Farewell Nicole, I decide to sell the house, ice skating, and work
Nicole is no more. Well, I'm sure she's having a whale of a time wherever she is, but I'm back to being carless. It's not carelessness that left me in this state (did you see what I did there!), but rather accepting the inevitable. I did try keep Nicole, but it was not to be. Her MOT is due, and so I took her to a local mechanic to ask them to evaluate her so I could get the MOT. They basically told me that it was going to cost A Lot Of Money And It Wasn't Worth It. I could literally hear the capitals in the sentence as he said it to me, very slowly, to ensure that I understood. Of course I use "literally" in the modern sense, as in, "figuratively". Obviously I knew that the clutch was slipping and needed to be seen to, but it turns out that there were plenty of other things as well... oil leak, cracked exhaust, etc. apparently etc. I mean, I knew that she had some character and wasn't the easiest car to coax into driving, especially uphill, but there you have it. Turns out that fairy dust just ain't all it's cracked up to be. So, I flogged her to this webuyanycar.com place for £50. We got her mainly for my Beautiful-Mother's visit, and she served her purpose admirably. Fortunately, it's pretty easy to get around on public transport here, and of course, I still have my bike.
It was rather amusing when I went in to sell her, and the lady was checking the details on the computer... she was amazed to see that she'd had 9 owners before me... apparently she'd never seen so many before. Turns out, Nicole got around.
In other news, my Beautiful-Mother and my Sister in law are moving to China. Apparently she wants to get to know her grandson [Edit: Grand-daugher... my bad] and my Brother in law is helping to organise some teaching work for my Sister in law. I think that it's a great idea because we do worry a bit about two women alone in a house in the old country where crime is a problem. The upshot of this is of course that I can sell the house, which is a huge burden off me. It's a pity because I really love that house, and have since the moment I first walked in to it. However, I need to face facts and the facts are that I'm struggling to meet the costs. I owe my brother a lot of money, and I need to save up a lot of money so that I can cover the costs of applying for indefinite leave to stay in a few years time, after that I would also like to buy a house here, and it would be really nice if I could get back into gliding. Also, being carless, it would be nice to buy a decent car at some point. I can cover the costs of the house, or I can save up the money I need here, but I cannot do both. So, sadly, the house needs to go. On the other hand, doing so gives me a feeling of burning my bridges in a way, and committing fully to my adopted land. We'll see what the future holds, but for now I'm relieved that at a time when I really need my expenses to come down and some money to come in, that my expenses are going down and some money will hopefully come in.
With the Winter Olympics under way, Cat and I have really been having a figure-skating week. Over the weekend we watched the team competitions, then went skating on Sunday. I was really pleased with the skating, I starting to really feel the confidence. Of course, the confidence is wildly undeserved, but it does serve to amuse the coaches and sometimes you can surprise yourself in deciding that you can do something and then finding that actually you can. It's also nice that the place has become familiar and you feel a sense of belonging when you're there. After work this week we've also been watching the day's skating (when there is). I also discovered a series being shown called, "Ice Stars" which is about children in Nottingham and their training for competitions like speed skating, dance, singles, etc. Basically, we've been saturating ourselves in the world of figure skating.
Work itself has been busy. I've been moved to The Bunker which is a smaller office across the road where some secret stuff is done. As a result, we work with the blinds closed... it's a bit like working underground. I don't have security clearance (I need to be here 4 years before I can apply) so there're certain computers I'm not allowed to look at, and conversations that I must not hear. It's nice in that it's smaller, so there's not this big open-office cubicle farm feel to it which I'm not a fan of, so you get to know the guys working around you pretty well and it generates a fair amount of comraderie. With being busy of course, the days fly past which is also nice. I get home tired but feeling like I've done something productive. I much prefer that than to when I'm on the bench and time drags past and you basically have nothing to do.
It was rather amusing when I went in to sell her, and the lady was checking the details on the computer... she was amazed to see that she'd had 9 owners before me... apparently she'd never seen so many before. Turns out, Nicole got around.
In other news, my Beautiful-Mother and my Sister in law are moving to China. Apparently she wants to get to know her grandson [Edit: Grand-daugher... my bad] and my Brother in law is helping to organise some teaching work for my Sister in law. I think that it's a great idea because we do worry a bit about two women alone in a house in the old country where crime is a problem. The upshot of this is of course that I can sell the house, which is a huge burden off me. It's a pity because I really love that house, and have since the moment I first walked in to it. However, I need to face facts and the facts are that I'm struggling to meet the costs. I owe my brother a lot of money, and I need to save up a lot of money so that I can cover the costs of applying for indefinite leave to stay in a few years time, after that I would also like to buy a house here, and it would be really nice if I could get back into gliding. Also, being carless, it would be nice to buy a decent car at some point. I can cover the costs of the house, or I can save up the money I need here, but I cannot do both. So, sadly, the house needs to go. On the other hand, doing so gives me a feeling of burning my bridges in a way, and committing fully to my adopted land. We'll see what the future holds, but for now I'm relieved that at a time when I really need my expenses to come down and some money to come in, that my expenses are going down and some money will hopefully come in.
With the Winter Olympics under way, Cat and I have really been having a figure-skating week. Over the weekend we watched the team competitions, then went skating on Sunday. I was really pleased with the skating, I starting to really feel the confidence. Of course, the confidence is wildly undeserved, but it does serve to amuse the coaches and sometimes you can surprise yourself in deciding that you can do something and then finding that actually you can. It's also nice that the place has become familiar and you feel a sense of belonging when you're there. After work this week we've also been watching the day's skating (when there is). I also discovered a series being shown called, "Ice Stars" which is about children in Nottingham and their training for competitions like speed skating, dance, singles, etc. Basically, we've been saturating ourselves in the world of figure skating.
Work itself has been busy. I've been moved to The Bunker which is a smaller office across the road where some secret stuff is done. As a result, we work with the blinds closed... it's a bit like working underground. I don't have security clearance (I need to be here 4 years before I can apply) so there're certain computers I'm not allowed to look at, and conversations that I must not hear. It's nice in that it's smaller, so there's not this big open-office cubicle farm feel to it which I'm not a fan of, so you get to know the guys working around you pretty well and it generates a fair amount of comraderie. With being busy of course, the days fly past which is also nice. I get home tired but feeling like I've done something productive. I much prefer that than to when I'm on the bench and time drags past and you basically have nothing to do.