Ah what is it about this time of year that gets me down? The rapidly shortening days? The coolth that greets me some days (that I suspect is giving me cold-induced asthma?).
I love the cool mornings and warm, sunny afternoons we are getting here at the moment on most days. I love the green grass and coloured leaves, mostly yellow, and the crunchy leaves on the ground - I deliberately ride over them or walk on them (hope there are no doggy offerings hidden though!). But I despise the cold mornings that remain cold dreary days, especially when I have to go out riding to get something we need or something that I have to get done or whatever. I have to muffle myself right up, but if I do I can't get enough air and if I don't, I still can't get enough air as my airways close in response to the "cold." When I say cold, I mean under 10C or something like 50F I guess. Yes I am a wusster. Thank heavens we aren't moving further north cos I think a real winter would kill me. My nose would turn that dainty shade of alcoholic purple when it goes numb, my fingers would go numb, my toes, I'd end up with frostbite and hypothermia! See what happens to people when they grow up in a very mild climate? They turn into wussters!
As for the blues, well what is going on there? Daylight is a certain influence. I am so much a long days person, and a person who appreciates warmth. Stress - my goodness the stress of HP doing the dirty on us, the uncertainty of our futures, the realisation of having to move again, trying to get everything organised AGAIN for another tilt at ANOTHER visa, ANOTHER move.... Apparently all the Canadian consulates are booked out. Sigh.
Having a limited budget is also very vexing. I'm in a consumer's paradise and I can't consume anywhere near as much as I would like! It's my birthday at the end of the week and I know I won't be getting anywhere near as much as Nathan did for his. I used to get spoiled on my birthday and at Christmas. Now that I am Big, and Mum's long gone, that doesn't happen any more. So I spoil Nathan and since birthdays are not important to him, he doesn't spoil me.
Nathan's parents are going to be here for Christmas, which I am looking forward to, and the last couple of days they are here we'll be on the move, almost literally. The removals company will be taking all our stuff just after Christmas. Hey, parents in law, pull up some carpet! Hope you like your mattress reallly firm and no bedding! Sorry we don't have anything to cook with or eat off of - we'll just have to do takeaway for breakfast lunch and dinner! (and poison me!)
I think I am particularly grumpy about the fact we finally started settling in, making connections and now? Bang, gone. We don't really have that many friends here yet anyway but that is another stress cos we really have each other to moan at, with a couple of others like our neighbours occasionally getting a whinge from us.
So I am grumpy, whingy, whiney, moany and generally peeved at present. I am crafting stuff madly - spinning yarn for a November project, knitting socks madly, trying to work out how to make a rug out of felted sweaters, dyeing yarn - and avoiding anything that really needs to be done (like vacuuming the floor, but without a vacuum cleaner it is hard to do the floors. I've been sweeping the carpet instead). Why won't Mr Dyson swoop down and give me a lovely vacuum cleaner that actually is able to pick my long blonde hairs off the floor and not lose suction when it is halfway full (one borrowed vacuum cleaner with a name that is used by Brits for vacuuming had to be totally empty for the accessories to work. How suckful, ahem, is that?).
Heh. Having a good moan is most enjoyable. I feel better already! Hope it lasts. Gods, I'd best get outside - the forecast from Wednesday onwards is grey and dreary. Today it is bright and sunny and over 20C! Oh I'd best get the chairs finished - we've only had these two bar chairs for like two months now and I still haven't sanded them back and put the estapol finish on them...
Monday 29 October 2007
Saturday 27 October 2007
On giving up the car
When we moved here, I knew that we would not be getting a car for a while. Cars are expensive and well we have rent to pay here and a mortgage Back 'Ome... and a house to set up, etc, etc. That costs a LOT of money. People here seem to think we are on easy street but we've had to buy all sorts of dumb things. Want some envelopes to send the bill payments in? Oh yeah, we don't have any! Want some scrap paper to write some stuff down on that you are working out? Ooops, none of that either. Wrapping paper for a present? Umm, yeah. It is on the other side of the world. All these dumb small things make a big difference. Then there are the big things, like chairs, beds and other furniture that is really very handy to have. When you add it all up, it costs a bomb. Plus we stil have to pay for the everyday groceries, bills, rent, etc.
So we bought bikes when we got here. Bikes have been our main form of transportation for four months now. Once or twice a month we hire a car and go places. If we only hire a car once a month it is obviously cheaper but we don't get to see so many places. The bikes have been great but we can't go very far on them. A 20 mile ride and we are stuffed.
