Must stop posting so much on facebook

It kind of ruins the fun when I go to post pictures on here and realize I've already put most of the good stuff on facebook so it's already been seen.  But not everyone in the family has facebook (Peter and G&G) so for everyone else you will just have to see some things twice. This one is still my favorite and was taken from the 6th floor terrace in my office building.

Tower Bridge from Mercer

People at work keep asking me what has been the weirdest thing I've come across here so far and what the biggest adjustment has been.  So I've decided to come up with a list of things that are interesting and new/things that I've had to learn how to do since I've been here. (Note that a lot of things revolve around the kitchen...maybe I just wasn't very domestic before)

1. Use an electric kettle: this has turned out to be the best and most convenient thing ever.  Why did I ever wait for water to boil on the stove? Is this something that everyone already knew and never shared this wonderful secret, or is this a British thing?

2. Reheat everything by stove top or in the oven (no microwave). This doesn't sound too difficult, but you have to get a little creative with things like pasta.  Takes a little longer but things actually end up tasting better.  We could buy a microwave I guess but it makes me feel kind of earthy or something not to have one. On the same note I learned how to use a gas stove - not strange I know, but new to me.

3. Plan. You can't leave your flat without a plan of when you're planning to come home, how you will get home, how you will get to your destination, how long it will take, and a plan B in case your first choice is a fail (and an umbrella).  The tubes typically stop running around 12:30am (midnight-thirty as is said here) so there is no going out late without thinking things through. I still carry a tube map around with me and look at it probably daily.  Is anyone ever not a tourist here?

My cute, but not practical, soaking wet toms

4. Restaurant style tortilla chips are very difficult to come by.  So even if you manage to find a cheese that will actually melt into a liquidy, delicious dip, you are likely to not have anything to dip into it.  Chips (crisps) are flavored by nature and are not made to be dipped.  Here is another fun treat I found at the store..

I'm not sold on the delicious part

5. Tennis shoes and backpacks with nice suits.  It hasn't gotten any less funny to see the 60ish year old CEO of Mercer UK get in the elevator at 6pm with a suit that probably costs $4000, a school-boy looking backpack and tennis shoes.  I'm not judging, I probably walk 2 miles each day in my work clothes and it just can't be done in heels.

I leave you with a few photos from this week and last...just roaming around, taking pictures at random, using my iphone instead of the expensive camera I have that would be much better for this.

Walking along the Thames after work

I love the mixture of old and new here

The living room: almost done

My lovely flatmate

All settled in (almost)

Post one. Three weeks into my move across the pond.  It's already been a huge adventure.. but due to the fact that getting internet to work in our flat took AGES (which is part of the adventure I guess), I haven't been able to get this thing going.

So here's where it all began....I found the cheapest, climate-controlled, 10x10 storage unit I could find and genuinely thought I wouldn't get close to filling it up.  Turns out that wasn't quite the case. (And this doesn't even include the stuff that Mercer shipped over for me)

Just a few small items

That picture makes me a little sad for all of my furniture that would have had a wonderful home here.  Don't get me wrong, I LOVE the flat that we got, however it turned out to be "semi-furnished" instead of furnished. For those who don't know, this literally means a bed and a side table, a couch(ette), a tv stand and a kitchen table. The lovely fireplace that was advertised also does not work, and our "parking spot" that doesn't actually fit a car is shared with our passionate (angry) downstairs Serbian neighbor named Dragan. I would love to share the wonderful things our other neighbors have said about him, but it is not appropriate for all audiences.  On the bright side, Nan and I had a lot of fun and spent a ton of money filling in the holes (with a lot of Jon's help as well!).  We're still getting there. Will post some pictures when it's all done! 

More to come later, but I'll quickly explain the blog title.  I figured I'd be taking the tube (subway) to work in the morning with the rest of the suit-wearing, newspaper-reading people.  But sadly nope, I am on the completely un-glamourous bus.  The 21 is my transportation of choice, due to its stopping point about 100 feet from my front door vs a 10 minute walk to the tube stop.  I don't mind it actually, it's easy and if I get a seat I can zone out for 20 minutes.  I'll leave you with an image so you can picture me riding along. 

My actual stop (and my flat in the back right!)