So, life is now starting to settle down for us, although with some hiccups along the way.
On Friday, Ian received a letter from Social Security telling him that he hadn't provided the relevant documents to prove he was eligible to live and work in the USA . This shocked us completely as we'd provided everything that was needed so we didn't know what had gone wrong. After some digging on the phone, we found out that they'd lost the copy of our marriage certificate so all it needed to rectify it was another visit to the office to supply the relevant document. It also turned out that Annalie's Social Security Number had been issued. So on Monday morning we queued in the rain (yes, it's tipping it down here now) so that Ian could present the certificate and Annalie could collect her number. Thankfully, Ian's application went straight through this time, so now we're bona fide legal residents - phew!
So what else have we been up to? Well, golf seems to be a big part of life over here so we seem to be spending a lot of time (and money!) on that the course the moment. The IAE golf league started up, which is less of a league and more of an excuse to play golf! We went off last with a five-ball so we were a lot slower than most. We both had a complete shocker and it got dark before we could finish the nine holes, so we gave up scoring.
After this abysmal display, Annalie decided another lesson was in order so went to see a PGA Masters coach on Saturday. He was excellent and picked up a number of bad habits to correct and by the end of the session, he'd spent more than double the amount of time he should have, but still only charged for half an hour she was a star pupil and he said she has the potential to be a very good golfer - just got to practice. So Sunday we went out to Minnechaug again. Although it was an inconsistent performance from both, there was some very good play too. Practice makes perfect - like we need the excuse!
Ian also decided to get his feet wet and drove up to West River in Jamaica, Vermont for some kayaking with Andy, one of the IAE guys. A long drive up there on Friday night was followed by a few beers and a night sleeping in the car - not something that is alien to Ian!! His boat wasn't quite right for some of the rapids that were on show but a little later in the day he went off with Andy for some more tame waters, but it was still a bit white knuckle at times and he did end up going swimming a couple of times. He took the camera up so there are some pictures in the photo album.
On Thursday we ventured for our first night out in Hartford to celebrate the engagement of Mhairi and Steve, a couple who came out on secondment here as singles and have hooked up whilst over here. They're a really nice couple who joined us for golf at Minnechaug last week. As is typical of New England, the chosen drinking establishment was an Irish pub! Nothing strange about that in this neck of the woods! A nice night was had by all, especially the chocoholics amongst us who were wooed by a cake that was the epitome of death by chocolate! Arteries were hardened all round.
Ian's been out test driving cars again but we still don't know what we want! All this shopping is so stressful
Monday, April 28, 2008
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
We're in!
We've made it! We're in! We had the TV, telephone and internet hooked up so Ian decided it was high time he slept in his own bed. So last night we stayed at our own house. Whilst Ian might have slept more soundly than he has since arriving in the US, Annalie probably had her worst night's sleep yet. Typical!
We've got the cable equivalent of Sky+ which will take some getting used to. It's not quite as intuitive as the Sky system but then it's what we're used to.
Anyway, so all you lovely people can reach us, here are our contact details:
61 Overshot Drive, South Glastonbury, CT 06073, USA
If you want to call us for a dirt cheap rate (like calling the UK) then you must dial 08444 620620 and then our number, which is 001 860 430 5682.
Once we've got the house a bit straighter, we'll post some more piccies so you can see what we have to put up with over here .
We've got the cable equivalent of Sky+ which will take some getting used to. It's not quite as intuitive as the Sky system but then it's what we're used to.
Anyway, so all you lovely people can reach us, here are our contact details:
61 Overshot Drive, South Glastonbury, CT 06073, USA
If you want to call us for a dirt cheap rate (like calling the UK) then you must dial 08444 620620 and then our number, which is 001 860 430 5682.
Once we've got the house a bit straighter, we'll post some more piccies so you can see what we have to put up with over here .
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Spring has sprung
Spring has well and truly arrived in Connecticut. We've got regular clear blue skies and the temperature has been in the high 70s for the past few days - lovely. It's been that nice that we decided to get our first round of golf in for the season ahead of the IAE golf league starting on Tuesday 22nd. So we headed down to Minnechaug course between Glastonbury and Hebron. It's a nice 9-holer and three guys from work decided to join us, which was very civilised. It wasn't a bad round for either of us when all said and done.
