An update on the rental situation...
Our property management company was able to find another tenant for our house! Yay! She moved in Sept 1.
We were a bit concerned that we'd have trouble finding a new tenant. From what we've learned, most people who are moving into a house, as opposed to an apartment, want a lease that is at least a year. Since we are still planning on coming back next year (April or May-ish), we didn't want to offer a 12-month lease and be homeless for 5-6 months. So we thought we'd take a shot at the 6-month lease and go from there.
Apparently, that works out perfectly for our new tenant who is looking to buy a house in the area and didn't want a long-term lease anyway.
Phew.
Thursday, September 6, 2007
Beer Festival in Brussels
Kari and I went to Brussels this past weekend for a beer festival. Belgium is famous for their beers and rightly so. I have now placed Belgium beer at the top of my "Best Beer Country" list.
We flew there Friday morning (1-hour flight) and the festival started that evening. It was held in the Grand Place, a plaza surrounded by buildings that used to be the homes of merchants and the old town hall. It was rebuilt in the early 1700's after the French blew it up after a dispute about bread or cheese I think. They now have restaurants on the first floor and offices on the upper floors. Anyway you buy tokens (which were bottle caps) and exchange them for beer. You got 4 tokens for 3 Euros, with most beer being 3 tokens, the rest either 2 or 4 tokens (Note: to the Belgiums the quality of beer is not affected whether it is in bottles or in casks, it is all good quality stuff). There were 30 brewers and we tried beers from about 20. All the beer is served in glasses, not kegger cups, and there is an art to the pour which they are serious about.
The whole scene was pretty mellow, even Saturday night when it was packed and people had been drinking all day. Did not see any altercations, but the occasional glass was broken accidentally. Did see Losers stealing glasses that they could buy at the gift shop (there are uncouth louts in every country; Europe is no more "civilised" than anywhere else). Also saw people outside the festival area drinking beer from cans. Why come to a beer festival to be outside drinking beer from cans?
So we drank Friday night. Then Saturday morning we had a few then went to see a church and a park that had statues that represented all the Medieval guilds. That was interesting, we walked around the park and tried to guess as many guilds as we could. Then we had lunch and drank a bit more. Then we went to the hotel (a 5-minute walk fortunately), took a nap, got some dinner and drank some more. Sunday morning we drank a few then went to the museum Musees royaux des Beaux-Arts, had lunch and drank more beer until even I did not want any more beer. We also had chocolate and Belgian waffles. So, yeah we spent the weekend eating and drinking.
There are two ways they could improve the festival. One would be if you could buy a taster set from each brewer instead of only single beers. That way you could try them all. Also, I like to eat when I am drinking. I was surprised that the restaurants did not have waiters with menus of appetizers going around. That would have been cool, you would never have to leave except to use the restroom. Unless they had a "piss boy".
Interesting note about Brussels, there are few if any public toilets, so you have to stop at cafes and have a coffee or something. Well, you don't because there is the smell of urine fairly often when you are walking around.
Okay who got the "piss boy" reference?
Monday, August 27, 2007
General update
We've been out of touch on the blog for a while...not that things haven't been going on, it's more just been an issue of actually sitting down and writing it up!
A couch has arrived! Kev's cousin Maggie moved house recently and had a 2-seater little sleeper sofa that they weren't using anymore. It's in good shape and fits perfectly in our sitting room. We bought some pillows for it over the weekend and now we have a place to crash and relax. Combined with the beanbag Kev got from his other cousin, we've been able to pop a DVD on the laptop and watch movies in comfort.
Work has been taking up a lot of our time as well. During the week, we pretty much just work, go to the gym, and hang out at home before hitting the sack. I've got a 1+ hour bus ride each way to work, so I'm pretty wiped out by the time I get home each day. The buses aren't the most comfortable for a long commute like that--the seats are more geared towards short trips. Oh well...gotta do what ya gotta do.
We've also been spending a lot of time with the family. Each weekend, we've seen one cousin or another. It's been great to see everyone and so nice to have kind of a built-in social network here. Because we miss our friends and family back home!!!
About two weeks ago, we got an email from our property management company saying that our fabulous renters had to relocate again, to Oregon this time. When they signed the lease, they told us that they expected to probably have to move before their year lease was up, but I don't think they expected it so soon. I hope it went well for them--relocating to two different states in ~5 months with two very small children is a lot of work!
Other than that, we're doing pretty well. Finally feeling settled in and comfortable. We've met some really nice people here, to be described in a future post. The culture shock has worn off for the most part, but we're learning some interesting things about the culture here.
