Originally emailed to family and friends on November 17, 2004. I had been in the UK for just over a month. I will put new comments in [brackets] to fill in some gaps. Enjoy this flashback! I'm sorry, but this time I couldn't find any new photos! :-( Boooooo!! I'll make it up to you, though...I promise.
Also, you can find Flashback #1 here, and Flashback #2 here, and Flashback #3 here, and Flashback #4 here.
Hi everyone, and welcome back! :)
Alley did a great job last week, don't you think? She is here with me now telling me what to do (If you've got a cat, you know what I'm talking about!) :)
So this week, whew, has it been a week already? As the saying goes...time flies when there are boxes to unpack! My arms finally quit hurting on Saturday! Sheesh! I had to keep telling myself that I was simply strengthening my shopping muscles, strengthening my shopping muscles, strengthening... this week we didn't go [to Keep Fit at the Village Hall] because Dave is sick (darn!). He caught a cold and, as luck would have it, it was just better for us to stay home last night than to go to "calisthenics." It's important to take care of our health, now, isn't it! :) hee hee! We'll go back in a couple of weeks for another round of physical torture. Oooh, I just had a brilliant idea...I should go shopping a lot between now and then so that my muscles will be well toned!! Yeah! I like that idea!!
So have you worried about our laundry quandary all week? We figured out a few options. We've got the first idea going right now, and I think it might work for the duration. In the basement/cellar there is a vent in the window that has to always remain open because we have a natural gas boiler...so I just put the dryer in front of that vent and used duct tape to rig the vent hose in front of the slats! It's worked well so far. The thing about it that I don't like is that the washer is in the kitchen, and I wanted the dryer to be in the kitchen as well, but now I have to lug the laundry downstairs (oh, poor me!). However, option 2 is to buy a little vent/lint box that you put the end of the vent hose into and the dryer can go in any room. We might try that if I just can't stand the trek downstairs! :-) Plus, that would add a little bit of heat to the kitchen (which would be nice!) In honor of the solution, I wrote this song. (sing to the tune of "Sounds of Silence" by Simon and Garfunkel)
Hello Duct Tape my old friendWhat do you think? Should I submit it to the duct tape people? Another song option I considered was Lionel Richie's "Stuck On You"...
You've come to rescue me again.
Because the staffer was clueless,
My tumble dryer was useless.
There was no outlet to vent the dryer,
but now,
We hear the sounds of drying.
You helped connect the vacuum hose,
What you can't do only heaven knows.
Protected us from screen door slams,
You've gotten us out of many jams,
You'll save us if the leg falls off the chair,
and somewhere out there
We hear the sounds of drying.
You come in red, black, yellow and white,
To blend with anything dark or bright.
I even could use silver and blue,
To make Christmas decorations too.
People have even used duct tape on clothes
and somewhere we know
We hear the sounds of drying.
[There was, as always, an Option #3. We put the dryer upstairs in the kitchen, and when I needed to, I would push it over to the door and put the vent hose out the door. Also, I had to put a knee high stocking over the hose to catch the lint so it didn't fly all around. This worked well, although the kitchen got pretty steamy whenever I was drying clothes. I'm glad we're back to normal now!]Are you now in the camp of people that think I just have too much time on my hands and I need to get a job?
I've put my hat in many rings, as jobs go, but no one has called with a job that sounds really good, yet. I got one call about filling in for someone out on maternity leave, but I don't want to take a long-term temporary job for fear that a better permanent job would come and go. [I took that one, and liked it. I was very appreciated, and felt like I did a good job. Then I took a permanent position at another desk after the maternity leave's 6-months were up.] There are some really good looking jobs out there, so I (not so) patiently wait! :) I don't mind, though. I know that you have to put quite a few resumes out to get any hits, so that's what I'm doing. Sadly our printer was damaged in the move, so I'm trying to find a replacement that I like and can afford. The printer is probably 6 years old, anyways, so it's about time, I guess! I'm really glad that most folks want resumes e-mailed to them...then they don't have to know that my printer doesn't work!
