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Head in the Sand

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I just finished an interesting experiment. Based on Tim Ferris' concept of a low-information diet, I did not look at any news media for an entire week. No TV news, no radio, no newspapers, no internet news, no magazines, no current affairs blogs, no digg. Complete current affairs blackout. I couldn't even listen to my beloved Fresh Air on the way to work. Only non-fiction books and TV for the week.

Most of you know I'm an information fiend. I crave news and information. I need to know what's going on. I wake up in the morning and throw on the news, check the web for what happened in the 6 hours I was asleep, I read the newspaper cover to cover. I check the news sites throughout the day, I'm a digg addict and I have news ticker widgets on my desktop. I think it goes without saying that this was not going to be easy for me. So before I get into the results, let me explain why I did this. Well it was a couple of reasons. First and foremost, to see if I could. Secondly, it was an experiment to see what would happen to my life if I reduced the noise level dramatically. Would it reduce my stress? Would I sleep even better than I do now? Would I be able to concentrate better? Would I be able to cope not knowing what was going on? Would this sensory deprivation turn me into a social retard, unable to start or participate in conversations because I didn't know what was going on? Did I *need* to know everything that was going on? I was looking forward to finding out. But also scared shitless.

Well, I'm still alive so I deem the experiment a success. The first thing I should say is that it wasn't nearly as hard as I thought it would be. By reducing my information input from a fire hose to a squirt gun, I immediately found myself more relaxed and much more focused. By forbidding myself to check the BBC website every half an hour, browse digg, read the ticker, watch TV etc I found my productivity went through the roof. I had dramatically reduced my distractions and could stay on task without a bunch of background noise.

The second thing I noticed is that I *was* able to keep up to date with what was going on. No, I didn't cheat. But I managed to glean hours and hours of information and opinion in just a few seconds. I glanced at headlines as I walked past newsagents, I peeked over shoulders on the Tube to get a 3 second look at an article in Metro. I got everything I needed to know in a matter of seconds and moved on. Simple.

I also managed to get my editorial and opinion information as well. This was even easier AND it actually HELPED start conversations instead of the opposite. I just asked people at work or friends "Hey, what happened in the world today, I didn't get a chance to catch the news?" In less than a minute I'd have a world news digest AND 4 people's perspectives and opinions on the topics. Done. Simple.

I even got the results of two major primary elections without looking them up or asking anyone. My mom sent me a text message, assuming I saw the results, saying "What a bummer about Ohio and Texas! Think he can bounce back?" From that I knew that Hilary Clinton had won both states and that my mom was disappointed. I got my fact and my editorial in a 12 word digest.

I also felt less pissed off at the world. I never had an opportunity or need to go "Goddamn Fox News!! They make me so mad!" because I didn't let them get to me. No pundit on a news opinion show could rile me up with his or her viewpoint because I didn't hear it. I didn't need to hear it in the first place.

So no, I didn't feel out of touch or uninformed. In fact I felt more informed because I was given several layers of perspective to each piece of information I got and could then make up my own mind (or chose to discard the info) based on who told me what.

Since I finished this total immersion, I've slowly been allowing streams back into my life but only in a highly managed way. Still don't watch the news, still don't check the news sites more than once. I read the digg RSS feed once in a while but more because it always produces more funny and entertaining stories than hard hitting journalism. Plus it provides everything in short, digestible sound bites. I don't feel the need to click through.

We live in a total information age and I have been standing in front of the floodgates for a long time now. It was nice to step out of the deluge and take shelter for a little while.

Class 3 Kill-Storm!

To quote the venerable Kent Brockman, "The National Weather Service has upgraded Springfield's blizzard from 'Winter Wonderland' to a 'Class 3 Kill-Storm!'"We have our very own Class 3 Kill-Storm here in England. 85mph winds and all that fun stuff. But typical England, it rains sideways and there's apocalyptic thunder and lightning one minute and then the next minute it's sunny. Lather, rinse, repeat. Ad nauseum. map.JPG

America (F**k yeah!)