More soon...ta!
A couch has arrived! Kev's cousin Maggie moved house recently and had a 2-seater little sleeper sofa that they weren't using anymore. It's in good shape and fits perfectly in our sitting room. We bought some pillows for it over the weekend and now we have a place to crash and relax. Combined with the beanbag Kev got from his other cousin, we've been able to pop a DVD on the laptop and watch movies in comfort.
Work has been taking up a lot of our time as well. During the week, we pretty much just work, go to the gym, and hang out at home before hitting the sack. I've got a 1+ hour bus ride each way to work, so I'm pretty wiped out by the time I get home each day. The buses aren't the most comfortable for a long commute like that--the seats are more geared towards short trips. Oh well...gotta do what ya gotta do.
We've also been spending a lot of time with the family. Each weekend, we've seen one cousin or another. It's been great to see everyone and so nice to have kind of a built-in social network here. Because we miss our friends and family back home!!!
About two weeks ago, we got an email from our property management company saying that our fabulous renters had to relocate again, to Oregon this time. When they signed the lease, they told us that they expected to probably have to move before their year lease was up, but I don't think they expected it so soon. I hope it went well for them--relocating to two different states in ~5 months with two very small children is a lot of work!
Other than that, we're doing pretty well. Finally feeling settled in and comfortable. We've met some really nice people here, to be described in a future post. The culture shock has worn off for the most part, but we're learning some interesting things about the culture here.
More soon...ta!
Hiking in Ilam Park
Part 1
The weekend of 8/20, we drove up to a National Trust property called Ilam Park for some hiking. The park is located at the foot of the Derbyshire Dales in the Peak District National Park. You drive into the grounds of the old manor house, which is now a hostel, and park the car. We bought a map of the local area at the shop, and there are miles and miles of trails around the park.
It was raining lightly, but we were prepared with our plastic ponchos and sturdy shoes. Kevin was in charge of the map, and we headed off along the river to start our hike.
The view from the hill
The first part of the path took us up a slight rise in the hill, through some open trees, and then into open pasture further up the hill. Unfortunately, the path then went straight up the hill (no switchbacks here), so we carried on and eventually got to the top. We followed the farm roads along the top of the ridge until we got to a slight descent, where we stood under a huge oak tree and got our bearings.
A bit futher on, we encountered some cows blocking the road. The just stood and stared at us and wouldn't move, even though we were trying to encourage them to get out of the way. We ended up climbing over a fence to get around them. Being the city slickers that we are, we were afraid they'd run after us or something, so it was a while before we quit looking over our shoulders for them.
The hall at Ilam Park, now a hostel
All in all, despite being a bit soggy, it was a beautiful place to go for a hike. We were out and about for 2 hours or so.
Part 2
The next weekend, we decided to return to Ilam Park for more hiking. This time, we had much better weather. It was mostly sunny, with the occasional clouds floating by. It was hot in the sun, but luckily the breeze was nice and cool, and it was cool under the trees.
Pretty!
This time, we headed south along the river from the village of Ilam and walked through some lovely pastures, listening to the river babbling along next to us. After about 45 minutes or so, we reached an old stone bridge that had been part of the farm road at some point in the past--it had grass growing over the roadbed. At the middle of the bridge stood a group of people, about 15 of them, families with children looking at the river. And then the idyllic scene was shattered when one of the kids started screaming her head off as her older brother threatened to throw her into the river. We should have taken this scene as a warning...
We crossed the bridge and headed back towards Ilam on the other side of the river. At the river's east fork, we turned east and headed through a farm field that had lots of people camping. We saw some of the biggest tents we've ever seen. I didn't know they made tents that big! Seriously. They were nearly the size of a mobile home.
Anyway, as we followed the river up into the canyon, we noticed that more and more people were around. Tons of people. The further we walked, the more people we encountered. Now, we knew this was the last bank holiday weekend before the kids go back to school, but we never anticipated this many people. It probably had to do with the weather being so pleasant and the park's proximity to the city of Derby, which is a decent-sized city.
We got to a point in the canyon where there are stepping stones laid across the river. And, of course, there was a queue on both sides as people took turns crossing. This was also a major picnic destination for the hordes, and kids were splashing around in the water just beyond the stones. Ack--too many people. So we decided to carry on.
