My first UK car–which should I choose?

From my last post, I mentioned that I have driven in Florida since I was 16. Now that I’ve been carless for 2 years and 4 months, I’m almost ready to take on the British road system. This means I can’t just go grab a car that I like off the lot, I have to take a lot into consideration. Size, price, reliability, gas mileage, number of doors, insurance price, tax price, and whether or not I can actually drive the silly thing.

Steve and I have a theory about Vauxhall Corsas – driving instructors must choose the hardest car to drive, so that you can drive anything one you pass your test. I’m suspecting the car I first learned on was a diesel. You couldn’t do anything in second gear, heck you couldn’t even change the gears. (My first instructor had two of them, both made audible clunking sounds and I had to hold the gear stick just right, otherwise it would not go into 3rd for anything.) You also have to dance your feet all around, constantly just to keep the car still with the clutch control. Even the turn signals were rubbish and you had to constantly mess around with those to keep them on (one click full down to turn it on, one half click down to turn it off or something stupid like that.) The set up for the headlights were all over the dash too, not just on the windshield wiper and turn signal levers at the steering wheel like every other car. Even Jeremy Clarkson said, “Vauxhall has never made anything decent.” Now that I drive in a better car (with a better instructor) I’d never consider buying a Corsa.

I’m learning on a 2010 Honda Civic now. Before, I was convinced that I’d never be able to drive anything larger, different, ect. than the Corsa but man, was I wrong. Even on the first lesson, I could hold that car still at a traffic light way, way easier than the Vauxhall. There’s a lot of ease to the pedals, and the gears too that make this car a contender for me whenever we start looking to buy. Granted, I would get a used one because the new ones are pricey. The 2010s aren’t bad, but the 2006s are a bit ugly. Plus, the back of the car has that spoiler in the middle of the window, so it’s kind of hard to see out of the back of it. I like the big side mirrors though (unless they come dangerously close to parked cars.) It’s also a bit too big I think but I don’t want anything too small like all the other hatchbacks around here are.

I know he’s the most popular car in the UK, and they’re really reliable, practical, etc. but the Ford Focus does not evoke any kind of emotion other than, “Bleck,” with me. They’re everywhere, and reviews say they’re cheap to service and maintain (a big plus) as well as being able to get a decent one for under £6000 (a huge plus.) But my parents owned a Ford Taurus once that died in a horrible way right after they bought it used. I kind of don’t trust Fords now (terribly unAmerican, I know) but I may have to get one of these if I drive it and like it. I still say it looks masculine and is a bit too big. (And ugly, don’t forget ugly.)

I love these little Minis, it’s true. I mean, how can you not love a little face on a car like that? (Very girlie, I know.) I know they’re rated high and, heck, made for the type of driving I’ll be doing. For under £6000 I could get a decent one but I’d need to make sure it had air conditioning and low mileage and that may be a bit tricky. I’m thinking of just having my first car for a few years, so this isn’t a bad option (is it?) I mean, there’s only 2 doors and the hatchback. It sits close to the road so I’m not sure how safe it is (but heck, I’ve been in one that drove on 1-4 in Orlando and that’s insanity waiting to happen.) I just don’t know if I should go the practical route or enjoy my first little car that can zip around British streets (if I can, in fact, get it to zip up hills with my driving learning impairment.)

Of course, I’ve considered just going back to my roots with the tried and true Toyota. The Auris would be the modern version of my Corolla if they still made them in the UK. Sadly, Whatcar doesn’t rate them very high but Parkers gives them 4/5 stars. I can get a decent one for the same price as the ones above. I’ve not driven a manual Toyota here, but my past Toyotas ran without giving me any problems, so I may play it safe with this one. The Yaris looks like it may be a bit too small for us, but I could always try him out too.

I don’t know why I can’t fall in love with this Fiat Panda. He’s cute, the right size, and prices right with good reviews but I’m just not sure. We sat in one when we first looked at cars. It’s got a really neat set up inside too, but I’m way more about practicality than how the interior looks. There’s a lot of stuff going on inside, and the handbrake is an odd, boxy shaped thing. I’m not opposed to test driving one, but I’m still semi leery about buying a Fiat since I hear it’s been called a Fix It Again, Tony for so long.

I’ve researched used car sales, new car sales, Top Gear reviews and consumer reviews. I’ve looked at these top contenders up here as well as:

Nissan Note - is it too narrow in the cabin?

Hyundai i20 – drove a Hyundai in Florida during last vacation, but read that the gears are clunky on the manuals here, plus I’m not sure if this is too small either

Volkswagen Polo – price is the issue, especially price to maintain, and size compared to the Golf

Kia Soul – it is so stinking cute, but I think it’s too big for over here because it was taller than me, plus bad reviews.

So what so you think I should get? Are any of these a definite Yes or No?

Read part one of my car journey: History of My Automobiles’ Past

History of my Automobiles’ Past

When I bought my cars in Florida, it just happened. My parents loaned me their beige Pontiac right after I first got my license, until I took over their Chevy Beretta. Dear Lord, did I love that car. Just looking at old pictures of it, makes me nostalgic. Cars should give you that kind of emotion. You should feel a kinship to them. My first, proper car. He was so fast (I got it at 120 on US1 in the middle of the night one time.) The bottom was low and the front scraped a lot if you hit a speed hump too hard (as if those really deter you from going fast.) I had this from the time I was 17 up to age 22 or so, I guess. Ah, Beretta. I miss you!

I couldn’t even watch when my Beretta was taken away. When he finally died, I got myself a Geo Prism – a Chevy with a Toyota engine. This car took me to Orlando twice a day in many cases. I went to college, my friend’s apartment, the club, everywhere. I even remember the first day I got it and taking it to Downtown Orlando thinking the lights weren’t on bright (because my Beretta just did stuff, without a hitch you know?) It was almost totalled when an elderly lady pulled out in front of me on US1, one morning on the way to class. It even got broken into once (I do not miss being downtown.) Sadly, after I started work as a full-time teacher, the signs were there that my Geo was on his last legs, er, wheels. Mind you, the A/C always worked and the paint was a mess from the Florida sun, but he was still running.

I looked online, and for under $10k, was a 2003, green-silver Toyota Corolla on sale at the local Nissan dealership. I went down, drove it, and bought it. Nothing fancy at all. No power windows, no alarm, no sports pack. In fact, I resented the stupid car because despite it being a Toyota with the same, cute headlights, it wasn’t my Prism and I still drove that little clunker around until he was finally taken away as well. I had both of them parked in front of my apartment for a while too. But I learned to love him, and I called him Yoda (as in Toy-Yoda.) The Corolla did me very, very well so I’m an avid Toyota fan. It survived a side-swiping and the back seat full of crap that I put in there (I always brought everything in my car.) I even picked Steve up from the airport on his first visit to America in my Corolla. But when I moved, I had to have my folks sell my little Yoda for $4k. He had the side scraped up, and the check engine light going, but he was still going strong after having him for 8 years.
So now that I’ve been carless for 2 years and four months, I’m trying to figure out which should be my first, British car. I’ll discuss what I’ve considered, and the research I’ve found on each one in my next post.
Read part two of my car journey here: My first UK car–which should I choose?

