Nov 27

Shrinking Household

I’m sitting here trying to keep out the way of the movers who are slowly packing up all my stuff (feeling guilty, I just make them tea every hour or so).    My working space gets barer and barer; the desktop PC has gone, the desk (or what passes for one) has gone and the next thing they are after is the couch so it’s to the floor with me.   Sometime in the future, it’ll all be unwrapped again.   The cleaners have come round to estimate a fortune to clean the whole place and the letting agents have the keys to start showing people (I hope..need to cover the mortgage somehow!).    I’m down to three suitcases and excess baggage charges 😉

Nov 25

Packing Choices

Today, I’m preparing to pack, the movers arrive on Monday to take everything away and put some of it on a boat that will hopfully arrive in New York in about 2 months.   Unlike the last time I did this, moving to and from Amsterdam, a lot of the stuff will be put into storage.  So I’m going round and putting things onto 3 lists, store, ship and take with me know.   But the choices are not that simple.   I’m not shipping my furniture, so the big items go direct to store.    The electrical items likewise get stored as they will not work without voltage changers, so it’s probably best to buy new ones.   I’m not taking all my kitchen stuff – which probably means I can live without it, likewise the paperwork/records/OU study stuff/diving equipment wetc.  In reality I should probably get rid of it…and maybe I will when I come back.   Likewise with the books I’m trying to convince myself to leave behind.  I don’t really need to ship all 1200 of them, so I need to make choices about which ones I use a lot, which I will read in the next few years and which can wait till I come back (by which time the number would have grown anyway.

Some stuff I’m taking back with me now (travelling with empty suitcases definitely confuses people at airports).  Extra cutlery, plates, saucepan, Christmas decorations, winter clothes.   And a final few things I decide that I won’t risk to shipping – some jewellery, a favourite picture, a book of favourite poems I’ve transcribed over the last 25 years.

One last thing I’m doping is taking photos of everything.   It’s far quicker to photo the titles of the games, CDs, DVDs and books and load them up to Flickr as a storage mechanism then write down everything, just in case.   It’s a good job that I can set the photos to me only, otherwise people would be subject to 10’s of photos of nothing but book spines.

Nov 21

Some recommendations

From my trip to Boston at the weekend I would recommend The Gryphon House Bed And Breakfast, in Back Bay. Friendly staff, lovely rooms, nice breakfasts. It’s not in downtown but the subway station is just round the corner and from my perspective the MIT campus was in easy walking distance. And if you are interested in baseball, the RedSox stadium is practically next door.

Another recommendation would be Joanne Wong of citi-habitats.com, now moved to City Connections and reached on 917-535-2006 a New York real estate broker, who managed to find me a half dozen places to see at a few days notice that met my requirements and included landlords who did not mind the lack of a US credit history, walked me through the letting process and kept it all simple for me. Following up with a card and a voucher for a department store was just icing on the cake.

Nov 16

Post Conference Questionaires

Do you know those post conference requests to tell them how they did?  The ones that end up in the back of the packs or get emailed out.  Sometimes it’s worth filling them in.   Following the IAB day I went to a few weeks back, I filled in their questionnaire and it turned out I was the lucky person who got drawn out of the metaphorical hat (does anyone ever use a hat to do this anymore?) to get the prize of an iPod Nano.  Nice!

Nov 13

Connected

Yea!  Finally got web connection from home but only at a poor 2MB or there abouts, I feel so sloooowwww again after the 8 in the UK.  No blogging done, but plenty of TV programmes watched.

Nov 09

Perils of International Banking

In the US, I’ve mainly been living in a cash world.   I have a credit card, but I keep it for big purchases, never using it for day to day stuff.    My debit card expires the end of this month and I’d arranged for one to be sent out earlier so I could guarantee getting it at home at a time I was actually there.   What they forgot to tell me is that in doing that they would cancel my current card.   So here I am, stuck in New York with no way of actually getting any cash for the day to day stuff.  There are ways round it, but they just take far more effort.  I could get some money transferred to my newly opened US account (they gave me 2 for the price of one and were very keen to give me lots of cheques) but I need to send a letter to the UK and then wait for the money to come back, so it would take 6-7 days.   Time to go move money between accounts to ensure I actually have credit, can pay for a plane journey and get some cash out so I can buy food and stuff.

