That whole "love thy neighbor" thing.....

I believe the date was Saturday, January 26 at approximately 4:40AM. Actually, I know it was 4:40AM because I remember looking at my phone wondering why the hell anyone would be blasting music and having a party with drunk-sing-a-longs that STARTED at 4:40AM. James and I were dead asleep when the thumping bass started. You can read the blog about the first two incidents and how I handled them here: http://www.desireeheadley.blogspot.com/2013_01_01_archive.html

On Friday, February 8 at 3:59AM, a fourth incident begins (I never mentioned incident #3 as it was only loud music on a Sunday night until about 11PM - still not acceptable, but not the anger-enducing incidents of before or #4). The thumping bass, the loud people, the drunk sing-a-longs - AT THREE FIFTY NINE IN THE MORNING and I have to get up for work in 2 hours. I once again put my clothes on, venture down to apartment 9, bang on the door - incessantly, loudly, persistently until someone comes to the door (I kid you not, my fist was sore later that day). The guy is the definition of an asshole. Opens the door looking all bothered and pompous that he had to get off his fat ass to open the door. He cannot coherently speak so I get right to the point - "please can you turn the music down?" I am not nasty about this. I am taking the "you get more bees with honey rather than sugar" or whatever that statement is.He mumbles something else that I don't understand and I walk back up to the apartment. The noise does not stop, in fact, it gets louder.

By 4:45, James is out of bed because now he is awake. His alarm - which was set for 5:30 because he had a very early flight to Belfast - no longer necessary. I lie in bed hoping it will stop and I can get back to sleep. By 5, I am up and I hear James talking to someone. He's called the non-emergency police line who told him to call the Cheshire council and also the Environmental Protection Agency (interesting). He has emails for them all so sends emails. I get a load of laundry in the washer. We are fuming mad. I go out on the balcony and look over the edge. Sure enough, there are 2 guys sitting outside smoking. I ask if they own the place, they say they do not and they don't even know the guy that lives there. They were invited back to drink and party and they did. I asked who invited them back and they replied it was the guy that lives there - Giles. Sweet, now I have a name. I expressed my displeasure at being awakened at 4AM, they apologized profusely, they asked if I wanted to come down for a drink (oh yes, sure, let me just get dressed and I'll be right down), they asked if they could cook me breakfast, and the invited me to breakfast with Giles at the Alderley Bar and Grill at 10AM. Hmmm, this gives me an idea. Crash breakfast? Make a scene? No. Maybe just wake Giles up early in the afternoon.

The music stops at 6:20AM. James takes off for the airport and I drag myself to the gym. I fully intend on leaving work early to discuss this niose situation with Giles. And I do. I text James and tell him I am going to talk to the guy downstairs and if I don't arrive at the airport to pick him up, I have probably been murdered.  I have a plan in my head. Knock on the door, DO NOT, under any circumstances, accept an invitation INTO the apartment. Politely decline and tell him that you just want to speak with him very quickly. Be every kind and explain to him that both my husband and I work and need to be up early in the morning and that we cannot live with the noise issues at 4AM. And of course, everything goes to plan.

Prior to going down, I peak over the balcony to see if there is any movement in the apartment below ours. The door to the apartment 9 balcony is open. Okay, he is home. I begin my journey down the 15 steps to the 2nd floor, heart pounding, blood rushing to my face, adrenaline pumping. I knock on the door - 5 consecutive, polite wraps. No answer. I know he is there and I'm not giving up on this. 5 more polite wraps - a slight bit harder this time - and I wait enough time for someone to get up and walk to the door. No answer. I decide I will try one more time. 5 wraps - for the third and final time - MUCH harder. I hear movement. Okay, this is happening. How should I stand. Arms across my chest seems pissy. Hands in my pockets? Hands folded in front of me? I want to be non-confrontational. I go with hands in back pockets. I don't know why. It felt comfortable. I hear the deadbolt unlock and the chain is being pulled through. Here goes, the door opens and what I see shocks me into a stutter.

A short, blonde lady approximately 60 or so years old answers the door and looks at me as if to say "yes, what do you want?" I finally gather myself (no WAY this lady is partying at 4AM) and ask if Giles is home. She says yes and asks who I am to which I reply "I'm a neighbor." She invites me in. Oh crap, this was not part of the plan! I agree and tell her I will just wait in the foyer. She calls back to Giles who tells her to send the neighbor back. Okay, surely he won't murder me with this woman here, right? I go back and Giles is stting down unwrapping cigars out of plastic wrapping and putting them into a cigar box. He doesn't get up and barely looks up as I begin my dissertation. Giles has short, dark hair swept over to the side and appears a bit tired. Our exhange goes something like this:

Desiree: Hi Giles, my name is Desiree and my husband and I recently moved into the building. At least 3 times now we have been woken up at approximately 4 in the morning by excessive noise  coming from this apartment.

