reservoir of our toilet. Another thing for the plumber to look into.

The leak from the boiler was just due to a valve that needed to be tightened. No biggie. The toilet, however, was actually the cause of the dripping pipe outside the building and the stain on the exterior. For some inexplicable reason (at least to a practical-minded person) there is an overflow pipe from the toilet which connects to the drain pipe from the boiler (the one that drips outside). And because there is a part missing from the guts of the toilet, it has basically been running continuously for the entire time we've been living here. Since the overflow was going into the pipe, we never noticed it. And being practical-minded, we didn't make the connection that the drip from the exterior pipe that is about four feet above the toilet was coming from this very same commode. British plumbing is indeed strange. And here we thought the water-heating system in our Winchester apartment was peculiar!

The plumber is coming back on Tuesday to install the missing part in the toilet. To stave off the dripping, he re-routed the overflow pipe temporarily so that it drains into the toilet basin instead. Consequently, it sounds like we have a small waterfall installation in the bathroom. You know, one of those little Japanese water garden things.

Brilliant!

---

212 Days, 20 Hours, 20 Minutes

Another Political Message

2008-04-12T08:57:00.001-07:00

From MoveOn.Org:

"No matter what happens in Iraq, the Bush administration and John McCain always have an answer: 6 more months.

When the "surge" began a year ago, they told America things would get better by September. In September, they said we'd know more by spring. And this week, General Petraeus is on Capitol Hill asking for—you guessed it—6 more months. Senator McCain and President Bush couldn't agree more.

They don't have a plan for getting us out of Iraq. So they're trying to sell endless war on an installment plan.

Six more months won't change anything—except the body count and the price tag. It's critical that the news media and voters know that the Bush-McCain strategy in Iraq is to keep us there indefinitely—6 months at a time. So we've put together a video exposing their "6 month" gambit. Please check it out and pass it on:

What exactly are they saying?

Yesterday John McCain said the same thing he's been saying for the last 5 years: We have to stay in Iraq, but "success is in reach."

And General Petraeus told the Senate that it would be fall before he could say whether, or when, to draw down troops below the "pre-surge" levels. (Specifically, he recommended a 45-day period for "evaluation" starting in the summer, followed by an open-ended "assessment" process to decide what to do next).¹

It all boils down to this: Demand more time and promise that victory is just over the horizon. Unfortunately, according to experts from the Iraq Study Group, the "surge" has gotten us "no closer to being able to leave Iraq than [we were] a year ago."²

More than 4,000 Americans are dead. We've spent almost $500 billion on this war. A year after the "surge" began, Americans are no safer, and there is no end in sight.

With the Bush-McCain wait-and-see strategy, we can expect to hear "6 more months" for years and years to come.

We can't just sit by. We've got to speak out now—please help spread the word."

Snowy Sunday

2008-04-06T04:50:00.004-07:00

From Life In England

We woke up this morning to a mini snow storm. The fact that it has been sunny and somewhat warm all week (from the Florida sunshine we brought with us) made the April snow even more surprising. It snowed for a good 30 minutes, but it pretty much melted when it hit the ground. There were some sea gulls flying around in the flurry, almost flying in place because it was so windy. Four hours later, it's sunny again, the snow a mere footnote.

---

K has started going to MKG now, too. Mainly for kickboxing. We went together on Thursday and Saturday. Though she is a sporty gal, she was a bit taken aback by the workout. I guess taking kicks from people (on Thai pads) and throwing kicks is a lot different than running or doing yoga. She really enjoyed it though, despite a few bruises. We are going to continue with it and I am going to increase the number of classes that I go to.

---

From Life In England

Another new practice is to make a "complicated" dinner on the weekends. This came about because of K's newfound freedom from the PhD (she has handed her first fully completed draft to her supervisors). This weekend we made braised lamb shanks and chocolate almond cakes with chocolate sauce. Very tasty.

---

PS - The Heathrow Terminal 5 debacle is still ongoing! At one point, they were sending the luggage backlog to Italy for sorting. As of yesterday, there were still 9,000 bags to be sorted and returned.

The New Heathrow Terminal

2008-03-30T04:08:00.002-07:00

LONDON: British Airways canceled 37 flights Sunday and has yet to clear a backlog of about 15,000 pieces of luggage after disruptions at London Heathrow Airport's new Terminal 5 spilled into a fourth day.

The carrier has so far abandoned only short-haul and domestic flights, to cities including Amsterdam and Glasgow, representing about 11 percent of all flights.

British Airways, based in London, has canceled more than 200 flights since the terminal opened March 27, after computer log-on failures for baggage handlers and delays at staff car parks sparked turmoil at the airport, Europe's busiest. The number of flights canceled Sunday fell by 30 from 67 yesterday.