The hordes
We walked along the path next to the river for quite a while before we got to the next crossing. We ended going almost straight up the hill, about 300 meters, and finally reached the top. Then we had to carry on across the top (at one point the trail was about a foot wide and the drop was nearly vertical) before we crossed over the summit to head back to the village of Ilam. We hiked to the top of this small outcropping and the view was amazing! We could see for miles and miles and miles...
Kevin on top of the world
The descent was pretty hairy since the hills were steep, but we made it unscathed. We had been out just under 4 hours! Whoa!
The weekend of 8/20, we drove up to a National Trust property called Ilam Park for some hiking. The park is located at the foot of the Derbyshire Dales in the Peak District National Park. You drive into the grounds of the old manor house, which is now a hostel, and park the car. We bought a map of the local area at the shop, and there are miles and miles of trails around the park.
It was raining lightly, but we were prepared with our plastic ponchos and sturdy shoes. Kevin was in charge of the map, and we headed off along the river to start our hike.
The view from the hill
The first part of the path took us up a slight rise in the hill, through some open trees, and then into open pasture further up the hill. Unfortunately, the path then went straight up the hill (no switchbacks here), so we carried on and eventually got to the top. We followed the farm roads along the top of the ridge until we got to a slight descent, where we stood under a huge oak tree and got our bearings.
A bit futher on, we encountered some cows blocking the road. The just stood and stared at us and wouldn't move, even though we were trying to encourage them to get out of the way. We ended up climbing over a fence to get around them. Being the city slickers that we are, we were afraid they'd run after us or something, so it was a while before we quit looking over our shoulders for them.
The hall at Ilam Park, now a hostel
All in all, despite being a bit soggy, it was a beautiful place to go for a hike. We were out and about for 2 hours or so.
Part 2
The next weekend, we decided to return to Ilam Park for more hiking. This time, we had much better weather. It was mostly sunny, with the occasional clouds floating by. It was hot in the sun, but luckily the breeze was nice and cool, and it was cool under the trees.
Pretty!
This time, we headed south along the river from the village of Ilam and walked through some lovely pastures, listening to the river babbling along next to us. After about 45 minutes or so, we reached an old stone bridge that had been part of the farm road at some point in the past--it had grass growing over the roadbed. At the middle of the bridge stood a group of people, about 15 of them, families with children looking at the river. And then the idyllic scene was shattered when one of the kids started screaming her head off as her older brother threatened to throw her into the river. We should have taken this scene as a warning...
We crossed the bridge and headed back towards Ilam on the other side of the river. At the river's east fork, we turned east and headed through a farm field that had lots of people camping. We saw some of the biggest tents we've ever seen. I didn't know they made tents that big! Seriously. They were nearly the size of a mobile home.
Anyway, as we followed the river up into the canyon, we noticed that more and more people were around. Tons of people. The further we walked, the more people we encountered. Now, we knew this was the last bank holiday weekend before the kids go back to school, but we never anticipated this many people. It probably had to do with the weather being so pleasant and the park's proximity to the city of Derby, which is a decent-sized city.
We got to a point in the canyon where there are stepping stones laid across the river. And, of course, there was a queue on both sides as people took turns crossing. This was also a major picnic destination for the hordes, and kids were splashing around in the water just beyond the stones. Ack--too many people. So we decided to carry on.
The hordes
We walked along the path next to the river for quite a while before we got to the next crossing. We ended going almost straight up the hill, about 300 meters, and finally reached the top. Then we had to carry on across the top (at one point the trail was about a foot wide and the drop was nearly vertical) before we crossed over the summit to head back to the village of Ilam. We hiked to the top of this small outcropping and the view was amazing! We could see for miles and miles and miles...
Kevin on top of the world
The descent was pretty hairy since the hills were steep, but we made it unscathed. We had been out just under 4 hours! Whoa!
Monday, August 6, 2007
Aston Villa and Lichfield
This past weekend, we went to visit Kevin's cousin Seamus and his wife Mandy, and their little girl Faith, in Lichfield. It's about 1/2 an hour away from where we're living.
Saturday afternoon was an outing to see Aston Villa play Inter Milan in a pre-season "friendly," which means that the game doesn't even count as an official preseason match. We all piled into Seamus' car and off we went to downtown Birmingham, about 40 minutes' drive.
Seamus is a huge Aston Villa supporter, and has been since he was little. There are two football (soccer, to all the Yanks) clubs in Birmingham: Aston Villa and Birmingham City. Aston Villa is in the English Premier league, which is the top league in the country. I think Birmingham City is in a lower league, but I'm not sure which.