Why Santa brought me a new phone

Nokia Lumia 800 photo taken by mbiebusch

I have had my HTC Sensation since September 2011 and it continued to get worse with each month I used it. After Steve asked me if I’d rather have a phone or a netbook for Christmas, I stopped cursing at my HTC long enough to exclaim, “Phone!” While I patiently awaited Santa to arrive, I used my dreaded HTC each day – to, at, and from work. This was the list of grievances that I wrote on the bus during that time before Christmas break:

• It (dreaded HTC Sensation from O2) tries to update apps all the time. But it won't actually update them unless you have the Google Store "My Apps" screen up. If the screen falls to sleep, no updates.
  I've set up the apps to only update with WiFi as well, buy when I'm out, it will continually try to find a WiFi signal and, therefore, drain the battery.
• The battery runs out if I use any kind of app. I have a full charge each morning and if I try to use the internet or FB, battery will go to yellow immediately. Hence, making the phone (and the data plan I pay for) totally useless.
• Apps don't work. The internet browser, FB, Twitter, etc. Apps will shut down intermittently.
• Typing is a nightmare. Can't tap on the screen and select "paste" easily. Last time I tried this, I had to tap the screen ten times at least to get "paste" option to pop up. Highlighting and copying are equally as difficult.
• Auto correct doesn't work. Trying to move the cursor to change text is maddening as well.
• Most recently, I tried to plug the phone into a travel charger that I had from my old BlackBerry. While it works fine on my husband's HTC Win 7 phone, when I plugged it into the Sensation, it kept pulling up the GPS. Nothing got charged.
• When I get a text, the text thread has to load. Sometimes I cannot type a response, even though the keyboard is displayed. Sometimes it will only say “loading” and I cannot read and/or access the text message threads. I have to first delete the thread, then start over (after rebooting the phone a few times) before I can send a text. The SD card is not full, so there’s no other reason for this to cause a problem.
• Many times I cannot get a signal. One Saturday, Steve and I were sitting on the bus, side-by-side (as married couples do) and he was able to use the GPS to calculate where we were on the bus with the mobile network. I was unable to get any response from the phone at all. I kept getting a “cannot connect to network” error message. No apps. No WiFi. No 3G. Not even the “H” or “E” I get a lot of times.
• For some stupid reason, I can only see a limited number of emails in my folders. There doesn’t seem to be any options for this so if I’m trying to find an email that wasn’t saved very recently, it won’t display.
• I think of a new complaint daily. I can update this more and more as I remember them.

Someone online mentioned that O2 really hasn’t held up their end of the contract bargain either. When a phone is this bad to the point that it can’t be used, then why should I have to keep honouring the contract with the cell provider?

I received my shiny new Nokia Lumia 800 yesterday and the HTC Sensation will be sent away for some amount of cash that can use towards my Zune pass for the Win 7 Phone.

Back Across the Pond

Church of St. Thomas the Martyr 

This will be my last blog post from the comfort of my comfy, English desk for a couple of weeks. For two weeks I will not be sitting here, with the window slightly ajar, smelling the fresh, cool air as the cat sits on the printer. No, I’ll be globe-trotting and enjoying the 24-hour Wal-Mart, the 7-11 Crystal Light Slurpees, the flavoured coffees, the wide, open roads and the laid-back living. It’s that time of year again to celebrate our anniversary and my birthday (in that order) so we’re off to Florida!

We have my parents to visit, Kennedy Space Center to big farewell to Endeavour, a trip to LegoLand, plus I really want to stop by The Cheesecake Factory and Altamonte Mall just to be somewhere other than a theme park for a bit. We also have to find a Spirit Halloween store to get ready for our annual visit to Mickey’s Not So Scary Halloween Party. We’ll spend a big chunk of our time at Disney World but after our last visit, we decided that three days of Disney is about all we can take. It’s so fun but it’s so exhausting. I like just being able to spend time by the pool and hanging out – that’s what Florida was made for! After Disney we’ll be able to do that though because we’ll be in Daytona Beach for a bit. Then it will be back to our hometown to hang out and do whatever, celebrate my birthday (hip-hip-hooray!) and then back to England.

I don’t have anything packed, unless you count the seasonal cloth items that I kept in the suitcase from last year (really, NE England, there’s no need for flip flops – it may be warm but those pavements are hazardous to exposed toes!) I know just to pack everything that is thin, cool, and comfortable as my body is no longer use to the humidity and heat, sadly. I swear, the minute that air hits me when I step out of the airport, my blood perks up and I feel alive again. However, after a week, I’m whining like the rest of them about how I can’t stand being in the jungle.

Ah, but it’s fun though! Best part? I can drive there! DRIVE!

Tomorrow, before I go, I have to re-take this stupid Theory Test because I didn’t understand the Hazard Perception Test at all. I flat our failed with a score of zero on four out of fourteen video clips. The trick is, you have to click on potential hazards but the actual hazard they want you to click on is played within a short window of time. If you click it exactly at the precise moment the test wants you to click, you get a perfect score of five points, if you click too early, you get a zero. If you click a little later than they want you can get a score of 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0 for missing the hazard completely.

Here’s the catch – you can’t click too much. Yeah, yeah, they say you can’t ever click too much, just too “rhythmically” but when the instructions say to click whenever your driving changes because of the hazard, you end up clicking each time you see the hazard, the hazard gets closer, the car slows down, the hazard is in front of you, the car stops, the hazard leaves, the car continues around, etc. So what I thought the test wanted me to do was click at least five times within that window to get my perfect score. Nope. It’s about timing.

My driving instructor said just to practice and practice but it didn’t matter because the stupid AA Pass Your Test software (notice my review on the product page) didn’t give me any kind of warning about clicking too much except maybe one time in the weeks I practiced. Every time it said I passed, but I failed the actual test. Now that I practiced again the “right” way, it tells me I fail or barely pass. Now, if I use the online practice test, I get a score of 71% which is awesome because you need a 44% to pass. Heck, with that online test my father and my friends on Facebook who have never driven in the U.K. or even prepped for said test passed it. Either my practice software is janky or I am. I’ll let you know after tomorrow morning. Sigh…

I also need to mention that I tried to watch The Lying Game this morning and it’s nothing like the first book. There’s no one dead for a start, which makes it way less interesting. It’s sort of like The Secret Circle where they took the basic idea and changed it, except this is less interesting than the book, which isn’t good at all. I’m also still trying to finish Season One of Downtown Abbey this week.

Skyrim Heathfire has totally sucked me in as well even though it’s completely broken. One of my housecarl won’t show up, the second one won’t give me a bard or furnish my home, and the other isn’t even available because the Jarl won’t ask me to be a Thane. And why do I need to keep going into town to buy stupid iron ingots? Also, my adopted son asked to keep my dog but, um, I haven’t seen the dog in months. I think he’s dead but I don’t think the kids realize that. Yes, the game is broken and I watched Steve play where something or someone will always come around and try to sabotage the house. Even this can happen: Hearthfire: Everyone Is Dead!

Anyway, I’m not sure if I’ll be posted here via mobile or via my Missus P. Mobile Tumblr blog, or if I’ll be able to post anything at all while I’m on holiday (vacation to those of us in Florida.) Last time I tried to write one blog post and it didn’t get finished until after I got back. Seriously, resting and relaxing takes a lot of effort!

I always feel bad about leaving the cat though. At least he has a sitter to stay with him here while we’re gone.

When we get back, the book should be done and available to readers. We’ve been trying to get it finished but since Steve’s working so much, it’s hard to get the art completed. But we’ll have it soon, then I can get the second one out the door as well.

Bank of America and Downton Abbey

Diamond Jubilee landscaping

It's a quiet Thursday here. Steve's in London for a work day trip. I have the rest of this stupid cold to fight off but I did finally get Season One of Downton Abbey from LoveFilm (Steve marked it as "high priority" for me). That means I can have a day of TV, blogging and reading. I watched the first disc and so far I love the show. I love the time period, I love the characters, and I love Maggie Smith – she’s great in this! Her best line so far was, “Why does every day involve a fight with an American?” in the swivel chair scene [video].