Ian has also developed a new goal for our time out here - he wants to get his pilots licence. So to start off, he used the money he earned from clearing Carla's yard to get an introductory lesson. The instructor was very impressed with his knowledge from the outset and allowed him to take off and land as well as control the aircraft (piper tomahawk) in cruise. He flew all over the local area and was able to see how flooded it is with the mountain snows melting further north. So now he's planning on trying this career path, Annalie just thinks he's addicted to trolley dollies after his last few airport jobs
The furniture arrived on Thursday and Ian spent the day unpacking with the shipping guys. Some of the stuff had moved in transit so there were a couple of things that had some minor damage but luckily nothing is too bad. It started to feel like home a little but there has been a lot of work to do to go through everything and get it straight. We've done the lounge/diner and the kitchen. The study and our bedroom is partially done but the main living areas were the most important.
With the arrival of our furniture, there was a realisation that we needed some new bits to complement what we have and what we got rid of before we left. So we made the obligatory trip to Ikea, yes, Ikea! About 40 minutes' drive away in New Haven, yes, New Haven!
One of the biggest issues for us was trying to find curtains for our bedroom. We have a door and two windows all next to each other so needed enough material to cover 3 metres! So we've ended up having to buy four whole panels to cover the gap with a nice gather. But trying to find anywhere stocking curtains that were long enough as well was a nightmare as we wanted longer than standard length. We've ended up ordering some in to a store but it was a complete nightmare. We must have tried every possible shop and ended up driving around in circles, but at least we got them in the end.
So our weekend was spent driving around buying bits for the house or doing stuff at the house. We weren't able to make the most of the fab weather but we had other priorities instead.
We also bought a grill, that's a barbeque to you and me! Ian convinced Annalie to go for a Weber, claiming that they're worth the extra investment. So Sunday we put it together and went to the shop to buy some nice steaks and corn to cook. Our deck gets the sun in the late afternoon so it's a fabulous time for the grill to go on and we sat there with a lovely sunset arriving and a wonderful view to accompany it. And even if we do say so ourselves, the food was bloody lovely too!
We haven't moved into the house just yet as we haven't got any TV, telephone or internet. We're getting connected on Monday (21st) so we'll be able to update you with our new details once the phone number has been confirmed. It will be really nice to finally move in and the house is looking really good. Ian is desperate to sleep in his own bed as he's not been doing too well at the temporary digs .
Annalie has been catching up on all the TV series that she's missed during the move. ABC is the main channel in the US for series like Desperate Housewives, Lost, Brothers and Sisters, Ugly Betty etc and the website allows you to watch all the episodes retrospectively. She's nearly up-to-date with Housewives but has yet to start on Betty and Brothers and Sisters. Both of us are hooked on Lost so we caught up with that quite quickly but it doesn't start back again until this Thursday so we'll be on time. We're getting a DVR (like Sky+) with our cable and it provides us with free HD too good job we bought a HD TV then but it also means that we can tape the series while catching up.
So next time we post to the blog, we'll be doing it from our own house somewhere we can finally start calling "home".
Ian has also developed a new goal for our time out here - he wants to get his pilots licence. So to start off, he used the money he earned from clearing Carla's yard to get an introductory lesson. The instructor was very impressed with his knowledge from the outset and allowed him to take off and land as well as control the aircraft (piper tomahawk) in cruise. He flew all over the local area and was able to see how flooded it is with the mountain snows melting further north. So now he's planning on trying this career path, Annalie just thinks he's addicted to trolley dollies after his last few airport jobs
The furniture arrived on Thursday and Ian spent the day unpacking with the shipping guys. Some of the stuff had moved in transit so there were a couple of things that had some minor damage but luckily nothing is too bad. It started to feel like home a little but there has been a lot of work to do to go through everything and get it straight. We've done the lounge/diner and the kitchen. The study and our bedroom is partially done but the main living areas were the most important.