DH doesn't like cars. They are a means to an end for him, a dirty, filty, CO2 blarting means to an end. But me? My car is part of my identity. To move here I sold my car (To a friend who loves him too). I loved my car. I had had him for nearly 10 years (so I guess it was coming time for us to part). He and I did so many fun things together. We thundered (ok, whined and zipped) across the Nullarbor Plain. We zipped and flogged around twisty mountain roads. We crept over places that only four wheel drives should've been able to go (thank you small overhangs at either end!). He took me (and DH) to so many lovely places. We did 170,000km together (over 100,000 miles). About 130,000km of that was with DH (and DH had rubbed a shiny spot on the dashboard with his knee, so now you know, Gibbering). Every single place you've seen on Yarnivorous blog up to when we came here is a place I saw thanks to my car (even if it was just he got me to the airport so's I could fly elsewhere). I miss my car.
Moving here meant leaving my cats, my friends, my family, my house, my garden and pretty much everything that was familiar to me behind (except obviously DH). It meant leaving my car behind and that cut just as deep as the rest of the dislocations. How many distortions to one's reality can one take at one time?
No wonder we wandered around here in a blur for the first couple of weeks. No wonder I hold the few things we brought from home with deep familiarity.
We will be moving to San Jose after Christmas assuming the visas work out ok. We will be moving to a place where cars are a cult - they are pretty bad around here (just ask the three boys down the road with their Subarus with drainpipe exhausts, the guys who like to go out late at night with their suby on full throttle - so charming them letting the whole neighbourhood know that they have gone out or are coming home, just ask the guys who insist on driving around in these enormous trucks, not that they are carrying anything bar themselves in them). We still won't have a car. There will be less need for a car there as public transport is plentiful and *much* faster than driving on the, ahem, freeways (DH used the Caltrain and the cars on the freeway by it were pretty much at a standstill whilst the Caltrain was full speed ahead). We'll have the bikes too. But sometimes, sometimes I just want to get in the car and drive. I've been doing that for 20 years. Just get in the car and Go Someplace Else. I want to be able to look at My Car and examine any little dings some klutz has put in his panels, and wash him and drive him and get him serviced and have him spirit me away to magical places. We can still hire cars or use the car share programs in SJ and SF but it isn't quite the same, y'know? They are not *my* car, just my borrowed baby for the weekend. I regret that. I want my own baby. And not the sort that squawks and wails and pees and poos and seemingly never endingly wants me to be a milch cow, no I want a baby that rolls on four wheels and flings himself around corners at my bidding.
I want a car.
So we bought bikes when we got here. Bikes have been our main form of transportation for four months now. Once or twice a month we hire a car and go places. If we only hire a car once a month it is obviously cheaper but we don't get to see so many places. The bikes have been great but we can't go very far on them. A 20 mile ride and we are stuffed.
DH doesn't like cars. They are a means to an end for him, a dirty, filty, CO2 blarting means to an end. But me? My car is part of my identity. To move here I sold my car (To a friend who loves him too). I loved my car. I had had him for nearly 10 years (so I guess it was coming time for us to part). He and I did so many fun things together. We thundered (ok, whined and zipped) across the Nullarbor Plain. We zipped and flogged around twisty mountain roads. We crept over places that only four wheel drives should've been able to go (thank you small overhangs at either end!). He took me (and DH) to so many lovely places. We did 170,000km together (over 100,000 miles). About 130,000km of that was with DH (and DH had rubbed a shiny spot on the dashboard with his knee, so now you know, Gibbering). Every single place you've seen on Yarnivorous blog up to when we came here is a place I saw thanks to my car (even if it was just he got me to the airport so's I could fly elsewhere). I miss my car.
Moving here meant leaving my cats, my friends, my family, my house, my garden and pretty much everything that was familiar to me behind (except obviously DH). It meant leaving my car behind and that cut just as deep as the rest of the dislocations. How many distortions to one's reality can one take at one time?
No wonder we wandered around here in a blur for the first couple of weeks. No wonder I hold the few things we brought from home with deep familiarity.