Oh, and I have to do my practice Theory Test DVD too but that doesn't mean I will.

I was thinking last night about how my book blog doesn't get used much until I finally take the time to do a book review. I may start a Friday Reads section to just talk about what book I'm on. Whenever I do a book review, I'm at a loss because I hadn't read it for a while. This way, maybe it can be like a little note taking exercise.

We have a three day weekend coming up and no driving lessons until September. Yesterday since I was sick I was just not doing well. It frustrates me to no end that I can't just get what I should be doing. I still say it's because these roads are so different that I'm continually second guessing myself or assume some new, potential hazard will pop up by the time I get to 40mph.

It's okay though. Even after I get my license, I won't be buying a car until I have a job so there's no big rush.

Other things going on is the stupid Bank of America who are still charging me to use Barclays ATMs even though their site specifically says (as it has for years) that with the Global ATM Alliance, I will not be charged for using a Barclays ATM in England. “Use your debit card or ATM card within the Global ATM Alliance in the countries shown with no ATM operator fees or Non-Bank of America International ATM Fee.” That sounds like I shouldn’t be charged $5, doesn’t it? But, for some reason, all of a sudden, in August, I'm getting charged. And, of course, whenever I call Customer Service they try to explain it to me as if I'm wrong. I'm not. If it says no charge, there should be no charge. Whatever's gone wrong, I have no idea but I'm staying on top of it. I've already called twice about three charges.

The Tuesday Seven

Gateshead Town Centre

1. I’m starting this list on Monday since I’m probably going to be home for most of the week anyway. I still have a cold (not allergies.) It’s getting better now that I armed myself with more Lemsip, blackcurrant menthol drops, Octrivine, and saline sinus wash. Saturday I was blowing my nose constantly, yesterday I woke up coughing, and today I’m in the almost okay but not quite stage. My head’s too foggy to enjoy myself if I did go outside and, besides, I doubt people want me ill at the gym and the cafe. (Though I’m pretty sure I got this blasted cold from the blasted public.)

2. I’ve set up my Theory Test for the first week in September so after I pass the computerized part of the test, I can be put on the waiting list to do the Practical Test (the actual driving part.) My instructor said the waiting list is about 6-8 weeks so that will give me the last run-down of super test preparations. Ugh. I can’t even imagine. Well, no, I guess I can, I just don’t drive confidently. Of course, in the U.S. I’ve driven for almost 20 years. The roads are wide, flat, and without a ton of parked cars on either side. Here, I’m second guessing myself constantly.

3. On Saturday we saw The Dark Knight Rises. I knew there was some chat on Twitter where most people said it was great but some said, “Well, the voice of Bane isn’t great.” And, they were right. All in all, the film was really good and I really liked Anne Hathaway as Catwoman even though I didn’t want to at first. (I get tired of seeing the same people in every movie.) I agree with the critics saying that they didn’t over-sexualize Catwoman and it was more about her character. (Plus, those goggles are amazing.) Bane’s voice was just laughable. When I first heard him talk, I was reminded of Morla, the turtle in The Neverending Story. But because I don’t pay any attention, I didn’t even realize that Bane was Tom Hardy until the end. (I knew I should recognize him but couldn’t place him.) Now, in Wuthering Heights, Tom Hardy played a freaky Heathcliff with a great accent, so it isn’t a surprise that he would have done a good job. However, apparently, the filmakers didn’t think you could understand Bane well enough, so they redubbed his voice for the final cut of the film.

4. I’ve finished the first four books of Pretty Little Liars so I’ll have to do a review for them soon. Right now, I’m re-reading one of my favourite Christopher Pike books Remember Me. I distinctly remember that old cover and how amazed I was at the novel when I read it in high school.

5. It’s a good thing I stayed home sick on Monday morning. There was a job that I was interested in, but the application wasn’t available online. I had totally forgotten that I’d emailed the HR department for the application and when I checked my email at 9:30, they had sent me the application along with a reminder that applications closed by 10AM that same day. I hurried and did the best I could with the cutting and pasting and rejigging the tables that get all messed up in Microsoft Word once you start filling in forms. I sent it off at 9:59AM, even accidentally missing a “yes or no” questions about willingness to get a CRB check done (though since I’m already a registered teacher, I’m sure they can figure out that I already have one.)

6. Today I felt well enough to go to the gym, then decided to hang around town for a while. Since I’m so stuffy, I hit Nando’s the minute they opened and asked for the hot sauce on my chicken. It was way too may calories for the day (since I also had hot dogs at home for dinner) but man, was it worth it. Sadly, I couldn’t stay to watch the cheap Tuesday movies at the theatre upstairs from Nando’s because my stupid HTC Sensation phone battery died.

7. That stupid phone. I can’t find any kind of battery saver option on it and I try to keep the task manager empty of apps running in the background but it just does not help. With that and the screen going dark when I take a photo (again, no option I can find or anything on Google regarding the issue) it’s a pretty crappy phone. Plus it randomly won’t let me send texts from time to time. I hate to say it, but I don’t think I had *that* many problems with the iPhone (or I had different issues with it.) I think I’m going to get a Samsung Galaxy 3S (or whatever new one they have by then) next year.

The Tuesday Seven

The Sage Gateshead

1. The Olympics are over and it’s back to regular daytime television. Today while Steve worked from home, I watched some more of my Pretty Little Liars and The Secret Circle episodes that are still on my V+ box.

2. The Closing Ceremony wasn’t great, no. Even British people were unhappy with the outcome. No David Bowie, no Elton John, no Duran Duran, or Tears for Fears, or Depeche Mode, or a ton of other people they could have included in the line-up (and who wouldn’t have lip-synched either.) I was happy to see The Pet Shop Boys and their fabulous entrance though.

3. Steve was home yesterday to make sure his back was all mended. He’s been throwing his back out often so we’re going to have to get him to a doctor to get some advice (or just head straight to a chiropractor.) He couldn’t lie in the bed Friday night so at 2:30AM on Saturday, we camped on the couch (the cat included.)

4. Being in the house all day made the place stuffy so I got the brilliant idea to open all the windows and let the fresh, August air in. The next day I ended up with the beginnings of an allergy attack which I’m still fighting off today. (I refuse to believe this is a cold even though I’ve gone through the motions like had a dose of Lemsip and drank my Mrs. Grass chicken noodle soup.)

5.  Today I was able to get out of the house, window shop, drink coffee and read. I’m almost finished with Unbelievable: Pretty Little Liars #4. I really liked these books even though they aren’t high brow or anything. They keep the reader engaged and wanting more so that’s enough for me. Plus, it got me out of my slump where I didn’t want to read anymore YA for a while. Also, I am fully okay with the books being in third person. Generally I only choose first person POVs but this one, after I got into the first book, was fine. I like the suspense and mystery elements. It’s like a modern day Nancy Drew of sorts. (Wow, I just got flashbacks of my old Sweet Valley High books.)

6. Driving is back on tomorrow. I’ve finally bought myself a DVD-R that I can practice my theory and hazard test. I was thinking today how I’m so not in a rush to take this silly test. I mean, the Leave to Remain will be after Christmas and my Life in the UK test is so much more important than this. I don’t even know when I’ll be ready to take any of the driving tests either. I’m still not 100% confident on the roads or the stick shift.

