january

january is generally accepted as a quiet month - the festive season recently deceased, the carcass of the old year shed and the stuffing packed onto the waistline. its time to knuckle down and get some work in, get to the gym and start thinking seriously about making the year ahead at least as good as the one before.

some of us choose not to choose sensible, some of us chose something else.
We saw the year in at a cold hogmanay party in edinburgh, with fireworks and scissor sisters, named after a sapphic love position (i couldn't find a link to explain it not much imagination required, but you will have to imagine it because i couldn't find a link. Well, I could, i found millions actually...). They are the gay-new york-art equivalent of a pop band - they have mass appeal but definitely none too squeaky. they're derived from fashion designer and hairdresser stock.

the remainder of the week was spent tying up loose ends at work and packing stuff into boxes, organising removal and final bills and the like. you know the scene: how did we fit all this in the car on the way up to scotland? furthermore, how do we intend to get it back to england and just what the fuck is _that_?

arrived at the relatives' house on saturday night after driving through gales, blizzards and the mother of all rainstorms. we saw no fewer than 11 of a reported 26 overturned lorries. yup, the wind was fierce. we also saw the carlisle flood and the rescue helicopter. all the service stations were out of commision because of the power cuts. quite surprising really that we made it through in one piece.

went to work in the new job on the following monday. we'll leave the description of this until a later date when i get my head around it. safe to say i have unattainable deadlines and massive pressure, and i am expected to perform my duties in overtime, for which i will not be paid.
hehe. get serious eh? its a converted marmite factory for frigs sake!

a week of househunting on natalie's part and we wound up with a nice place to move into on tuesday the first. relations with the relatives are becoming strained by now and we look forward to moving in.

other exciting events were the dentist and the landlord, who are quite similar really. both willing to take exorbitant amounts of money for less than crummy service. the quack suggested that we wouldn't really need anaesthetic, an illusion of which he was quickly stripped after he started drilling my poor teeth. my fillings didn't fit and some pieces have been bitten off.
a week later and the damn teeth still hurt like hell, and i am out of pocket by what seems to be more than four times the appropriate price, according to the guidelines set down by the NHS. i mean really, you go into a dentist and you get different treatment because you pay more? i think not! like i said the teethpuller suggested waiving the anaesthetic! the health system here is absolutely crazy. i'll be going private soon, as it'll be cheaper anyway.
as for the landlord, he will take our 6 weeks deposit and first month's rent 7 days before handing over the keys, without a signed contract! i know it sounds pessimistic, but this means those f**kers could scarper with £1800 of my hard earned cash (originally earmarked for the deposit on our own house) and not even deliver the hoose! dirty cheeky scum, estate agents. stay away from them if possible and never ever sign the contract without reading it thoroughly. they will try to prevent you from doing so, believe me.
so january was a hard month. thank the powers that be that i have a good woman to nurture me through these trying times. i feel february is going to be one of them end-of-the-month-salticrax months...

tata gatekeeper, you sucked. come on, february!

in the deep end

so i get to the new job in london and its fookin 'ectic. 'ectic indeed. i have been babbled at for three hours solid, told in three words abouth the lunch arrangements(the sandwich shop) and read a few hundred pages of product docs. i have been given work by three or four different people, some of whom i haven't met yet, and i haven't even signed a contract.

i got on the 1806 to foxton and sure as nuts it goes straight to welwyn garden city instead of my stop. After spending a fiver for lunch, for which i had to stand in the rain for ten minutes, nearly being caught twice by conductors for not having a ticket to get as far as wgc, and spending two and a half hours on the train with two million other people, i remember why it is i don't like london...

Canada calling?

i like to think i'm nomadic, hearing the distant shores calling, following the wide open road, and watching the the horizon fading and all that. The conundrum is that more and more often lately i have been thinking about settling down. I know you are thinking its just age and it happens to everyone: sooner or later you just have to accept that you won't be young forever and blah. Sometimes i think its because i am now married and am simply responding to social programming, being a "mindful" citizen and wishing to contribute to society and community and whatever.
I'm thinking more along the lines of "i'm just tired of moving all the time!" which is the simplistic, and thus preferred, analysis.
So i thought about where to settle down and making plans in that direction. It would have to be an english speaking place, with reasonable property prices and, if at all possible, with reasonable weather.

I currently live in the UK, in Scotland. Winter here is nasty, and this is only my first. The English winter wasn't much better. I think I could handle the temperature but not the rain!
Somewhere warm? Australia has too many poisonous snakes, spiders, insects, worms, etc and way too much skin cancer potential. Southern USA? hurricanes and hillbillies.
So that reduces my options somewhat. Its a toss up between new zealand and canada. I took a preliminary look at the Canadian immigration system. For skilled workers, the system works on points which you get from the following categories:

education - up to 25 points

language skill - up to 24 points

work experience - up to 21 points

age - 0 or 10 points

arranged employment - 0 or 10 points

adaptability - up to 5 points

For a minimum of 67 points, you can go there. Not too hard for a skilled, english or french speaking, experienced worker. Oh, you have to have roughly $13000 canadian for a two person family as well.
turns out that i could immigrate there (except for the damn money, as usual!), but i also heard they had one of the highest suicide rates and a very conservative society.

oh dearie me. i guess it'll be london again :(