We will be moving to San Jose after Christmas assuming the visas work out ok. We will be moving to a place where cars are a cult - they are pretty bad around here (just ask the three boys down the road with their Subarus with drainpipe exhausts, the guys who like to go out late at night with their suby on full throttle - so charming them letting the whole neighbourhood know that they have gone out or are coming home, just ask the guys who insist on driving around in these enormous trucks, not that they are carrying anything bar themselves in them). We still won't have a car. There will be less need for a car there as public transport is plentiful and *much* faster than driving on the, ahem, freeways (DH used the Caltrain and the cars on the freeway by it were pretty much at a standstill whilst the Caltrain was full speed ahead). We'll have the bikes too. But sometimes, sometimes I just want to get in the car and drive. I've been doing that for 20 years. Just get in the car and Go Someplace Else. I want to be able to look at My Car and examine any little dings some klutz has put in his panels, and wash him and drive him and get him serviced and have him spirit me away to magical places. We can still hire cars or use the car share programs in SJ and SF but it isn't quite the same, y'know? They are not *my* car, just my borrowed baby for the weekend. I regret that. I want my own baby. And not the sort that squawks and wails and pees and poos and seemingly never endingly wants me to be a milch cow, no I want a baby that rolls on four wheels and flings himself around corners at my bidding.
I want a car.
Thursday 25 October 2007
A To Do List
Before we leave this state at the end of the year, I want to:
That will do for starters!
- visit Interweave Press
- drive through the Rockies (at least twice!)
- go cross country skiing
- go snow shoeing
- visit Shuttles, Spindles and Skeins (you knwo what i mean) in Boulder
- visit the gluten free cafe Deby's in Denver
- go to Brown Sheep in Nebraska
- visit Cheyenne (just cos)
- go up the Poudre
- visit the Swetsville Zoo
That will do for starters!
Tuesday 23 October 2007
Quelle horreur!
You know how I went to Walmart and BOUGHT stuff the other day? You know I don't like to buy stuff from there because I don't approve of its business plan, putting the Ma and Pa businesses out of business?
Well anyway, not only did I buy stuff because they were the only place with what I wanted, I gave them an unintended present.
Yep, I LEFT MY DEBIT CARD BEHIND!
Quelle horreur!
And you know how I found out about it?
When I went to pay for a LION BRAND pattern!
Quelle embarrassment!
OMG how could I fall so low?
(It appears the card has not been used. I cancelled it at midnight last night when I realised, and I already have a new one that I have to activate tomorrow, and no suspicious activity has been recorded on my account.)
Just to top off my misery, I had a dream that Mum came to visit us here (only we were living in a dance hall, oddly enough). She was already sick but hadn't told anyone and we couldn't afford to get her illness treated. We got my father across to help out cos Mum was pretty crook. Again in that whacky dream way, she was lying in bed in her own bedroom, but it definitely was here in the USA (otherwise we could've afforded to get her treatment cos we have universal healthcare and she had private health cover anyway). We had friends around who wanted to play loud music but that upset her. It was a pretty miserable dream watching Mum die for the second time. (She died over 17 years ago, for those who are new to my blogs.)
So I had a pretty miserable night and morning! Bibbling, blubbering wreck is more like it. But it got better. The sun was shining and it got reasonably warm, so I was able to go riding all over town and look at stuff we need (eg a hair drier, a set of kitchen scales, other stuff that I randomly remember and then forget again....). The possibility of buying stuff is always happy making. Sad isn't it that retail therapy is so effective!
Well anyway, not only did I buy stuff because they were the only place with what I wanted, I gave them an unintended present.
Yep, I LEFT MY DEBIT CARD BEHIND!
Quelle horreur!
And you know how I found out about it?
When I went to pay for a LION BRAND pattern!
Quelle embarrassment!
OMG how could I fall so low?
(It appears the card has not been used. I cancelled it at midnight last night when I realised, and I already have a new one that I have to activate tomorrow, and no suspicious activity has been recorded on my account.)
Just to top off my misery, I had a dream that Mum came to visit us here (only we were living in a dance hall, oddly enough). She was already sick but hadn't told anyone and we couldn't afford to get her illness treated. We got my father across to help out cos Mum was pretty crook. Again in that whacky dream way, she was lying in bed in her own bedroom, but it definitely was here in the USA (otherwise we could've afforded to get her treatment cos we have universal healthcare and she had private health cover anyway). We had friends around who wanted to play loud music but that upset her. It was a pretty miserable dream watching Mum die for the second time. (She died over 17 years ago, for those who are new to my blogs.)
So I had a pretty miserable night and morning! Bibbling, blubbering wreck is more like it. But it got better. The sun was shining and it got reasonably warm, so I was able to go riding all over town and look at stuff we need (eg a hair drier, a set of kitchen scales, other stuff that I randomly remember and then forget again....). The possibility of buying stuff is always happy making. Sad isn't it that retail therapy is so effective!