With the arrival of our furniture, there was a realisation that we needed some new bits to complement what we have and what we got rid of before we left. So we made the obligatory trip to Ikea, yes, Ikea! About 40 minutes' drive away in New Haven, yes, New Haven!
One of the biggest issues for us was trying to find curtains for our bedroom. We have a door and two windows all next to each other so needed enough material to cover 3 metres! So we've ended up having to buy four whole panels to cover the gap with a nice gather. But trying to find anywhere stocking curtains that were long enough as well was a nightmare as we wanted longer than standard length. We've ended up ordering some in to a store but it was a complete nightmare. We must have tried every possible shop and ended up driving around in circles, but at least we got them in the end.
So our weekend was spent driving around buying bits for the house or doing stuff at the house. We weren't able to make the most of the fab weather but we had other priorities instead.
We also bought a grill, that's a barbeque to you and me! Ian convinced Annalie to go for a Weber, claiming that they're worth the extra investment. So Sunday we put it together and went to the shop to buy some nice steaks and corn to cook. Our deck gets the sun in the late afternoon so it's a fabulous time for the grill to go on and we sat there with a lovely sunset arriving and a wonderful view to accompany it. And even if we do say so ourselves, the food was bloody lovely too!
We haven't moved into the house just yet as we haven't got any TV, telephone or internet. We're getting connected on Monday (21st) so we'll be able to update you with our new details once the phone number has been confirmed. It will be really nice to finally move in and the house is looking really good. Ian is desperate to sleep in his own bed as he's not been doing too well at the temporary digs .
Annalie has been catching up on all the TV series that she's missed during the move. ABC is the main channel in the US for series like Desperate Housewives, Lost, Brothers and Sisters, Ugly Betty etc and the website allows you to watch all the episodes retrospectively. She's nearly up-to-date with Housewives but has yet to start on Betty and Brothers and Sisters. Both of us are hooked on Lost so we caught up with that quite quickly but it doesn't start back again until this Thursday so we'll be on time. We're getting a DVR (like Sky+) with our cable and it provides us with free HD too good job we bought a HD TV then but it also means that we can tape the series while catching up.
So next time we post to the blog, we'll be doing it from our own house somewhere we can finally start calling "home".
Tuesday, April 15, 2008
Some things are moving - others are not
Well we finally had some good news about our worldly goods. They have been X-rayed by US Customs and cleared. The shipping company pulled a few strings to get the container released earlier than normal and we've arranged delivery to our house on Thursday - yay! This means we can finally start to settle down properly with our own belongings around us. We'll probably wait until the weekend to move in but it's something to look forward to.
On the flip side, something has gone a bit awry with our Social Security application as we've been told that they have had to send the documents off to have them verified by Immigration. We're not sure why or what it means but it's another hurdle to overcome - not that we can do much to affect it. It's so frustrating.
Annalie has made her first trip back to the UK already to go back to uni for her Masters. She found out that she got a First for her first assignment which was a major surprise but she's pretty chuffed with it Because she stayed at her mum's she got to cat sit the Girls, but was very sad to leave them yet again. The flight was pretty convenient though, direct BA from JFK to Manchester. The annoying thing was that the in-flight entertainment system was broken in both directions. Annalie had to fill in a complaints form both ways as well so we're hoping for a few air miles to be added to the account On the way to JFK we picked up a Tom Tom sat nav to help us get around the country. It did prove itself to be pretty useful on the way to JFK as well.
While Annalie was away, Ian made the most of his freedom by going out with some of the boys from work. He played football for the first time since Annalie has known him and went along to a leaving do to deliver a door (don't ask). In another attempt to avoid boredom, he's also cleaned the yard of one of Annalie's colleagues, Carla. The "yard" was more like a field though (he took the job on before seeing it) so there were plenty of leaves to clear. It kept him busy and out of trouble for a day though.
We've been hunting out some fun things to do as well. We've found a pretty cool pool hall where you pay $5 per person and you get unlimited play. Just don't drink the diet coke in there though! We also paid a visit to Mohegan Sun casino with some of the guys from work, and which is about a 30 minute drive from us. Unlike our last visit to Vegas, we both got wiped out. We blame the people who joined our table part way through. Annalie managed to convince Carla to walk away from the slot machine when she won $50 on it rather than just fritter it away some more.