So we get to the stadium and there are thousands of people walking around in "claret and blue"--the colors of Aston. We got a quick soda and some chips (fries) and went in to our seats. We sat at one end of the field, just to the left of the goal. The seats were fantastic--we were only about 10 rows up from the pitch (field), so the action was close by.
Awesome seats!
I don't know if I'm going to be able to describe the atmosphere in words. If you've ever seen a European match on TV, or even the World Cup, you've heard the fans singing various songs and chanting. Well, I can tell you that what you see on TV doesn't even come close to conveying the solidarity and focus the fans have at the stadium. It's hard not to get caught up in the emotions and intensity of 46,000 fans. And the noise is deafening. We were lucky to see Aston score a goal at our end, the first one of the match, and it took about 30 minutes for my ears to quit ringing after the roar that went up from the crowd. Plus, every time the ball came anywhere near our end, everyone stood up to see what was going on. It was a lot of stand-up, sit-down. I've never experienced anything like it at any professional sporting event I've ever attended--baseball, American football, or basketball. It is a completely fantastic, and highly-recommended, experience.
After the match, we went back to the house and just sat on the patio having drinks and chatting. It was the first nice weekend we've had basically since May, when it started raining, so we wanted to take advantage of it to the fullest. Seamus cooked us this huge meal, and just as we were sitting down to eat, Kevin's other cousing Bridget appeared with her husband Jeremy. We had a really great meal and a super-fun time.
We stayed the night there, and the next morning, we had a giant fry-up breakfast: bacon, sausage, eggs, beans, bread--the works. It was another glorious morning, so we ate outside. Stuffed to the gills with food, Kevin and I walked into Lichfield city centre for a look at the cathedral and the surrounding area. It was about a 15-minute walk from their house, and the sun was bright and hot.
The cathedral was massive, and made from an interesting pinkish stone. Many of the other cathedrals are kind of a light-beige stone, so this was really interesting and different. It's in the gothic style, and had lots of statues all over the walls on the outside.
Lichfield cathedral
After we went through the cathedral, we went into the city centre and walked around for a while. It was Sunday, and most things were closed, but it was fun to look at nonetheless. It is an old city, and many of the buildings were timber-framed and crooked. It was really nice to be out and about in the sunshine, even though we were both wearing jeans and got too hot. It's hard to decide how to dress sometimes since the weather changes so quickly here.
Saturday afternoon was an outing to see Aston Villa play Inter Milan in a pre-season "friendly," which means that the game doesn't even count as an official preseason match. We all piled into Seamus' car and off we went to downtown Birmingham, about 40 minutes' drive.
Seamus is a huge Aston Villa supporter, and has been since he was little. There are two football (soccer, to all the Yanks) clubs in Birmingham: Aston Villa and Birmingham City. Aston Villa is in the English Premier league, which is the top league in the country. I think Birmingham City is in a lower league, but I'm not sure which.
So we get to the stadium and there are thousands of people walking around in "claret and blue"--the colors of Aston. We got a quick soda and some chips (fries) and went in to our seats. We sat at one end of the field, just to the left of the goal. The seats were fantastic--we were only about 10 rows up from the pitch (field), so the action was close by.
Awesome seats!
I don't know if I'm going to be able to describe the atmosphere in words. If you've ever seen a European match on TV, or even the World Cup, you've heard the fans singing various songs and chanting. Well, I can tell you that what you see on TV doesn't even come close to conveying the solidarity and focus the fans have at the stadium. It's hard not to get caught up in the emotions and intensity of 46,000 fans. And the noise is deafening. We were lucky to see Aston score a goal at our end, the first one of the match, and it took about 30 minutes for my ears to quit ringing after the roar that went up from the crowd. Plus, every time the ball came anywhere near our end, everyone stood up to see what was going on. It was a lot of stand-up, sit-down. I've never experienced anything like it at any professional sporting event I've ever attended--baseball, American football, or basketball. It is a completely fantastic, and highly-recommended, experience.
After the match, we went back to the house and just sat on the patio having drinks and chatting. It was the first nice weekend we've had basically since May, when it started raining, so we wanted to take advantage of it to the fullest. Seamus cooked us this huge meal, and just as we were sitting down to eat, Kevin's other cousing Bridget appeared with her husband Jeremy. We had a really great meal and a super-fun time.
We stayed the night there, and the next morning, we had a giant fry-up breakfast: bacon, sausage, eggs, beans, bread--the works. It was another glorious morning, so we ate outside. Stuffed to the gills with food, Kevin and I walked into Lichfield city centre for a look at the cathedral and the surrounding area. It was about a 15-minute walk from their house, and the sun was bright and hot.
