Theme Song: "Everybody's Working for the Weekend"
Happy News! I'm not going to Mexico later this month so I will be at home for the BT guy to come and set up my long-awaited home phone! The package I bought includes unlimited calls long-distance for calls 59min or less - so I can call my homies! Yay! In other happy news, my trip for Japan is now in May, which is a beautiful time to visit apparently. Cherry trees! The unhappy news is that means all my travel is back-ended to March now.
My mission to visit the Waitrose last night was a bust. I tried to find it, but my GPS didn't reconize the post code and my internal GPS was not working right. I ended up taking the wrong exit off the roundabout - which took me into a really scary area that was pitch-black and farmland. Driving through that was not fun, and I have to say that I was actually really scared. I made it home (obviously) but spent most of the time terrified, wondering what would happen if I broke down.
British radio stations are hilarious. Last night on the way home from work I was listening to these two female DJs talk about this calendar they had received entitled "Doug in the Bath". Seems this guy Doug - who is apparently older, quite hairy and balding - made a calendar for 2010 of pictures of himself in the bath. And then gave it to all his friends as a Christmas present. The DJs were reading off what each month was and just cracking up. One month showed him in a tub full of bubbles. Another month, he had a friend in the tub with him (apparently some happy looking blond guy). Another month it was a romantic setting, with candles and flowers. But the best was December, where they said that our boy Doug was completely au naturel save for a Winnie-the-Pooh washcloth positioned over his manly bits! For 2011, Doug is planning a new line called "Doug in the Hole" - in which he will photograph himself inside various holes around the world. It's times like these when I start thinking that technology is not necessarily something that should be given to just anyone. Although it did give me an idea for my own calendar - Stupid English Roads.
The variety of music is also really frustrating for me. So far, I can bet that when I turn on the radio, I'm going to get one of the following - The Haiti REM remake (which sucks in my opinion), Lady Gaga, Robbie Williams, the Sugababes or Girls Aloud. No Drake. No Snoop-a-loop. No Eminem. At this point I would probably even settle for the Jonas Brothers or Miley Cyrus. You know what? Barry will pass out reading this, but I'd even settle for Radiohead. I'm seriously looking into how I can get some kind of satellite radio in my car so I can get my jam on to decent music. If everyday is going to be an obstacle course with the constant threat of sudden vehicular death hanging over my head, then I better get some good music to go with it! On the subject of cars, I get a car as part of my package here at work (this is very standard in UK and Europe for marketing jobs), but it won't arrive until March or April. Even though I pass several dealerships on the way to work, its been explained to me that getting a new car here is not like in the U.S. - since we use a LeasePlan, they insist on ordering the car direct from the manufacturer who then has to build it. Seems a silly way to handle things - wouldn't it just be better to take an available car off a lot somewhere? But this is the way it is done and so in the meantime I have a rental car that I am just beating all to hell. I'm sure the suspension will soon be shot from all the times I've accidentally run into the curb while going 40mph (overcompensating to the left because it freaks me out to have traffic coming at me on my right), and I'd bet I've used up about 6 months worth of brakes trying to manage my speed. I won't even mention the fact that most of the roads I drive on are bumpy and filled with monster pot-holes.
Spent more time this morning with my colleagues discussing American vs. British terms. For example, the Brits don't say "Wow!" or "Awesome!". They think its hilarious when those words come out of my mouth. We also discussed how British say "anti-clockwise" and Americans say "counter-clockwise". I told them that "anti-clockwise" makes it sound like they have something personal against all things clockwise.
I struggle because there are so many things I want to explain that are so uniquely American - like anything that has been on Saturday Night Live. They don't get that show over here and so they don't understand anything I reference. Like "Hans and Franz". Or saying someone looks like The Church Lady. Or my personal favorite, "I'm on a Boat". But I have introduced my co-workers to http://www.urbandictionary.com/ so that they can decipher some of my mutterings. And I have explained what I mean when I yell "Shamon!" when excited or pleased. I think I'm doing an excellent job of advancing American-British relations, and that Hilary herself would be proud.
Today is Friday (yay!) and so we get to leave the office at 3:30pm. Since I didn't make it to the Waitrose last night, I'm going to check it out this afternoon. I hear its manna for Americans and so I'm really excited. On deck for this weekend -
- Giving the flat a good cleaning and watching LOST Premiere (tonight! Yay!)
- Visiting my new favorite store (Noa Noa) and ogling all the new spring goodies that I can't afford
- Tea with M&J to see their new adorable baby
- Drinks with my new neighbour friends that I met at the housewarming party
- Laundry, laundry, laundry in the dreaded washer/dryer
Federman out.
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