Saturday 20 October 2007
Green potatoes
What is it with the green potatoes I keep getting in bags here? Actually getting potatoes that have not gone green is REALLY hard, in bags or not.
Potatoes go green when they are stored in light. Green potatoes are NOT good for humans. Potatoes should be stored in the dark, yet the spuds here are often put under a spotlight (not that Wholefoods is guilty of that, no, nosiree!). Is this something that American supermarkets don't realise? Back 'ome, the potatoes are covered over at night, even if the shop is open, to protect them from going green quickly.
I wonder if they store spuds any better in California? And if the broccoli and cauli will be better there cos they grow it there....
Potatoes go green when they are stored in light. Green potatoes are NOT good for humans. Potatoes should be stored in the dark, yet the spuds here are often put under a spotlight (not that Wholefoods is guilty of that, no, nosiree!). Is this something that American supermarkets don't realise? Back 'ome, the potatoes are covered over at night, even if the shop is open, to protect them from going green quickly.
I wonder if they store spuds any better in California? And if the broccoli and cauli will be better there cos they grow it there....
I feel unclean
I am so ashamed.
I went to Walmart and I bought stuff. It was cheap. I would not have bought stuff there but it is the only place in town that I've seen oven/baking trays that are not non-stick - I don't want non-stick cos it rapidly turns into stick in my experience, closely followed by non-stick coating on your food when you lever it off the tray...
So I bought oven trays. And I bought a heap of polyester fleece material to help us curtain off some parts of the house (but I forgot to buy the velcro sticky spots. Ooops). And I bought a pair of waterproof boots cos I only have one pair of closed shoes and they have mesh on top....
I vowed not to buy stuff there but if it is the only place, including the really nice cooking shop, where you can get the stuff you want, well what choice do you have? Especially when you don't have a car to go tooling around in.
Heh. You shoulda seen me today on my bike. I have a rack on the back of it but no panniers. The rack and some occy straps (bungee cords) helps me get a surprising amount of stuff home without the bike trailer. Admittedly the stuff has to be squashable....
(This is not much stuff at all on the back of my bike, just my bag, some yarn and a coat....)
Anyway, early today I rode on up to the op shop cos I was there on Thursday and saw a winter coat that I thought would be good. I bought a different coat on the day as it was half price then (the coat is in the whiter bag in the above pic). I woke up at the crack of dawn (and what a dawn!)
And couldn't go back to sleep as I kept thinking about all sorts of stuff, even after I paid a visit. (At least it was different stuff than OMG I need to pee NOW! which dominated my first waking thoughts.) So I got dressed and rode on up to the op shop and bought The Coat (goretex, hardly worn but the cord at the bottom inside liner has come out! Oh no! How will I cope with taking 15 minutes to fix it up rather than buying a $150 coat!) and another pile of cheap, pretty sweaters to shred for their yarn and/or felt. (The two are possible in the one sweater cos sometimes I only want to felt the front or the sleeves or whatever.)
I rode home with a bundle that was at least double that of the pic above. And I had to carry my bag on my back!
I then got to ride in an ENORMOUS truck - I got a ride with our neighbours down to a local Home Depot but his borrowed truck has these baby seats in the back - only good for amputees or thalidomide people I'm afraid cos if you have legs, you won't fit in. We met up with their parents and well that is where the ENORMOUS truck came into the picture.
I can see the point of an ENORMOUS truck if you run a business like building and you need to lug around a whole lot of stuff, which they do. But for tooling around town in? Like why? Anyway, this truck was ENORMOUS, as I said. I don't even want to think about its gas mileage, though it was a diesel anyway.
Then I rode to Walmart and got an even bigger pile of stuff home on the bike.
It's been windy all day but the wind has really gotten up now. 40mph, gusting to 47mph. That is nearly 80kmh! It got to about 28C degrees today - unseasonably warm and very uncomfortable for wearing jeans but I haven't shaved my legs for weeks so no shorts for me! People were wearing shorts and singlets this afternoon - their last chance! The forecast is up to 80% chance of SNOW overnight! Ooo err! Our first snow 8-) Temps tomorrow will not even reach 40F. Heck, that is no more than about 4C! Fridge temperature! (I thought Melbourne's weather was changeable but not that changeable!) Hence the need for waterproof shoes cos it if snows tomorrow, we will be out in it. I think we'll mostly be staying in, even if Shrek the Third is playing at the cheap theatre. Doesn't sound like good weather to go riding in. Sounds like good weather to snuggle up in some nice warm handknitted woollies!