The cathedral was massive, and made from an interesting pinkish stone. Many of the other cathedrals are kind of a light-beige stone, so this was really interesting and different. It's in the gothic style, and had lots of statues all over the walls on the outside.
Lichfield cathedral
After we went through the cathedral, we went into the city centre and walked around for a while. It was Sunday, and most things were closed, but it was fun to look at nonetheless. It is an old city, and many of the buildings were timber-framed and crooked. It was really nice to be out and about in the sunshine, even though we were both wearing jeans and got too hot. It's hard to decide how to dress sometimes since the weather changes so quickly here.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Prague
From July 28 to August 1, we were in Prague, in the Czech Republic. We were able to get a direct flight from the airport near us, so that was handy. Plus, it was only about a 1.5 hour flight. The taxi driver that picked us up at our flat took us on the back roads to get to the airport, taking about 25 minutes, when on the motorway, it's only about a 12 minute trip. And, he was new and couldn't find our flat, so he was almost 20 minutes late picking us up.
We arrived at Prague about 5:30 in the evening. We had to catch a bus into the city, but everything was really well marked and all the signs are in English. We then had to get on the metro to get to our hotel. We got a bit confused getting off the metro as the streets are not that well marked (at least where we were) and it took us a bit to find our location on the map, but then we ended up in the right place.
So we arrive at our hotel, and the receptionist says that the water in our room isn't working and they'll have to send us to another hotel for one night. This is the exact same thing that happened to us in Paris! So we trudge off down the road to another little hotel and finally get sorted for the night.
The old main square
The area where the hotels were was a big main boulevard, and the buildings are all converted old townhouses with the carriage entrances and inner courtyards. The location was only about 15 minutes from the center of the old city. The metro runs frequently, don't think we ever had to wait more than 5 minutes for a train. You buy tickets, which are also good on the buses, based upon the length of your trip. You can buy a 20 minute ticket (good enough to get to the city center) or a 90 minute ticket (good to the airport). The metro stops we were at were pretty clean, although the signs were in Czech.
There is lots of different types of architecture in Prague, which I think makes it better than Paris. The buildings are great in Paris, generally more kept up as well, but generally the architecture in an area is the same. In Prague, you go down a street and you have Baroque, Romanesque, Art Noveau, Art Deco, and Communist (sort of an Art Deco impersonation). The buildings are also painted different colors, mostly pastels, which breaks them up. The one detraction is the graffitti, which there is a LOT of. We never got an opportunity to ask someone what the graffitti was all about.
Some cool buildings
Prague is a very walkable city; in fact there are very few cars driving around the streets (although there are a fair amount parked around). One thing to be aware of is that a lot of intersections have no control - no lights, no signs - so pay attention when walking. Drivers do seem to go slow and defer to pedestrians, but no need to take chances. One note about cars, if you go to the city center you can take a tour of the city in an antique Skoda. Pretty neat looking cars, they charge per person per time. We did not avail ourselves of this, instead we used foot power.
We spent Sunday just walking around the city, mainly the old town, just looking at stuff. That evening we went to the opera Don Giovanni - the marionette opera. Yes, puppets. The headquarters of the international marionette association is located in Prague. Puppet opera. It was very good, a lot funnier than real opera. Monday we went to the castle which is above the city on the opposite side of the river and walked around the town there, and then came across the Charles bridge (built by King Charles IV in the 1400's, one of their better kings). That night we went to Spanish synagogue and listened to a concert. Very nice building, very nice concert. The violinist was playing a Stradivarius, about 250 years old (the violin, not the violinist), and she was really good.
A view of Prague Castle from across the river
There are lots of concerts every evening throughout the city. There are fliers everywhere or you can go to one of the music shops and get a list as well as tickets. We ended up going to a concert on Tuesday night as well. Prague has an international reputation for music, which is good for entertainment. And the concert prices are really reasonable.
Tuesday we went on a tour to Konopiste, which is about 45 minutes outside the city. It is an old castle (1400's I think) that Franz Ferdinand (not the band, but the heir to the Austrian-Hungary throne, whose assassination in Sarajevo started the Great War) converted to a manor house. Very impressive place. This guy collected everything. He has one of the most extensive collections of St. George art (the guy who kills the dragon, the patron saint of England) as well as arms and armor. He also hunted a bit; apparently he has 300,000 trophies, including 12 tigers from India (that might have something to do with their decline), and a lot of them are mounted in the house.
