Home, Sweet Aberdeen

We arrived in Aberdeen on time and OK. The flights weren't too bad, although we did have to scramble to get through customs in London. I'm really surprised we made it, due to the fact that we had less than an hour. It was pretty crazy running through the airport trying to find a gate in an airport that we had never been.
So, I suppose many of you want to know what's different over here. It's really interesting all the little things that you notice, and the obvious things. The currency is different so we get to learn the 1p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, 1 pound, and 2 pound coins, and the 5 pound, 10 pound, and 20 pound bills. The bills themselves are interesting because the same bill can be different due to being issued by a different bank. Driving is the similar, but also much different. Having to drive from the right side of the car is almost like trying to write with your other hand. You can do it, but you're probably going to be a little rough and slower at doing it. I've been driving for four days now, and I'm almost up to speed on most of the traffic signs. I do love roundabouts, but there are some special rules that go with using them. You may enter a roundabout with two lanes, but a cross street may only exit with a single lane, so lane placement and signaling is important. The streets are marked with signs, but not very well. Many times the street signs are on the side of a building corner about waist high. The one thing I do like a lot about driving is almost everyone drives a car. It's amazing how many more small cars you can get in a limited amount of street space. Our Honda Civic and VW Cabrio were midsized cars by Aberdeen standards. The cars do get much smaller, and speaking of cars, there are many brands not in the US such as Seat, Citroen, Alfa Romeo, Renalt, Peugeot, Proton, Skoda, Vauxhall, Smart, and models not in the US by manufacturers such as Audi, Ford, BMW, Mazda, Mini, Suzuki, Mercedes-Benz, Toyota, VW, and Volvo.
It's hard waiting to get a motorcycle. As far as I can tell, lane splitting is legal!!! The bikes just drive around the cars and are on their merry way. There aren't very many straight roads, so I think I might get a supermotard bike for buzzing around town. I tried on my new Joe Rocket jacket and overpants tonight for the first time together, and they look and fit really great.
Our apartment is a nice two bedroom, but once again small. The kitchen is absolutely tiny, along with the 3/4 scale appliances. The wall outlets are much bigger, and each one has it's own on/off switch. The best part is that we have off the street parking and are only about 2 blocks from downtown, which is along Union Street.
Our air shipment arrived today, so we got the rest of our clothes. They are needed, because the average temperature is around 50°F. I went running in short and a long sleeve shirt tonight, but I was a little cool.
Dena and I are going to get her a mobile phone tomorrow and do some car shopping. I'm hoping there is a little time to swing by some of the motorcycle shops also. :)

Crazy April

April has been really crazy. On April 1, I still wasn't sure exactly when I was moving to Scotland, and then everything came at once. I officially accepted my new job which I start in a couple of days. We fly out on Monday, April 30th and arrive in Aberdeen, Scotland on May 1st. I start my first day of work the next day. Dena and I had a long list of things to take care of which included getting my passport renewed, getting Visas for both of us, taking an inventory of all of our stuff so that it could be moved. We were originally looking into bringing our motorcycles, until we found out how expensive it was going to be. Then we scrambled to sell our motorcycles in a little over a week and half. We sold the Cabrio to a Belgium couple that is working and teaching here in Lafayette. It was really nice talking to them to get an idea of what we might expect when we visit Europe.

Festival International has started, and we've been REALLY enjoying going out downtown and listening to the music, and pretending it's all for us as a going away party. It's nice seeing friends that have come in from out of town.

I've added a link to a Google Calendar. I plan to post our major event weekends, and also use it as a scheduling guide for friends who want to come and visit.

One month to go

It's now official, the Little Red Racecar has been sold. I'm going to miss it, at least until I have something to replace it with. Dena still has her VW Cabrio, but it's just not the same.

Lots has been happening regarding our move to Scotland. I'm working with the HR department to try to get everything on the long checklist of items taken care of. Realistically, we'll probably be getting on a plane around May 1. I'm very excited, but I'm going to be really busy trying to coordinate everything that going to take place. It's not like moving across town or to a new state, because we are going to have to sell both our cars (maybe motorcycles) and all our appliances. The voltage is 240V, 50 Hz which means that we would have to get converter boxes for our current appliances. I think it's just going to be an opportunity to get some new appliances.

