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Imk2's Journal

imk2
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05/26/2009 15:59 #48759

iphones
did you guys know that you get a iphone for free here with a 35 pound a month, 2 year contract?

that's insanity!!!

do you know that my shit erickson phone that i bought for 5 pounds my first day calls the US for cheaper than what it costs to call others in london?

wtf is that about? all the phones here call overseas, no problem. why are we so far behind?

rory - 05/27/09 06:48
There has been a thing within the whole EU recently about reducing charges to overseas numbers from a mobile, as well as roaming charges while you're abroad.

I believe they are trying to work it so you can call any mobile number in the EU for the same price, no matter if it's in the same county as you.

They way they get round the loss of revenue is to make it more expensive to call a landline from a mobile. Depending on your landline provider it can actually be cheaper to mobile to mobile than any other option.
imk2 - 05/27/09 04:25
how true, indeed james.

and uncut, maybe that would be the case if i knew anyone in london. but since all my contacts are abroad, i don't feel slighted just yet.
uncutsaniflush - 05/26/09 21:27
I reckon this is a half-empty half-ful sort of thing. If it was me in London, I would be thinking "this is so fucked up, I can call Buffalo for less money than I call someone across town who can give me a job." But that is just me.

That being said, I think that both the telephone and mobile phone companies charge as high rates as they can get away with. If they give something for "free", unless you are clever and smart enough to finesse the system you end up paying through the nose for something else.

I admire your bravery in going to London. Good Luck and Godspeed as the Brits might say.
james - 05/26/09 18:42
It is a good thing most Americans have never left their home state. They would be outraged to experience this.
tinypliny - 05/26/09 18:27
I can call people in India for a lot less than local calls here. Go figure.

05/20/2009 20:23 #48708

dear god, help me
the hotel i'm staying in in the interim, is housing all of the international rugby teams that are here in london for the some kind of world rugby cup.

i have never seen so many beautiful men in one place in my entire life. there must be like 20 teams here, from scottland, england and portugal to fiji and kenya and georgia.

being the only gril stuck in an elevator of 8 testosterone laden men is quite disconcerting. i'd never would be able to pick just one. and i walk out sweating and confused.

there are so many hot beautiful men all over the city, everywhere. today at starbucks, this beautiful model type sat right acorss me. we struck up a conversation and i found out he's an actor at one of the many london theaters. i had to pack up my shit and go. he was way out of my league.

they're everywhere. i'm so distracted from what i should be doing, like finding a place to live.
museumchick - 05/27/09 21:21
mmmm....rugby players...
deeglam - 05/21/09 16:29
holy shit! You are gone!? I just read your journals! Have an awesome time!!! and keep us posted of course :)
jenks - 05/21/09 14:54
Oh good... I saw the title of your post and though "oh no!!!"- but I am glad to learn the nature of your horrible predicament.
lol.
Damn girl, have fun! ;)
metalpeter - 05/21/09 11:28
Well I'm guessing that after there matches they would love a good rub down. Why is it that I never go anywhere and there is like a gynastics championship or a the cheerleading world championship or something. Well I think (e:ladycroft) summed it up the best with the enjoy comment.
ladycroft - 05/21/09 09:15
enjoy :)
theecarey - 05/21/09 07:58
My only thought about your hitting the jackpot on walking into a wonderful plethora of rugby men was "oh dear god", as my brain melted down just thinking about it. Then I read your post title.

Good luck on this new life adventure- and finding a place to live, but take in more of that 'scenery' first! :)

tinypliny - 05/21/09 02:00
I am so glad you made it safe. Was it tough with all the luggage? Good Luck with your flat hunt!!

Contact that interview person and set it up as soon as you can. It's important that you be proactive on this one.

james - 05/20/09 23:00
Can't you do both at the same time? "Hey Hottie McHotPants want to go back to your place for the next two months and rut?"

05/03/2009 15:25 #48585

wooden technology
hmm...i'm on a roll today. second post of the day.

i'm confused about this. i'm not sure how i feel about wooden technology. somehow i don't find it surprising that this should come out of russia.


watches---used to be coveted by russian tsars, now they are worth $20,000.

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modern computer mouse.

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just for the record, this is the first mouse ever created back in 1964. Douglas Engelbart


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modern cell phone. ---well..it's not so modern anymore since smartphones came on the market, but still...


