Wanna go to the library or clean up the apartment?

February 24, 2005

The one night Bree got off on time, I wound up working late. Such is the life of the working couple. But the weekend is close at hand.

Today we left the client to go eat a fantastic lunch – salmon and crab cakes for me, whoop!

February 25, 2005

Friday night is not always what it used to be, though I still say TGIF. I did finally correct my issues getting Windows registered with Microsoft. Just in case you’re ever wondering, your certificate of authenticity if Windows came preinstalled can be found attached to the outside of your computer. I wish I would have known that 4 weeks ago.

Basically my problem was that I owned Windows XP Professional, but had used a Windows XP Home CD to restore the laptop from vivacious viruses. So my code wouldn’t work and I couldn’t install from my Professional disc, because it was an older version of Windows that the one I’d already installed. None of the call centers could solve my problem, telling me that I was using an illegal license and that I would need to reformat my hard drive before installing Windows XP Professional and therefore lose all of my files. Finally, someone mentioned the attached COA which was on the bottom of the computer – within inches of me the entire time.

For those of you who care less about computer problems, there’s not much to share about today. We watched Spiderman II on our recently rescued computer, our substitute for not having a television at the moment. I bought some groceries in the train station and enjoyed a few minutes in the Internet café before they closed at 9.

February 26, 2005

Yuk! Unfortunately our apartment was not as clean as it was supposed to be we realized every time we opened a new cupboard for the first time.

Very early in the day however, we did get our promised visit from the repairer of the hot water heater. He slowed the water flow and said cheers. Over here they don’t have room to dedicate an entire closet to a hot water heater and they’re always worried about the environment. The result is that we just have a heater in with the gas broiler that hopefully gets the water hot before it comes out of the faucet. We’re slowly learning the secret of not turning the water on all the way to prolong a more steady stream of warm water. It’s really not as bad as I expected at first and instead of somebody taking all the hot water, you only have to worry about the flame cutting off if it thinks you’ve finished or if the heater stops.

Bree was more excited today than any day since the Laker’s game – we received our Wandsworth Library card, which allows us to check out up to 15 books each for three weeks at a time. The way she looks at it, that gives her an effective capacity of 30 books, or more than one per day. Her joy was indescribable.

But we did very little reading… just lots of cleaning. This first required a bus trip to ASDA, the Wal-Mart of England. And it’s Wal-Mart all the way down to the smiley faces and long lines. I’d never seen so many people in a store before, even at the HEB in College Station.

We picked up all the necessary cleaning supplies and some chicken for dinner.

The worst task was defrosting the freezer. Since we’d already bought stuff for the fridge, we couldn’t just leave it for a day or two, plus we didn’t have enough towels or a dryer or the will to carry it downstairs.

So, we went about things the hard way – pouring hot water over the racks and scraping away the three-years of build up. We doubled the capacity of our freezer and it only took 2 hours of man and woman power.

We changed the electricity, gas, and water into our names. We’ll wait till next week to find out about the telephone, Internet, and council tax. For now, we have a wireless connection that we can pirate if we have any urgent needs. We need to get our own hook up soon as we’re too Gen-X to live without e-mail and IM.

It’s beginning to truly be our first home, as our previous hosts brought over some more of our stuff. Our trunks from the States have been delayed, as it seems that there was a customs form we needed to have filled out. So, we continue on without the luxury of our electric blanket which is forthcoming and our pillows, which we desperately miss.

But you all sleep well tonight in your cozy little beds with your efficient central heating systems and your cable television! Spoiled Americans! J/k – our standard of living will be back to normal quite soon. After all, Monday is pay day. Our first real income as young professionals and that certainly calls for a celebration.

February 27, 2005

What a day is all I could say at the end of the experience!

We went to church just down the street at a small Baptist church. They repeatedly apologized to us as first time guests for the lack of heating, which had just broken down that week but would be repaired promptly they promised.

The keyboardist was missing, so we sang along to MIDI files and the 50 other congregants. The preacher for the day was a local seminary student originally from Columbia. His native-Spanish was evident throughout the 45-minute inspection of Jesus turning water into wine. He did a fabulous job explaining both the literal and figurative implications of Jesus’ first miracle, and shared some of his own struggles in understanding Jesus words. He explained that the water, held in clay jars, was intended for the Jewish rites of purification, which were a man-made attempt at sanctification. Turning them into wine, symbolizing Jesus’ blood, reminds us that our feeble attempts at godliness have been replaced with the opportunity to rely on the blood of Christ for our salvation.

There was also a short testimony by a fellow seminary student originally from Iowa, who boasted that Iowa is known only for hogs and corn. So true.

We visited with both of them after the service. From the first, we learned about the intricacies of the drug trade and current attempts by the president at reform. He laughed as he recounted the times he’s been asked for drugs once his national identity was revealed. He said to look out if his contributions the church ever seemed a bit large!

The Iowa boy is returning home in April upon completion of his first year. A girl back home has interrupted his original intents.

They both attend Spurgeon’s College, named after the great Charles Spurgeon.

The church actually has three pastors at the moment. The second one we met is a retired missionary who has come out of retirement to work with the church. He and his wife were quite pleasant and have had many friends from the SBC that they worked with in Brazil, so our Texas roots were a plus in their minds.

They invited us to lunch at another Baptist church just up the road, where the minister was retiring. SHE had been there for 21 years and was now headed to Africa to work with a very troubled nation. We thought that the lunch would be starting right away – rather we found ourselves sitting on the second row for the next two and a half hours of her tribute service. There was dancing and singing and clapping and shouting and joking and crying and testimonials and skits… we felt like crying because this lady was leaving and we’d never even met her.

And then the party began. There were balloons every where and the tables were completely decorated for the mid-afternoon feast. Many of the church members had Jamaican heritage, so Bree and I both tasted several new foods, including the church’s renown goat curry. Quite good, I’d noted before I knew it was goat. And even after.

So our little visit to the church down the street turned out to be an all-day excursion. We scrapped our trip to the grocery store and relaxed for the evening.