Week One: Complete

I have now officially made it through my first week at Music Sales. Basically I spend all day updating the various stuff that goes on Musicroom. I'm not used to working in such a structured office...everyone is in at 8:30 on the dot, we work until a tea break at 10:30 for 15 minutes, lunch at 1 for an hour, and then another tea break at 3. Everyone leaves at 5:30 on the button. For some reason, Music Sales Bury is the ONLY Music Sales office in the world (out of about 10) that works a 9 hour day rather than 8. I mentioned it to my boss, and he said, that we all WORK for 8 hours, with an hour for lunch. Someone somewhere has gotten their wires crossed...legally, we're supposed to be at the OFFICE for 8 hours, with a 1-hour break for lunch. Oh well. At least we get free lunch every day.

Yup, you heard me. FREE lunch. There are a few catches: Pat the dinner lady has given the entire company food poisioning on more than one occasion, so there are some risks involved. Also, you have to order one kind of sandwich for the whole week, so by Friday you're bloody sick of tuna/roast beef/ham or whatever it is you've been eating for the last 5 days. You also have to come get your lunch AT 1pm, any later and Pat is not a happy bunny. There's not a whole lot of freedom surrounding the tea breaks, either. There's no mechanism for suddenly deciding you want coffee one morning, rather than tea. And you can't skip tea break, eather. Because then Pat will bring your mug and come and find you and plunk it down on your desk with a pointed look. And woe bedtide you if you don't bring your mug back at the appointed time.

But other than that, it's a free lunch.

Have been looking at a few more houses...we've seen two that were NOT ours and then I saw one yesterday that I completely fell in love with. Which is bad, because we're not QUITE ready to buy. The house is great, though. It meets all the criteria that we have, and it's really bright and airy and in a quiet neighborhood close to town and is quite big for our price range. I'm taking John and Freda and Travis back to see it today. Apparently there's an offer in on it already, but I don't think it was accepted. I'm desperately trying not to get too emotionally attached to it.

This househunting thing is exhausting.

I'm a Data Monkey

Had my first day at Music Sales today. I'm completely knackered...I was a data monkey all day. And starting a new job means that you have all the random stuff from the supply closet, since everyone else has traded up. My chair was not ok...I'll have to raid the office tomorrow to get one with fewer holes in it.

I was walking around the warehouse with Peter (my boss), and have discovered my new favorite Music Sales product:

http://www.musicroom.com/se/ID_No/0155891/details.html

Yup. You got it. SUSPENDERS WITH FRENCH HORNS ON THEM.

Awesome.

Takin' the Long Way Around

I had my last 'official' day at Ickworth today...I'm going to be working in Reception tomorrow afternoon but that doesn't count. Julia organized a cream tea for everyone in the restaurant, which was really sweet. Jenny gave me a mug (which will be alternated with my NY one at MusicSales) that says "World's Greatest Computer Geek." I'm really not...that's John's title...but at Ickworth, I was definitely the one everyone called anytime they had any computer issue. NT is not known for its tech support...

I can't believe that I was at Ickworth for 8 months...it still feels like I'm 'the new volunteer from America,' but at the same time, I felt really settled there. I don't think I could have done it without them- I have such an awesome 'pack' now.

John and I are going to see our first house tomorrow...we'll see what happens. We still need to get a mortgage sorted out (ugh...I feel like a grownup), so nothing's going to happen quickly, but at least we're getting started.

We had a funny experience with the Attack Ducklings in our parking lot last night...the ducks are particularly aggressive, especially if they think you have some food for them. Our neighbors (not the pothead ones) were going out, and the ducklings followed them to the car and were getting in the way of the wheels...they couldn't go anywhere without hitting them. We watched and giggled for a few minutes, and then took some pieces of bread outside to lure the ducklings away. They were great- eating right from our hands. It reminded me of when we lived in Weert, Holland, and would go to the stream and feed the ducks.

I got my passport, visa, and wedding certificate back today from the DVLA (like the DMV). They'd needed the originals of all the documents to send me my Provisional Driving License (which should be arriving shortly). Then I can be like a real Brit and take the insane 45-minute driving test. Drive around the block and parallel park, this is not. I'm SO relieved that my docs are back, though...it was freaky not having any real ID documents or proof that I'm in the country legally. I also wouldn't have been able to get back to the States if anything had happened. Not a fun feeling.