At this point, Giles gets out of his chair - I guess getting ancy that I'm calling him out? As he gets up, I notice a limp, a metal brace on one of his legs, and his arm is somewhat limp.

Giles: Oh, we had an outrageous party last night.
D: Yes, I know. I heard it all night.
G: Oh, well, that's just a once in a blue moon type of thing.
D: No, actually it's not. This is the third time this has happened and we've only been here for 5 weeks.
G: No, that is not true. I haven't even been home that much. Last night was the first party I've had in ages.

Not wanting to argue, I get to the point.
D: Okay, well, I hope it is not a problem ever again in the future, but if it is, how would you like me to let you know that your party is keeping us awake? Twice I have come down and knocked on the door and someone who was obviously not you answered. When I asked for the music to be turned down, it wasn't. So what would you like me to do if the noise gets too loud again?
G: Where is your bedroom?

I must point out what an incredibly STUPID quesiton this is. Our apartment is directly above ours. All of the apartments in the building are fairly standard and EXACTLY the same if they are in the same part of th ebuilding (i.e., one on top of the other). I look at him - displaying just how stupid I thought his question was.

G: is your bedroom above where we are standing right now? We were in his kitchen.
D: no, Giles. our apartment is the same as yours. It is directly above yours.
G: Well, if your bedroom is back there, you aren't hearing my music. I NEVER play music in the bedroom.

At this point, this man's stupidity is beginning to irritate me - and it begins to show. Keep in mind, I had very little sleep.

D: Giles, do you not think that sound can travel through walls and doors? Do you not think that if you play music in your kitchen, the sound will travel to your bedroom if it is loud enough?

Lady: my name is Elaine and I am Giles' mother. Giles has a disability and I come up quite often to help him around the apartment. Maybe one evening you and Giles can do a sound test to see what volume is too loud because sometimes it's not about the volume, it's just the bass.
D: yes, sure (all smiles) that might be a good idea.

What I really wanted to say was: Well, thank you dear Elaine. What a great idea, except that i don't care what volume is too loud or what bass level to thumping because THERE SHOULD NOT BE ANY MUSIC PLAYING EVER AT FOUR IN THE MORNING!

Elaine: You see, Giles doesn't work so a party on Thursday night is not a big deal to him.
G: THAT'S NOT TRUE! I work.
E: Well, he doesn't work on Fridays .
G: Yes, I work for the government and don't have to work on Fridays. I am not here a lot and that is why I know that the noise you heard three times wasn't me. It was me last night, but it must have been the people next door.

WHAT??????? What government shuts down on Fridays? I would like a job with that government. (it was brought to my attention by a friend later that perhaps what he meant by "I work for the government" is that he was accepting unemployment checks from the government. Clever. I don't know what his story is and I have no desire or intent to really find out).

D: Well, my husband and I both work on Fridays and need to be up early every morning. Playing loud music between the hours of 4 AM and 6 AM is not acceptable. So, what would you like me to do when your music and the people in your apartment are so loud at that hour? As I mentioned, this is the third time this has happened.
G: No, I did not have any other parties.
D: Okay, please just let me know what you would like me to do to let you know that your party is too loud. Obviously knocking on your door is not helping.

At this point, I believe Giles is getting a bit nervous because his mom is there. As he glances between the two of us, he says "hold on."

Giles goes into another room, Elaine and I exchange insincere smiles, and Giles and emerges with a silver case and hands me a business card. NOW we are getting somewhere.

G: here, take this. If it gets too loud, my phone number is on there and you can call that.
D: Great, thank you. I hope to never have to call you, but I appreciate you giving me this.
G: Well, if you call because it's noisy and I'm not here, I'll have you call the cops!

Apparently this was an attempt at humor. I showed a fake smile.
D: Thank you very much for this card. I honestly hope I'll never have to call you.
G: sure.

As I begin to make my way towards the door, Elaine says "aren't you going to walk her out?"

WHAT?!?!?! NO! I don't want him to walk me out.  it's literally about 20 steps to the door. I don't need help, thank you.

As we walk toward the door, Giles behind me, he says (again) I'm not here that often and I don't keep a car here so if you ever need an extra parking space, let me know.

WHAT? You and I are not friends, Giles. I am being polite to you, but I would really like to punch you in your face for keeping me and James awake all night.

So that's the end. I went upstairs, I realized I watch too many episodes of Criminal Minds. I could just imagine Elaine and Giles sitting in their apartment plotting how to kill me. The old "mom-obsessed-with-disabled-son-so-doesn't-mind-giving-him-everything-he-wants-including-feeding-his-killing-desires" storyline??? I laughed at myself (and hope it's not the case......just stop watching scary psychological thrillers).