I went to Walmart and I bought stuff. It was cheap. I would not have bought stuff there but it is the only place in town that I've seen oven/baking trays that are not non-stick - I don't want non-stick cos it rapidly turns into stick in my experience, closely followed by non-stick coating on your food when you lever it off the tray...
So I bought oven trays. And I bought a heap of polyester fleece material to help us curtain off some parts of the house (but I forgot to buy the velcro sticky spots. Ooops). And I bought a pair of waterproof boots cos I only have one pair of closed shoes and they have mesh on top....
I vowed not to buy stuff there but if it is the only place, including the really nice cooking shop, where you can get the stuff you want, well what choice do you have? Especially when you don't have a car to go tooling around in.
Heh. You shoulda seen me today on my bike. I have a rack on the back of it but no panniers. The rack and some occy straps (bungee cords) helps me get a surprising amount of stuff home without the bike trailer. Admittedly the stuff has to be squashable....
(This is not much stuff at all on the back of my bike, just my bag, some yarn and a coat....)
Anyway, early today I rode on up to the op shop cos I was there on Thursday and saw a winter coat that I thought would be good. I bought a different coat on the day as it was half price then (the coat is in the whiter bag in the above pic). I woke up at the crack of dawn (and what a dawn!)
And couldn't go back to sleep as I kept thinking about all sorts of stuff, even after I paid a visit. (At least it was different stuff than OMG I need to pee NOW! which dominated my first waking thoughts.) So I got dressed and rode on up to the op shop and bought The Coat (goretex, hardly worn but the cord at the bottom inside liner has come out! Oh no! How will I cope with taking 15 minutes to fix it up rather than buying a $150 coat!) and another pile of cheap, pretty sweaters to shred for their yarn and/or felt. (The two are possible in the one sweater cos sometimes I only want to felt the front or the sleeves or whatever.)
I rode home with a bundle that was at least double that of the pic above. And I had to carry my bag on my back!
I then got to ride in an ENORMOUS truck - I got a ride with our neighbours down to a local Home Depot but his borrowed truck has these baby seats in the back - only good for amputees or thalidomide people I'm afraid cos if you have legs, you won't fit in. We met up with their parents and well that is where the ENORMOUS truck came into the picture.
I can see the point of an ENORMOUS truck if you run a business like building and you need to lug around a whole lot of stuff, which they do. But for tooling around town in? Like why? Anyway, this truck was ENORMOUS, as I said. I don't even want to think about its gas mileage, though it was a diesel anyway.
Then I rode to Walmart and got an even bigger pile of stuff home on the bike.
It's been windy all day but the wind has really gotten up now. 40mph, gusting to 47mph. That is nearly 80kmh! It got to about 28C degrees today - unseasonably warm and very uncomfortable for wearing jeans but I haven't shaved my legs for weeks so no shorts for me! People were wearing shorts and singlets this afternoon - their last chance! The forecast is up to 80% chance of SNOW overnight! Ooo err! Our first snow 8-) Temps tomorrow will not even reach 40F. Heck, that is no more than about 4C! Fridge temperature! (I thought Melbourne's weather was changeable but not that changeable!) Hence the need for waterproof shoes cos it if snows tomorrow, we will be out in it. I think we'll mostly be staying in, even if Shrek the Third is playing at the cheap theatre. Doesn't sound like good weather to go riding in. Sounds like good weather to snuggle up in some nice warm handknitted woollies!
Friday 19 October 2007
Communication established!
We have a phone! yay! Hope it works - it is charging at the moment. We have moved into the 20th century! (Still working on getting into the 21st century)
We ended up going with AT&T cos if we call home their rates (assuming we pay an extra $4 a month) are reasonable and they cover San Jose. We have a prepaid plan - getting a contract was
a) dumb if we are not sure about our future plans, and
b) really expensive as we don't have a credit rating, which means we get to pay double for the phone.
So we can talk to the outside world, assuming once the phone is charged the activation works ok!
Update - phone works! Apparently. Not that we are sure cos noone has rung us. So if you want the number, you need to email me.
We ended up going with AT&T cos if we call home their rates (assuming we pay an extra $4 a month) are reasonable and they cover San Jose. We have a prepaid plan - getting a contract was
a) dumb if we are not sure about our future plans, and
b) really expensive as we don't have a credit rating, which means we get to pay double for the phone.