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and computers.....reminds me of the steampunk versions that are floating out there.

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don't forget about my other post below.
dcoffee - 05/04/09 12:51
Neato.. I like the mouse. that CPU is badass too. I don't know about the wooden gears and stuff though... As long as it works :)
metalpeter - 05/03/09 16:00
Well I have heard that using wood is really better then plastic wood can be reused and often all of plastic doesn't break down or something not sure if that is true. But there is also a certain look you get with wood that you can't get with plastic. Well that is unless it is the plastic they put in cars to make look like wood. Wow I have said all this stuff about wood and never made any jokes about the other meaning of wood.

05/03/2009 14:59 #48583

weirdest pillows
i must say, they're pretty crafty. my fave is the godfather tribute.

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if youre interested in seeing a few more not so interesting ones, go here:

metalpeter - 05/03/09 16:03
I think the pebble ones might fit good with the wood stuff in your other post. I do like the girl on the ground she does look pretty cute. What would really be odd is running into her sleeping outside someplace with that, I'm sure that would cause all kinds of problems.
paul - 05/03/09 15:28
I would love to have those pebble ones. I saw them before. My ideal room would have no furniture and those although I would prob have to wear a gas mask because of the dust. So say instead of fabric, maybe leather pebbles ;)

05/18/2009 14:30 #48690

My last day
Well, the day has come. It's my last night here in the US. I leave tomorrow at 7am for London. I still don't have a place to live, but I'm sure I'll manage to find a decent place within a few days.

The one thing I'm worried about is my luggage. Since I'm moving and not just going for a visit, I have to take both, summer and winter clothing. Clothing is expensive in London, and I don't want to have to buy a whole new wardrobe come this fall, so I'm forced to take my stuff with me.

The problem is that the airlines only allow you one checked bag for international flights and allow a weight of only 50lbs. I laid everything out that I wanted to take on my living room floor yesterday and it literally covered the entire living room. I was originally planning on taking two large suitcases and just paying the 25 dollars extra for the second one, but after packing the first one I realized that there was no way in hell I can manage to fit my shit into just two suitcases. A third piece of luggage costs 100 dollars, but that amounts to much less money than if you were to ship 50lbs over to London through any of the mail services. So I guess, I'm going to be taking at least 3 huge suitcases and one smaller carry on suitcase with me. The real problem is what do I do once I arrive. I don't know how I'll get from one place to another with just me and 4 bags. Normally, when we would go on vacation, we would just travel with one carry on bag each and would take the train from the airport to the city, but there is no way that I'll be able to pack myself on a train with so much shit. And even if I could, how would I get from the train station to the hotel. How can I even get from the platform to the outside of the subway station without leaving one of the bags behind while I carry the others. So I guess I'll be forced to take a cab. Hopefully, they'll take 4 bags. That will be so horribly expensive, I just know it. At least 70 pounds (which is about 100 dollars). And I'll have to do the same thing again, once I find an apartment and want to get my shit from the hotel to there. It's little shit like that that people don't think of, that causes so much stress.

The good news is that one of the recruiting agents I was in contact with back in December contacted me today. He originally told me that it will be very difficult to get me hired if I cannot physically in London, as employers will want to meet with me directly. He asked when I could come down for an interview and that is when I decided that come May I would take an extended trip the UK. There was no way that I could afford individual trips to Europe for single interviews. (Later I decided that if I'm going to find a job, then it makes no sense for me to go for a few months, but rather that I should just move, because the whole idea is to become employed and not come back until I am, so once I got a job I'd have to stay anyway)

So I told him that I was going to visit the UK sometime in May and that I would contact him then. That was the end of our communication. Well, I hadn't gotten around to doing that yet, but when I checked my email today, I found an email from him asking if I had made my plans to come to London yet. He remembered me. This is a good sign. It means that I'm marketable and that he didn't just throw my resume to the side and forgot about me.