Konopiste
We returned to town about 1:30 in the afternoon, and after a quick refueling of pizza and beer, headed off to the Mucha museum. Mucha was a very famous Czech artist during the Art Nouveau period. He did tons of fantastic posters, especially for various things in Paris. You'd probably recognize his work. It was one fo those places where we knew the art but not the artists. Although it was a small exhibition, it was really well done and we enjoyed it.
We arrived at Prague about 5:30 in the evening. We had to catch a bus into the city, but everything was really well marked and all the signs are in English. We then had to get on the metro to get to our hotel. We got a bit confused getting off the metro as the streets are not that well marked (at least where we were) and it took us a bit to find our location on the map, but then we ended up in the right place.
So we arrive at our hotel, and the receptionist says that the water in our room isn't working and they'll have to send us to another hotel for one night. This is the exact same thing that happened to us in Paris! So we trudge off down the road to another little hotel and finally get sorted for the night.
The old main square
The area where the hotels were was a big main boulevard, and the buildings are all converted old townhouses with the carriage entrances and inner courtyards. The location was only about 15 minutes from the center of the old city. The metro runs frequently, don't think we ever had to wait more than 5 minutes for a train. You buy tickets, which are also good on the buses, based upon the length of your trip. You can buy a 20 minute ticket (good enough to get to the city center) or a 90 minute ticket (good to the airport). The metro stops we were at were pretty clean, although the signs were in Czech.
There is lots of different types of architecture in Prague, which I think makes it better than Paris. The buildings are great in Paris, generally more kept up as well, but generally the architecture in an area is the same. In Prague, you go down a street and you have Baroque, Romanesque, Art Noveau, Art Deco, and Communist (sort of an Art Deco impersonation). The buildings are also painted different colors, mostly pastels, which breaks them up. The one detraction is the graffitti, which there is a LOT of. We never got an opportunity to ask someone what the graffitti was all about.
Some cool buildings
Prague is a very walkable city; in fact there are very few cars driving around the streets (although there are a fair amount parked around). One thing to be aware of is that a lot of intersections have no control - no lights, no signs - so pay attention when walking. Drivers do seem to go slow and defer to pedestrians, but no need to take chances. One note about cars, if you go to the city center you can take a tour of the city in an antique Skoda. Pretty neat looking cars, they charge per person per time. We did not avail ourselves of this, instead we used foot power.
We spent Sunday just walking around the city, mainly the old town, just looking at stuff. That evening we went to the opera Don Giovanni - the marionette opera. Yes, puppets. The headquarters of the international marionette association is located in Prague. Puppet opera. It was very good, a lot funnier than real opera. Monday we went to the castle which is above the city on the opposite side of the river and walked around the town there, and then came across the Charles bridge (built by King Charles IV in the 1400's, one of their better kings). That night we went to Spanish synagogue and listened to a concert. Very nice building, very nice concert. The violinist was playing a Stradivarius, about 250 years old (the violin, not the violinist), and she was really good.
A view of Prague Castle from across the river
There are lots of concerts every evening throughout the city. There are fliers everywhere or you can go to one of the music shops and get a list as well as tickets. We ended up going to a concert on Tuesday night as well. Prague has an international reputation for music, which is good for entertainment. And the concert prices are really reasonable.
Tuesday we went on a tour to Konopiste, which is about 45 minutes outside the city. It is an old castle (1400's I think) that Franz Ferdinand (not the band, but the heir to the Austrian-Hungary throne, whose assassination in Sarajevo started the Great War) converted to a manor house. Very impressive place. This guy collected everything. He has one of the most extensive collections of St. George art (the guy who kills the dragon, the patron saint of England) as well as arms and armor. He also hunted a bit; apparently he has 300,000 trophies, including 12 tigers from India (that might have something to do with their decline), and a lot of them are mounted in the house.
Konopiste
We returned to town about 1:30 in the afternoon, and after a quick refueling of pizza and beer, headed off to the Mucha museum. Mucha was a very famous Czech artist during the Art Nouveau period. He did tons of fantastic posters, especially for various things in Paris. You'd probably recognize his work. It was one fo those places where we knew the art but not the artists. Although it was a small exhibition, it was really well done and we enjoyed it.