I missed having a MusicSales email address

So, starting this Monday, I'll have one again. :) I've been in the closet about it (for obvious reasons), but I'm definitely out now. I'll be working the Product Information department, dealing mostly with the text and stuff that goes on MusicRoom. It's the job that I was originally hired for last September, which fell through because of work permit/visa issues.

Hooray!

This means 3 things:

1. My full-time Ickworth tenure is rapidly approaching
2. I'm going to have to actually WORK, 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. No more tea brakes from tea brakes.
3. Our house-buying is kicking into gear.

Regarding 1., it's meant that I've finished up a couple of long-term projects, as well as written all the press releases through the end of the year. They're pretty rockin', so make your Pudding Lunch reservations now, people!

About 2., I think I'll manage. I do have to remember to bring my "New York City" mug, purchased at the QD (think dollar store) in Stowmarket for 90p, home with me. And then to Music Sales.

As for 3., I think John is feeling a little panicky about the whole buying-a-house thing. So I'm going to be my usual take-charge self and get on with it. I'll try not to steamroll him. I'm hoping that he'll adopt the "if you can't beat em, join em" strategy. I'm going to look at a few places on Saturday morning...I've been watching Rightmove.com for weeks, so I have a fairly good idea of what's out there.

Our dream place: 3 bed, 1 bath/1 cloakroom, reasonable sized kitchen, medium backyard, a sm. driveway, and not too far from the station. In our price range, it'll be tricky, but it's do-able.

When I was talking to the estate agents this afternoon, lining up the appointments, the agent told me that the place that I'd emotionally bought and moved into went off the market because the woman's not sure she wants to sell it, not because it was sold. So there's still hope...yay!!

One more thing...Lizzie's started a blog...the link is over with the other ones. Also, Emily's letter to the Transvestite on Her Stoop got on the Best of Craigslist. I can only aspire to be so famous. :)

I've been reading

...so I haven't been blogging. I'm still reading Watching the English (and still finding all kinds of things that I'm doing wrong). I read The Handmaid's Tale last week, having heard a lot about it. It was v. surreal (most of her stuff is), but really engaging. Poul Ruders (a Schirmer/Chester/EWH composer) wrote an opera based on the book...I'd like to see it but it's not being performed around here any time soon. I'll email the london office and see if they can get it programmed in Stowmarket. :)

I finished The Red Tent last night, and LOVED it. In case you haven't read it, it's the fictional story of Dinah, Jacob's daughter (from da Bible). It was a v. quick and compelling read...I'd love to read something else by Anita Diamant but all she has so far are books on Judaica. Not that it's not fascinating, but I think I know more about Judaism than the average goy living in Stowmarket married to a lapsed Catholic needs to know.

Ooh...scratch that, I just checked Amazon and she HAS written other novels. Not sure if they're in the stowmarket library system yet, but I'll check.

In other news, the wedding pictures have come in and they're v. good...hooray!!

Pirates of the Caribbean: Battle of the Cheekbones

Ok, I totally didn't think that up. It was A.O.Scott in the New York Times. His review is here. John and I went to see it this evening in Bury...it was 2 1/2 hours of swashbuckling good fun. Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom are v. hot, and the movie was surprisingly entertaining. I had been moaning about not wanting to see it, but I'm glad John dragged me. It's not going to win any Oscars but it's definitely worth the $8 movie ticket.

I'm reading White Teeth (not as good as everyone says it is) and Watching the English (better than everyone says it is). According to Watching, I'm doing all kinds of things wrong, but I get special dispensation because I'm American. Phew. Gotta keep that accent...I can get away with all kinds of stuff.

I also did a Tarot reading for the prospective job that's coming up...it basically said that I would get the job but end up with all kinds of financial problems. Oh joy. Here are the cards, in case anyone cares:

Who knows.

My Swiss Kitchen

I bought some picture hooks at Woolworth's today (yes, they still have Woolies in England), which meant that John could hang my Swiss Kitchen in our Stowmarket Kitchen.