Faben will be staying here for the time being. There is an immigration issue that I have to get straightened out. I am a European Union citizen, hence I can come and go and work in any European Union country without any visas or documents, (other than a passport), but the countries that joined the union in 2004 have different immigration policies when it comes to family than the original EU members. Basically, a person cannot invite their non EU citizen family members until they've worked in the UK for at least 12 months. I know that this applies to spouses, parents and siblings, but I'm not totally sure about dependents. But if that is the case, Faben won't be able to join me until next year. And by that time, she'll have only one year of high school left, so she may not even want to leave until she's done with school. I am however in the process of establishing her Polish citizenship, so maybe she'll be able to come much sooner.

Thank god for Skype and webcams. At least I'll be able to see her everyday.

I think my mom is more sad than she'd like to admit. She was the one that egged me on to hurry my ass up and go to Europe because she wants to move as well but wants me to settle first so that she'll have a place to stay. She cannot stand living with my step father any longer and has been planning her escape for quite a while. Friday she surprised me with a girls day out. She took me to get a facial, manicure and pedicure and then out to lunch. This is a big deal for my mom, because she NEVER does nice shit like that. As much as she talks shit about me mooching off of her, I know she likes having me around. I keep the house animated and it will be much too quiet and sad once I'm gone.


It still hasn't hit me as to how crazy this is. But as you all know and anyone else that knows me knows that I always wanted to go back to Europe. I was never happy living here. Not happy with the political system, with the welfare system, education system, health care (or lack there of) and basically with the over all American culture, and I really could not justify my views while remaining living here. I had to follow through on that whole "if you don't like it, then leave" shit every conservative and patriot threw at me. It's not as easy as it sounds. To move to another country. First and foremost you need a visa and to get a working visa for a European country is next to impossible these days. They go on a point system, and back in the day if you had a BA, and some experience that would be enough to get a visa, but they raised the amount of points needed now, and basically if you don't have a masters degree, you're not getting a visa. Thank god I didn't have to go through all of that. You also need a shit load of money. Most people don't have that much saved or can't manage to save enough and still pay bills. Thankfully things worked out for me in that regard. Plus, if you're a single parent like me, you need a support system to help you because it's basically impossible to do it on your own.

I literally know no one in England and have no one to help me out, but whatever, I'll deal with it. It would be nice to know someone with a car. What if I want to buy somekind of small piece of furniture or a shit load of kitchen shit for my house? Do I have to take a taxi everytime I do that? I can't carry huge ass boxes all by myself from the store to the subway and to my apt. And I can't even rent a car, which I thought of initially, (wit would be less expensive and i could so all my shopping in one day) because I don't know how to drive on the other side of the street!

My best friend recently moved to Italy, so at least I'll be able to see her more often than if I were living here. Flights from London to Italy can be purchased for as little as 30 pounds!

I'm sorry I didn't get to see you guys before I left. It just was so hectic. But I promise to keep everyone updated on my adventures from abroad and will be sure to come back and visit as often as possible.

I love you guys,

Cheerio!
jenks - 05/19/09 08:45
Bye! :( Good luck, we'll miss you.

(but I'm contemplating going to my friend's wedding in Birmingham in August, if I can come up with the $$, so maybe I can see you then!)
ladycroft - 05/19/09 05:13
That's exactly what I moved with, 3 suitcases. I paid the extra $75 for a third bag because it was cheaper than shipping anything.

You can totally drive on the other side of the road. All you need is your US license and passport. It's easy, and they are very civil drivers. I never got honked at once even if I cocked up. I'd rent a car for the weekend once you find a place.

You'll have to share your address when you have it and we'll invite you to the UK reception! I'm excited for you, it's going to be awesome!
libertad - 05/18/09 23:15
Bye IMK. I hope you and your family have a smooth transition. Be careful and give us an update.
vincent - 05/18/09 21:35
Take Care & best of luck!
metalpeter - 05/18/09 19:45
I doubt you will like this Idea, but here goes. Take one bag. Think about the money you will save on the airline. Also think about the money you will save on the cab. Take clothes only that are good for interviews. You don't want to try and find a place lugging stuff around. That money you save could then be used on clothes.

I wish you the best of luck with finding a place and getting a Job there, and look forward to hearing about your adventures.
mrmike - 05/18/09 16:22
Thinking good thoughts for you. Be happy and well.
jim - 05/18/09 16:12
Good luck!
tinypliny - 05/18/09 15:07
Good luck, Yvonne! Hope you have a safe trip and a successful interview. My good wishes are with you! :)