Wow...it's been a long time. I've not updated my blog since 9 March...and that wasn't even a 'proper' update. Where have I been? Well if you notice in my last 'NFE' update, you'll see that the wife and I have had some major housing development news. We signed on the house (okay...Helen signed on the house. Something to do with my not actually being a citizen of the UK, to say nothing for not having a job due to not legally being allowed to work in the UK at the time of signing, makes money lenders not want to have anything to do with you. Go figure) and have been trying ever since to move into the place. It's been quite a time-consuming process, at that.
I didn't have my spouse-visa until a couple weeks ago, so I still couldn't legally seek or be offered employment. So whilst Helen was off earning the £ to keep us going, I was putting my 'free time' to good use at the new home making an attempt at decorating, as well as being available for home deliveries of new furnishings, etc. (Helen and I think that at one point the whole of Ikea was situated in flat-pack boxes between the lounge, spare-oom and master bedroom.)
As many of you may know...I hate painting. It's one of the worst things when it comes to home decorating...in my humble opinion. But it beats wallpapering, so I got down to it. I will have pictures very soon, I promise...but I've only just finished the 'main painting' yesterday...hence my ability to write to you today! (I say 'main painting', because after we get the rest of the furniture in, we'll have plenty of 'touch-up' work to do) We're expecting the sofas in mid-April...hopefully in time for the house-warming party.
What else...well, Helen and I have been in the local papers a couple of times. For those readers in the States, there was obviously no possible way you could have seen these...and for those readers in the UK, if you missed them, here they are. The pics are bad...but they're fun to laugh at anyway, aren't they? And Helen and I are quite capable of laughing at ourselves...or we would never have agreed to the requested photo-shoot!
Basically, Countryside properties were interested in doing a photo-shoot for the Manchester Evening News for publicity purposes, and the paper was doing a piece on people moving to Warrington...so they collaborated. I guess our story...due to the fact that our relationship has a bit of an unusual aspect to it, being from half a world away from each other...makes for an interesting read.(?) Anyway...we agreed to do the photo shoot...you can see the result.
If you spot the 'you've gotta be kidding...is this guy for real?' look on my face, it's because...I guess you had to be there. It was like telling kids to say 'cheese'...but instead, he said, 'Nice smiles as well!'... ~ click ~ ...'Great stuff.' ~ adjust camera ~ 'Nice smiles as well!'... ~ click ~...'Brilliant stuff.'I couldn't help but chuckle to myself, and it was all I could do to stop laughing at the man audibly. When the man decided to stand up on a hand-rail that goes 'round the park so that he could get a creative shot looking down on us, I thought he'd fall off and break something. Alas...both he and the camera survived.
I joke. He was actually very nice. But if you ever want to feel...akward...agree to do a photo-shoot for a local news agent. You'll never forget it...or forgive yourself. Fortunately, the worst photos...the ones of us faux-painting the flat...didn't make it into the paper. No...I'm not joking. 'Can you just hold the roller up to the wall? That's great. Just tilt it this way a bit...that's great. Okay...and if you could stand by your husband...like you're supervising!...okay...both look into the camera...nice smiles as well!'...~ click ~...'Great stuff.'
There was also a photo of us in the Warrington Guardian for the wedding, which I thought was great. It's a pretty good picture, even if it didn't scan in the greatest. Of course, Helen and I got to choose the photo ourselves...and even though I'm probably biased, when I look at the other two weddings announced on that page, I think ours is the best. The other nice thing about the write-up is that it mentions everyone in the wedding party...I think! So it's nice to see everyone's names there that were so special to us and helped to make our special day all the more wonderful. Josh, Jonny, Graham, Aaron, Amy, Alison, Kaitlyn...again...your participation in our wedding means the world to us. We'll never forget it.In other news, we've been trying...and trying...and trying to get a phone line installed. We've been held up by BT. They suck. Apparently there is a problem with the conduit that the phone line for our apartment is going to go through. It's...dented or something equally press-stopping. But the thing is...it only appears to be our flat that is affected. Everyone else in the building was getting their phones hooked up on Monday.
What's worse is that we were supposed to have the phone line back on 13 March. (This is after calling them on the 2nd and being told it would be 2 weeks at the earliest appointment) But they called and said that due to problems with the ground cable, they had to push our appointment out two weeks. We also wanted Sky to come and install Sky+ (Americans think satellite TV with a DVR) which requires the box to call back to the service centere via the phone line. They were going to do this the day following the phone line installation. Since we didn't have a phone line on the 13th, we didn't have Sky on the 14th.
Then this week came around. BT should have installed on the 27th...Sky on the 28th. But with these conduit problems (which we've been assured have nothing to do with the cable problem that prevented installation on the 13th) we still have no phone line...no Sky. The worse part yet? We don't even want to stick with BT! We want Talk-Talk. They have a great international phone/broadband package. But since BT have basically a monopoly on all phone lines, BT still has to do the initial install, at which point Talk-Talk can take over 14 days later. Yep...so even if I got my phone line today, I wouldn't have broadband or international calling for two more weeks.
But I won't have my phone line today. It's been said (to Helen) that BT has no plans to fix the conduit causing the problem because 'It's Countryside's problem...not ours. Go tell Countryside they need to fix it.' They've said that if something isn't done by Countryside, they won't do anything until the 27th of April.
BT sucks. Period.
In happier news, I got a Nintendo Wii! It's fabulous! Helen said that she wanted to get me a new console. She said she knew I left all my old video games in the States, and she wanted to give me a fresh start in the UK. I told her she needn't do such a thing, but she would hear nothing of it. She insisted I choose one of the three new consoles, and we'd get it.
After considerable thought, I opted for the Wii. Reason being - some of my most favourite games are exclusives to Nintendo. Also, I don't play as hardcore these days as I used to...so I couldn't justify spending £425 on a console, when my TV cost £450. I know the Wii doesn't have the most power on the market, but it's got the most innovation. If I want power, I've still got the PC. (once it arrives from the States)
So anyway, Zelda is freaking amazing. I won't go into review just now as I'm only a few hours into it, and if you want a review you can always look elsewhere. But I will say that the Wii control scheme simply works for a game like this. It's made for a game like this. Swinging the Wii remote to mimic sword slices...aiming with the pointer to make shots with your long-range weapons...it's the way games like this should always be played. I'd never go back to clunky Gamecube controls now.
WarioWare - Smooth Moves is also entertaining...but really strange. It's best played with multiple people, I'm certain...as certain as I am that you'll feel exponentially more ridiculous in front of other people performing these 'tricks'. Anyway, it's easy to see why it would make a great party game...especially if alcohol is involved.
That's all for now, folks...more work to do today. Take care of yourselves and leave your thoughts!
~Jer
PS - Check out the new music list. Great stuff. New from James Morrison, all the way through to some cheesy 80's rock with Bon Jovi. I might even stick a great orchestrated version of the theme from The Legend of Zelda I downloaded.
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