There are three of these in my family: my mom has one, Sandra has one, and I have one. This one was originally Grandma's, and it's the only thing I wanted from her house after she died. According to Mom, it had been earmarked as mine years ago. Anyway, we packed it in bubble wrap after the wedding and carefully brought it back to England. Upon taking it OUT of the bubble wrap, I broke the stove hood off...sad times.

Travis to the rescue! Not only did he reattach the stove thingy, he rejoined the corners that had been out of whack since before I can remember. Now it's better than ever.

P.S. This post is dedicated to Sandra who is hobbling around on a broken foot. Get well soon!!

Day at the Beach!

Yesterday a bunch of Ickworth girls and I went to the beach. It was down in Frinton (about an hour from us), and it was glorious. Yesterday also broke all kinds of heat records for the UK, so it was a perfect beach day. The water was warm, the beach was busy but not too crazy, and we got all suntan-lotiony and sandy. There were a few kiteboarders out...this guy looked like he was having a LOT of fun.

And here we are, all spread out.

It's A Man's Job? Hah!

John and James and I had quite a day yesterday...we found a new lunch place in Stowmarket- it's called Tall Orders and it's very coffeeshop-y. John had a baked potato with some spicy veggies on it, James had a Cajun chicken wrap, and I had a lox baguette. It was ALMOST a New York Brunch...yum! I've walked past it a zillion times but never actually gone in.

We then trundled off to the Stowmarket Carnival, which was better than we thought it would be. They had rides and displays and food stalls and various other things. We bought a watercolor painting that I really like- it's very blue with white sailboats, and is very clear and crisp. It's hanging in the front hall (after John and James informed me that hanging pictures was "a man's job," John in jest and James in seriousness. I told them both that that was a completely unacceptable thing to say to a woman, and then climbed back down off my soapbox.

Freda and I were discussing the fact that when we were little, we used to play ball games constantly, since I was teaching James to play Butts Up against Freda and Travis' house. He doesn't have much in the way of hand-eye coordination, but I think it's because he never plays any ball games at school...they just wander around in the playground. I wish there were some other kids around here that he could play with...Edward and I were ALWAYS outside running around or riding our bikes or throwing things at each other. Hopefully when we buy a house (after I get a job...), there'll be kids in the neighborhood.

Not sure why I'm feeling so soapbox-y today.

In other news, I found a pattern for making comfy pants out of an old tshirt. John's t-shirts had better watch out. I have some old ones that I never wear any more, but they're all in New Ro.

I've applied for a job at a theatre in Ipswich...they were advertising for a Marketing and Outreach Assistant, which would be a good way to at least get my toe in to the classical music scene. They don't have MUCH music, but they do have some.

...Victoria & Albert

I had breakfast with John on Monday morning before he went in to the office, so I was v. early for the Victoria & Albert museum. I got there just before 9 and they didn't open until 10, so I went and had a coffee and read the rest of the last Ya-Ya book and took this picture of the outside of the museum.

Here's a picture of the plaque at the outside of the museum...I love the part about India. How colonial.

The museum itself is quite something...it's like a cross between your grandmother's attic and an encylopedia. There's just so much STUFF. Most of it is very well curated and organized, although some of the rooms are so full that my first reaction upon walking in was to go "ACK!" and turn around, walk back to the hallway, take a few deep breaths, and then try again. The musical instruments exhibit was by far the WORST I've ever seen, but their display of the different media that artists use (grouped by method, rather than by region or time period) was REALLY great.

This is the picture of the room full of copies of Italian artifacts, brought back for British students to study (a hundred years ago? not sure when), when travel wasn't as easy. Cool.


I've been getting a lot of headaches lately, so I went to Boots this morning to get my eyes tested. It turns out that I have the optical equivalent of 'duck feet' (where your feet turn outwards). My eyes' default position is to be slightly turned away from each other (not anything that you could see by looking at me), and so it makes it especially tricky when I'm looking at anything that's closer than an arm's length away, hence the headaches. The optometrist said that the best thing to do would be to 'prism' my glasses- basically to embrace the 'duck-footedness' and let the glasses do the work of putting the two images together for my brain. Apparently I've had this for a long time (and hadn't really noticed the fact that the double-vision I had was actually double-vision...it just seemed normal to me). The new glasses should arrive in about two weeks...yay!!