We have had no episodes since, but this whole "love thy neighbor" thing is not an easy task.

Scotland - A novel

What an AMAZING adventure! Here are my stories (James may have different versions. If he would like to share, he is free to draft a blog):

The plan
According to our GPS, it was going to take me 5 hours to drive from Alderley Park (where I work) to Dundee, Scotland (where James was staying as he had a meeting in Dundee on Friday morning). I was going to work from the hotel Friday and then we were going to drive down to St. Andrews for golf on Saturday and Sunday.  The Old Course at St. Andrews was closed Friday and Saturday for a local tournament. It is closed every Sunday so "locals can enjoy walking the famous links." This is, undoubtedly, the worst use of a world-renowned, beautiful golf course I have ever heard of. Seriously? You are closing an entire golf course so people can walk around? Goodness me. I digress. We pre-booked a tee time for Sunday on The Jubilee Course, but we could only walk-on on The New Course on Saturday so we were playing that by ear.

The drive
On Thursday afternoon, I took off shortly after 4PM to head to Dundee. It took, what seemed like forever, getting through Manchester. Lots of traffic. I eventually hit the highway. It gets dark around 4:45 so I knew most of the drive would be in the dark. It took about 2 hours to get to Scotland and I had another - at least - 2.5 hours to go. So far, the weather is perfect. A few notes about driving in the UK:

• There are no lights on the highway (or very few and only in certain sections). To rectify this problem, people often drive with their high beams on. This is bad on a number of levels. If the car on your side of the highway has their high beams on and you pass that person, the high beams blind you in your rear view. Then there's the obvious problem with the people in the opposing lane.
• The drivers are VERY picky about passing lanes. Picture this, I'm in the middle lane (keep in mind, the FAST lane is the RIGHT lane of the highway). A car pulls up behind me in the LEFT (slow) lane and is going faster than I. There is no one else around us and said driver opts to pull behind me, then over into the right lane, then back in front of me, and then back into the left lane. I thought this was just a one-off oddity until it happened 4 times in the span of a couple of hours. There was very little time when I wasn't around other cars.
• The radio stations are all the same - effectively. So there are abou15 stations along the ride from which to choose and each station has the same announcer/song playing on 3 or 4 stations. So everytime I hit "scan" I had to listen to the same song 3 or 4 times before finally getting to a new song/station.

And about our lovely car. The new car - a Peugeot something-or-other - is a POS (not to be confused with Jeff Argus' company). James hates that it doesn't have cruise control (not a problem for a driver like me, but definitely a problem for him). It is an automatic, but it changes gears like a manual. It actually stops accelerating and then shifts. It's also a hatchback, which means it's big and means it still sucks to park in our tiny little parking space. Anyhoo, a few notes about the windshield wipers (which are a critical piece of equipment when you are driving in the rain):

• The windshield wipers clear the passenger side first (not convenient).
• The windshield wipers, as they return to their starting position, flick water from the passenger blade directly into my line of sight on the drivers side (not convenient).
• The windshield wipers have 3 speeds: intermittent, slow, and slower (REALLY not convenient when you are drivng in rainy Scotland).

Then the wather changed and it sucked. (Mom, dad, and James, please stop reading here). I'm fairly certain I should have died a few times. The big trucks kicking up the water, trying to pass them with very little visibility, and I don't drive slow. I divulge my speed, but I'll say I made a 5 hour drive, with 16 minutes of traffic (based on the GPS) in 4 hours and 30 minutes. I arrived safe and sound (except for my random knee injury). The hotel in Dundee was awesome. It overlooked a lake/river/some body of water with a huge bridge. The moon looked awesome, it was beautiful.

Exploring St. Andrews
We traveled to St. Andrews Friday afternoon. I had a bunch of calls for work until after 4 so we took off exploring St. Andrews after that. It was SO COLD and the wind was blowing quite strong. We stopped first by The University of St. Andrews. Lovely campus. Stumbled upon St. Andrews Castle and eventually to St. Andrews Cathedral. We didn't go in any because they were closed by the time we got there (plus I'm planning on taking my parents there at which time we'll explore in more detail). Took loads of pictures and eventually found our way to a non-touristy, non-taken-over-by-college-kids bar called the Whey Pat Tavern. It was AWESOME. Great local beers, reasonably priced, and loads of really friendly folks. We ended up staying much longer than anticipated on account of meeting an overly friendly gentlemen (and we weren't in a rush anyway).  Had an okay meal at a local restaurant and headed for bed early on account of golf the next time.

We tried as many Scottish beers as we could and we loved quite a few of them. I think my favorites were actually St. Andrews Ale (could have been the picture on the bottle that sold me, but honestly, the beer was really good) and Fraoch. The pubs are pretty cool.

