So... Pissed... Off...

So there I am... 4:25 pm on Monday afternoon. I emailed my rental agent in the morning and asked about the lease paperwork and such. He said he was setting up a meeting with the landlord to meet and sign papers for later this afternoon. Super, I'm excited about my new flat.

Then about 6 hours later, no reply, so I emailed again. And got this:

Hi Bob,
I have just spoken to the landlord, he has informed me that the
property is still being decorated and will be complete and ready to move in
2/07. Not the best news, I know, he has asked me to extend his apologies to you
and assures me that the property will be ready on that date. He still wants to
meet with you this week.

Really? A week later than he's been telling me for the past month? On the day I'm supposed to move in?? That sounds fantastic!

(btw: 2/07 is July 2nd for all non-European readers... aka all of you)

More to follow on this horrible horrible drama soon (especially if I'm sleeping in my office tonight).

Pictures in Hyde Park

So, I bought a new camera. I've always had an interest in more serious photography, so this seemed like the perfect opportunity to give it a shot. Laura has the point and shoot (and is hopefully taking lots and lots of pictures). So I splurged and bought myself a Canon XT Digital Rebel.

I had thought about going all out with some crazy Nikon D200 or something, but then realized that I always do that, and then burn out on whatever crazy new thing I just bought. So this time I went on the low-end of DSLRs to see how it goes.

So I gave myself the assignment to go out and take pictures at Hyde Park (after some encouragement to get out of the office and hotel room).

It was raining a little bit, so for part of the time I was taking pictures with my camera hidden under an umbrella.

Here are a few of my favorites.

Here's a cool reflection at one of the entrances to the park.













I didn't walk around too much, so I ended up taking about 30 pictures of this statue. It was hard to get one that wasn't washed out by the flash or non-blurry without the flash.













And, this was the closest duck I could find and get a decent shot of.












There was a big pile of lawn chairs that you can sit in during the day (for $2 fee). I became a little infatuated with them.

It's like I never left

So, I'm back in London now. Same hotel. Same hotel room. Except this time there's the fact that I'm not leaving in 3 weeks.

So, the flight here was actually pretty nice. I was conspicuously sitting tall in my seat while we were waiting to leave the gate and one of the flight attendants came by and asked if I'd like to sit in the emergency exit row. Jackpot!

When I landed, I knew it would be an interesting experience with my luggage. I brought Laura's old hiking backpack (stuffed quite literally to the brim), and my bike (boxed up in an enormous box), along with my laptop bag and small backpack. It wasn't that bad to carry(to a point), I just looked like a pack mule.

The last time I came through Heathrow, I took the Heathrow Express Train from the airport to Paddington station and then transferred to the Underground to get to my airport. This time I thought I'd be smart and get on the Underground directly and not have to change trains in order to hop off at my hotel stop.

It was a great plan, and I successfully carried/pushed my huge bike box for about 15 minutes to get to the station. Then they informed me that the Piccadilly line was closed for engineering works. Awesome. I then hauled my stuff back the way I came for another 5-10 minutes to get the Heathrow Express (which was free because of the track work). Then I gave up and got a taxi because I was exhausted.

My next big step is to get my bike (which is mostly re-assembled) tuned up by a bike shop in the area so I can start practicing how to bike on the left side of the road.

That, and signing my lease so I can stop living out of a hotel room.

Cheers.

Skype Phone Number

So, those of you in the know have already signed up for Skype and chat it up with me daily for free from the comfort of your computer.

However, for those of you not ready to take that plunge, I've made it even easier for you. I got a phone number that you can call in the states and connect with me on my computer.

703.879.8867

If I'm online and you call that number, it will pop up on my screen and we can chat. If I'm not, or I'm busy with that whole work thing, then you can leave me a voicemail.

This way its free for you (does anyone not have free long distance calling at this point?), and free for me (sort of, I had to pay $20 to get the phone number for 3 months, but I think you're worth it).

Don't forget about that 5 hour difference, so please only call me to discuss your hangover the next morning, not while you're out on the town (midnight US = 5 am London = I'll kill you).

Just finished packing up with some spectacular assistance, movers come in the morning, so I'd better get some sleep.

Cheers.

Back To London

Well, I finally nailed down a schedule, so I thought I'd share it with everyone.

Wednesday - Packing up all my junk, along with some people who are joining in on the packing party fun (or drinking free beer and watching me pack up everything).

Thursday - Movers come and pick up my stuff at the apartment and drive it to Baltimore to drop off at some big container ship. "18-20 days" later (aka 4 months) it arrives in London and I hire a truck to move it to my new flat.

Saturday - Flying back to London (one-way ticket this time) late in the evening to get ready for my project to start Monday morning.

End of June - Actually move into my flat.

July 7 - Walk to St. James's Park and watch the Tour De France prologue!


On another topic, I've managed to purchase a charger for my cell phone so I can actually answer calls now. Good thing I'll only need it for the next 4 days.

Back to the States

Well, my flight takes off in just under 16 hours now. I can't wait for the upcoming 8 hours in glorious coach luxury. I'll really be able to stretch out in those spacious seats and get comfortable.

Oh well, at least there's free booze.

Plans are still up in the air at this point as to my return. It may be as soon as next week depending on how quickly things progress over here. I'm pushing for at least two weeks back home to take care of everything. If not, expect to be roped in for a mad-dash packing session sometime Tuesday-ish.

In other news, Laura is picking up her first volunteer in Uganda this weekend! I'm sure she'll have an exciting post about it once the electricity comes on... and they install that satellite dish... or more likely, when she goes into town for some sweet, sweet internet time.

My First Visitors

Okay, so they might not really count since they didn't come specifically to see me, but I'll take what I can get.

A few people from work were travelling and had a layover they decided to extend in London. They're only in town for a few days, possibly heading to Paris for part of the time. But in the meantime its nice not to have dinner by myself.

We met up for a little tour around Picadilly Circus and the surrounding area, got some Indian food and then headed back to the hotel.

I'm a very low-key tour guide. Mostly I pick a destination and then decide which direction to start wandering. You can find so many more exciting places that way, and you can avoid tourist traps that might otherwise snare you when sightseeing.

Its also difficult to actually motivate myself to do all of the tourist stuff without other people here. How much fun would visiting Westminster Abbey or the London Eye be if you can't share it with somebody else?

In the meantime I'm staying busy with work, and getting excited to be back in the States for a couple of weeks. There's still a lot to do on both ends (tax advice, moving, packing, signing my lease, etc).