Tate & St. Paul...

Here is a picture of some (completely mad) people coming out of a kayak trip on the Thames. Couldn't pay me to do that one.

On Sunday, I started off at the Tate Modern (having been to the Tate Britain on a previous trip- thanks Liz!). It was converted to an art museum from a disused power station in 2000, and only has art post-1900. Good stuff! It's a damn ugly building from the outside but really well done on the inside.

The main entrance hall:

I then walked across the Millennium Bridge, which also has a sound installation where the wind and foot noise from the bridge is harnessed and then piped into the lobby above, making a REALLY cool noise, and to St. Paul's for evensong. The singing was great, and the sermon was very good. We even got to sing a few hymns...singing in St Paul's is like singing in a v. large bathtub- you suddenly sound very full and echoey. I could get used to it!

Can the London Symphony Orchestra relocate?

Checked all my job sites this morning, and the ABO (Assoc. of British Orchestras- the equivalent of the American Symphony Orchestra League) is listing the following job:

London Symphony Orchestra
Orchestral Assistant

This is an exciting opportunity to work closely with the London Symphony Orchestra. Working with both the Orchestra’s Personnel Manager and the Librarian, the Orchestral Assistant will help with the smooth running of both these functions.

It's totally my dream job, but it would only pay £19k at the top end, and it requires evening and weekend work. There's NO way I can do it from Stowmarket. If I were (independently wealthy and) living in central London, I'd be there. But I was looking at house prices as I was walking past an estate agent's in Knightsbridge, and the small 2-beds are going for more than a million pounds. Where do people get all that money from?? But to get back on track, it would cost me more than 50% of my post-tax income to GET to work. Not gonna happen...I don't even really want to apply for it because then if I get it I'll either turn it down and regret it or take it and regret it more. Just not applying isn't ideal either, but I can't bear to get all excited about it and spend ages on the application.

I worked at Ickworth on Saturday in reception (we had the usual cast of people who wanted to discuss at length why their Great Aunt Mabel HATES New York and it's horrible, along with the ones who think I'm Canadian), and then went down to London for the rest of the weekend.

I was a tourist yesterday and went to the Tate Modern and evensong at St. Paul's, then John and I watched the football. I was rooting for France but Zidane's little headbutting episode really soured the whole thing. I have pics from my museum escapades (was at the V&A today)...I'll post them as soon as they're uploaded.

Anglo-American Relations

This is the second year in a row that I've been in England for the 4th of July. I was here last year, visiting John...I can't remember exactly what we did on the 4th, but there were no hot dogs or fireworks. This year, John was working in London (he's there through next Monday), so I went to Sandy's house with Julia and her kids and we had a barbecue and set off fireworks and generally had a good time. If we have a house this time next year, we will definitely have a BBQ and lots of people over for baseball. (And yes, Mom & Dad, we will try to put an American flag on the garage door with crepe paper.)

I had lunch with Freda and Travis today- they're back from their caravaning in the south of France. It actually sounded like a pretty nice place to be, barring the caravan. John and I may try to go visit them the next time they're there. I miss France. Hooray for Les Bleus, btw. Sunday night, John and I will be sitting somewhere in London, cheering France on.

Still nothing on the job front, but I have a meeting in Cambridge tomorrow and there are some things in the pipe. The London job turned out to be a New York job...my old colleague had gotten her wires seriously crossed. Oh well...the commute would have killed me anyway.

More Risk

When we picked James up from school yesterday, the first thing out of his mouth (not "Hi Daddy!" Hi Kate!") was "Can we play Risk? I almost won last time and I want to play again and Daddy can play too and then I might take over the world if I..."

So I guess he's not mad at me. :)

We're headed over to Julia's this afternoon to watch England v. Portugal (and meet her new kitten...aww). I'm eternally optimistic, so I'm convinced England is going all the way. John, on the other hand, is much more of a realist (read: pessimist), and doesn't want to watch the game because he knows England will lose. We'll see what happens.