About 6 percent of the baggage British Airways has handled in the past four days still has yet to reach its owners, the spokeswoman said. The carrier, Europe's third-biggest, is already Europe's worst airline for lost luggage and the second-worst for delayed bags, according to the Air Transport Users Council.

Terminal 5 took two decades to plan and build at a cost of 4.3 billion pounds, or $8.6 billion, as the UK government battled campaigners who said the building would only add to congestion at Europe's busiest airport. British Airways has said the terminal will ease journeys and help retain passengers disillusioned with Heathrow's overcrowding.

[source: International Herald Tribune]

***

We're pretty happy that we flew with United and not British Airways. Otherwise, we would have been caught up in all this mess. And our luggage would probably be still sitting at Terminal 5 in the pile of 15,000 that still haven't been shifted. This actually explains something. Yesterday, when we were trundling down the sidewalk to our apartment we passed two old codgers who made some comment about "oh, you must be coming from Terminal 5". We just laughed politely and continued trundling. I guess they were referring to the aforementioned snafu.

The new Terminal 5... According to the news yesterday, the problems started when nearly all the employees didn't have anywhere to park when they arrived on opening day. Therefore, there were only two check-in desks open. Parking for employees... a pretty fundamental thing to have on the ol' "To Do" list!

Doesn't bode well for the Olympic Village, currently under construction around London.

Florida!

2008-03-29T10:52:00.003-07:00

We had a really nice, relaxing time in Florida. Neither of us was looking forward to coming back to England. K had been there since the end of February and I was there from March 15th. Most of our time was spent taking in American culture, eating at our favorite places (like Pollo Tropical, Fernanda's, Taco Bell, The Cheesecake Factory, and others), doing work around the house, and generally "wasting" time. Hardly thought about work at all, except for dreading this coming Monday (it's going to be insanely busy for the first 5 weeks of term). Also read through K's PhD. It's very good! I had a red pen in hand, but I didn't need to use it much.

Last weekend, we drove up to the Tampa/St.Pete area to see my sister and her fiance. We had a great, low-key weekend doing the same things mentioned above. It was just nice to see them again. The St. Pete area is very intriguing.

My mom came back from Sweden this past Tuesday, so we got to spend a little time with her, too. She had a nice time seeing her family and only had to spend about a day in the Stockholm snow before being back in warm Florida.

It was comforting to be back in the US. I thought I would have had a bigger culture shock, but it wasn't too bad. And we quickly delved into the American consumer habits (driving around in an SUV and buying things). I'd like to think we weren't too extravagant, though. We were just buying food, some clothes (which we really needed), and a few other bits and pieces.

Now we're back in England. We left Friday on a 1.40 flight through Washington DC. Got to London Heathrow at 5.50 in the morning. It was a really short flight, so we must have had a hell of a tailwind. They had to get special permission to land at Heathrow during curfew (no flights before 6am). Took a National Express bus at 7.10 and arrived in Westbourne around 9.30 tired as hell and bleary-eyed. A nap was definitely in order! Then we went to M&S to get some food for the weekend. Since then we've been unpacking, checking email, and restarting our life over here. I'm so glad it's Sunday tomorrow so I have another day to unwind before going back to the salt mine on Monday.

Tonight Europe finally turns its clocks forward.

An Easter Message from MM

2008-03-23T07:11:00.001-07:00

So? ... A Note from Michael Moore

Monday, March 24th, 2008

Friends,

It would have to happen on Easter Sunday, wouldn't it, that the 4,000th American soldier would die in Iraq. Play me that crazy preacher again, will you, about how maybe God, in all his infinite wisdom, may not exactly be blessing America these days. Is anyone surprised?

4,000 dead. Unofficial estimates are that there may be up to 100,000 wounded, injured, or mentally ruined by this war. And there could be up to a million Iraqi dead. We will pay the consequences of this for a long, long time. God will keep blessing America.

And where is Darth Vader in all this? A reporter from ABC News this week told Dick Cheney, in regards to Iraq, "two-thirds of Americans say it's not worth fighting." Cheney cut her off with a one word answer: "So?"

"So?" As in, "So what?" As in, "F*** you. I could care less."

I would like every American to see Cheney flip the virtual bird at the them, the American people. Click here and pass it around. Then ask yourself why we haven't risen up and thrown him and his puppet out of the White House.

The Democrats have had the power to literally pull the plug on this war for the past 15 months -- and they have refused to do so. What are we to do about that? Continue to sink into our despair? Or get creative? Real creative. I know there are many of you reading this who have the chutzpah and ingenuity to confront your local congressperson. Will you? For me?

Cheney spent Wednesday, the 5th anniversary of the war, not mourning the dead he killed, but fishing off the Sultan of Oman's royal yacht. So? Ask your favorite Republican what they think of that.