7. After thinking that it was going to be too scary, I watched The Walking Dead Season 2 with Steve. By the second or third episode I was totally into it. At first I didn’t like the characters (because I hadn’t seen Season 1 and how they all got together) but I eventually found myself shouting at the characters and really looking forward to watching each episode. Of course, I had zombie nightmares here and there, but it wasn’t too bad. I loved the final episodes where it looked very much like a horror movie with the full moon, out in the middle of nowhere by a big farm house. Just good, good stuff. I also didn’t realize that Rick was played by a British actor who was Linton in my favourite version of Wuthering Heights. That’s a fine slightly Georgian accent he has for that show. Kudos to you, Sheriff Rick! (Now keep your kid in the house so he doesn’t screw something else up.)

These people have jobs and I don’t?

Olympic banners at Monument

Not to name names, of course, but some of these teaching recruitment agencies really drive me nuts. One of the agencies, whom I really got an impression of professionalism and with-it-ness, ends up having the worst security department. I’ve signed up with a bunch of agencies now, and only the first one I registered with in the U.K. asked me to get my Criminal Records Background check. Fair enough. Since then, I’ve been allowed to use that same one from 2011 to register with these other agencies in 2012. The “professional” agency, however, required that I pay another £44 to them to have a CRB check done. Now, I know that it use to be that all teaching agencies required a CRB for each business but that’s not the case anymore. What the “professional” agency was concerned with was that you are supposed to have a new CRB done if you haven’t been in a school for three months. Since I hadn’t worked at all in 2011, I needed a new one.

I checked this information online, found something about it, so, okay, fine. Paid the £44, heard from the agency often about how they wanted to send my resume to various schools to find teaching work. One time they wanted me to go to an interview on the morning of my driving lesson which I couldn’t get out of because they were pre-paid and I needed 48 hours notice to reschedule. Of course, “professional” agency said the school wasn’t willing to budge on the time slot, and it wasn’t that great of a school anyway.

Last Friday, I got a letter from the teaching agency’s security main office in another town. They had sent it to the wrong address, and Steve just happened to find it in the junk mail magazine racks that our overseers put in. The letter said “opened in error” across the front because, sure enough, the teaching agency security deputy hadn’t bothered to check that she sent it to the correct address. Inside the envelope was supposed to be an ID card. What I got was a photo that I gave them, a little blank, white business card to fill in, and a plastic sticky wrap.

I called the agency, telling them that my “ID Card” is M.I.A. and it was sent to the wrong address anyway. “Oh, the correct address is on file. You need to send us the photo back so we can do the ID badge.” I send it back (and waste one of my perfectly good London 2012 stamps in the process, by the way…something I’ll get to later.) Today I got another letter from “professional” teaching agency’s security deputy saying, “Sorry about sending to the wrong address. Here’s your ID card.”

I have the photo I gave them, returned (twice now), a sticky piece of plastic, and a blank business card that I have to fill out and sign. Seriously? Apparently this “professional” agency as a “do it yourself” policy.

Plus, what if a neighbour or someone else had gotten that letter? Couldn’t they just put any ol’ photo in there, sign it and no one would be the wiser? Doesn’t sound very secure to me, security deputy.

It drives me up a wall that these places can’t even be bothered to put an ID card together properly (they wouldn’t accept a digital photo, by the way, like every other agency does.) It’s terrible how they treat people who are in need of jobs as if they’re disposable because they have jobs – why should they care? They work on commission, get people on file, get paid. Meanwhile I’m trying to get into schools to get experience so I can get any kind of job but doors keep getting slammed in my face.

It seems like everything here is three times harder to get done. Not that we don’t have our share of people in the U.S.A. who plain won’t do their job or are just all-around incompetent, but I even had a Post Office worker here condescendingly “explain” to me that I can’t use the London 2012 stamps on oversees postcards because, “there’s no monetary value on them.” Sure, that’s why every stamp that was ever given to me for postcards (and large oversees packages too) never had a money value on them. I was even given London 2012 stamps specifically for my America-bound postcards at another Post Office.

But I digress. Things are good, really, I just had to vent a bit about my customer service run-ins. As we all do from time to time.

The Tuesday Seven

1. It was a windy Sunday here in the North East. We had our roast dinner and are watched the documentary on the race car driver Senna. (I fell asleep for 30 minutes of it though.) I really find biographies of people of all types of careers quite interesting. Senna said at the start of his career that his being from Brazil, trying to live in Europe and succeed at driving was always a fight, it was never easy. I think things are more of a struggle than some and their challenge makes them all the more real.

2. This week is only going to be semi busy for me. I won’t be having a driving lesson until next week so I’m able to be at home more. However, I went to see how my blood work turned out this morning, early. As predicted, I am absolutely fine. No low blood sugar or anything so I’m just going to have to have some kind of food when I first get up in the morning. It’s simple but it’s easy to not do, especially on weekends when I sleep in. Now I get up (the cat never lets me sleep past 7AM anyway without alerting me of his empty food dish) and have a cereal bar or something before lying back down. Granted, eating and sleeping right after isn’t good either, but neither is getting sick from not having any food.

3. I have another interview. I'm really feeling like I'm getting close to something but there's still that hurdle of, "But you don't have as much experience in British schools as the other candidate..." I really hope that I won't have to go through the ropes all over again here like I did in Florida. Talk about something always being a fight. This finding a job thing has just never, ever been easy. Also, the school I am interviewing with gave me a letter with an incorrect date so I had to call and confirm which day I should turn up. They also indicated that I should email the person listed on the letter to confirm I was coming. Later, after I’d talked to the front desk, someone called me to verify that the candidates knew what day to show up (Lord knows how many candidates there are) and the lady said, “So you’re coming to the interview then?” “Yes.” Still, I tried to send email as the letter indicated, but it won’t go through to that address. Today I have been trying to call the school all morning, but the calls just go to voice mail. I won’t be surprised a bit if I show up tomorrow, bright and early, and they weren’t expecting me. Oh well, nothing more I can do, with any of it, right?

4. But I still keep working at home. Well, lately I've been out of the house each day so I've gotten side-tracked. I am totally unmotivated. I have the "what's the point?" question in my head more than usual. All the books and writers in the world, it's hard to make myself want to do something that is "life changing" for someone else.

5. We went to the Summertyne Americana Festival at the Sage Gateshead on Saturday (as seen in the photos above.) There was a lot of dancing (see video of the hip, rockabilly kid) and live country music (see this other video.) We also ate jambalaya, cupcakes, and BBQ Cajun chicken. We had awesome margaritas too but I drank mine too quick to bother taking a photo.

6. After taking photos with my current camera of The Queen and of the festival, I am getting a new camera for my birthday in September. My Dad (who really needs a photography site of his own) got me started on the hobby when I was a kid, so he’s my go-to person for cameras and pictures. He chose this one because it has a way better zoom on it, wide angle lens, and more options. I need more options. What I have will only do so much. It’s getting frustrating when I see nice photos taken with an iPhone when mine can’t handle what I’m trying to do with it. Now I can up my game!

7. We’re going to see the Opening Ceremony on Friday! Steve’s coming home early from work just to make sure he’s here on time. We have 24 BBC HD channels, just waiting on our cable box for us to enjoy the festivities. I told Steve we should just stay in all weekend and watch the games. Then next Saturday, we’re headed to St. James’ Park to see a football (that’s soccer to us Yanks). We have to arrive at least 2 hours ahead of time. We can’t bring bags or have bottles of water either. Oh well, I’m fine with them being extra safe. I just want to be a part of the excitement. I was ready to bring my camera but I don’t think I’m allowed to. Oh well. I don’t want technology getting into the way of my fun anyway. I’ll make sure to record the game on the V+ box – maybe we’ll be on TV!

Here’s a photo of me in my cowboy hat, American cupcakes in hand, standing by the Olympic rings on the Tyne Bridge to help you guys spot me easily:

The Tuesday Seven

Swan on the pond.