Nov 07

Cheques and Checks

Changing countries brings with it a set of cultural changes that sometimes have you shaking your head.   The last few days it’s been over cheques (or checks if you prefer).   To enable me to be paid directly into a bank account I needed to fill in a form – and provide them Payroll with a ‘voided check’.   Never mind I can’t remember the last time I used a cheque, why do I need to provide them with something that gives the same information as on the form I’m filling in.  At least I assume it does, I don’t actually have a bank account yet to compare.   Apparently I’ll get lots of them though; I popped into a bank to get details of an account and the top benefit of the deal that they were trying to sell was apparently the large number of checks that I would get.   How about debit cards and online banking (I need a credit rating for credit cards which will be a while)?   No problem with those, she said, but most people seemed to want checks.

Confusion reigned at the company orientation this morning as myself and a Canadian tried to get our heads round 401k’s, health insurance, co-pays, deductions pre-tax and post-tax, elegibility etc.   We both came to the conclusion that in some cases it would be easier (if not necessarily cheaper) to fly back to our respective countries of origin to get health care.  Far less paperwork even if the US government decides to put everyone on the no-fly list and makes you get permission to leave.

One further bemusing thing today was wandering round supermarkets trying to stock up on some staples, or at least staples in the way I cook.  Chicken stock cubes – no, need to get powdered chicken bouillon.   Tinned tomatoes – well, there’s one type hidden amongst all the varieties of tomato ‘sauce’ (not the Heinz or Daddies type).  Tuna – well there’s some hidden amongst the albacore.   Finally shower gel – one variety only.

Oct 27

Moving House and Moving Blogs

I’ve finally got my living arrangements sorted out and will be moving into a more permament apartment in New York. Which means packing up my London flat, putting most into storage and shipping the rest across. I’m moving out of the rented room up on 181st St into my own little apartment up the Upper East Side which looks promising.

Meanshile I’m planning on changing over the blog to WordPress this weekend; I’ve been using it in relation to wrok blogs and decided I like it better. Knowing my ability to do these things, there may be problems galore, but hopefully things like the feeds won’t change. I think the links will though so i’ll have to wrok round that.

Oct 25

Training for Typos

I’ve typing up a presentation for the last few days that required the use of the word ‘colour’ in the American form ‘color’ And now I find myself typing ‘your’ as ‘yor’.

Oct 18

One Day In History

What did you do yesterday? Go through your routine, get up, go to work or school, work for the day before returning to grab a few hours for yourself before starting the cycle again. Or did you do something different, out of the ordinary. Whatever you did, go over to History Matters and write it up,

Make history with us on 17 October by taking part in the biggest blog in history.

‘One Day in History’ is a one off opportunity for you to join in a mass blog for the national record. We want as many people as possible to record a ‘blog’ diary which will be stored by the British Library as a historical record of our national life.

Write your diary here reflecting on how history itself impacted on your day – whether it just commuting through an historic environment, discussing family history or watching repeats on TV.

If you are so inclined, you can even add your entry in Welsh. You’ve got until 1 November to add your entry, which will be stored by the Bristish Library and be available to the world.

In a similar manner, Yahoo are collecting words and images for a time capsule

For 30 days, from October 10 until November 8, Yahoo! users worldwide can contribute photos, writings, videos, audio – even drawings – to this electronic anthropology project. This digital data will be gathered and preserved for historical purposes.
And by November 8, you will have helped create a digital legacy of our times, a mosaic of revealing snapshots that will be sealed and entrusted to Smithsonian Folkways Recordings based in Washington D.C., officially taking its place in history.

Just in case there’s too much stuff there for you, the team are regualrly pulling out their favourites via the blog for the project.

Sep 18

still alive…i think

I’m still here, although a little bit drowning under around 3000 emails to get through, plenty of blog posts to read, lots of illness and stress of trying to move countries.

Until I catch up, here’s a meta viral about virals. Saying something similar to what I said over here.

ADLAND Viral Cartoon.0.jpg

There’s even a video version. Ina small way, I find it funny.

Jul 17

Heat warning

It’s too hot and I don’t have air conditioning in the bedroom (I was not supposed to be here in New York this long, planning on leaving before the weather got horrible). And now the city is under 2 warnings – heat and air pollution. Stay cool, drink lots of fluids, don’t be too energetic. I can cope with this – except I’d prefer to be on a beach somewhere, under an umbreall sipping rum punch rather than commuting in a sweltering underground. But at least it’s not London – the trains here do have AC

Jul 10

Sport and Barcamp

Not both together, but that is what I spent yesterday doing.