The Founding Fathers would never have uttered the presumptuous words, "God Bless America." That, to them, sounded like a command instead of a request, and one doesn't command God, even if they are America. In fact, they were worried God would punish America. During the Revolutionary War, George Washington feared that God would react unfavorably against his soldiers for the way they were behaving. John Adams wondered if God might punish America and cause it to lose the war, just to prove His point that America was not worthy. They and the others believed it would be arrogant on their part to assume that God would single out America for a blessing. What a long road we have traveled since then.

I see that Frontline on PBS this week has a documentary called "Bush's War." That's what I've been calling it for a long time. It's not the "Iraq War." Iraq did nothing. Iraq didn't plan 9/11. It didn't have weapons of mass destruction. It DID have movie theaters and bars and women wearing what they wanted and a significant Christian population and one of the few Arab capitals with an open synagogue.

But that's all gone now. Show a movie and you'll be shot in the head. Over a hundred women have been randomly executed for not wearing a scarf. I'm happy, as a blessed American, that I had a hand in all this. I just paid my taxes, so that means I helped to pay for this freedom we've brought to Baghdad. So? Will God bless me?

God bless all of you in this Easter Week as we begin the 6th year of Bush's War.

God help America. Please.

Michael Moore
MMFlint@aol.com
MichaelMoore.com

It's done!

2008-03-05T10:50:00.000-08:00

After two years of research, 104 working-weekends and 296 pages of writing, editing, rewriting and proofreading, my PhD dissertation is finished. The defense is scheduled for late June, so technically the degree isn't complete yet but barring any major issues, the research and writing are done!

Yay!

~K

A Pro-England Blog Entry - Part 2

2008-03-02T08:45:00.004-08:00

Finally, Part 2 of the two-part blog entry attempt at balancing the vitriol unleashed in the past 3 years or so. A Vitriol-offset scheme, if you will. Sure it's not going to solve the problem entirely, but it might make a dent (just like the carbon offset schemes).

There are a lot of great things about living in Europe (that's why we did it in the first place). There were a few reasons why we moved to Europe: a higher quality of life; a better work/life balance; living in a more open-minded culture less focused on vanity, materialism and gluttonous consumption of EVERYTHING; and to do something challenging. [It would be easy to say we moved because of the Bush Administration, but that was only a minor factor.]

England has most of the above factors, though I'd argue the quality of life is not as high as in Europe (or even the US) and there is almost as much consumer-driven gluttony here as there is in America. Not nearly as bad, but they'll get there soon enough. Anyway, to the good points!

- Better work/life balance. Full-time employed workers get a lot of vacation days compared to the US. I currently get 35 days per year. The full-time work week is generally 37 hours. Americans tend to define themselves by their trade. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that Americans tend to live to work, whereas Europeans work to live.

- Strong currency. The Pound Sterling is very stable and usually strong. It's still almost $2 to a £. That makes it really cheap for us when we visit the US and it allows us to send a fair amount of dough to our US bank account every month. We've still got some debts there, after all.

- Great dairy products. K isn't really that willing to accept this, but the dairy products in England are much better than in the US. The milk and cream tastes so much better. The cheese is more flavorful because it's not pasteurized to hell. And you can get real buttermilk here. The dairy in Continental Europe is even better (except for in Southern Europe).

- Good beer. The UK is the home of several beer styles that the US emulates or used as a reference. To name a few: India Pale Ale, Barleywine, Mild, Bitter, Stout, and Porter. These have been brewed here for a couple of 100 years. The traditional way of serving these beers is hand-pumped from casks (wood or steel) kept in the pubs cellar. It is not artificially carbonated or indeed "fizzy" at all. The beer is transferred into the casks just before it finishes fermenting so it can finish in the cask. This creates mild, natural carbonation. It is "Living Beer". Furthermore, it is not served icy cold, but at cellar temperature (54-57 degrees F). This method of serving is called "Real Ale". Unfortunately, it is kind of dying out and it takes the efforts of CAMRA to keep it vital. The typical lament of some tourists to the UK is "they serve the beer flat and luke-warm" (mis-stating it a bit!). It takes some getting used to at first, but it's actually easy-drinking and much easier to taste and smell the nuances of a good beer when it's served that way. That doesn't mean serving beer by other methods is wrong, of course. This is just the best way to serve the traditional British ales.

- Beautiful countryside (in some areas). You've seen it in movies, on television, postcards, or if you've been for a drive over here. The quaint, English countryside is lush, green, and "cute" what with the hedgerows, fluffy livestock, and thatch-roof buildings. Some of the coastal areas are breathtaking. And then, of course, there's the Scottish Highlands which K and I absolutely adored.

- English-speaking. Ok, let's face it. We loved Belgium, but the language-barrier was a bit of a problem. In that respect, it is a bit easier to live in the UK as opposed to "the Continent". There's always Sweden and Denmark, but that wouldn't really work for K!

- Fewer advertisements. It's so much nicer to watch TV over here. The BBC has no advertising breaks and most of other stations only have three to four short breaks. It's always such a "culture shock" when we're back in the US and a show gets constantly interrupted with loud, annoying ads. We don't miss that!

- Good produce. Lots of great "fruit and veg" (if you go to the right place) and it's very easy and cheap to get organic produce. We were having them delivered straight to our door from local farms for a while there (until we moved to a top-floor apartment and the delivery guy could no longer leave it on our porch). I think they generally use less pesticide here, too.

- The Royal Mail. I believe we've mentioned this before, but we are just damn impressed with the postal service over here. The Brits make it a national past-time to complain about it, though I don't understand why. You put a 1st Class stamp on a letter, stick it in one of those funny, red mailboxes in the morning, and more often than not, the letter arrives at it's destination the very next day. And that's even considering the fact that half the country doesn't have house numbers! Or street signs!

- Freeview. This is free digital TV over a standard antenna. You buy a Freeview receiver for about £20-30, plug it in, and voila! Decent quality digital TV with quite a few channels to choose from. We don't have this anymore because we've upgraded to satellite television, but we did have it for a while. Can't beat it!

- Quality television. Speaking of TV, there are a lot of great shows being produced here. Again, the Brits like to complain about the state of British comedy, but we've certainly been kept in stitches! I still like the original British version of The Office more than the American one. Then there are our favorite British comedians: Jonathan Ross, Jimmy Carr, Eddie Izzard, and Ricky Gervais, to name a few current ones. And the BBC has fantastic nature documentaries all the time. David Attenborough is a god!

- Free PhD. K is doing a PhD for free! Even before she switched over to full-time PhD-ing, she was getting paid AND being allowed to do her PhD without paying tuition. Then she was offered a chance to have a "bursary" which is basically government funding to study. She's fairly sure she would not have been able to swing that in the US where you have to apply for a grant with all the competition involved.

- An incredible variety of potato chip (crisps) flavors. It's amazing. Never have I been to a country that had so many different flavorings for deep-fried thin slices of potato. Things like: roast chicken, chargrilled steak, thai sweet chili, caramelized onion and balsamic, prawn and cocktail sauce, mango chutney, and on and on. The roast chicken one is really weird because it smells EXACTLY like roast chicken (and so do your hands for about three days afterwards).

Empty Nest

2008-02-27T11:00:00.003-08:00

K flew the coop at 5:52 this morning. I dropped her off at the National Express bus stop. Then she ventured up to Heathrow to fly to Florida.

Usually, when I get home from work, K is home finishing up a section of her PhD with a news channel on in the background. Some lights are on and the apartment is warm and inviting. But this evening it was dark and cold when I got home. I turned on a couple of lights, turned the TV on, and took a beer out of the fridge. Now I'm contemplating dinner for one and watching a bit of Fox News International (conservative and sensational as hell, but it's American news at least).

I'll be joining K in Florida in about 16 days. We're house-sitting for my mom so she can have a nice, long trip to Sweden and Denmark to see her brother and extended family. When I get there, K will probably be done with her PhD and then we will have two weeks of maximum relaxation in the beautiful Florida sunshine (probably the most perfect climate between October and May). I'm hoping I'll be able to shake this damp, mold-infested air -induced cough I've had since last August.

The Old People Won't Leave Us Alone

2008-02-24T12:52:00.000-08:00

There are 18 flats (apartments) in the building we live in. At least 14 of those are inhabited by pensioners (retirees). We are the youngest people in the building. That's not generally a problem and it's been OK for the most part. There are a few that are outright meddling, but most of them are polite and friendly (at least, to our faces). The building has an "association" that consists of several of the residents, one of which is the chairperson. This "association" handles the general maintenance issues of the building like getting people in to clean the windows, mow the lawn, etc. They also have written a set of rules for living here. Things like not parking outside of the garage, no pets, or no remodeling without their consent.. Apparently, they also have something against people who are renters (as opposed to owning the flat).

They haven't been blatantly after us, but for the entire year and a half that we have lived here, they have been picking at us. Just little hints every so often.

"How long are you planning to stay here?"

"Would you like to park your car in my garage? I'm not using it. Can you afford £30 per month?"
ound an overflow in the brickwork, although the overflow itself has not been seen to be dripping." It asked that we arrange for an inspection because the clients are "concerned that the structural integrity of the building will be compromised if this situation is left unattended to." We're talking about a small, dark patch on the side of the building.

Yes, in November the pipe was indeed dripping. Something that one of the pensioners saw fit to notify us about by coming to our door at 8:45 one Saturday morning late last year. He said the exterior wall was getting wet. This is a country where it rains A LOT. I'm pretty sure the entire exterior surface is wet most of the time. Nevertheless, at that time we contacted the letting agent and they said they would make an appointment with a plumber. It never happened (big surprise), but after a while, it stopped dripping, so I didn't bother chasing them anymore about it.

Then we get this letter. Pick, pick, picking at us! I contacted the letting agent right away and in no uncertain terms, demanded they send the plumber with due speed. He came a week later. That was this past Thursday. He checked the boiler and the surrounding area. There is no leak, no damp, and no threat to the structural integrity of the building. We are vindicated on this score, so they're just going to have to find something else to pick at us about.

Of the pensioners in this building, there are a couple of nice ones that we get along with. The couple that lives below us is nice enough. We thought they were our allies in the face of the building association. K discovered the other day that this doesn't seem to be the case. The lady is obviously spying on us, too. She came to the door earlier this week to ask K when the plumber was coming. When she told her he was coming on Thursday, she said, "Oh, that's good. I will be home then." K was a bit confused, "Why do you need to be home? I'm going to be here." The reply, "Oh, because Margaret likes to know what's going on." Margaret is the chairperson of the association. "Margaret likes to know what's goin on!!" She was surprised at K's strong reaction and started back-pedaling and trying to change the subject.

Most of the old men in the building are OK. It seems like it's just the old ladies that are doing the pick-pecking at us. Just leave us alone, you old farts! Isn't there something to knit or crochet, instead?! Sorry, that sounds very ageist and anti- old people. We actually liked living here until they started their little crusade.

Don't hate us because we're younger than you.

Then again, could it have something to do with Satan?

K has been forbidden from taking any food or drinks from these people.

A Pro-England Blog Entry - Part 1

2008-02-10T08:49:00.001-08:00

We've been rather critical of England during the time we have lived here, right or wrong. Of course, we don't think we're wrong in these criticisms, but it still makes us feel a bit sheepish sometimes. Other times it's just fun and cathartic!

In an attempt to strike a bit of a balance, I am writing a two-part piece about things that are good about England/UK. This segment, Part 1, concerns some things in British society that I agree with. Now, three of these things are shared with Europe, but still.

The Brits are right about...

- The way they pronounce words with the letter "T". Whereas Americans usually soften the T sound to a D sound (budder, wadder, tomado, etc.), the Brits actually pronounce the T as it should be, using the fricative hard T sound like BuTTer, waTer, tomaTo, etc. To my ear, the American pronunciation sounds a bit silly, something that didn't really become clear to me until living here. I've also noticed that Brits sometimes have difficulty understanding words pronounced with the soft D sound, so one ends up having to repeat oneself. Being conscious of this has lead me to pronounce my words with a harder T sound, not quite as hard as the English pronunciation, but somewhere in between. It perhaps sounds a bit Canadian.

- How dates are written. In Europe dates are written Day/Month/Year as opposed to the Month/Day/Year in the US. Why is this "correct"? Because it makes the most sense. The date is expressed in ascending order of incremental value. Think of those Russian dolls. The small one covered by a larger one covered by a larger one and so on. The Day is the smallest doll, the Month second largest, and the Year the largest. It just makes more sense. You wouldn't be able to put the middle-size doll inside the smallest one. Do you know what date Europe has trained itself to write/say incorrectly? 9/11 (which would be the 9th of November here). That's the only exception. When we first moved to Europe we had some problems with K's financial aid because of this. The US student loan company had typed 9/01/03 (September 1st, 2003) on the start date of the loan. When the university in Belgium received this they read it as 9th of January, 2003 which, of course, was a bit of a problem for them since K was due to start in September. A few frantic phone calls back and forth sorted out the confusion.

- The use of the Metric system. Ok, this is cheating a bit because the UK doesn't really use the Metric system fully (but Europe does). They still have their Stones, inches, feet, and miles. But they've at least partially adopted it by using Celsius, metres/centimetres/millimetres (for some things), and litres. Again, it just makes so much more sense to have units of measure that are divisible by 10. Who thought dividing units of length by 12 was a good idea? And don't even get me started on ounces, cups, and gallons! When I use an American recipe, I get annoyed when I have to measure dry ingredients by volume. Did you know a cup of flour can weigh anywhere from 3 to 6 ounces? That's a huge difference! Recipes written in grams and millimetres are so much more accurate. Wonder why your from-scratch cake doesn't quite turn out as it should? Maybe it's because you're measuring flour volumetrically.

If I was allowed to be a despot ruler of the US, I would put the above things into law. Everyone would have to pronounce their T's, write the date correctly, and use the Metric system!

- The PAL video standard. The European video standard is far superior to NTSC, used in North America. While the standard used in the US has 525 lines of horizontal resolution and a clunky 30 "frames" per second display rate, PAL is 625 lines of resolution and 25 "frames" per second, closer to that of film. Furthermore, the color rendition of PAL is better. Bottom line: NTSC is C-R-A-P. Fortunately, this will soon cease to be a concern because everything is going HD, which is one single standard.

Secret Countdown

2008-02-03T08:43:00.000-08:00

289 Days, 16 Hours, 17 Minutes

January Blues

2008-01-20T06:07:00.000-08:00

The weather has been atrocious this month. K has been feeling quite low because of it. I'm normally not affected by weather, but I must admit, this soggy, cold atmosphere is starting to piss me off! Both of us are really looking forward to go to Florida in March. Some sunshine and warmth looks mighty good right about now.

Anyway, we just renewed the lease on our apartment here. It was surprisingly fast and easy to do. The landlord even let us keep the same rent, which is a relief because we were expecting him to raise it. He would only renew it as a 12-month contract, but he let us put in a "get-out clause" which means we can get out of the contract after 6 months if we provide two months notice.

Things are pretty hectic at work. The term got really busy right away, pretty much on the first day the students came back. We'll be going full-steam ahead all the way through May -- another reason it's going to be good to get away in March. The term has been good so far, though. I've been doing a bit more teaching and have gotten involved with more of the academic side of things. They are also planning to hire another technician a bit later in the year. That will alleviate some of the stress in the technical department. Next school year, the course has to take in 80 students. That's 20-25 more than we have in each year level right now, so we're definitely going to need some more staff!

Next weekend, I'm going to a Dan Inosanto seminar. He's a 71-year-old Guru of Filipino martial arts. He trained with Bruce Lee. Should be a lot of fun, despite the fact that my head will probably be spinning.

News: Ambulance service receives emergency call every 8 seconds as Binge Britain welcomes in 2008

2008-01-06T05:39:00.000-08:00

A funny article about New Years Eve in Britain. Click the title link to see the article with photos (some really great ones of REALLY drunk people having a "great time" in the British tradition).

---

Ambulance service receives emergency call every 8 seconds as Binge Britain welcomes in 2008
By BETH HALE

Binge-drinking revellers fuelled a chaotic start to 2008 as over-stretched ambulance workers battled to cope with emergency calls flooding in at a peak of one every eight seconds.

In the capital alone the London Ambulance Service had to deal with its highest number of emergency calls since the Millennium - the majority related to excess alcohol.

As midnight came and went there was mayhem as scores of drunken partygoers around the country tumbled into the streets, some wearing little more than their underwear.

Fights erupted and a string of dishevelled young men and women collapsed on benches and in doorways, too inebriated to remember or care that the night was supposed to be a celebration.

There to mop up the mess were thousands of emergency workers drafted in to provide cover on the busiest night of the year.

In the first four hours of 2008, London Ambulance Service (LAS) dealt with an astonishing 1,825 calls alone, peaking at over 500 calls an hour between 2am and 4am. The volume of 999 calls was up 17 per cent on last year' and four times worse than a normal night.

Meanwhile in the West Midlands the ambulance service fielded 1,400 calls in just five hours - a rate of one every 12 seconds. It was mirrored by the North East Ambulance Service which received 1,860 calls between 11pm and 5am.

Last night the astonishing number of calls to deal with booze-fuelled illness of injury prompted accusations that lives of those in real emergencies were being put at risk and demands for partygoers to wake up the costs of binge-drinking.

LAS spokeswoman Gemma Gidley said: "These calls put the Service under increased pressure to manage demand when we have to ensure we respond quickly to other patients with potentially life-threatening emergencies.

"People need to think about the real consequences of drinking so much that they require treatment."

In the south, the South Central Ambulance Service dealt with three times more incidents that normal.

Control room duty manager Michele Foot said: "I think we should start charging people for the drink related stuff - it's most self inflicted."

In some areas special temporary treatment sites were set up to cope, paramedics set out on foot in busy city centres and volunteers from the St John Ambulance Service and Red Cross were drafted in.

Alternative transport was arranged for drunken revellers to take the strain of ambulances.

Hundreds of arrests were made by police for public order offences, as well as violence and sex and drug-related crime.

Riot vans parked in city centres prepared to deal with the inevitable fall out of a night of excess.

While thousands of people celebrated the New Year peacefully - enjoying the visual spectacles of fireworks and live music - for others the temptation to over-indulge in what have become an all-too common scenes of drunkenness was too great.

In Birmingham a group of friend bragged they would be "crawling" by the end of the night.

In Newcastle, in scenes mirrored everywhere, a young woman - shoeless and seemingly very much the worse for wear - had to be aided by paramedics while nearby a well-built man lay face down in the street after being set upon by four other men.

"This is going to be a long night," said one weary paramedic, confiding: "We will spend all night picking up people who are too drunk to walk and people who got into fights."

Everywhere revellers who had lost all their inhibitions were happy to brag about their drinking exploits.

Sisters Sarah and Teri Crame, both dancers, wore burlesque outfits better-suited to the boudoir as they strutted through the rain-soaked street.

"We've been drinking since about seven," said Teri. "We're both wrecked and loving it. Mixing our drinks always leads to trouble - we've had wine, lager and vodka tonight."

In Cardiff a group of young women, who would have been well-advised to cover up, tottered along in nothing more than heels and white underwear.

Among those happy to boast about far exceeding the Government recommended weekly safe limit for drinking in just one night were a group of teachers.

Bearing the brunt of the chaos, Paramedic Martyn Sullivan said: "We've had a lot of drunken calls and a lot of assault. I've been threatened myself tonight."

In Bristol, a young woman wearing a tiny black dress despite the elements slumped on the floor as a friend, laughing, spent five minutes trying to lift her.

Meanwhile a semi-naked man argued with police and other partygoers vomited over railings into the river.

Fights broke out long before midnight and continued into the small hours.

In Slough, Berkshire a crowd of drunken teenagers was involved in a punch up which ended with a 17-year-old boy being stabbed in the chest. Another person was stabbed in Woking, Surrey after a mass brawl.

In Hampshire every custody centre in the county was full.

For anyone not used to the less than sober face of a British New Year the night was something of an eye-opener. Belgian Florence Meganck, 25, was out in Bristol and summed up the evening.

"At 9pm I saw people throwing up - England is totally different to Belgium.

"The whole evening I have been watching English girls wearing dresses that only just cover their underwear. They zig-zag through the streets in their tiny skirts.

"I saw a girl who looked like she wasn't older than 12 buy alcohol from a shop and then give it to even younger girls waiting outside.

"Even though I haven't drunk tonight I have had such fun laughing at all the drunken English people.

"But these drunks won't enjoy New Year's Eve, most of them won't even remember it."

Find this story at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=505497&in_page_id=1770
©2008 Associated New Media

Happy New Year, folks!

2008-01-02T07:16:00.000-08:00

Well, we're back from our Christmas holiday in Denmark. Arrived at Gatwick last night at 8:00pm and took a National Express bus at 9:00. We were back in our apartment by 12:30am. Mixed feelings about being back. On the one hand, it's nice to be in our own domain and in our own bed and we're anxious to get the year started. On the other hand, the apartment is freezing (52 deg F with the heat off, 55-60 deg F with it on), the shower really sucks, and we have to drive on narrow roads with cars parked on one side so traffic can't actually pass normally. By the way, the house we were in for Christmas was built at the same time as this apartment building and it was nice and toasty, had good water pressure, and didn't have mold growing on the walls. Hmm.

Sorry, just had to get that off our collective chest. Anyway...

We were in Denmark from the 20th to the 1st, staying at my aunt's house. We had a really relaxing time (I'm pretty sure I didn't think about work even one time) and ate copious amounts of great home-cooked Christmas food and went to the local bakery almost every other day to get some real Danishes (so good they make you weak at the knees).

Christmas Eve was held at my cousin AB's house. She and her partner, M, prepared a tasty turkey with some Danish trimmings (like Brune kartofler). We had the traditional ris a la mande for dessert. K won the almond prize. Then we circled around the Christmas tree singing Danish Christmas hymns and carols (K even tried to sing along with the songbook). This is a tradition that you have to go through before the presents are given out. I was Santa's stand-in, distributing the presents from under the tree.

Christmas Day was spent at my aunt's house. We had a three course Danish Christmas lunch of pickled herring, smoked salmon, various cold cuts, then medister sausages and a pork roast with "Green-Long Kale". All swilled down with beer and Akvavit. Later in the day, we played a long game of Risk.

Until New Year's Eve, we pretty much just relaxed at my aunt's house, reading, watching tv, going for walks, doing a bit of shopping for Danish goodies to take home, etc. I bought some fireworks for New Year's, too. Fireworks are a big deal for New Year's in Europe. We had dinner at my aunt's house. It was a cozy little dinner with all of us around a raclette grill on the dining room table. We finished eating around 9, so we had to kill some time before midnight by doing the dishes, watching Queen Margrethe's New Year's speech, playing a card game, and then catching Dinner For One just before midnight. We toasted with authentic champagne and had the traditional Danish "kransekage" before going out to partake the fussillade of fireworks. K was amazed at how many there were flying up everywhere. Got to bed around 1:30.

All of us slept in the next day and had a very leisurely breakfast then K and I started packing our suitcases for the evening flight back to England. And here we are.

I'm heading back to work tomorrow and K is going to get back to her PhD. It's going to be an active year, so it was nice to have so it was nice to have a relaxing Christmas vacation.

*Please make sure to read the preceding blog entry, our year-in-review. And we'll be adding more pictures HERE soon.

"Same procedure as last year, Miss Sophie?"

2008-01-01T15:13:00.000-08:00

Our end-of-year blog tradition: the year that was.