So next time we write we should be in our house We've just got to figure out the cable supplier now to sort out our TV, phone and Internet so that we can stay completely connected. That could be the tricky job.
On the flip side, something has gone a bit awry with our Social Security application as we've been told that they have had to send the documents off to have them verified by Immigration. We're not sure why or what it means but it's another hurdle to overcome - not that we can do much to affect it. It's so frustrating.
Annalie has made her first trip back to the UK already to go back to uni for her Masters. She found out that she got a First for her first assignment which was a major surprise but she's pretty chuffed with it Because she stayed at her mum's she got to cat sit the Girls, but was very sad to leave them yet again. The flight was pretty convenient though, direct BA from JFK to Manchester. The annoying thing was that the in-flight entertainment system was broken in both directions. Annalie had to fill in a complaints form both ways as well so we're hoping for a few air miles to be added to the account On the way to JFK we picked up a Tom Tom sat nav to help us get around the country. It did prove itself to be pretty useful on the way to JFK as well.
While Annalie was away, Ian made the most of his freedom by going out with some of the boys from work. He played football for the first time since Annalie has known him and went along to a leaving do to deliver a door (don't ask). In another attempt to avoid boredom, he's also cleaned the yard of one of Annalie's colleagues, Carla. The "yard" was more like a field though (he took the job on before seeing it) so there were plenty of leaves to clear. It kept him busy and out of trouble for a day though.
We've been hunting out some fun things to do as well. We've found a pretty cool pool hall where you pay $5 per person and you get unlimited play. Just don't drink the diet coke in there though! We also paid a visit to Mohegan Sun casino with some of the guys from work, and which is about a 30 minute drive from us. Unlike our last visit to Vegas, we both got wiped out. We blame the people who joined our table part way through. Annalie managed to convince Carla to walk away from the slot machine when she won $50 on it rather than just fritter it away some more.
So next time we write we should be in our house We've just got to figure out the cable supplier now to sort out our TV, phone and Internet so that we can stay completely connected. That could be the tricky job.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Good ol' US bureaucracy
Well we've just had our first experience of how alienated you can be as a legal alien. We went to apply for our Social Security Numbers. Everything, and I mean everything, is linked to your SSN over here. You can't get a drivers license, ID, credit cards or anything without one. And we have to start our whole credit history all over again, despite our good records in the UK. And your credit history is linked to your SSN. So you can see how important it it.
Our relocation consultant, Trish, said that it takes 10 working days to get our details on to the system after entering the country and once the details are on, we're home dry. So we merrily trotted along this morning hoping that all would be well. And you guessed it, our details weren't through on the SS system yet.
Now their process, if your details aren't in the system, is that your application gets filed for another 10 days before they'll check it again. So even if our details are in there tomorrow, they automatically wouldn't check for another 9 days after that. Then it takes another 7-14 days to get your number. So frustrating!
Anyway, Trish tried the nice approach and pleaded that, if there was any way they could check back sooner, it would be really appreciated. They said they'd try but we're going to give them a call on Monday to give them a nudge. We can but try I guess. But we really can't move things along on a personal level until we get the SSN.
Once we're moved into our house proper, we'll let you know the phone number that you can reach us on. There's a great number you can dial from the UK that means you can get really cheap calls to us, like 2p a minute, so we'll be expecting lots of chats to keep up with the UK gossip . We've got a similar number from the US too though so there's going to be no excuses! You don't get rid of us that easily!
Annalie is coming back to the UK tomorrow for uni, it's almost like she's never been away! And with the amount of trips she's scheduling to Europe over the next few months, she'll be a BA Gold Card before you know it! Seeing as we're now au fait with the New York journey, Ian's going to drive her down to JFK so she can fly direct to Manchester . At least it gets him out of the house!!
