It has been a busy month or so since my last post. Chrissy and Phil were here for a bit. They didn't overlap my time here too much as they were busy sightseeing in Scotland and racking up parking tickets for spending the night at rest stops (note: if you see a safe place to pull over for the night 'whilst' driving in the UK, it's too good to be true. They only allow for sleeping within 30" of highways. Definitely learning that the hard way.).
Jeralyn also came out for a weekend at the beginning of the month. It was something we decided to do on Tuesday, bought the ticket on Wednesday, and she was on a plane Thursday for a Friday morning landing, then off again on Sunday. It was a whirlwind trip, but we got a lot in. In order to keep the ticket price reasonable, she flew into London and out of Manchester.
I was able to leave Thursday night and crash with my friend Lewis (from New Zealand, Oslo, and Fieldview Festival fame) at his flat. He just moved into a place in downtown London. It was great catching up until all hours of the morning. When all was said and done, I ended up getting two hours of sleep before leaving to meet Jeralyn. Not only that, but being downtown meant tons of revelers out and about all night keeping things noisy. I mean all night. Loud, drunk, and sometimes violent. When I left his apartment around 5:45am, there were just as many people out as when I got there around 10:30pm. Lots of kebabs and chips eaten in that neighborhood every night, I'm sure.
After that, we took the scenic route to the city of Dover, which is famous for the white cliffs. They weren't quite as impressive as Jeralyn was hoping, but Dover Castle was really impressive. Due to the high cost of admission (GBP 16.50 (~$25) per person), we got an English Heritage membership to use later in the summer. We only have GBP 50 to go before it pays for itself. Easy.
(note the white cliffs and her refusal to wear sunglasses in pictures, no matter how bright)
After that, we went to Rochester by accident. We were looking for a place to eat and got off M25 to look for a town. It was a great find, but we missed the opportunity to use our English Heritage membership at the tower there by 15 minutes. So close.
The rest of the weekend was spent hanging out around my place. 48 hours isn't a very long time, but we didn't waste much of it on sleep.
The middle part of the month was the standard: fixing fences. I decided to beef up the posts pretty substantially. It looks a little funny, but they should hold. I am pretty sure I am officially done having to fix fences at this place. If I ever need to install fences in the future, remind me not to do it with the cheapest materials available. That said, it did give me an excuse to buy a pickaxe with a 7 lbs head on it and a hickory handle. Oh, man, does that thing chew up cement and rocks. I've said it before and I'll say it again: having the right tool for the job makes all the difference. Worth every penny.
Despite learning that I will be staying in England a little longer than expected, I am still (hopefully) going to be selling my place in the very near future. There are some issues with getting the sale finalized, so we won't hit our original sale date of 1 May, but I had the movers come anyway and they took everything away today. I have no idea how I accumulated so much stuff. It's embarrassing. I spent an entire weekend sorting, organizing, and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of, but I still filled 5 crates to the brim. That doesn't include the stuff I kept in the house so that I could still stay here for the summer.
A big part of it was tools, so I'm good with that part. It is what I needed to fix up this place and future places. A big part was furniture. This was the first time I didn't have any roommates, so I ended up buying couches, dining tables, chairs, TV stand, etc. Clothes, dishes, pots, pans, sports equipment, books, CDs, DVDs, etc. So much stuff. The lesson here is that I need to reduce my collection of things. Free stuff coming soon, everyone!
The middle part of the month was the standard: fixing fences. I decided to beef up the posts pretty substantially. It looks a little funny, but they should hold. I am pretty sure I am officially done having to fix fences at this place. If I ever need to install fences in the future, remind me not to do it with the cheapest materials available. That said, it did give me an excuse to buy a pickaxe with a 7 lbs head on it and a hickory handle. Oh, man, does that thing chew up cement and rocks. I've said it before and I'll say it again: having the right tool for the job makes all the difference. Worth every penny.
Despite learning that I will be staying in England a little longer than expected, I am still (hopefully) going to be selling my place in the very near future. There are some issues with getting the sale finalized, so we won't hit our original sale date of 1 May, but I had the movers come anyway and they took everything away today. I have no idea how I accumulated so much stuff. It's embarrassing. I spent an entire weekend sorting, organizing, and deciding what to keep and what to get rid of, but I still filled 5 crates to the brim. That doesn't include the stuff I kept in the house so that I could still stay here for the summer.
A big part of it was tools, so I'm good with that part. It is what I needed to fix up this place and future places. A big part was furniture. This was the first time I didn't have any roommates, so I ended up buying couches, dining tables, chairs, TV stand, etc. Clothes, dishes, pots, pans, sports equipment, books, CDs, DVDs, etc. So much stuff. The lesson here is that I need to reduce my collection of things. Free stuff coming soon, everyone!
Now that my stuff is gone, I should have a little more free time. I still need to sell my house, but once that is done, I am home free for the summer! Coming up I have a camping trip in Scotland and a weekend trip to France. It has been a long time since I've left England (besides a 3 month work trip to the US). It will be good to get out of the house!
