Happy as Larry

Mood: Exhausted
Theme Song: “Why" - Annie Lennox

I’m super glad that this week is over, as it was very trying. I am having major I.T. issues at work, and so I spent most of the week frustrated and annoyed. First my cell phone wasn’t working. Then my wireless internet thing (they call it a "dongle” over here; I have trouble saying that because it sounds like manly parts) refused to work all week. Despite the IT guy calling Orange (the service provider) about 10 times, the problem didn’t get fixed until this afternoon. It was frustrating because I have work to do coming out of my ears, and I really wanted to work from home today so I could function without distractions.

This week was also challenging simply because I was still buying things for my apartment and lugging them in, putting them together, etc. I think I am finally done with all that, and aside from needing some pictures on the walls and decorative touches, I have pretty much everything I need. The apartment finally has a sort of personality and feels like it is “mine”. It feels good - no more sterile hotel environment! Now, if I could stop running into everything in my path, things would go alot better.

I finally got my PIN number for my UK debit card, which means I actually have access to my money. Which is awesome. And the Sky TV people come on Wednesday morning to set up my cable and internet. I ordered a home phone, but I have to wait for the beginning of February to get that for some reason. It may comfort my American friends to know that they pull that “We will install your service sometime between 8am and 1pm” crap over here, too.

And now the reason for the title of this short entry. I was in a meeting today and was told that doing something would make me “happy as Larry”. I don’t know who Larry is, and neither did the speaker. Must just be a crazy British saying. Another one I heard was “all talk and no trousers”. Which is pretty funny. 

I have to remember not to say things like “my pants are all wet” when coming in from the rain, as the Brits think I’m talking about my underwear. And if that is all wet, I’ve got some big problems. LOL

This country is more security conscious than anything I’ve ever seen. I bought something tonight, and because my signature didn’t exactly match what was on the back of my credit card, there was a big to-do wherein the manager had to come over, and I had to show my driver’s license and my passport - and then sign my name again, just to make sure it was really me. As if that weren’t bad enough, I come home to find a letter from my bank saying they received my request to automatically debit my rent each month - BUT because the signature on the request does not exactly match the signature card they have on file for me, I have to come into the bank and show ID to get things moving.

Question for any British people reading this - did y'all have a rash of identity theft or something? I mean, you guys take this stuff to a new extreme. I’m surprised I don’t have to give blood and get my DNA typed when I buy something - although I shouldn’t give people any ideas.

Oh, and another odd thing. I heard on the radio today that this woman who committed benefits fraud - basically she collected 13,000 GBP more than she was supposed to because she didn’t let them know her circumstances had changed - anyway, she got busted. Her punishment? A curfew. Yes, you read right. Not repayment. Not jail. Not a swift kick in the arse. Nope. Her punishment is that she cannot leave her house between 6pm and 6am or some such weirdness. But how do they know she didn’t spend some of that stolen money to set up a kick-ass home entertainment system? And so every night she is just working her way through movies on demand, and stacks of DVDs and whatnot? They also didn’t say anything about visitors, so if it were me I would just invite people over all the time.

This country is continuously entertaining.