Our relocation consultant, Trish, said that it takes 10 working days to get our details on to the system after entering the country and once the details are on, we're home dry. So we merrily trotted along this morning hoping that all would be well. And you guessed it, our details weren't through on the SS system yet.
Now their process, if your details aren't in the system, is that your application gets filed for another 10 days before they'll check it again. So even if our details are in there tomorrow, they automatically wouldn't check for another 9 days after that. Then it takes another 7-14 days to get your number. So frustrating!
Anyway, Trish tried the nice approach and pleaded that, if there was any way they could check back sooner, it would be really appreciated. They said they'd try but we're going to give them a call on Monday to give them a nudge. We can but try I guess. But we really can't move things along on a personal level until we get the SSN.
Once we're moved into our house proper, we'll let you know the phone number that you can reach us on. There's a great number you can dial from the UK that means you can get really cheap calls to us, like 2p a minute, so we'll be expecting lots of chats to keep up with the UK gossip . We've got a similar number from the US too though so there's going to be no excuses! You don't get rid of us that easily!
Annalie is coming back to the UK tomorrow for uni, it's almost like she's never been away! And with the amount of trips she's scheduling to Europe over the next few months, she'll be a BA Gold Card before you know it! Seeing as we're now au fait with the New York journey, Ian's going to drive her down to JFK so she can fly direct to Manchester . At least it gets him out of the house!!
Monday, April 7, 2008
Our first full week
Well, we've made it to the end of our first full week and there's been plenty going on.
Our company car has arrived so the pair of us are driving around in his 'n' hers Jeep Libertys so we must get a photo of the two of them side-by-side to prove it. This is just a temporary measure until we get ourselves in a position to buy or lease another car then we'll have to give one of them back.
Annalie finally got paid into her US bank account so we felt like we weren't so stranded any more. We celebrated by going out and buying a washing machine and tumble dryer (ooh the high life!!). We were stunned at how expensive they are over here, especially the 'front loading' style we're used to back home. Around $1200 for the pair and they're not even anything special. Then Ian made up for it by going and spending nearly $2k on a TV This is despite the fact that we still haven't received our stuff. It has arrived in New York and is with US Customs but we've not yet heard what they're going to do with it.
There's finally a photo on here of our actual house. Its in the My Pictures album and is the bright blue thing!!
Ian's cabin fever is setting in good and proper and so he's been getting to the gym as much as possible to try and escape! He's been to the gym more times in the last two weeks than he has in the last two years.
Then on Friday we decided to head down to the local bar after work to meet up with some of the guys who are also here on secondment. Afterwards we went for the obligatory curry! The Americans aren't renowned for their love of spice so it's good that there is a curry house nearby.
On Saturday we thought we were being treated to some almost-live Premiership football when the Man U v Villa game was being shown on network TV. But we soon realised that things were too good to be true when it became apparent that it was actually a week-old game! Can't wait to get cable installed in our place!
Later that day we killed some time at a fab golfing shop called Golfers Warehouse. You can basically use it as a free driving range as they've got loads of demo clubs available to use so we messed about with some drivers for about an hour. Why pay for it when you don't have to!!
Then on Sunday we went to town. Literally. We headed into New York. It took just 1.5 hours to reach The Big Apple so there didn't seem to be a huge buzz about being there - it was just like driving to London really, and where's the fun in that? On the weekends you can pre-book all-day parking in Manhattan for as little as $15. So we did! We parked just round the corner from Broadway. We wandered down to Times Square for some breakfast while we decided what to do.
So for starters we went up to the viewing deck of the Rockerfeller Center. Ian tried the old "military discount" trick again and got in free! The views were pretty good. Because of its location you get good views of Central Park. It's not quite as tall as the Empire State Building, which gives you better views of Manhattan as a whole, but it's worth the trip and was nowhere near as crowded as the Empire State would have been.
Then we hopped on the Metro up to The Bronx to catch a Yankees game (that's baseball to the uninitiated!!) vs the Tampa Bay Rays. It's the last season at the original Yankee Stadium so we were pretty lucky to get tickets. We've been looking for weekend tickets for the rest of the season but its pretty sold out. unless we want to go to the last game of the season on 21st September, but then the cheapest tickets are a few hundred bucks, when we paid $20 for this game.