Congratulations to my friends Brad and Shea on the birth of their second daughter, Isabel Marin!

Me against the world

I think I might be turning into a grumpy old man. I was heating up some dinner tonight when the doorbell rings. I stroll over expecting to see one of the neighborhood kids, when I see an older gentlemen holding a clipboard. I know it's going to be long Presidential election process, but this soon? "Hi, I'm so and so representing so and so who is trying to get speed bumps installed along the street to slow down traffic. I was wondering if you would be willing to sign my petition?" Immediately, I repond with a "I like like speeding." He seems a little shocked and slightly offended, but quickly leaves. Now, after my wife pointed out that my response may have been a little rude, I defended myself to her by saying I was honest.

Now, the interesting thing is that I do like speeding, but I do live in a neighborhood that has a lot of kids, and I have noticed that people do seem to speed. The posted speed limit is 25 mph, buy myself and many other people seem to be doing 30-35 mph. I do see the gentleman's point about wanting to slow down traffic, so I started thinking, as I like to do. I'm a car guy, and I HATE speed bumps. Driving a lowered car over speed bumps just plain sucks.

There are a few side streets in Lafayette, that would actually allow people to cut through neighborhoods from one major street to another, but their are speed bumps installed, so traffic avoids those streets like the plague.

Why not install a couple stop signs instead of speed bumps? There are quite a few intersections that could be set up with a 3-way stop. This would definately slow traffic down. People almost completely stop at the speed bumps anyway, and you would be completely without the annoying up-down motion. There might be a little additional wear on people's brake systems, but there would be less wear on the suspension. Is it just me, or is it the world? Maybe it's just the engineer in me searching for a better solution.

Being healthy is great!

I'm finally starting to feel better, and it's amazing how much more energy and motivation I have. It's been almost 3 months since I had an MRI that showed that I had a herniated disk in my lower back. I believe an extended mountain bike ride with a co-worker started the fire in my back, but the bonfire had been building for years of slouching and bad posture habits. After 6 weeks of physical therapy, I'm finally starting to feel normal again. It's interesting what a little exercise and stretching will do to make you better. So, what's one of the first things I did? I washed and waxed the Little Red Racecar, and finally took a picture of it. Then, I sold it. Well almost. I have it for a few more weeks, but it is spoken for by a friend of mine in Lafayette. I'm going to miss it. It's been a lot of fun, and unfortunately I never got around to putting the turbo on it, but I did learn a lot about Civics. The 92-95 Civic really is the Mustang of the import world.


UK update: I'm slowing moving through the process of checking the boxes next to the long list of things to do to move to the UK for work, but things are moving along. Work permit has been filled out, passport has been sent off to be renewed, physical exams and shots took place, salary was negotiated, waiting on work permit approval and work agreement paperwork. Then, the packing and moving begin...

Heading across the pond

Well, I'm about 95% sure at this point that Dena and I will be moving to Aberdeen, Scotland. Ah yes, the land of castles, lochs, whiskey, and learning to drive on the wrong side of the road. It's a biker's paridise, when the weather is nice. I'm getting really excited. I'll be going over on a 3 year work assignment to support the UK, Norway, Kazahkstan, and other parts of Europe.

I love red!!!

My Christmas and birthday gift finally arrived today! I've been needing a tool chest for the top of my tool box for a while, as it's pretty much overstuffed. Now all I need to do is take a Saturday and organize everything. I'm at a point that I can pretty much fix any automotive or motorcycle related repair. :) It's pretty nice.

I feel a little bad about not posting much over the last month, but I haven't been really motivated due to an injury. I think it may have happened in November, but in late January, an MRI showed that I had a herniated disk in my back. After six weeks of physical therapy, my back is much better, but I'm still stretching out my hamstrings which are causing some cramping in my right calf. Not a lot of fun when it hurts to drive. I did find out that I can ride my motorcycle more comfortable than driving the Little Red Racecar, and the weather has been really nice, so there are a couple of nice reasons to put some miles on my 900RR.