1. Interviews – I went on yet another school library interview this week. I did well too. I was fairly confident, answered the questions, made an impression, got a few laughs, etc. They tried to call me back but me being me, I messed up one digit on my phone number when I filled out the application so they couldn’t get back to me. (As I posted on Facebook, these kind of “duh” moments no longer shock me anymore. I can go over something and double check things but there are still going to be tiny, obvious things that I miss. Hate that!) Of course, when I did get called back with the correct phone number, the Headmaster told me they had chosen someone else. More UK school experience. I’m sure I’m going to be getting that answer a lot.

2. Doctors – I had my blood test done today with the nurse at my GP (regular doctor’s) office. I asked her which OB/Gyn they refer us to for regular check ups and any potential family planning, etc. She gave me the most confused look and said, “What’s that?” Come to find out that we don’t have OB/Gyns here and if any lady needs any kind of check ups or pregnancy care they just go to the regular doctor. That means that the same old gent who wears a tie and sits behind a desk when I come to tell him what’s wrong with me, is the same person who delivers babies? I’m sort of appalled by that. Now, I understand if they send you to a nurse for check ups but, dang it, when there are kids involved, I want someone who works with kids as their job every day. When I go back to get my blood test results I’m going to have him clarify this for me. I guess ladies can get refereed to a midwife at the hospital for some things but you’d only be referred to a “specialist” if there’s any issues. Seems very impersonal and impractical to me. One minute they’d be checking on someone’s gout, the next seeing how a foetus is progressing? I mentioned on Facebook as well that it reminded me of being on Little House on the Prairie. Kind of old fashioned in the way of doing things. Apparently the US is the only place that has women’s clinics. My Twitter peeps from the U.K., N.Z. and Australia all confirm that everything regarding women and children are done “in house” at their regular doctor’s office. *shudder*

3. Writer's site – I decided to start a writing site. I’m not sure exactly what all I’m going to put on there but I’d like it to be helpful, informative and collaborative. I decided to do something else not only to help myself but for anyone else as well. I know there are a zillion writer sites out there though but, alas, I guess the world can do with one more.

4. Food – I have been the worst this week. Steve was on his business trip so I had three pizzas in one week. Then I proceeded to have donuts on our walk in the park over the weekend. I polished off the M&Ms after finding out I didn’t get the job yesterday. I had a huge Subway sub today after I stuffed my face with a couple of hot dogs last night before my 9PM eating cut-off point for my blood test. The pulled pork we had tonight was awesome too. But tomorrow is another day, Katie Scarlett.

5. The Queen – Her Majesty will be coming to town tomorrow so I’m going to head to the Quayside to see if I can say, “Hello.” I’ll make sure to bring my camera and my camcorder (although I’m not sure how I’m going to use both at once but challenge accepted!)

6. Skyrim – You know what’s wrong with Skyrim these days? Everyone is obsessed with sending me on stupid missions where I get stuck or lost in caves. And, no, Clairvoyance doesn’t work because I keep getting the “No Clear Path” message. Good job, Dawnguard! One thing that is cool though, my character’s companion/husband, Mercutio (I call him that. His real name in the game is Mercurio; the magic dude from Bee and Barb.) keeps getting more and more awesome. Now that we both have daedric armour, I also gave him a ton of staffs so he is just killing things left and right. Today he summoned a Storm Atronach on his own. I was much impressed. Too bad they don’t have a “high five Mercutio” option. Usually he just whines at me when I ask him to carry anything.

7. Roads -- Every Tuesday the garbage (bin) men drive their truck to the cul-de-sac on our street. Every Tuesday they have to beep the horn to alert the neighbour with the big, white van to move said van our of the garbage truck's way. I've seen this twice and already I understand the pattern and the easy remedy. Just another example of how narrow and tiny our roads are.

Our trip to Whitley Bay

Here are the photos from our trip to Whitley Bay today. There wasn’t a lot going on and the fog made it seem even more dull that it probably should be in the summer.

I also made a travel video and tried out HipGeo for the first time.

Cost of Writing: Priceless

Northern Goldsmiths, Blackett Street, Newcastle, England

I’m back at my desk before 9:30 on a cloudy Wednesday morning in July. I have my large pot of Starbuck bold brew and I’m ready to get back to work. However, I’m at the blog, typing this out instead of re-reading what I should have been working on in June. Why? It’s what I do. If I could get by with having a pill for ADHD each morning that would make me obediently sit at my desk, I’d have it made. Heck, we all would, wouldn’t we?

What is it about the self-esteem of someone creative that gives them the drive to go on? I was telling Steve the other day that now that I’m older, there is so much less that I worry about anymore. It’s a good thing, but sometimes it pulls me into an apathetic state that says, “Really, what’s the point?” There are so many people in this world and what we contribute is so small compared to the gamut of books being written every day. How small my contribution must be when I think about the largeness of it all.

Of course we all have the same answer to the question of why we write: because we have to. It’s true. I wouldn’t be myself if I didn’t write something (blog entries included) and I’m constantly thinking up of new projects. But there’s a life we lead as well and getting bogged down in trying to make a living off what we do is not only dismal, it’s near to impossible. Granted, I’m not working and this is what I do because I don’t have a place that exchanges money for my showing up to do tasks. That’s just the way things worked out. And those of us who do work know we want to write so much more if we had the time.

As long as we’re writing something each day, I think we’re okay because we’re doing it out of love. It’s the same reason we work at schools and libraries – we love it. We’re making our impact on the world in amounts that we may not see in huge, golden pieces of money but we’re doing what we’re meant to do. That’s our reward.

But everyone wants to have a best selling book, a published book, a book which is critically acclaimed (my wish) or just one which sells. But let’s think about what is best-selling or what books are popular. It’s no secret that the Twitter society of writers, book reviewers, and librarians just can’t stand the latest book phenomenons. They’re badly written. I remember reading someone’s blog post saying that anyone who doesn’t get paid to be a book critic and says a popular author is a “bad writer” is just sour grapes. No. Knowing good writing and bad writing is something we should be able to identify. Why, as a writer, would you suggest that writers think otherwise?

So best-sellers are sometimes not very well written. Published books are often very well written but lack uniqueness. Once in a while we find some gems of literary genius and we celebrate. (Those are the ones we should be looking out for.) So, what does this mean for self-published books? When I read some independent novels, I felt they were in the same class (or above) some other books that were in print through a high profile publisher. But they were all kind of the same and it became very tedious to read the same plot over and over. To me, there’s nothing that really says anything about yourself if you’re trying to follow the same lines as other popular books. Yes, we like them, but we have our own unique take on the world, so it’s important that we keep that in mind when trying to create our own masterpiece.

Anyway, I had just been thinking about how writers are looking at what they do. I see far, far too many Twitter accounts that are nothing but book promotion. It saddens me to think that this is what writing has ended up being. There were few great writers in the past 200 years some of the lived in poverty. It isn’t anything new that we should be working for very little profit but now we have millions of people across the globe trying to sell their work. We now have an even larger pool to swim in because the publishers’ desks are full and Amazon is full with books that are self-published. It’s not easy but we do it because we want to. Remember that.

J.K. Rowling suggested writers keep a day job while they wait through rejections and self-published authors make less than $500 for their books. It can never be about the money. It has to be about doing what you feel is your purpose on this Earth to do.