Friday, August 3, 2007
Kevin got a job (back in June)
Hello sports fans and welcome to our show. Thought I would catch you up on my work situation. While Kari and I were in Paris (back in June) I got a call about a job, which I accepted and started the day after we got back from Paris. It is working as an electrician rewiring high speed trains The job is at Brush Traction in Loughborough (get out your maps), which is about 14 miles door to door, so my commute is only 30 minutes or so. The job is Monday to Friday alternating shifts; one week 6am to 2pm (1/2 hr lunch) Mon - Thurs, and 6am to 1pm (no lunch) on Friday for 37 hrs; and the next week 1pm to 930pm (1/2 hr lunch) Mon - Thurs and 1230pm to 530pm (no lunch) on Friday for 37 hours. You can work 2 hrs of OT each day as well as Saturday, BUT THERE IS NO OVERTIME RATE. Yes, they apparently do not have an OT law over here, the hours and pay and OT rates are determined job to job. I work an extra 3 hours (sometimes) a week to get 40, but if you don't pay, I don't play.
The job is a factory setting in a huge warehouse next to the Loughborough train station. They bring in the train, take out the old motor, radiator, alternator, and control wiring, and put new ones back in, as well as doing some body work and painting. Of course we are talking a BIG diesel motor, a BIG radiator (aka the Cooler Group), a BIG alternator, and all the control wires terminate at a Cubicle (BIG box with lots of contactors, no solid state boards). It is VERY dirty (a BIG motor means LOTS of oil and grease), but it is fairly interesting and the lads (you say lads here, not guys or dudes) are friendly.
The jobs involves pulling wire, lots of terminating (they crimp lugs on the wire, high press and hand crimps, which all terminate to studs. I had to actually to do about 60 before I was allowed to crimp anything on the train), some conduit bending (they do not apparently know about foot benders).
What, you want to know what I don't like about the job? Well to start, if I need one coupling (for example) and I cannot scrounge one, I have to fill out a form with the part number (you are screwed if you don't have the part number, which are on the drawings which no one seems to have a full set of), go to the office where someone looks it up on the computer and then signs the card, take the card to the Stores department, and have that person get me the one coupling. This is NOT an exaggeration. They put kits which are supposed to contain the parts needed to complete a project on the train on racks next to the train. But because the kits do not contain ALL the parts, or if someone ROBS PETER TO PAY PAUL, you have to fill out a card to get a $%##@$ 50 cent part.
Overall though the job is okay, and since I cannot seem to find work in construction, it will have to do for now. I received my JIB card in the mail a couple of weeks ago so perhaps that will help. What is a JIB card you ask? Well let me tell you this story...
So, I get over here and I talk to an electrician my cousin knows to find out what I have to do to work as an electrician. He says I need to get 16th Edition approved (their NEC) and then get graded, which involves taking a site safety test (which my cousin had told me about). Fair enough, I sign up for one at a nearby college (220 pounds), do two days in class, study quite a bit, take a computer-based test and pass (at this writing I have completely forgotten it all). Then I take the site safety test (35 pounds). Upon intensive reading of the grading application form I discover I have to have my apprenticeship standards compared to the English standards. So I mail copies of my apprenticeship certificates (fortunately I brought that stuff) and 35pounds to another company who mail me a form saying okay. More intensive reading reveals that i have to have my employer sign the form stating that I am qualified. I call the JIB and say I don't have an employer, I have to get graded before I can get a job. "Yes, you are in a sort of vicious circle". What do I do? "Well you will have to get a job as an electrical laborer (which pays shit) and then maybe they will sign the form." $$%#@&*^%$#&*(!!!!!! FORTUNATELY, we found a work around. So I mail this all in with 25 pounds. After a couple of months I get a card with my picture on it saying I am a JIB graded electrician. Fat lot of good it does me know, because I got a job working on trains. A job where they did not care that I had never worked on trains before, but a job the recruiter did not submit me for initially because he said that my resume was too professional looking for an electrician, too which I replied and I quote "Well, I can send you another one written in crayon if you would like". He submitted me and I got the job w/in 3 weeks or so.
How did I find this job? Oh, this is my favorite part about finding work here in the UK. Apparently companies do not like to hire people directly because it is difficult to get rid of them. So they hire through job agencies (think ManPower). You go online and look at lists of jobs, and submit your resume, what they call a CV over here (which is Latin for Written In Crayon). Then a recruiter calls you or sends you an email saying they got your email and you never hear from them again. No wait, I did hear from one guy, for work in prisons (yes prisons). Yeah, not interested.