I've been doing more driving, going on fun excursions. Now that I've figured out how to drive the Miata on the wrong side of the road, I can start to scan the surroundings a bit more without striking fear into the hearts of oncoming drivers! :) The country-side really is breathtaking. :) Spring is easily my favorite season, but fall has been beautiful here! Its fun to just drive down and see the bright fall colors in the forest. And the leaves are pretty much off the trees, so now we can look out our back door and see down into the valley and across the way. This morning Dave and I were going to school, and the sun was coming up, and it was just a wonderful sight. Big, wide-open, Colorado-type skies...it was nice. Then, around noon, the clouds and the winds came in and ruined a perfectly good day! [I have missed the English autumn. There isn't much autumn here. There's been a whole lot of summer, notsomuch with the autumn.]
But the real excitement has been that Saturday we bought a right-hand drive car for us. It's an older car, therefore it is (a) huge, and (b) inexpensive. :) It's a '95 Saab. It's nothing fancy, but when you come visit, we'll be able to fit you, your luggage, and your driver (i.e., Dave) in the car all at the same time! :) So Sunday Dave drove it to the empty parking lots near the grocery store, we traded places and I practiced getting used to shifting with my left hand, I practiced parking, going in reverse, etc. (Haven't parallel parked, though...that's a scary thought!) Then I went to the grocery store lot and parked near other cars (not next to, mind you, just near...), went through the round-about a few times (okay, I'll be honest, I was too scared to get out of the round-about the first time!) hee hee! Then we filled the gas tank...unbelievable!! UN-believable! We put £49.00 worth of gas in the tank. (That translates to about $90.00!!) Can you believe it!? Ack!! One would think I had a 30 gallon tank...but no, it's only a 13 gallon tank...that's just how shamefully expensive gas is here! Shameful!!! It translates to about $7.00 per gallon. No wonder people ride bikes and trains to work! Yikes!! Thankfully we can go on base and get gas for the low low price of $2.15 per gallon. Oh, I'm so sorry I ever complained about how expensive gas was at home! If only that was something you could send to me in care packages! :) (Probably wouldn't make it past Customs, you think?) So, today was the first day that I drove it by myself without Dave in the car. It was fine...I was a little scared at first. My deepest fear is that I will pass a car parked on my left, and I'll accidentally get too close and sheer the entire left side off my car! I feel like I'm 15 again learning how to drive!! Dave is a pretty good driving instructor, though. He doesn't scream or pull the emergency brake or jump out of the car at the first opportunity or anything! :) It makes you think, though. I could get into just about any size car in the States and be able to drive it, park it, etc. without fear or hesitation. I could somehow sense it's parameters and "bond" with the car (nothing like Mark LeBeau, though...now he's a Master at parallel parking a new car! You're still my idol, Mark!) Here, I feel like I'm scrubbing the edge of the road, when really I'm probably 3 feet from the curb! I'm back to striking fear in the hearts of oncoming drivers again! Ah, well, I got home safely...only stalled out once...Soon I'm off to pick up Dave from school, and it will be my first experience of driving it after dark. But, hey, if I get into an accident with another car, their little Matchbox car will crumble while my tank will stand victorious! (I feel like I'm driving a Hummer!) ;) [It was a good car...until it caught fire and nearly burned our 150 year-old house down! Yup. Sadly, I can't find any pictures. I know I took some after the fire brigade put out the fire, but I just can't find them. Some day I'll have to tell you the story of that crazy, fateful morning and how different fire fighting is in England.][I also did not get into any accidents while we lived there. Neither did Dave. Although we did have to replace the engine in our second car. Hmmm...what is it with us and British car engines? Doesn't matter now, does it?]
I think that's all our excitement for now! It's the same-old-same-old for Dave at school...nothing new there.
Hope all is well with you!
Love,
Dave, Melissa, Alley, Gypsy and Daisy-princess. :)
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What? Mama donn hava pichur of sumpin?
Aaaaahhhhhhh. I donn beleeb it.
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