Just keep swimming

Last night we were watching a special about David Bowie on BBC1. Today the grocery truck came by, as usual, and now we’re waiting to get out exchange IKEA couch. After all the pain we went through to put it together and wondering why the lovely red cover didn't fit right (we had to cut it to get it on the back cushions), we found out that IKEA gave us the wrong sofa. Not only is it the wrong sofa, but it's a £400 more expensive couch. Good job, IKEA! Of course this means Steve’s downstairs taking apart the old couch so he can put the new one back together again when they arrive “sometime this afternoon.”

I was bummed about my not getting that last, awesome library job. I still am, honestly. But after I felt sorry for myself for a while, slowly I got back into the swing of things. I signed up with another teacher recruiter and have two more appointments next week. While getting a day wage isn't ideal, it will keep me busy. Yes having some money is better than none. Having experience in the school is great (too bad all Headmasters don't seem to understand the transition from English teacher to school librarian -- seems natural and positive to me.)

Aside from my busy schedule of registering for as many agencies as possible, I still have my driving lessons. The lesson I had right after I heard I had the insane interview to do, I had such a hard time getting into my driving after a two week break. I hated it, wanted to cry and tell the instructor that I quit. I told Steve I wanted to quit too but he convinced me to go through my five pre-paid lessons at least. Last Tuesday, after wanting to just hide in the living room and pretend I didn't remember my lesson, I faced the music and got in the car. It was fine.

I think having a lesson once a week and first thing in the morning really helped. Granted I didn't do great but I improved. Even the instructor said at one point, "Now that's how you make a bloody turn!" Making a turn requires early assessment and preparation, especially on hills. I have to use my brain to drive now and not go around on auto pilot like I did for all those years in America with the automatic.

This means, I plan on keeping up with my lessons even though it's going to take me a while. Every British person I talk to tells me it takes three or four times before they pass their driving test -- and they're use to these roads! Even the highway, or the motorway as we call it here, is different. I mean, you're merging in and out from the left. Naturally I want to look over my right shoulder instead of the left so it gets kind of disorienting. Luckily the guy whose lane I swerved into let me go in front of him. It reminded me of the freeway scene in Clueless -- not as bad but I thought about freaking out like that.

I had this brilliant idea that I would try out Weebly for a mobile blog while I’m out and can’t set up a proper entry. After seeing the whole thing up I discovered that the badges didn’t work unless I created one via Twitter or Flickr myself, the mobile theme didn’t automatically detect, and there was no support to update posts via email. All kinds of fail. Since I have Missus P. On the Move anyway, I can update mini-posts here and there through email if I want to. I would do it for my this blog but I’m kind of fussy about things being all uniform and consistent.

Lastly, I found a place to swim! When I was in Florida, I swam about every day. I only do freestyle but I love exercising that way. The bike and the elliptical (cross trainer) gets boring so finally being able to get a lane at a pool makes me ecstatic. Plus, the place I went to has a smaller pool for the kids so the rest of us can be in our Zen-like state as we swim back and forth. Too bad the pool can get busy but it's better than the one near our house -- that place is too small for the amount of people coming in each day.

Oh yeah, and I caught up on my book reviews!

Review of “Prometheus”

No Engineers were attacked by this alien in the plot of this film.

Now that Prometheus has come out in the US, I can now write my review without any “don’t give me any spoilers” stuff. We saw it on Jun 1st when it opened on Friday. Steve and I both had already seen some lukewarm reviews of it and were really hoping it didn’t suck. We had high hopes and were incredibly excited by the time we reached the theatre. However, we soon realized that what problems reviewers had with the movie were the same problems we had with the film. Steve even laughed at dialogue so before the movie ended I knew he was getting the same feeling about the movie as I was.

When the movie was over and people were leaving the theatre, Steve asked, “So what did you think?” My initial reaction was, “No.” I couldn’t get my reasons put together immediately but the reaction was still, “Just no.”

After seeing what other people have said about the movie as well, Steve’s mentioned that there’s a distinct difference in reviewers who are old enough to remember Alien and those who are younger and more accustomed to movies with a lot of bling and no sustenance. “At least it was pretty to look at,” as Steve said. It was a lovely film, I agree, but it was too lovely. I mean the whole beauty of Alien was…okay, let me do this in an organized manner.

The problems I had with Prometheus:

1. As with the new Star Wars films, space should not be pretty. The 70s and 80s had a great concept of the future being used and grimy. In the 2000s film makers rely on the visual cleanliness of the sets (and the crap CGI that’s a whole separate issue). So Prometheus is a ship that cost a trillion dollars to get together and go to LV-223 to find out why these ancient beings had send us an invitation. That means the crew was hired by Meredith Vickers, Weyland’s daughter (we know because she calls him father!) so there would be a fancy, well-equipped ship. It would be pretty but that doesn’t make it scary. It looks like a hotel with all its bright lights. We need darkness, foreboding and a distinct “locked in a haunted house” feel that Alien had.

2.  As a heroine, Ellen Ripley is a smart, tough cookie who handles a situation that she’s thrown into. With Prometheus we had Shaw as the doctor and Vickers as the…well, what was she? She hired everyone but she said it was “her ship” but they had a captain. Now, I’ve seen Charlize Theron kill men in other movies so casting her as a tough female lead was a good call. But no, she wasn’t the lead. Noomi Rapace was the lead who had the sweetest voice, had this great relationship with her boyfriend, and had the cutest hair cut imaginable. I mean, it was like watching Amelie trying to suss out why these Engineers wanted to destroy mankind. I don’t believe for one minute that her character would be able to watch a machine cut an alien baby out of her uterus and then walk around, bloodied, talking to old man Weyland and back in the big Engineer cave again and be fine.

3. Seriously, I can’t even believe that scene happened. I mean, the excuse of “space drugs” isn’t good enough for me. If you’ve been cut open from hip to hip you wouldn’t be able to walk. Plus, the alien baby would be in her uterus, correct? So that would mean going through internal organs and extracting the thing. Who is just going to watch that happen? And what’s the purpose of having a surgery machine anyway? It was designed only for men, apparently, so why did Vickers need it? (And why would the future be so sexist?) And why did the dialogue have to go as far as to point out, “Hey, there’s a surgery machine!”? Good science fiction shows the character figuring it out on their own or demonstrating knowledge that is feasible. Ripley knowing how to get that escape shuttle off the ship was feasible. We didn’t need anyone to explain to us how she got the thing off there, we just watched her blow up the ship.

4. There are too many people on that ship! Why go as far as to create a cool geologist with tattoos character and kill him straight off? What was the purpose of having three people drive that ship who were more than willing to just blow themselves up together in order to stop the Engineer from coming to Earth? Cheesy dialogue was included in that scene too with, “I think you’re going to need some help.” Aww, how touching. 17 people is too much. It left too many characters without any connection to the audience. They died? Oh well, let’s see what’s going on with someone else then.

5. There is too much going on in this movie. First we’re going to have the creation of mankind explained and then we’re going to scare you with an alien movie. No, no, no. This is not Lost, Damon Lindelof, we do not need a Man of Faith versus a Man of Science plot again. I swear, if this ends up being another John Locke and Jack Shepherd power struggle with dialogue about life, I’m going to write Ridley Scott a letter myself saying: Do not trust the man behind the island! All they had to do with this movie is cut it back to going out to see what’s up on LV-223, have Holloway get infested, then bring it to the crew. Stuff could go on, they could go back, have the whole “this is what the Space Jockey is” scene and then have everyone die but one. Whether they go off to find where the Engineers came from or not is a whole other can of worms. I don’t like that we’re tricked into a series with this film. I want a cool, beating up aliens and surviving story. I don’t want anyone explaining to me the existence of man and the need to exterminate them (because if we’re going on that line then we already know they aren’t going to kill mankind because by Alien 3, they still just want Ripley to they can study the alien so…yeah, money grubbing Weyland-Yutani is still around. And why is everyone going back and forth to the ship and the Engineer’s cave? Stay in one place and make us feel tension!