I'm following the zillions of leads from my various meetings- there are a surprising number of small music orgs that are coming out of the woodwork in Suffolk. And there are a few leads in London...but it's an hour and a half on the train and it's £426.30 ($788.27 at today's exchange rate) for a MONTHLY pass (if you include the subway card it's £483.90). The comparable ticket from New Ro is $159.74 (not including the subway) and a monthly ticket from Cold Spring (NY), which takes the same amount of time as the Stowmarket-London run is $283.22). So yeah, the job in London would have to pay REALLY well to make it even vaguely worth it. Subtracting £500 from my monthly salary at a lot of places doesn't leave me with a whole lot.

Divine Secrets of Suffolk Music

Finished Ya-Yas...it was REALLY good. Liz, you're right...it would have made a great book club read. I'm on to the sequels now.

Went in to London today to pick the brains of a few Chester/Novello peeps...they've given me some good leads for suffolk/norfolk/cambridgeshire music orgs. There are going to be a lot of emails going out in the next few days.

Dad, I definitely remember the steam shows at Thorpe Hall...we're going to take James up to run on the ride-behind steam trains on that little track. I'd found a link to it last fall but it's gone again.

John and I went to the Stowmarket Model Railway Club tonight...he'll probably be going back. They were a nice group of guys. I see more trains in our future...

Back in the Land of the Living

Yeeehaw!!

John and I are officially better, as of Saturday morning. We both woke up, full, as John says, of the joys of Spring. We did a few errands, then trundled off to the Wings, Wheels and Steam festival, about 15 minutes down the road. We saw lots of steam tractors, some really cool flyovers, and wandered through one of the strangest exhibits we've ever seen.

It was a "stationary engine" display, which consisted of a grassy avenue, fenced off on both sides. On each sides of the fences were caravans, with their occupants (mostly wearing wife-beaters and such) sprawled out in front on lawn chairs. Strange enough, say you? Hah! In front of these vignettes were small-ish engines, stationary, spluttering away and pumping food coloringed water out of a bucket and back in again. The racket was tremendous, yet the owners of the spluttery machines seemed perfectly happy to sit outside and stare at each other. Some of the more intrepid owners had even brought out couch cushions for their lawn chairs, adding a particularly charming touch. John and I beat a hasty retreat.

On our way out, we started watching some kids launching homemade rockets from a compressed air tank. It turned out that it was £2 to make a rocket and fire it off five times. We had such a good time with our first rocket that 10 minutes later we were back to build a second one. And, since neither of us is in elementary school, the guys in charge of the rocket school decided they wanted to go head-to-head with our rockets. It was awesome. John captured a pic of the rocket going off with the continuous shutter setting on the camera...sweet!



We had Ian and Caroline over for a curry on Saturday night- the Stowmarket curry house has been pronounced as good as the one in Bury. Success!!

This evening, we trundled off to The Stag (the least sketchy pub in Stowmarket, by our estimation), where we watched Beckham and his textbook free kick send the Ecuadorians home. We then went to Chinese Checkers, a chinese place that Lynn, my Stowmarket mom, has been recommending. It was AWESOME and we will definitely be going back.

Currently reading The Devine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood, which is a really fun chick-lit book. More updates when I've finished it.

Getting the "In Sickness" part out of the way

John and I are finally starting to see the end of the tunnel, flu-wise. I'm feeling much better and will be going to work tomorrow (having been sick since last Friday). John's come down with a sinus infection, but he headed to our friendly neighborhood NHS branch this morning and they hooked him up with some antibiotics, so he'll be fine in a few days. We're getting a little sick of the inside of our flat, and are rapidly running out of reading material.

It looks like David Pogue has found a way for me to watch Good Eats from the UK...I just have to hook up some $300 kit to mom and dad's tv when I'm home next. Well, maybe I won't, but it's nice to know I can. I imagine that within 5 years it'll all be available over web streaming anyway...not necessarily live, but I'm not going to to stay up until 3am to watch AB anyway. Speaking of whom, I was on his website yesterday and he's broken his clavicle in a motorbike accident. Poor AB...feel better!