Well why didn't you go to the union hall to look for work? Oh, this is good. First of all they do not have construction unions like we do. No IBEW, no carpenters, tinknockers, plumbers union etc. They have a union that seems to cover all of the trade crafts (AMICUS, I think) but they do not help you to find work (no hiring hall). I called them, once, and was told that once I find work I can then join. Apprenticeships are done through the colleges but from what I have heard, not the best. Apprenticeship programs were apparently gutted by Maggie Thatcher. And now, they apparently have a shortage of skilled tradesmen (well, except for electriians I guess).
The job is a factory setting in a huge warehouse next to the Loughborough train station. They bring in the train, take out the old motor, radiator, alternator, and control wiring, and put new ones back in, as well as doing some body work and painting. Of course we are talking a BIG diesel motor, a BIG radiator (aka the Cooler Group), a BIG alternator, and all the control wires terminate at a Cubicle (BIG box with lots of contactors, no solid state boards). It is VERY dirty (a BIG motor means LOTS of oil and grease), but it is fairly interesting and the lads (you say lads here, not guys or dudes) are friendly.
The jobs involves pulling wire, lots of terminating (they crimp lugs on the wire, high press and hand crimps, which all terminate to studs. I had to actually to do about 60 before I was allowed to crimp anything on the train), some conduit bending (they do not apparently know about foot benders).
What, you want to know what I don't like about the job? Well to start, if I need one coupling (for example) and I cannot scrounge one, I have to fill out a form with the part number (you are screwed if you don't have the part number, which are on the drawings which no one seems to have a full set of), go to the office where someone looks it up on the computer and then signs the card, take the card to the Stores department, and have that person get me the one coupling. This is NOT an exaggeration. They put kits which are supposed to contain the parts needed to complete a project on the train on racks next to the train. But because the kits do not contain ALL the parts, or if someone ROBS PETER TO PAY PAUL, you have to fill out a card to get a $%##@$ 50 cent part.
Overall though the job is okay, and since I cannot seem to find work in construction, it will have to do for now. I received my JIB card in the mail a couple of weeks ago so perhaps that will help. What is a JIB card you ask? Well let me tell you this story...
So, I get over here and I talk to an electrician my cousin knows to find out what I have to do to work as an electrician. He says I need to get 16th Edition approved (their NEC) and then get graded, which involves taking a site safety test (which my cousin had told me about). Fair enough, I sign up for one at a nearby college (220 pounds), do two days in class, study quite a bit, take a computer-based test and pass (at this writing I have completely forgotten it all). Then I take the site safety test (35 pounds). Upon intensive reading of the grading application form I discover I have to have my apprenticeship standards compared to the English standards. So I mail copies of my apprenticeship certificates (fortunately I brought that stuff) and 35pounds to another company who mail me a form saying okay. More intensive reading reveals that i have to have my employer sign the form stating that I am qualified. I call the JIB and say I don't have an employer, I have to get graded before I can get a job. "Yes, you are in a sort of vicious circle". What do I do? "Well you will have to get a job as an electrical laborer (which pays shit) and then maybe they will sign the form." $$%#@&*^%$#&*(!!!!!! FORTUNATELY, we found a work around. So I mail this all in with 25 pounds. After a couple of months I get a card with my picture on it saying I am a JIB graded electrician. Fat lot of good it does me know, because I got a job working on trains. A job where they did not care that I had never worked on trains before, but a job the recruiter did not submit me for initially because he said that my resume was too professional looking for an electrician, too which I replied and I quote "Well, I can send you another one written in crayon if you would like". He submitted me and I got the job w/in 3 weeks or so.
How did I find this job? Oh, this is my favorite part about finding work here in the UK. Apparently companies do not like to hire people directly because it is difficult to get rid of them. So they hire through job agencies (think ManPower). You go online and look at lists of jobs, and submit your resume, what they call a CV over here (which is Latin for Written In Crayon). Then a recruiter calls you or sends you an email saying they got your email and you never hear from them again. No wait, I did hear from one guy, for work in prisons (yes prisons). Yeah, not interested.
Well why didn't you go to the union hall to look for work? Oh, this is good. First of all they do not have construction unions like we do. No IBEW, no carpenters, tinknockers, plumbers union etc. They have a union that seems to cover all of the trade crafts (AMICUS, I think) but they do not help you to find work (no hiring hall). I called them, once, and was told that once I find work I can then join. Apprenticeships are done through the colleges but from what I have heard, not the best. Apprenticeship programs were apparently gutted by Maggie Thatcher. And now, they apparently have a shortage of skilled tradesmen (well, except for electriians I guess).
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