It is such a great little city with so much history and charm. The buildings are beautiful and it is so quaint. And all the people are so nice (I now know where I get it.....my grandfather was born in Scotland so that's must be why I'm so nice :-) HAHAHA!!). Anyway, can't wait to go back!

The golf
Golfing in St. Andrews is everything it's cracked up to be........if you're into that kind of thing. James is not a windy-weather golfer. I love golf, but don't like playing poorly (which I did). Saturday we got off on the New Course at about 10:20 or so. It is a great little track, but - for my taste - didn't leave a huge impression. There were not a lot of holes that I though "wow, that was a great hole." It was windy - they indicated 15 MPH and it was cold (about 28 degrees), but it was SUNNY and there wasn't a drop of rain the entire day! The back 9 was much warmer than the front. James kicked my BUTT. It was quite humorous because on several holes, we couldn't have been farther apart. He was hooking the hell out of the ball and I was slicing the hell out of the ball. The Old Course, the New Course, and the Jubilee Course all run parallel to each other at certain points. When we were playing the New Course (it's in the middle of the Old Course and the Jubilee Course), there were several holes where James was left on the Old Course, and I was right on the Jubilee Course. It was funny after a while (and then not funny when I couldn't figure out what I was doing). 

Uber frustrating were these stupid little mats we had to hit off of in the fairway. Admittedly, James and I (with our hooking and slicing) didn't need the fairway mats all that often, but when we did, it was very difficult and I actually broke my mat once (managed to put it back together). That part sucked, but, like I said, we weren't in the fairway all that much anyway :-)

We had a great day and enjoyed really awesome beverages afterwards. Local brews - really good stuff.

We played The Jubilee Course on Sunday. It was MUCH warmer - 45 degrees - but there was 35 MPH winds so it felt like 36. And when I say there were 35MPH winds, I don't mean "gusts up to" or "at a max." I mean there were CONSISTENT 35 mph winds.  I liked the Jubilee Course much better (coincidentally, I fould my swing so that helped a lot). The holes were a lot more memorable, the fairways had more character, and there was a lot more trouble.  It really is a completely different game to what we play back home.

The pictures will tell a lot more about our golfing experience, but a few notes:

• There were SEVERAL - not just 1 or 2 - SEVERAL holes where James' tee box was IN FRONT of mine AND par was the same. My favorite example is #11 on The Jubilee Course. It was a 500+ yard par five, DIRECTLY into the (35MPH) wind. James' tee box is FORTY YARDS (at least) in front of my tee box...........and it's a par 5 for him as well. WHAT?!?!?!
• The courses were both relatively flat. My knee was okay walking on these courses. Had we been in Ireland playing the courses we played last summer, I would not have been able to play (I can walk, but can't do steps or hills or running).
• Greens in Scotland were in much better shape - even in the dead of winter - than the greens in Ireland - which we played in the dead of summer (and it was a similar temperature, wetter, and about the same wind speed). Hmmm. 
• Scottish golf and Irish golf are completely different (granted I've only played 2 courses in Scotland and they were both at St. Andrews).

Pictures available: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151430458029653.515163.755859652&type=1&l=6e621b9b8d

First Beer Festival

So, we went to our first beer festival in Manchester. The walk to Alderley Edge train station is approximately 4 minutes (we stopped at the AWESOME bakery on the way and picked up a few treats). Train to Picadilly Station (in Manchester) is about 30 minutes. It was about a 1.5 mile walk to the beer festival from the train station. It was a GORGEOUS day and the walk was lovely. We arrived at approximately 1:30 and it took a good 10 minutes for us to figure what the heck was going on. Huge room. People everywhere. Beer taps everywhere. Fortunately, we bought a guide book, but that didn't prove useful just yet either. We bought our glasses (2 pounds 50 pence for each) and eventually cozied up to bar #4 (not really sure why) and picked a beer in order to give us time to figure out how this day was going to work.

It was pretty awesome. By about 4:30, we thought "we'll have a couple more and then go." And then we ran into a fellow American. Really nice guy who is teaching down in Wales. He came up by himself and was staying at a nearby hostel in Manchester so we hung out with him for a while. That led to us running into people that work at AstraZeneca and we didn't leave until about 8:30.

When we first got there, we started making notations about each of the beers we tried until we met a bunch of people and it got too difficult. The notations in the book indicate we tried 20 different beers. Some were really good, others, not so much. We were only drinking 1/3 pints so it's not as bad as it initially sounds.