And why did we need that awkward conversation with Janek and Vickers about if she’s an alien or if she needs the company of a man? What if she were an alien? Who knows? That makes movies fun!

6. Old man Weyland. Okay what in the heck was the purpose of getting Guy Pierce to get a ton of makeup on to play an old man? He looked ridiculous in his mobility suit. What did he expect with the “oh, let’s go talk to the Engineers” thing at the end anyway? Why put that in the movie? If Vickers were there with David and they were under orders to find this junk out and an ominous old man Weyland were somewhere waiting on them, that would have been fine. Don’t give us too much. Hold back a bit so we’re guessing and not laughing.

7. Ridley Scott was quoted as saying, “While Alien was indeed the jumping-off point for this project, out of the creative process evolved a new, grand mythology and universe in which this original story takes place. The keen fan will recognize strands of Alien's DNA, so to speak, but the ideas tackled in this film are unique, large and provocative.” Then later he said, “by the end of the third act you start to realize there’s a DNA of the very first Alien, but none of the subsequent [films].” Strands of Alien DNA, huh? Nothing about the subsequent films, right? No obvious connection to character, set, alien design, theme, dialogue, etc.? So explaining the alien itself has nothing to do with anything? Nor does having a ship that looks remarkably similar, as well as the same look of the crew members, or the fact that they showed the space ship that they found in Aliens crash, what it was for and where it was going. Shaw doesn’t shout at things with “Come on!” like Ripley did? Apone and Janek look nothing alike with the the hat and the jacket? The cold-hearted women of Weyland aren’t a factor? Only some Alien DNA, huh? Oh I get it! DNA? We’re explaining how humans and aliens began! Whatever. I guess he means the Alien vs, Predator movies that I’ve never seen just on title alone.

All in all I give Prometheus 3 out of 5 stars. It was pretty but it wasn’t great. There was no creepy horror aspect to it at all which disappointed me greatly. There was no amazing female heroine, hokey dialogue, stupid CGI, too much plot, too many unmemorable characters, and pretty much not that interesting at all. The minute I saw the weird Engineer creating life or whatever at that waterfall, I was like, “Oh no. The trailer was right. They’re going to try and make this a theory movie, aren’t they?” I doubt I’ll see whatever sequel they have in the theatre now too. Very, very disappointing but that’s not to say I didn’t like some aspects of the movie though.

The reasons worth seeing Prometheus:

David.

Charlize Theron setting a guy on fire.

Where seldom is heard a discouraging word

And the skies are not cloudy all day.

As you can see from above, I’ve started playing with Instagram on my HTC Sensation (even thought it froze the while phone the first time I installed it.) I love photos and have just been posting everything on my Flickr account. I like and dislike the look of some uber-hip shots I’ve seen made by Instagram so this was just a way to try out while I started my Missus P. On the Move companion site. A lot of the photos I take end up just on Facebook and they don’t get directly connected to the site so I thought this would be a quick and easy way to post my random pictures while I’m out and about doing stuff. The above picture was taken while I was sitting outside, enjoying the warm weather.

It’s a beautiful Friday morning here. The sky is blue, the sun is shining, and the birds are singing in the garden. It’s such a nice place to live and I’m so lucky I have a quiet, relaxing, pleasant place so sit here and do my typing.

However, it’s been no secret that we’ve had issues with the place lately. Not only have we dealt with random students renting the flat upstairs but we also have a beauty salon being run across the hall. Now to most people who are in charge of apartment buildings they have certain rules and guidelines that we all have to abide by, especially when it concerns the general balance and quality of life for their tenants. It isn’t always the case though and we had an interesting run-in last night.

As we had just started watching The Fantastic Mr. Fox at 9PM, Steve got an email on his phone from our building manager (or overseer as they’re called). The email said that since we hadn’t responded to their last email they were forced to contact the committee about our keeping crates in the hallway.”  Yes, we have crates in order to keep Mary Kay, the beautician, from adding her tacky decorations to our side of the hallway but the previous email and committee reference – no clue what that’s about.

Steve decides to call instead of email and the manager promptly gets upset because “it’s 9:20!” so he’s calling too late. We had just been sent an email about being told on by some alleged committee, of course we’re going to talk to you immediately. So the complaint, according to the manager, was that our grocery store crates are too heavy for the cleaning lady to move each time she vacuums. Fine. I can understand that completely and if there were a problem, I would have gladly moved them for her. But did we know this? No. Are we the only ones with large items in the hallway? Of course not. Steve explained that our crates are our way of keeping Mary Kay from adding even more of her 30-odd pieces of crazy decor. She had already put stuff all downstairs until the new neighbours moved in, then she promptly stuffed it right back in our hallway.

But these facts fell on deaf ears. Building manager was adamant that Mary Kay with her big plants, flower box and other random lawn decorations wasn’t an issue at all and it was a communal area and she had every right to have that stuff there. But our crates? No. Eventually this discussion elevated by the manager’s arguing how we were going to have to talk to two other neighbours in “the committee” and Mary Kay ourselves because our crates are bad but a beauty salon is perfectly fine. After trying to reason these concerns with her, the manager said we were always “tit for tat” with them (um…who sent us the email?) Steve asked the manager they thought we felt about the whole thing. The manager’s answer, “I don’t care how you feel.” Steve, the most polite person I’ve ever met in my life, said, “Well, that’s all I need to know then,” and hung up.

While I find the whole situation ridiculous and shocking, Steve assured me that this kind of unprofessionalism has been going on since he bought the place. He’s let them know about the drunk kids upstairs and their parties where someone tried to break the back door down. He also told them about the fighting in the common areas, and the noise that disrupted everyone, etc. but the manager just blew it off. Apparently they think we’re just complainers who make a big deal out of nothing and they simply don’t want to hear any of our concerns. Even when we had the ordeal with the pipes getting unblocked, it was our responsibility to organize it and then, once it was finished, the manager wrote us an email saying how since we didn’t do it earlier, it was our fault that the downstairs neighbour had water damage that their insurance couldn’t cover. What the heck kind of business sense is that?

The committee will have to be spoken to eventually too and I’ll make sure to mention what kind of reactions we get from the building manager. I wonder if the committee are neighbours whom I’ve spoken to before, including the cleaning lady. I have no idea what their, or the building manager’s functions are in this place, quite honestly. I’ve seen the  managers mow the lawn, paint fences, plant flowers, and such as that. They let the back yard gate stay broken for months (until someone strangers were using our yard as a shortcut to the street), eventually fixed the loose step (which is broken now again) and use to organize neighbourhood meetings (but they stopped that two years ago.) They don’t keep extra keys to the flats, or the garages. They aren’t sure who lives where or if they’re renters or owners (apparently they thought we rented the place or something.) It’s a very strange situation to say the least.

Anyway, as I write this, Mary Kay is in the hallway, undoubtedly dancing with glee that she got her way (we still think she and the manager are in co-hoots because Mary Kay moves those crates daily to vacuum before her clients show up.) We’re planning on putting some plants out there on our side just to even the balance before she gets any idea about putting another plastic high heel show planter next to our door or something. Meh, at least she got rid of that creepy mannequin head that was out there. The thing is – I had been completely not bothered by her or anyone else here lately. I thought everything was hunky-dory and in a peaceful order. Oh well, someone always tries to put more lemons into the lemonade, don’t they?

Driving and venturing out late

Get behind the wheel.