We were supposed to go to the annual Ickworth staff picnic last night, but my trip into town for more asprin necessitated a 2-hour nap, we didn't go. I'd gotten all sorts of food in for the picnic, though, so I made "Coronation Chicken," a v. British dish that's basically curried chicken salad. Chicken, mayo, curry powder, celery, and melon. It was pronounced yummy by John...I'll be making it again soon. On Tuesday night I had a spurt of energy and made salmon with tomato salsa...it was really summery and tasty...you'll be seeing it if you come over for dinner.

Chicken Soup and Rrufus

I'm feeling a little better (my sore throat is down to a dull roar and the headache is gone), but John is feeling worse. Yuck. We're both home today, taking turns warming up chicken soup on the stove. If anyone knows where we can get good matzo ball soup in Suffolk, call me.

In other news, having my mac back means that I have a chance to catch up on my Redeemer sermons. Hooray for 15 hours of Tim Keller ahead of me! :)

I've posted a picture of Rrufus that John took...awww.

Terribly British Day Out

I'm working on fighting off a flu-y thing- I've been feeling crappy since Friday afternoon. I've slept most of the day today, so I'm feeling a little better.

We had a fun weekend: we went to Newmarket for a train show on Saturday morning, then to Bury for some groceries and a quick walk around Ickworth, and then to Freda and Travis' for a barbecue. They'd had such a good time cooking outside with my parents in New Ro that they decided to buy themselves a barbecue for the patio. It was a gloriously summer evening, and we all had a lot of fun. At the train show in the morning, the biggest hit with James was a guy who'd taken some Fisher Price Geotrax and built trams to sit on top of the trains, along with a fairly complicated layout. He had 4 kids driving the trams (the controllers are really simple) and trying not to hit each other. James would have stayed there all day, but we figured half an hour was plenty of time. :)

Yesterday, we went to Dedham (in Constable country) with Ian and Caroline, where we had a picnic in a field by the river, went for a hike, and then hired a boat and rowed down the river for a while. We watched a pair of girls accidentally flip their rowboat, which was pretty funny. One was tall and lanky and the other was...er...of more traditional build. They wanted to switch places, so they both stood up. The boat tipped, and rather than sit down again, the bigger girl grabbed the gunwale and freaked out. ::Splash:: It was like the whole thing happened in slow motion. We retrieved the oar that they had lost in the excitement, and Ian held the boat while they climbed back in. They were v. wet and extremely surprised, but otherwise fine. James was VERY careful about not standing up in the boat after that.

C and Liz (my college roomies) gave us a bunch of board games for the wedding, including Risk, which James immediately decided he HAD to learn how to play. So he and I played the two-player version (you get to have neutral territories- it was really cool) yesterday. I was helping him with strategy and stuff, and he was doing really well (read: winning, and getting very cocky). I told him Risk isn't over until it's over (I had Australia and was busy with Asia), and John came over and told me to stop letting him win and start fending for myself. Which I was planning to do on my next turn anyway- I had a huge card bonus plus all my continents. His eyes got all wide like dinner plates. Then he had a temper tantrum and declared it a tie. I felt TERRIBLE kicking an 8-year-old's ass at Risk, but it was bedtime anyway. I'm an evil stepmother. :(

Football?

Football. England football, to be exact. I was in Stowmarket this afternoon at about 4:15 and all of a sudden the town completely emptied out. And then I remembered, at 5pm, the England vs. Trinidad & Tobago match started. The whole country completely stopped. And we don't have a tv. I would have felt really strange going to a pub to watch the match without John (he's working in London today), so I listened to the webcast on BBC Radio. I think we might need to get a small tv. Or schedule watching times at other peoples' houses. Since EVERYONE watches football. Listening to it on the radio isn't bad, though. Even when the halftime newscast includes a traffic report that consisted of: "There's really no traffic out there, Bob. Everyone's at home watching the match! Which is where I'm headed. Bye!"

By the way, England won the match, 2-0. GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAL!!!! Second round ass-whupping, here we come.

BTW, America sucks at soccer.