First of all was the men’s final at Wimbledon (or rather the gentlemen’s singles final as it is correctly called). Enjoyed the game, especially after the first set and there was more of a battle. The US TV station look like htey love the sport – they can show ads every 2 games as the end changes.

then a quick dash into the city for the first organising meeting for Barcamp New York II. Chris has some photos. We gathered, chatted about venues and sponsorship and all that stuff, delegated out responsibilities and then scattered again to carry on organising remotely. The date is not yet finalised – venues need to be checked out first – but it will be either co-inciding with Earth barcamp at end of August or later in September.

After this it was off to find a bar playing the Wolrd Cup final..or rather, off to find a bar I could get into as many places were packed around times Square. The first half was watched in the ESPN store; there were a lot of families in there trying to give their kids a go on the various sports toys they have on the top floor (the other floors were all packed) They were getting very frustrated at having to work their way round the footie fans who just took all the space and made it difficult to get to anything. Such as the fishing game! Yep, there was a arcade fishing game with a rod and a reel and a father and son having a great time playing whilst completly ignoring the biggest sporting event in the world goign on right in front of them. For the second half I found another bar full of French and Italians, with English being the common language. Great atmosphere, with complete bewliderment all round as we tried to work out what was said to Zidane that caused him tp lose his head. So next up is Euro2008 in Austria. What are the bets for which round England fail at?

Jul 07

7/7/06

A year ago today, I sat in the office, the blinds all drawn following protocol to prevent glass damage if there were further bombs, trying to make sense of what was happening via the tv and the web.

But even though the experience is clear in my mind, it was second hand, through the media. So instead read the words below, via Rachel North , from 6 month remembrance ceremony. And at noon BST stop and think, about the victims of this attack and of sectarian and religious wars everywhere and what you can do to make a difference in your life to prevent cultural and religious differences being a destructive force instead of a constructive one.

We are here today in fellowship, to remember our fellow passengers from the morning of July 7th 2005. We think of them often, especially those who did not finish their journey. We think of all those who loved them and knew them. We think of the injured, the desolate and those who mourn. We think of the victims of the other London bomb attacks. We think of all those whose lives were changed by the events of 7th July. We think of the victims of all acts of terrorism’.

ALL: We hold them in our thoughts.

‘We think of those who helped us on that morning and afterwards, the staff of London Underground, especially the drivers of our train and the staff of Russell Square and Kings Cross. We think of the police officers, the fire officers, the ambulance drivers, the emergency services, the doctors and nurses and surgeons. We think of the kindness of passers-by and we think of all those who love London and who thought of the people of the city on that day and who held us in their thoughts.’

ALL: We hold them in our thoughts

‘We remember our fellow passengers from our train:James Adams, Samantha Badham, Phillip Beer, Anna Brandt, Ciaran Cassidy, Rachelle Chung For Yuen, Elizabeth Daplyn, Arthur Frederick, Karolina Gluck, Gamze Gunoral,Lee Harris, Ojara Ikeagwu, Emily Jenkins, Adrian Johnson, Helen Jones, Susan Levy, Shelley Mather, Michael Matsushita, James Mayes, Behnaz Mozakka, Mihaela Otto,Atique Sharifi, Ihab Slimane, Christian Small, Monika Suchocka, Mala Trivedi’

ALL: We hold them in our thoughts

ALL: When we all got on the train we did not know that for some of us it would be a last journey, and that some of us would not come home.
We did not all finish our journey together, but we carry you in our hearts. To all that loved you, knew you, worked with you, miss you, our thoughts are with you.
Wherever we travel, we know that we are all fellow passengers,and we are with each other on our journey.’

Silence for one minute

A short prayer from the gentle service of Compline, at the end of the day

Keep watch, dear Lord, with those who work, or watch, or weep, and give your angels charge over those who sleep. Tend the sick, give rest to the weary, bless the dying, soothe the suffering, pity the afflicted, shield the joyous; and all for your love’s sake.

ALL: Amen.

Lest we forget

Red Sheets

Jul 06

belly dancing


belly dancing

Originally uploaded by RachelC.

A morocco restaurant means entertainment. A badly taken photo from the phone in the darkness of a Moroccan restaurant as the ‘traditional;’ belly dancer entertains the crowd. She managed to get half of the table up and dancing (there is a video if I can get it off the phone) whilst receiving plenty of admiring glances. This was the first time I’d been to a Moroccan place and was more than pleased with all the food – my favourite was the chicken and apricot tagine. If you are in west London, I’d recommend it for a great meal.