Moving Pains and a Needed Escape

Over the last few weeks, we have been experiencing some moving pains. Even though I have moved many, many times, I had forgotten about all the little things that need to be done. Add the fact that we have moved to a different country and you can multiply all those things by ten! Nothing seems to be easy. Since we don't have established credit in the UK, I could not get both a phone and a mobile broadband contract together (Jignesh has a phone through work so no worries there). So, I ended up with just a phone contract (after a £100 deposit due to no credit) and a seperate pay as you go broadband plan. Ok, no big deal. I was pretty psyched to finally have internet in the flat (no more hanging out at stinky McDonald's) but reality set in when it still did not work after spending an hour on the phone with Vodaphone. ..back to stinky McDonald's I go. As for a tele...we did manage to snag a free one from one of Jignesh's co-workers who is returning the states this week...score! However, it could never be that easy. We don't seem to have the right connection for the outlet and have been on a treasure hunt for the correct cable ever since. Oh, I forgot to mention that we have been receiving nasty letters from the TV license (yes, you must pay to even plug your tele into the wall) when we don't even have a working tele yet. And then there is our eventful trip to Ikea. Since we don't have any window coverings in our bedroom that faces the main street we decided to go the cheap route and trek across London to Ikea. After braving the masses (not a fan of Ikea), we finally found our way home with curtains and rods. I was excited about the prospect of no longer have people walking by, looking into our window and exclaiming "Hey, there are people sleeping in there!" Of course, the curtains did not fit so we are back to square one! These are just many of our current moving pains.

What do you do when things are a little stressful in your new home...You escape. That is exactly what I am going to do this weekend. I am headed to Amsterdam to meet up with Jignesh for a weekend of relaxation. I think a visit to one of those infamous coffee shops might solve all my frustrations!

Cheers!