Two things of uniqueness happened last week. First, I started my driving lessons. Now, as you may well know already, I have driven in the United States for the past, what 20 years? I have driven in Florida that whole time, give or take a few visits to Ohio. I’ve driven an automatic except for the few manual shift lessons my Dad gave me on “little red” my grandparents Chevrolet Chevette. This means that, no, I can’t drive in the United Kingdom. I have my fancy learner’s permit and everything so I signed myself up to learn how to get my way around.

I thought what would trip me up the most was the natural instinct for me to be on the right side of the road. Honestly, since I was already oriented to the left side of the road, I understood that I had to stay in my lane. I also understood to stay away from the cars going the opposite way. So if you’re going to learn to drive on the opposite side of the street, my suggestion is to go out during the day when you can work with traffic. Otherwise, yeah, it would be confusing.

Since I’ve always driven an automatic, my issue was that now I couldn’t just pay attention to everything that was going on the road. I had to pay attention to the car and what I was doing with the car. This makes turns tricky. I have to slow down to 10 mph, see if anyone’s coming, change gears, drive on, etc. It really got me frustrated during my first go because I got overwhelmed with all the cars at the roundabout (and, let me tell you, in town at 4PM on a Friday, there were plenty of them) plus my understanding of what gear to shift in.

All in all I didn’t do too badly (or so my instructor, who was probably being very nice, told me.) I nudged a couple of curbs (remember, I’m on the opposite side of the road and the opposite side of the car – confusing!) I revved the engine too much and made that horrible stinky smell. (Sorry, car.) I stalled a bunch when I got panicky with all the little cars waiting on me to turn the dang corner (driving instructor said, “they’re behind you – don’t worry about them.”) But I did get up to 4th gear and was able to change gears okay even though I kept going a mere 20 mph (driving instructor kept telling me to go faster.)

Secondly, on Saturday night, Steve and I visited The Late Shows around town. From 7PM – 11PM the art galleries, library, museums and cinemas all had something different going on. We only saw a fraction of the events but going around in the sightseeing bus in the middle of the night around the city was so cool. We saw artists demonstrating their work process, people dressed up in costumes, modern dance performances, funky light shows, and just all around cultural fun. Highlight of the night – visiting the animals at Ouseburn Farm. There, I pet a rabbit named Dirk. I’m excited to go next year to see all the other places we missed. Our night was filled just by hitting a handful of places too.

Technorati Tags: driving,tour,gallery,museum,art,The Late Shows,British,England,Newcastle,lessons,Florida,Ohio,Chevrolet,Chevette,Kingdom,learner,instinct,road,lane,street,suggestion,traffic,attention,gears,gear,instructor,engine,Late,From,library,fraction,events,animals,Ouseburn,Farm,Dirk,galleries,artists,costumes,performances,cars

The Beautiful Blogger Award

I could get use to this each day.

I was honoured with a nomination for the Beautiful Blogger Award by Amelia Curzon. A million times, thank you for this honour. I appreciate it so much.

So, this is what happens when you’re nominated:

• You write seven facts about yourself
• You link to the blog of the person who nominated you
• You link to seven bloggers whom you think deserve the award
• You let those bloggers know they have been nominated

Seven Facts About Me:

1. If we were to win the lottery, I’d want us to have a house in Hawaii. I’ve never been there but seeing pictures like the one above, I’m sure I could get use to living in a Polynesian Paradise quite easily.
2. Once, when I was a little girl at Rockbridge Elementary School I had on my new pink sweat suit. During recess, first thing in the morning, I attempted to go across the monkey bars only to fall in a large puddle. I had to sit on newspapers over the radiator in the principal’s office until my Mom showed up with a change of clothes for me.
3. The first time I ever left Ohio was when I was in sixth grade during our annual Washington D.C. trip.
4. The first car I ever drove was my parents’ silver Pontiac.
5. I start my U.K. driving lessons this week!
6. If I were stranded on a desert island (as in living in Hawaii) I’d bring my husband, our cat, my parents, my laptop, my Canon camera, my HTC phone and my Kindle Fire. Wait, was I only supposed to bring three things?
7. While my hometown is Logan, Ohio, I moved to Titusville, Florida when I was twelve and lived there (after some years back and forth to Orlando) until 2010 until I moved to Newcastle, England.

Who Has Nominated Me:

The very kind and lovely blogger herself, Amelia Curzon who’s blog is at: http://ameliacurzonblogger.wordpress.com/

My Links To Seven Bloggers Who Also Deserve The Award:

A Discount Ticket to Everywhere is another Blogathon 2012 participant – this month she’s blogging A-Zs about children’s literature translations.

Books YA Love is a librarian who received her degree from Texas, just as I did. Her blog is fun and fresh with plenty of reviews of dystopian and romance novels for teens.

My Worldly Obsessions is a beautiful blog with book reviews. We’ve had some insightful conversations about books lately too.

ScifiWriterMom has discussed books with me before and gave me the best suggestion I’ve had in a while with The Iron King Series.

She Started It such a smart, interesting writer that I even follow her on Facebook. I love seeing what links she has and her When Do You Write interview section.

Suzie Tullett has a book on sale at Waterstones – about Mods! How cool is that? I’m so impressed by this. She’s very nice and writes interesting blog posts too.

YA Book Shelf – Melissa Montovani has one of the best young adult book blogs online. I’ve followed it for quite a while now and even used her blog for a project during my MLS program.

Again, thank you so much for nominating me. I appreciate it so much!

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But everyone else likes it: Popularity vs. Quality

Hey you, get off of my cloud.

Have you ever wondered why something is popular? Have you ever questioned the quality of something popular? Have you ever tried something that everyone else seems to be raving about, only to be disappointed? Of course you have. We all have. Why is that?

This morning Steve and I were discussing how the world is more accepting of crap these days. The more other people accept it, the more it becomes popular. Then the powers that be get the idea of, “well, lots of people liked this, so let’s rejig it and package it as something slightly different but the same.” They make money because people love the same crap.

Granted, we can’t argue taste. This is all about television shows, movies, music and books, of course. Plenty of people said they couldn’t stand Gilligan’s Island but it still stayed on television forever. I know that the argument is, “Well, I don’t want to think about it, I just enjoy it.” That’s fine but it makes me sad to know that quality books, movies, shows, and music aren’t even known about by some of these people who don’t want to think about it. I know people who have also thought I was in the wrong for not going along with the sheep-like following of a certain popular show. (I’ll give you a hint, it’s a competition and the one who wins year after year sounds just like the winner from the last season.)

We all have our guilty pleasures, as I mentioned in my last post about contemporary and classic books. I watch reality shows even though they aren’t good, quality shows. Even when I watch them I ask myself why I’m bothering but sometimes a little thoughtless fun in your entertainment decisions is good. But most of us know the difference. We may know things such as “Moves Like Jagger” is a terrible song that shames Mick’s good name, for example. We may also know that Twilight fan fiction is based on books that were called out by Stephen King himself as terrible. We could also know that a movie like Battleship is bound to be awful if it’s based on a board game. And I’m sure we all know that half of the stupid shows in prime time are bloody awful. Why, why do they still watch them?

But some people can read, listen to, or watch these for a cheap thrill. However, knowing that they aren’t “good” is the difference between those who go “this is the best book/show/song/band/movie ever.” No, no it’s not. You can enjoy it but it’s not “good.” Good connotes quality, effort, style, talent and creativity. I am not trying to demean anyone who likes music on Radio One or Hillybilly Handfishin’ (thank you, Joel McHale for reminding me what kind of crap the US television producers can create.) My hope is just that they give things that aren’t popular a second chance. Some good things are popular, of course, but the majority, not so much.

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