So, as we decide to leave, we walk outside for our 1.5 mile walk back to the train station and it's drizzling. About 1/10 of a mile in, it starts raining harder. And it's cold. We are less than 1/2 mile from the train station and I pull out the train schedule. I see that there is a train in FIVE MINUTES. James asks if I'm sure. Annoyed, I tell him he can look at the schedule and give (throw) it at him. He says he trusts me so WE START RUNNING. It's pouring rain. We get to the train station and are frantically looking at the board to find our train track. What? The train isn't for 40 minutes???? I scramble to get the train schedule from my bag, open the schedule and YES, there is supposed to be a train right now................on Sunday. And today is Saturday. Son of a.......... Sorry James :-(

Pictures are on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151384261869653.512858.755859652&type=1&l=7b074e500f

Post on Scotland coming up soon.

The Facts of Life....

When I was little, I used to watch the TV show "The Facts of Life." I can't remember all the words to the song, but I remember "you take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have the facts of life." I suppose it is not a surprise my favorite character was Jo. Anyway, when I think of our neighbors, I think of that song. Here's why.....

#1
You take the good:
We are going to St. Andrews (YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) from February 1-3.

You take the bad:
The Old Course is closed Feb 1 and 2 for a local tournament and is closed every Sunday (Feb 3) because it is basically a public park on Sundays (WHAT THE????).

#2
You take the good:
James and I were sitting home one late afternoon. We had a busy Sunday morning (gym, Tesco). We got home, unpacked all the groceries, and were watching TV (American TV, thank you, slingbox) and there was a knock on the door. For the most part, we haven't seen very many neighbors (I can count 3 and one was a couple) so the fact that someone was knocking on our door was odd. Anyway, I get to the door and there is a lovely couple standing outside. They very kindly let me know that we left our house keys in the door. I thought that was really nice and they seemed great, but in my stupor, I forgot to introduce myself. Hopefully we'll meet up again - except not leaving my keys in the door.

You take the bad:
It was a Saturday night and we were fast asleep. I can't tell if I'm dreaming or what, but I am eased out of my sleep by heavy bass. Is it my heart? my head? Nope. It's music. What they heck. Turn over to look at my phone - 4:40AM. WHAT THE HELL is someone doing blaring music at this hour? I lie in bed for a while and it doesn't stop. All different songs. I get up and - staying in the apartment, of course - and try to decipher where the music is coming from. I couldn't possibly go outside of the apartment (still in the building though) to investigate. There could be an axe murdere out there! I am clueless. I lie in bed. The music stops at 6:20AM. Cool. I can get another hour and a half of sleep before I know my eyes will shoot open because it's gym time.

Then it's Thursday night. I am once again "eased" out of my sleep to the thumping of a bass. They are getting an early start - it's only 12:30AM. Lying in bed, I resolve that I will not let this a**hole ruin another night's sleep, particularly since I have to work the next morning. I put on some extra clothes and walk around the apartment again trying to discern where the noise is coming form. I can't figure it out so I go to the hallway on our floor. Still can't figure it out. 2nd floor, can't tell. 1st floor, dark and not a lot of noise (of course I didn't go into the actual hallways of those floors). CRAP!

Back in the apartment, I go out the back on the deck (I use the word "deck" very loosely). It seems as if the music is coming from down the block. That doesn't make sense. There's lights on in the building next store. Maybe that apartment? Still seems too far away. I bend over the railing and see the apartment directly beneath ours has the lights on and I KNOW the music is coming from there.

I stomp back down the stairs (closing doors very quietly so as not to wake James who can sleep through a train wreck) and to the 2nd floor. The hallway wreaks of smoke. Find the apartment and knock on the door. No answer. I BANG on the door with my fist. Still no answer. I KICK the door. Still no answer. I fiddle with the security key-code pad thingy, I don't guess the code correctly. I pound on the door longer and harder than before. I hear movement. Uh-oh. This is happening. I hear the chain lock being removed, the dead bolt being unlatched, and the door opens. The guy is tall - maybe 6'4", bloodshot eyes, scruffy beard and scruffy head - not quite bald. And then he punched me in the face. JUST KIDDING. In as nice and calm a voice I could must I simply stated - with no emotion - "please turn the music down." He very politely and calmly says "oh, sure." I can't tell if he's drunk, high, or was just sleeping, but the music is turned down. I get back in bed and I sleep. I awake very pleased with myself.

We haven't had a music incident since, but I don't anticipate this being the last issue we have had with this lovely man. On a side note, James and I were taking a walk and he was standing outside a restaurant smoking. I quickly turned my head away because I didn't want him to notice us. Hee hee.

This post is getting too long. Anyway, I'll have more stories soon.

We are doing well and planning lots of stuff. I'll update you all soon (especially for those that aren't on facebook, Jim Marsh).

On a side note, I still watch The Bachelor (I'm a hopeless romantic) and I don't know how people with common names deal with hearing their name on TV all the time. There is a girl called Desiree (she is not stripper) and every time I hear her name, it bothers me. That's MY NAME, damn it! Anyway, I guess I'll get used to it. She seems like a pretty cool girl and by her name alone I have to root for her to win the man's heart.