So we can talk to the outside world, assuming once the phone is charged the activation works ok!
Update - phone works! Apparently. Not that we are sure cos noone has rung us. So if you want the number, you need to email me.
Tracking
What on earth is the deal with FedEx? We are eagerly awaiting an order we put in for a certain little communications something, and here is the tracking:
Oct 18, 2007
3:42 AM At dest sort facility DENVER, CO
2:21 AM Departed FedEx location FORT WORTH, TX
Oct 17, 2007
2:24 PM Arrived at FedEx location FORT WORTH, TX
2:04 PM Left origin FT WORTH, TX
9:17 AM Package data transmitted to FedEx
8:41 AM Picked up FT WORTH, TX
It seems that our parcel did the rounds of FedEx's Fort Worth depot and now is chilling out in Denver, and has been for most of a day. Since the shipping is two days, does this mean that FedEx makes sure it takes two days even when it could've taken only one?
We are confuzzled.
Oct 18, 2007
3:42 AM At dest sort facility DENVER, CO
2:21 AM Departed FedEx location FORT WORTH, TX
Oct 17, 2007
2:24 PM Arrived at FedEx location FORT WORTH, TX
2:04 PM Left origin FT WORTH, TX
9:17 AM Package data transmitted to FedEx
8:41 AM Picked up FT WORTH, TX
It seems that our parcel did the rounds of FedEx's Fort Worth depot and now is chilling out in Denver, and has been for most of a day. Since the shipping is two days, does this mean that FedEx makes sure it takes two days even when it could've taken only one?
We are confuzzled.
Sunday 14 October 2007
Rain rain go away
Come again some other day!
Goodness what a lot of rain we have had here over the last day! Except for the sheer amount of rain I would say I am back in Melbourne in winter. Alas, Melbourne has been missing out on rain too.
It was very dull yesterday morning. Very dull. Then in the afternoon, just when I decided to go out, it started dripping. Half an hour later, it was raining, full on. Then the great Niagara falls started - our roof has waaaaaay too much catchment for the size of the guttering and downspout. And the guttering has crud in it too. We've told the HOA but they are not fussed, they paid someone to clean it out in spring so it shouldn't be full of crud in fall..., and we aren't fixing it up cos it is two stories up and that is waaaay too long for a normal ladder, not that we have a ladder anyway.... Lightning and thunder. Oooh, a thunderstorm! Lightning flashing and thunder cracking immediately. Hmm, a thunderstorm right on top of us! Yay! Let's not go check out the creek cos it was flooding mildly. It kept raining on and off all night. I can tell cos you would think that water falling on an ashphalt roof would be quiet, but it actually sounds like whole heap of birds or small critters pattering around on it. Not as noisy as it would be on a tin roof but not quiet either.
Today's forecast is for rain showers in the morning with some extra rain showers in the afternoon. 80% chance of showers. If what I woke up to is anything to go by, we've already got 100% rain...
So it is very different but really not very exciting. It is very dull not being able to go anywhere - riding the bikes means getting horridly wet and cold. It means that we had to turn the heating on for a while yesterday and needed lights on all day long. Mebbe we moved to Seattle without noticing ;-)
Goodness what a lot of rain we have had here over the last day! Except for the sheer amount of rain I would say I am back in Melbourne in winter. Alas, Melbourne has been missing out on rain too.
It was very dull yesterday morning. Very dull. Then in the afternoon, just when I decided to go out, it started dripping. Half an hour later, it was raining, full on. Then the great Niagara falls started - our roof has waaaaaay too much catchment for the size of the guttering and downspout. And the guttering has crud in it too. We've told the HOA but they are not fussed, they paid someone to clean it out in spring so it shouldn't be full of crud in fall..., and we aren't fixing it up cos it is two stories up and that is waaaay too long for a normal ladder, not that we have a ladder anyway.... Lightning and thunder. Oooh, a thunderstorm! Lightning flashing and thunder cracking immediately. Hmm, a thunderstorm right on top of us! Yay! Let's not go check out the creek cos it was flooding mildly. It kept raining on and off all night. I can tell cos you would think that water falling on an ashphalt roof would be quiet, but it actually sounds like whole heap of birds or small critters pattering around on it. Not as noisy as it would be on a tin roof but not quiet either.
Today's forecast is for rain showers in the morning with some extra rain showers in the afternoon. 80% chance of showers. If what I woke up to is anything to go by, we've already got 100% rain...