Anyway, it took a while for things to get exciting, but when they did, Annalie typically missed the action while she was queuing for a hot chocolate and a pretzel (when in Rome...). After two straight defeats by the Rays, the Yankees took this one 2-0.
We left the game about 4pm and headed back downtown for a bite to eat. Then we picked the car up and drive down to Ground Zero to check out how that's coming along and what they're planning to do to it. It seems such a small, empty space now when you compare it to what once stood there. The memorial that they're building is due to open at the end of next year so it might be worth a return visit after that.
Anyway, check out some more of our piccies. We've added an new album just for the New York trip - we thought it was worth it.
Our company car has arrived so the pair of us are driving around in his 'n' hers Jeep Libertys so we must get a photo of the two of them side-by-side to prove it. This is just a temporary measure until we get ourselves in a position to buy or lease another car then we'll have to give one of them back.
Annalie finally got paid into her US bank account so we felt like we weren't so stranded any more. We celebrated by going out and buying a washing machine and tumble dryer (ooh the high life!!). We were stunned at how expensive they are over here, especially the 'front loading' style we're used to back home. Around $1200 for the pair and they're not even anything special. Then Ian made up for it by going and spending nearly $2k on a TV This is despite the fact that we still haven't received our stuff. It has arrived in New York and is with US Customs but we've not yet heard what they're going to do with it.
There's finally a photo on here of our actual house. Its in the My Pictures album and is the bright blue thing!!
Ian's cabin fever is setting in good and proper and so he's been getting to the gym as much as possible to try and escape! He's been to the gym more times in the last two weeks than he has in the last two years.
Then on Friday we decided to head down to the local bar after work to meet up with some of the guys who are also here on secondment. Afterwards we went for the obligatory curry! The Americans aren't renowned for their love of spice so it's good that there is a curry house nearby.
On Saturday we thought we were being treated to some almost-live Premiership football when the Man U v Villa game was being shown on network TV. But we soon realised that things were too good to be true when it became apparent that it was actually a week-old game! Can't wait to get cable installed in our place!
Later that day we killed some time at a fab golfing shop called Golfers Warehouse. You can basically use it as a free driving range as they've got loads of demo clubs available to use so we messed about with some drivers for about an hour. Why pay for it when you don't have to!!
Then on Sunday we went to town. Literally. We headed into New York. It took just 1.5 hours to reach The Big Apple so there didn't seem to be a huge buzz about being there - it was just like driving to London really, and where's the fun in that? On the weekends you can pre-book all-day parking in Manhattan for as little as $15. So we did! We parked just round the corner from Broadway. We wandered down to Times Square for some breakfast while we decided what to do.
So for starters we went up to the viewing deck of the Rockerfeller Center. Ian tried the old "military discount" trick again and got in free! The views were pretty good. Because of its location you get good views of Central Park. It's not quite as tall as the Empire State Building, which gives you better views of Manhattan as a whole, but it's worth the trip and was nowhere near as crowded as the Empire State would have been.
Then we hopped on the Metro up to The Bronx to catch a Yankees game (that's baseball to the uninitiated!!) vs the Tampa Bay Rays. It's the last season at the original Yankee Stadium so we were pretty lucky to get tickets. We've been looking for weekend tickets for the rest of the season but its pretty sold out. unless we want to go to the last game of the season on 21st September, but then the cheapest tickets are a few hundred bucks, when we paid $20 for this game.
Anyway, it took a while for things to get exciting, but when they did, Annalie typically missed the action while she was queuing for a hot chocolate and a pretzel (when in Rome...). After two straight defeats by the Rays, the Yankees took this one 2-0.
We left the game about 4pm and headed back downtown for a bite to eat. Then we picked the car up and drive down to Ground Zero to check out how that's coming along and what they're planning to do to it. It seems such a small, empty space now when you compare it to what once stood there. The memorial that they're building is due to open at the end of next year so it might be worth a return visit after that.
Anyway, check out some more of our piccies. We've added an new album just for the New York trip - we thought it was worth it.
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