Okey dokey - good night folks. For those of you that watch the super bowl, quick plug for my nephew. He will be "starring" in a super bowl commercial during the 2nd quarter. It's a Calvin Klein commercial and most likely he'll be in his underwear (lucky me, ugh). Anyway, this is what he looks like - in his underwear. Keep an eye out!

Laters peeps!

Quick update

I haven't written in a while because it seems there is very little going on (outside of work which is very busy, but quite boring), but as I sit to type, I realize I have a lot to say. James is traveling a TON. Just this week, he left Sunday for Scotland (driving to Edinburgh which takes about 4 hours or so). Drove home Tuesday night and then left Wednesday night for London and will return Thursday night. Last week he was gone for most of the week as well. He's WAY behind on the DVR to say the least :-)

My days are pretty much routine - wake up, gym, work (LONG days), home, dinner, DVR, bed. Repeat. We laid low last weekend mostly because James was leaving on Sunday. Saturday morning we woke up and James' iPad didn't work. Completely dead - wouldn't turn on or anything. We went to De Trafford Center - near Costco and about 25 minutes away - HUGE mall with tons of stores. We thought he could get a replacement for 199 pounds (multiply that by 1.6 to get US $), but turns out the way they are manufactured in the US is different and they couldn't replace it. SO, he ended up getting the iPad mini. It was the cheapest option available. That wasted most of our Saturday (we HAD to go to Costco. I mean, we were there already). When James left on Sunday, I took a walk through the village and snapped some photos - just in case anyone wants an intricate look at every store we have. They are on facebook. I can't figure out how to link anymore with Facebook's new look.

This weekend we are supposed to go to the Wilmslow Market. Wilmslow is the town right next to us, just over a mile away. The forecast is calling for "heavy snow" which, over here, I'm fairly certain means about an inch or two. It's going to stay cold for a while. Weather dependent, we may or may not make it to the Market.

Next weekend there is a beer festival in Manchester. We will take the train to Manchester (just under 12 pounds) and home. That should be fun (and probably expensive, as most things are here). The weekend after we are heading to Scotland. We started looking at hotels tonight. James will be in Dundee which is close to St. Andrews. I think I will drive up on Friday and we'll spend the weekend in St. Andrews (we may be able to play the Old Course for 75 pounds......not sure the first weekend in February is the best time to golf in Scotland, but we might give it a go). If we don't get around to golf, there are other things to see like The British Golf Museum, St. Andrew's Cathedral, St. Andrew's Castle, St. Andrew's Aquarium, and the St. Andrew's Botanic Garden. I'm really looking forward to it, even if it is cold :-)

That's what we have planned for the next few weekends. I'll be sure to take loads of pictures and keep everyone updated.....with more detail than any of you probably want :-)

Oh - here are some photos depicting the difficult of parking on a twice daily basis (Stress is one of my first emotions every day on account of this parking space alone).

 


Talk soon!

Beyond day 1

Things are getting better. The gym is really nice and we were able to join without any problems and it is only a couple miles from our flat and 1 mile from my office.  We've gotten a lot done, including getting our internet service bumped up from January 29 to January 7. We are hoping and praying this goes off without any additional problems.

The slingbox (which allows us to watch our TV at my parents house via our computer over here) was a ROYAL PITA. My poor parents had to call Comcast about a hundred times and had to have them come to the house. But - it is working now. We can watch everything here that we watch back home. A HUGE THANK YOU to mom and dad!!!

What I neglected to mention in my last post is that whilst we were at Costco, we noticed some things that were much different: 1) there are hot dogs in the normal food aisle - meaning, not refrigerated, 2) milk - also in the room temperature aisle - meaning, not refrigerated, and 3) EGGS in the normal food aisle. WHAT ON EARTH? We managed to find both eggs and milk that were cold. We'll stick to the cold stuff.


James had his first set of meetings down in London on January 3 and 4. Like a mom with her kids leaving for the first day of kindergarten, I made him let me take his picture (below). Admittedly, he looks really good in that gray suit!

My first 3 days at work went well. It's quiet and an open space plan which does not bode well for my loud-talking self. Here's a picture of my desk (right). I really miss my office :-(

Speaking of things I miss:
1 - normal, soft, toilet paper. At work, the toilet paper dispenser dispenses ONE SQUARE at a time! It's like a tissue box of toilet paper. Who on earth only needs one square of toilet paper???? And it makes a lovely WHOOSH sound when you pull the toilet paper out so everyone knows just exactly how many squares you need in the bathroom. And it's not that soft. In addition, the toilets have hardly any water in them and rarely flush well.
2 - parking spaces that have more than 10 inches on either side of the car. Seriously, the parking spaces are beyond small. Not to mention, the parking garages have barely enough room to get in and out of the garage (see previous post).
3 - wide lane roads. The roads here are just not big enough.
4 - my blackberry. It randomly stopped working. A new one is on the way, but I do not like not having that work.
5 - Reduced fat Jif peanut butter. Actually, reduced fat just about anything. We were able to find one bag of reduced fat potato chips, but haven't had much success finding other stuff.
6 - Grape jelly. Grape jelly is not available in England (or at least not in any of the 5 stores we've gone to).