So it is very different but really not very exciting. It is very dull not being able to go anywhere - riding the bikes means getting horridly wet and cold. It means that we had to turn the heating on for a while yesterday and needed lights on all day long. Mebbe we moved to Seattle without noticing ;-)
Friday 12 October 2007
A change of scene
Well well well.
What a difference a few days make.
We now face the future with a certain degree of confidence.
Why?
There is a job offer on its way to DH. It means we will have to up stumps and leave Colorado in the dead of winter but given the choice of:
I think it is pretty obvious which we would choose.
We have to change our visas over. The new company will arrange an interview and fly us to Toronto (or Vancouver or Montreal or wherever we want but we know folks in TO). The idea of flying to the Mexican town opposite El Paso in Texas came up again but we are wussy and their preference is Canada as well. Everyone we know has said don't go there, or if you do, stay in a hotel real close to the consulate and don't go out. Hmmm....
Pictures care of our trip to New Mexico last week. First time I've been out of the state since we got here. New Mexico looks like a very poor state full of lots of nothing but we liked it. The scenery is different and we reached this state of enchantment just on sunset. Purdy, eh?
What a difference a few days make.
We now face the future with a certain degree of confidence.
Why?
There is a job offer on its way to DH. It means we will have to up stumps and leave Colorado in the dead of winter but given the choice of:
- being illegal, penniless immigrants in Colorado,
- legal, penniless citizens back 'ome or
- legal, monied immigrants in California,
I think it is pretty obvious which we would choose.
We have to change our visas over. The new company will arrange an interview and fly us to Toronto (or Vancouver or Montreal or wherever we want but we know folks in TO). The idea of flying to the Mexican town opposite El Paso in Texas came up again but we are wussy and their preference is Canada as well. Everyone we know has said don't go there, or if you do, stay in a hotel real close to the consulate and don't go out. Hmmm....
Pictures care of our trip to New Mexico last week. First time I've been out of the state since we got here. New Mexico looks like a very poor state full of lots of nothing but we liked it. The scenery is different and we reached this state of enchantment just on sunset. Purdy, eh?
Wednesday 10 October 2007
Need chocolate
Chocolate.
Neeeeeed.
Good chocolate.
Actually crappy chocolate would be vaguely satisfactory too as long as it is GF and DF. It is abominably hard to get chocolate that is both gluten free and dairy free - most of the chocolate here does not mention gluten and about 95% of what I can find in Wholefoods, which has the biggest range of chocolate I've found so far, says it contains traces of dairy (not just may contain traces, does).
I might have to ride about four miles down to Vitamin Cottage (and four miles back) to get some not very good but at least it is GF and DF chocolate. I can get it with mint chips in it too...
If only Kenneman brought their GF/DF/nut free and egg free chocolate into the States. Mmmmm.....
Neeeeeed.
Good chocolate.
Actually crappy chocolate would be vaguely satisfactory too as long as it is GF and DF. It is abominably hard to get chocolate that is both gluten free and dairy free - most of the chocolate here does not mention gluten and about 95% of what I can find in Wholefoods, which has the biggest range of chocolate I've found so far, says it contains traces of dairy (not just may contain traces, does).
I might have to ride about four miles down to Vitamin Cottage (and four miles back) to get some not very good but at least it is GF and DF chocolate. I can get it with mint chips in it too...
If only Kenneman brought their GF/DF/nut free and egg free chocolate into the States. Mmmmm.....
Tuesday 9 October 2007
Visas
Thanks to those who have commented so warmly :-)
One of the big problems we have is we are barely legal immigrants in the USA. (I am still p*ssy about being a subordinate alien.) We only have visas to be in the country for as long as Nathan is employed in his current role at HP.
As soon as his employment terminates, we have 60 days to leave the country (I thought it was 30days but one source says 60 days). Yes, we can apply for other jobs but the time taken in recruitment is over a month and then the visas take about two months to come through assuming the US govt decides to be nice. In the mean time, we have absolutely no income, no savings and outgoings of $2100 a month simply to pay our mortgage at home and the rent that we are obliged to pay here. No food, no bills paid or any little extras like cold weather clothing that we don't have.
If we go back home, we are very unlikely to come back again. Why would we? We have very few friends here, no family, the US govt is extremely obstructionist in issuing work permits for subsidiary aliens (ie I can't work).... At home both of us are allowed to work, even if we don't have jobs, we are eligible for the dole, we have family to bot off if it comes to it.
