Getting A Life
I've been a bit too busy to write these past few days. We're each starting to get a life again. I have an Ipswich bus pass with my photo on it. I have library cards for Ipswich and Colchester. We have a family card for One rail. On Saturday, we'll have an address, with water, gas, and electricity service, plus council taxation, and I'm working on broadband and TV next. Soon we'll have a real home, neighbours, and friends. But you have to build up these little bits that make your life, and having an address is a prerequisite to many of them, so we're happy to be making progress.
Saturday is a big day. Late morning we go to our estate agent to complete our letting agreement and get keys. Sarah has her second swim class next. We'll move one load into the house afterward. We have an appointment at our bank to add me to the account (this must be done in person, with Margo and I both present, and with documented proof of our address). We also need to buy sheets, pillows, duvets and towels. At some point, Margo will drive back to Colchester to pack up the ten boxes from Portland that are still in our room. And we'll probably get groceries too. It will be busy.
Sarah had her second day in school today. On Monday we got her uniform supplies: grey skirt, red cardigan, white polo shirts, white long-sleeve shirts, black tights, black knee socks, black shoes. On Tuesday the three of us meet the head teacher and got more supplies for Sarah: a red Brittania sweatshirt; a red Brittania gym shirt; a book bag and a gym bag with the Brittania school logo on them. She spent the rest of the day at school, and I picked her up afterward. It's like meeting someone at the airport: you clear a gate, wait by the door with lots of other parents, and a stream of kids come out, except they all have matching clothes and most have short blonde hair.
How was her first day? Not bad and not great, I guess. Sarah didn't have a lot to say about it. She hasn't made any out-and-out friends yet. She's also slow to tell us what she did, saying she can't remember when we ask, but eventually revealing details.
Today I just missed the bus by seconds in the last leg of our bus-train-bus-bus journey from Colchester, so we were ten minutes late. I was more embarrassed and frustrated than Sarah was. I'm dedicated to being on time tomorrow. Afterward, I thought I'd have more free time, but there were so many errands to run: getting our gas and electricity services started, visiting the local council to set up our council tax account, doing research at the library, and shopping for Sarah: a water bottle; another skirt; black gym shorts; plimsole shoes; and finding an art smock.
I am the family manservant. I'm looking forward to a few days off - Sarah in school, no major errands to run. Once I get my iMac I'll have many happy hours configuring it and setting up a Windows partition (just for gaming). I'll also have fun shopping for a TV (will probably get a used flat panel from a secondhand store) and stereo (I'm leaning towards the Monitor Audio iDeck). (That's right, a TV ... even though we avoided getting one in Portland, we want a TV here to take in the culture more; plus the BBC and ITV programming is very good.) Then I'm sure I'll get bored and ready for contracting.
Saturday is a big day. Late morning we go to our estate agent to complete our letting agreement and get keys. Sarah has her second swim class next. We'll move one load into the house afterward. We have an appointment at our bank to add me to the account (this must be done in person, with Margo and I both present, and with documented proof of our address). We also need to buy sheets, pillows, duvets and towels. At some point, Margo will drive back to Colchester to pack up the ten boxes from Portland that are still in our room. And we'll probably get groceries too. It will be busy.
Sarah had her second day in school today. On Monday we got her uniform supplies: grey skirt, red cardigan, white polo shirts, white long-sleeve shirts, black tights, black knee socks, black shoes. On Tuesday the three of us meet the head teacher and got more supplies for Sarah: a red Brittania sweatshirt; a red Brittania gym shirt; a book bag and a gym bag with the Brittania school logo on them. She spent the rest of the day at school, and I picked her up afterward. It's like meeting someone at the airport: you clear a gate, wait by the door with lots of other parents, and a stream of kids come out, except they all have matching clothes and most have short blonde hair.
How was her first day? Not bad and not great, I guess. Sarah didn't have a lot to say about it. She hasn't made any out-and-out friends yet. She's also slow to tell us what she did, saying she can't remember when we ask, but eventually revealing details.
Today I just missed the bus by seconds in the last leg of our bus-train-bus-bus journey from Colchester, so we were ten minutes late. I was more embarrassed and frustrated than Sarah was. I'm dedicated to being on time tomorrow. Afterward, I thought I'd have more free time, but there were so many errands to run: getting our gas and electricity services started, visiting the local council to set up our council tax account, doing research at the library, and shopping for Sarah: a water bottle; another skirt; black gym shorts; plimsole shoes; and finding an art smock.
I am the family manservant. I'm looking forward to a few days off - Sarah in school, no major errands to run. Once I get my iMac I'll have many happy hours configuring it and setting up a Windows partition (just for gaming). I'll also have fun shopping for a TV (will probably get a used flat panel from a secondhand store) and stereo (I'm leaning towards the Monitor Audio iDeck). (That's right, a TV ... even though we avoided getting one in Portland, we want a TV here to take in the culture more; plus the BBC and ITV programming is very good.) Then I'm sure I'll get bored and ready for contracting.
posted by Michael Nelson at 10:17 am
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home