James misses good lunches. We are doing fine with dinners, but he isn't a cold sandwich guy and that's what is served and available when he's at universities or work meetings.

I'm getting used to driving on the wrong side of the road. It's an adjustment - a big one - but it's starting to become a little more natural. Every time I've ever had to drive sitting on the right side of the car, I have always had a manual. I think I've reached for the clutch a good 6 or 7 times forgetting that we have an automatic. And I've opened the left side door at least once to get in and drive. It's getting better though.

We ventured into Manchester on Saturday. We had no plan whatsoever and just decided to walk around. First, I found my favorite store in which I will never shop. It is called "Americandy" and for an obscene amount of money, you can get all your American Candy favorites. Lucky Charms is 7 pounds per box (that's about $11 USD). Total rip off, but it was so fun to see all the American candy I probably won't eat for a year.

A friend told us about a bar called Cloud 23 and we found that it is part of the Hilton in Manchester. It is on the 23rd floor with panoramic views of the city. It was a gorgeous day - sunny, about 50 degrees, no rain, barely any wind (totally atypical of every day leading up to this) - so we ventured up there just to look around. Very pretty, but we felt pressured to buy something so we jetted in a matter of minutes. As we were leaving, there was a guy who appeared to be paprazzi outside the hotel. We walked out and were figuring out where to go next when his shutter started going off. We, of course, had no idea who he was taking pictures of, but there was a big bus there so we figured it was a large group. James suggested it might be our new football team - Manchester City.

We decided to walk to the Man City stadium and as we walked up to the front of the stadium, sure enough, the same bus we saw at the hotel was parked out front and the players were walking out one by one. There was a large crowd out front and as each player walked off the bus, the crowd would cheer. We couldn't get close enough to get any pictures (and I'm guessing most of you wouldn't care about the players anyway), but it was pretty cool.

We ventured back to the city center and we were taken aback by the number of signs and changes that restaurants made on account of a football (soccer) game going on at home. Here are a few pictures. The last one is showing plastic cups. They will not serve drinks in glass pints during football games. Craziness.

   

Sadly, James leaves tomorrow (Monday) morning for trips to Belfast, Dublin, London, and Reading before returning home Thursday night. It's going to be a bit of a lonely week, probably for both of us. I will use this time to catch up on TV shows I missed when slingbox wasn't working for a week :-) We have definitely started to settle in and it is starting to feel like home. Here's a picture and a video with a brief shot of our town and view to our apartment. http://youtu.be/01aORvtwriQ

If anyone would like to skype with us, you can look me up by my email address (I think) or my skype name is dhheadley. To find James, try jamesrheadley. We still have spotty internet connection, but if we can talk, we will. It is so great to see friends and family. And, the door is always open if you ever want to come and visit.

Until next time........

Day 1 - it could have gone better

I’m pretty sure I could write a book on day 1 alone. I will try to keep it to the pertinent, high-level details and I do recognize the people that would actually want to read even this level of detail is limited.  Read if you want. Don't if you don't want.

Let’s start on December 27 – our departure day:

• Call DE Express to let them know that we have ELEVEN bags. They confirm it will be an additional $10. DE Express shows up IN A TOWN CAR. DE Express must call another town car to drive us because all our luggage takes up all the space in the first town car. 
•  Arrive at airport, pay $600 for extra baggage fees
• Enjoy two free “premium” beverages in US Air lounge.
• Flight takes off and we enjoy some additional beverages. A quick goodbye video: http://youtu.be/2vxaWa-8XuA

December 28:

• Flight arrives early. No gate. Wait 20 minutes for gate.
• Wait over an hour in line for immigration.
• Collect bags and put on 2 trolleys
• Here’s where the proverbial poo hits the fan:
• Walk around for 45 minutes lugging all our luggage on two trolleys trying to find a place for me to wait whilst (new UK word) James goes to get the rental car. 
• Find place in cold, wet outdoors. 
• Turns out I made an error when booking the rental car and it won’t be ready until 11:30. That’s  an hour away.
• We decide I should take a cab to the apartment whilst James waits for car. BUT, I don’t have keys to apartment.
• Call real estate agent. They cannot give me keys without ID for both of us. James has my passport and his passport at rental car agency.
• I call cab – request large van for eleven bags. Man tells me cab (van) will be there in 2 minutes.
• 15 minutes later – no cab. Call company back. Cab shows in 30 seconds.
• Request cabbie to take me to rental car company to get our passport. James calls says realtor called him and they don’t need our ID. I can just pick up keys. YAY!
• Request cabbie to take me to real estate agent so I can pick up keys. This goes fine.
• Get to apartment. Cannot get into front door. Cabbie helps me. I am happy he turned out to be such a nice guy.
• Tour of apartment can be seen here: http://youtu.be/3hTX2FhiRww
• Unload ELEVEN bags (with cabbie’s help) into lobby.
• Walk about 15 yards to elevator. Load all 11 bags in elevator and take up to third floor apartment.
• Back and hands hurt from lugging luggage from elevator to apartment.
• Apartment is nice.
• Back at the rental car company.......... Car is not ready at 11:30. Realtor is calling James because deposit was rejected by credit  card company
• Credit card company emails me to tell me they suspect fraudulent activity on my card.
• James calls saying realtor has tried calling him 3 times.
• I call credit card company and tell them it’s not fraud. Takes 10 minutes!
• I call realtor, tell them to run again.
• I continue trying to unpack all eleven bags
• Call to try and get phone/cable/internet. One hour later, they think they can get someone out January 4!!! WOO-HOO. Much better than January 28! BUT – must first confirm no penalty for canceling with other company. Woman tells me she will call me back at 2PM (it was 1 PM).
• James FINALLY gets car squared away and arrives at apartment (NOT HAPPY).
• We must set up bank account. Go to nearest Barclays. They cannot do it. We must go 8 minutes down the road to Wilmslow.
• Make shopping list because we are going to go to Costco after bank and cell phone (Vodafone) store.
• Open freezer to check storage – entire freezer covered in ice.  Open freezer door to let melt and put towels and bucket underneath for any water that drips.
• Drive to Wilmslow for 2:15 appointment to set up bank account. Woman who was supposed to call me to get us set up for phone/internet/cable never calls back.  I call her back, but can’t talk to her so have to go through the whole process again – and 45 minutes later they tell me that they can get someone out on January 29. I want to kill the woman I spoke with earlier.
• We leave with bank account AT FOUR PM!!!!!! One hour and 45 minutes later, we have a bank account.
• Go to Vodafone (right across street from Barclays) to set up mobile (cell) phone plan. We cannot set up cell phone plan until we have lived here for 3 months. Uh, come again?!?!? We have to do pay as you go plan. Lovely. And a royal PITA!
• Drive to (and get a bit lost on the way to) Costco (YAY, Costco)
• Get a TON of stuff at Costco. US Costco card requires manager override.
• Costco does not accept American debit card and it just so happens we don’t have 540 pounds in cash with us.
• James tries to withdraw money, but cannot withdraw enough for the bill. Desiree must also withdraw money. We must pay in cash and the people waiting behind us were totally un-American (they were very friendly and didn’t mind the 10 minutes it took us to check out)
• Drive home.
• Kitchen floor is covered in water – apparently it missed most of the bucket. Spend next 30 minutes hacking away at the ice and trying not to fall on the very slippery kitchen floor. Eventually, use newly purchased hair dryer from Costco to melt ice that hasn't yet melted and covered our floor.
• Test dryer (combo washer/dryer) because I want to dry all the towels that we used to soak up the wet kitchen floor. Cannot figure out how to use teeny-tiny washer/dryer. Try various options. I’m going to need to find an owner’s manual.
• We decide on frozen pizza for dinner. Oven works VERY fast and pizza is quite crispy.  Beer was warm when purchased at Costco and freezer/fridge is unplugged so not helping. Wait 30 minutes and finally have a cold beer.
• Finish unpacking, plan Day 2.
• Gym
• Grocery store (we couldn’t get everything at Costco)
• Buy printer
• Library
• Call to try and get internet access

What a day. I can tell you, we are handling it like champs. A few pictures can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151330876859653.506441.755859652&type=1&l=5341f74a1f. As I was at the apartment dealing with the credit card company about the fraud, the real estate agent, the phone/internet/cable people, and trying to unpack, I realized how much I love James. I just wanted him to come home to me and hug me and know that we could handle this together. We have been given an amazing opportunity so even though DAY 1 could have gone better, it is a day I will never forget for as long as I live (or until I get Alzheimer’s). It is 11:11 PM GMT (6:11 EST) as I write this. James is asleep beside me and as I look forward to DAY 2, I am amazed that with only about 3 hours sleep on the plane last night, I am actually awake and typing!

As you know, I may not have internet access until January 29^th so I’m not sure when I’ll actually be able to post this, but I’m sure I’ll have more stories. Until then…………

P.S. for those of you who have asked, our address is

15 Wolverton House

George Street

Alderley Edge

Cheshire

SK9 7EB