On Tuesday Deanne and I were able to do our small part in the democratic process by voting in the primary. In London. Yes an ocean is not enough to stop the Super (Duper) Tuesday virus from spreading and some quick research yielded a "Vote From Abroad" voting event right here in London. Coincidentally it was right next to our old apartment which made life easier. So after a quick Singaporean dinner at Kiasu we went round the corner to Porchester Hall.Now I fully expected 15 or 16 people quietly lining up in front of an old woman with some juice and cookies. Perhaps the woman might have been wearing some sort of festive straw hat. And maybe a badge. But no! We turned the corner and were confronted by cheering throngs, thrusting their Hillary or Obama signs into the air as they chanted their respective slogans. There were police, cameramen, journalists, photographers. The line to vote stretched out of the building. As we filled in our forms, several passers-by (and I'm not making this up) actually heckled us. What made it even weirder is that they were respectable-looking old men and women. One old woman walked by and said "I can't wait for the Pakistani elections, at least THEY'LL do it with some decorum." Snotty bitch. But before we could all register our disgust, a fellow American piped up with "At least we don't blow people up," which technically isn't true but is still funny and put the skank in her place. One other older "gentleman" walked past a lady holding a Hillary sign and said "Why don't you call it "Clinton" because Hillary is a lie!" We all looked at each other with a collective "....what?" After the drive-by hecklings, we made our way into the haul where we were efficiently ushered into the registration area where our forms were collected and our IDs verified. Then it was into the main hall. Which was absolutely jampacked! There must have been two to three hundred people in there. Bunting on the walls, balloons everywhere, the aforementioned juice and cookies, people wearing hats. It was a real party (get it?) atmosphere. We cast our votes on the stage where, weirdly enough, everyone could see who you were voting for as you deposited your ballot into conspicuously labeled bins. As you went off the stage you were ushered back into the hall where everyone was smiles. People were really having a great time. A great time voting. Yes, you read that correctly. I don't think the Brits could do anything like this with the local Womens Institute running parish council elections at the Village Hall. Hell, I don't even think Americans would do this at a normal polling station. This felt more like a political party convention than an election station. You half expected Jesse Jackson to walk on stage and start addressing the audience in his delightfully clipped prose. So after all was said and done I (can't speak for Deanne) was bursting with patriotism as the 200,000 eligible American voters in London were, for a moment, united by the democratic process. It filled me with pride and some other emotions that are weird and deeply confusing. Quick, I need some Taco Bell.

(Doesn't the guy in that last photo look like Rob Cordry?)

Olde London Town

So I've been here for a month now, Deanne is finishing her third week. What have we been up to? What's life like here?Well life in London is good so far. We've been very, very busy with the boring day to day stuff, as well as the fun stuff. I've done three weeks at my new job at Virgin Management (aka the mothership) and I'm really enjoying it. We just moved from our serviced apartment in Bayswater to a hotel on Gloucester Road. We'll be here for a total of 16 nights until we move into our house in Fulham. I'm excited to move in and get settled - I think it will feel like we really live here once we're in a proper, permanent house. A few more observations about life in London: - traveling by Tube on the weekend is a lot like driving on the weekend. Slow and frustrating. They do the majority of repair work on the weekends and will often shut down entire lines. At one point early this month it was physically impossible to get to Victoria station by Tube. THREE lines go through Victoria Station. - traveling by Tube at rush hour is a lot like the Bay Area during rush hour. Slow, crowded, dark, smelly, evil. But, I actually quite like the Tube - it's cheap and relatively quick. At least I don't have to drive. - the British are a very outdoorsy people, they like doing things outdoors where everyone can see them. Like drinking, shouting, and puking. I've seen more puke in the last month than I've seen...ever. - In the 1980s when the IRA had a penchant for using trash cans as convenient holders for their bombs, most public trash cans were either removed or relocated to low traffic areas. As a result, Londoners got used to leaving their empty beer can or candy bar wrapper pretty much wherever they wanted. That's right London, you've got a serious litter problem. - The massive influx of Eastern Europeans into England has revolutionized customer service. England is not known for its customer service but the last few years has seen a dramatic improvement, especially in restaurants. - I'd forgotten how much I enjoy living in a city. You can walk out your front door and be in the thick of things almost immediately. You don't notice shitty weather or darkness as much because there's constant activity.

tipple

Hello sir, might I interest you in a nice cognac from 1893? Only £1075 a bottle, quite a bargain.No? Not old enough and/or expensive enough, you say? Ok, well how about a bottle from 1865? A steal at £1949, and in no way does it taste like gasoline. Fantastic. