Viking Reunion put on hold
We decided to change our plans a bit again. Or at least move forward with PLAN D from our recently mentioned plans until it is "completed" or something happens with the applications I've circulated.
We're going to stay in Norwich through the end of our lease (Sept. 1). It's been a bit stressful to make the moving plan work and it just doesn't feel right at the moment. Felt like we were trying to force it. So, I'm going to find a part-time job here and write my dissertation. This will give us more time to "assess the situation" and I'll keep looking for a job in an archive... somewhere.
Perhaps we'll move to Copenhagen in September, I don't know. We learned a couple of shitty things that perhaps make it much more of a challenging place to live than we thought. K will not be able to take the government-sponsored Danish lessons until she gets her residence permit, which seems to take about 6 months. Obviously, she can't legally work until then either. And the real kicker is that she would not be able to benefit from any of the social services until after 7 years, so she'd get nothing for all the money she'd be paying in taxes. I'm sure there will be some kind of "cooling off period" for me too since I've never paid anything into the system either. Anyway, we need to think it over a little more and it just seemed like we were rushing into it.
I should hear about the archiving job in London sometime this coming week, that's the one I'm most qualified for so I have a good chance getting it. The other job in Nottingham is a little more of a long-shot, but we'll see. As for the National Museum in Denmark, I got a letter from them saying they had received my application and that I will be contacted if they would like me to come in for an interview. Interviews are supposed to be this coming week. I still haven't heard anything, so I doubt that I will. If they have enough candidates in town, they probably wouldn't bother calling someone in from another country for an interview. Even if they did, I probably wouldn't take it anyway. Three months of work just wouldn't cut it, especially when K wouldn't be able to work for however long. Add to this the fact that we are financially "tapped" right now and we're thinking we can just relocate to another country with all the expense that would be incurred?! I guess you could say we've just come back to reality a little bit.
)RP(
Sunday, June 5
Saturday, June 4
Reality Bite
We are officially the most poor (poorest?) we've ever been. In the past, especially during this European adventure, we have been very near the bottom of the barrel. As of this weekend we have reached a new low. There literally is no money left in any account and the credit card is getting pretty full. There is something to be said, however, for this experience. I have learned that I don't need new clothes every few months, in fact I don't really care any more about how fashionable I am. We don't buy DVDs or CDs or unnecessary crap that ends up being tossed in a drawer of buried in the closet. We buy food and pay the rent - no extras and no frills. For a treat, I order used books on Amazon or Rich has a beer in the pub or we go to a movie. Each month that we manage to get the bills paid is another opportunity to remember how few "things" are necessary for happiness. And despite the struggle I would definitely say that we are happy. During the past two years, we've managed to move to Belgium and then to England, find jobs, make friends, travel and learn uncountable lessons about the different cultures in Europe. Most valuable has been the perspective we've gained regarding the U.S. and the rest of the world.
We have been feeling lately that our next move will most likely be the last. Well, the last big move anyway. It is time to put down a few roots, have a garden and get a dog. I don't know how excited we are at the prospect of staying in one place forever, but we can probably manage a few years. Moving to a new place is so much fun...we'll have to find a replacement for that feeling. And a little "stability" will make our families happy and hopefully make our bank account a little fatter.
Wouldn't we prefer to have more money right now? Of course. We're not stupid! But life is still pretty darn good.
~K
We are officially the most poor (poorest?) we've ever been. In the past, especially during this European adventure, we have been very near the bottom of the barrel. As of this weekend we have reached a new low. There literally is no money left in any account and the credit card is getting pretty full. There is something to be said, however, for this experience. I have learned that I don't need new clothes every few months, in fact I don't really care any more about how fashionable I am. We don't buy DVDs or CDs or unnecessary crap that ends up being tossed in a drawer of buried in the closet. We buy food and pay the rent - no extras and no frills. For a treat, I order used books on Amazon or Rich has a beer in the pub or we go to a movie. Each month that we manage to get the bills paid is another opportunity to remember how few "things" are necessary for happiness. And despite the struggle I would definitely say that we are happy. During the past two years, we've managed to move to Belgium and then to England, find jobs, make friends, travel and learn uncountable lessons about the different cultures in Europe. Most valuable has been the perspective we've gained regarding the U.S. and the rest of the world.
We have been feeling lately that our next move will most likely be the last. Well, the last big move anyway. It is time to put down a few roots, have a garden and get a dog. I don't know how excited we are at the prospect of staying in one place forever, but we can probably manage a few years. Moving to a new place is so much fun...we'll have to find a replacement for that feeling. And a little "stability" will make our families happy and hopefully make our bank account a little fatter.
Wouldn't we prefer to have more money right now? Of course. We're not stupid! But life is still pretty darn good.
~K
Car Troubles
Hurray! The car is finally finished. We had to forget about fixing the AC to get to this point, but we can get it back from the mechanic now. The problem with the AC was traced farther along the wires to the main ECU in the car. Apparently, this would cost £600 to replace and not much less to repair. We agreed to forget about that part of the repair and he said he could remove the freon he had put into it so we wouldn't be charged for it.
Despite this, the repair bill comes in at £341.85 (over $600) because of the time put into it and the fact that I had to put new parts on it instead (the used ones didn't really work out). It's a reasonable bill and less than we had expected, but there's a snag. They don't take credit cards. We have NO WHERE near enough in our bank account to cover it, so we have to think of something else. Right now, the first option is to try to use some "checks" from our credit card company. But since they are in dollars, it's not like we can cash them here. I'm going to try my luck at a travel shop because they do currency exchange. We might even be able to "buy" some £ using our credit card.
This means the car will have to stay at the shop until Monday.
Hurray! The car is finally finished. We had to forget about fixing the AC to get to this point, but we can get it back from the mechanic now. The problem with the AC was traced farther along the wires to the main ECU in the car. Apparently, this would cost £600 to replace and not much less to repair. We agreed to forget about that part of the repair and he said he could remove the freon he had put into it so we wouldn't be charged for it.
Despite this, the repair bill comes in at £341.85 (over $600) because of the time put into it and the fact that I had to put new parts on it instead (the used ones didn't really work out). It's a reasonable bill and less than we had expected, but there's a snag. They don't take credit cards. We have NO WHERE near enough in our bank account to cover it, so we have to think of something else. Right now, the first option is to try to use some "checks" from our credit card company. But since they are in dollars, it's not like we can cash them here. I'm going to try my luck at a travel shop because they do currency exchange. We might even be able to "buy" some £ using our credit card.
This means the car will have to stay at the shop until Monday.
Thursday, June 2
As expected...
Dutch Voters Reject EU Constitution:
"THE HAGUE, Netherlands - European leaders may have to scrap the proposed EU constitution after Dutch voters rejected it by a massive margin, voicing their concern over dwindling national identity in a rapidly expanding union and their distrust of increasingly powerful bureaucrats.
The outcome in the Netherlands from the referendum Wednesday three days after a similar vote in France was likely to halt the European momentum, which had been welcomed by some as creating a new world power but disdained by others as smothering their cultures in a vast superstate.
With 99.8 percent of the ballots counted, unofficial results showed 61.6 percent voted 'nee,' while 38.4 percent said 'ja.' The level of opposition and the turnout of 63 percent exceeded all projections."
Dutch Voters Reject EU Constitution:
"THE HAGUE, Netherlands - European leaders may have to scrap the proposed EU constitution after Dutch voters rejected it by a massive margin, voicing their concern over dwindling national identity in a rapidly expanding union and their distrust of increasingly powerful bureaucrats.
The outcome in the Netherlands from the referendum Wednesday three days after a similar vote in France was likely to halt the European momentum, which had been welcomed by some as creating a new world power but disdained by others as smothering their cultures in a vast superstate.
With 99.8 percent of the ballots counted, unofficial results showed 61.6 percent voted 'nee,' while 38.4 percent said 'ja.' The level of opposition and the turnout of 63 percent exceeded all projections."
Wednesday, June 1
Another job
Another archiving job popped up. Actually, it was posted some time ago, but I didn't decide to apply for it until now since we were definitely planning on moving to Denmark. But I might as well try for it. Here's the job description:
Cataloguer
Another archiving job popped up. Actually, it was posted some time ago, but I didn't decide to apply for it until now since we were definitely planning on moving to Denmark. But I might as well try for it. Here's the job description:
Cataloguer
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