Nathan doesn't quite have a job offer from another Silly Valley company. They want him badly. We are trying to tough it out here for as long as possible and then work from there.
It is all in the lap of the gods at the moment and I *really* hate that.
One of the big problems we have is we are barely legal immigrants in the USA. (I am still p*ssy about being a subordinate alien.) We only have visas to be in the country for as long as Nathan is employed in his current role at HP.
As soon as his employment terminates, we have 60 days to leave the country (I thought it was 30days but one source says 60 days). Yes, we can apply for other jobs but the time taken in recruitment is over a month and then the visas take about two months to come through assuming the US govt decides to be nice. In the mean time, we have absolutely no income, no savings and outgoings of $2100 a month simply to pay our mortgage at home and the rent that we are obliged to pay here. No food, no bills paid or any little extras like cold weather clothing that we don't have.
If we go back home, we are very unlikely to come back again. Why would we? We have very few friends here, no family, the US govt is extremely obstructionist in issuing work permits for subsidiary aliens (ie I can't work).... At home both of us are allowed to work, even if we don't have jobs, we are eligible for the dole, we have family to bot off if it comes to it.
Nathan doesn't quite have a job offer from another Silly Valley company. They want him badly. We are trying to tough it out here for as long as possible and then work from there.
It is all in the lap of the gods at the moment and I *really* hate that.
Monday 8 October 2007
Screwed
DH's job is one of those that will be cut.
Oh no!
I don't know what we will do for money. We don't have any savings any more. We used them all up in either paying the mortgage at home or accumulating stuff here. We don't have a car here or any real assets. We are going to lose the house back home because we won't have any way to pay for it. We will owe most of a year's rent for the place we are living in now.
HP believes it is ethical, but this is just So Wrong it isn't funny. They made a record profit last year and now want to cut jobs so they can make more money. I'll never buy any of their equipment if I can possibly avoid it. It isn't as if Nathan can just go get another job in HP which is what usually happens with other people who work there. Nathan's work visa is specifically for the job he has now. If he changes jobs, the whole visa stuff starts again.
Our only hope is another job. DH went for an interview in San Jose a bit over a week ago. They *really* want him but it will mean changing visas and that will take a couple of months if not more. With no timeline on the end of the HP job (but presumably soon) we are pretty much screwed.
I don't know what to do. Just sitting and crying seems like a really good option currently.
Oh no!
I don't know what we will do for money. We don't have any savings any more. We used them all up in either paying the mortgage at home or accumulating stuff here. We don't have a car here or any real assets. We are going to lose the house back home because we won't have any way to pay for it. We will owe most of a year's rent for the place we are living in now.
HP believes it is ethical, but this is just So Wrong it isn't funny. They made a record profit last year and now want to cut jobs so they can make more money. I'll never buy any of their equipment if I can possibly avoid it. It isn't as if Nathan can just go get another job in HP which is what usually happens with other people who work there. Nathan's work visa is specifically for the job he has now. If he changes jobs, the whole visa stuff starts again.
Our only hope is another job. DH went for an interview in San Jose a bit over a week ago. They *really* want him but it will mean changing visas and that will take a couple of months if not more. With no timeline on the end of the HP job (but presumably soon) we are pretty much screwed.
I don't know what to do. Just sitting and crying seems like a really good option currently.
Sunday 7 October 2007
Why did the tarantula cross the road?
We just had a great long weekend driving to New Mexico (Taos to be precise) and back again. More on that later!
On the way home I saw a slow moving black thing walking on the road. It looked rather like a large spider - low slung, definitely moving like a spider. I tried to miss it but I fear I left a splat on the road. Then another one just over the crest of a hill, so it bit the dust too.
Alas I killed off two male tarantulas. I didn't mean to or aim to do it - even spiders in the middle of nowhere have a right to live. Why were they crossing the road? This little tale will reveal all..... (for the spider phobic there *are* pics of tarantulas on that page)
On the way home I saw a slow moving black thing walking on the road. It looked rather like a large spider - low slung, definitely moving like a spider. I tried to miss it but I fear I left a splat on the road. Then another one just over the crest of a hill, so it bit the dust too.
Alas I killed off two male tarantulas. I didn't mean to or aim to do it - even spiders in the middle of nowhere have a right to live. Why were they crossing the road? This little tale will reveal all..... (for the spider phobic there *are* pics of tarantulas on that page)
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