2007 was a year of…

Relocation, Relocation – It was a bumpy start to the year when we found out that we had to move out of our apartment due to the landlady needing to take it over. We were given two months to find somewhere else. After K’s arduous search and one failed attempt at an apartment in Canford Cliffs (due to the death of the landlord and an ensuing legal case), we ended up getting the top floor apartment in the same building, which we moved into on February 26^th. It’s a nicer apartment in many respects, the various gripes we have with the plumbing, heating, and garage, notwithstanding. The view is its one saving grace.

Professional Development – In January, K transitioned from a full-time staff position to full-time doctoral researcher (researching/writing her PhD on post-9/11 American media and culture). In doing this, she took over the post (and accompanying bursary) vacated by another researcher. As soon as this transition took place, the speed of her PhD research trebled. She has progressed at lightning speed and will have a finished draft by March with the following draft for submission done by July.

There was also considerable improvement in R’s new career in the educational sector. After a year as a Technician Demonstrator for the film school down here, he was promoted to Teacher Technician, a similar role but involving more contact time with students and also moving onto the academic ladder (faculty, as opposed to staff).

Additionally, both K and R presented papers at the ACA/PCA Annual Conference in April, held in Boston, MA.

Travel – Quite a few trips ‘abroad’ throughout the year. After the conference in April, we continued west to Oregon for a two-week vacation in Eugene and Baker City. Then in June, K and R hopped on a cheap flight to Dublin for a long weekend celebrating their 3-year wedding anniversary. In July, K flew back to Oregon to spend time with her sister in Portland and to sniff around for a potential investment property. During this time, R spent five days in London volunteering for the Great British Beer Festival. The final trip of the year was to Denmark to “hygge” the Christmas and New Year season with R’s aunt, cousins, and grandmother.

Whinging – Was it at all obvious that our patience with England was wearing thin? Though Project: Expatriated only touched the surface, we spent a fairly large portion of our time complaining (whinging) about living here. We are foreigners and we are grateful for the opportunities and the quite comfortable life we have been having here, but the cultural differences sometimes drove us to exasperated, angry outbursts. Sometimes one just can’t help oneself! It has been a cathartic process, despite a fair amount of guilt from criticising the country that we are currently calling home. We will try to be less grumpy this year.

Weak US Dollar – The steady decline in value of the $ during the past couple of years has been a boon for us, particularly this year because the British £ has steadily been worth about two times as much as the dollar.

Fitness – R continued with his Filipino martial arts classes (and yoga at home on Sundays) at the Minnesota Kali Group gym in Parkstone, upgrading to an “unlimited” membership so he was able to go 3-4 times per week. As a lark, he made a successful attempt at attaining a 1^st degree level in Kali/Panantukan, just barely passing with a 70%.

K continues to run and do yoga at home and at the yoga studio around the corner.

Less Blogging - We haven't been as prolific here this year as we have in the past. This is mainly because the pace of our lives has picked up a bit. K is looking at her computer all day, so she doesn't want to look at it to write a blog, too. R has a very busy job that makes him just want to relax when he gets home. So, you get lazy about writing blog entries. Can't promise it will be much better this year, but we'll do our best. There will very likely be a lot of things to talk about.

Belgian (Liège) Waffles - One of our favorite treats when living in Belgium were the Belgian waffles. When we were in Dublin, there was a stall at a market selling them. We each had one, which invogarted our lust for these golden beauties. When we got back to England, we bought a Belgian waffle iron and I started testing recipes. We've made several batches this past year and I'm getting pretty damn close. The main thing holding me back is the difficulty in finding pearl sugar here.

The West Wing – We had started watching this show at the end of 2006 on Sundays when they started airing it from Episode 1, Season 1 on More4. We were immediately hooked, but when we missed a couple of episodes over that Christmas, we got started getting the DVDs from Lovefilm (like Netflix in the US). One of the best shows on television! We finally got to the end (Season 7) this past November, a sad day indeed. If only we could have Jed Bartlett for president (and then his successor)! We learned a lot about US politics and elections (very convenient at the moment). What we didn’t quite expect (or at least R didn’t) was that it would ignite a newfound sense of civic duty, something we hope to begin by November.

Making Plans – Towards the close of 2007, we started really thinking about our future. Our future careers. Our future in England/Europe. Just last week, we set in motion our new plan. A plan that we don’t quite want to make public yet for various reasons, but will do so in due course. It will not be the same procedure as last year, James!* Stay tuned!

*This line and the title of this blog entry are a reference to a short film that is traditionally aired in Denmark and Sweden (probably other countries, too) on New Year's Eve at twenty to midnight.

2007-12-25T02:17:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays from Denmark

Hope everyone has a very Merry Christmas!

Best wishes for 2008!

R & K

(Or as the Danes say:)

Chav Nativity Scene

2007-12-15T05:32:00.000-08:00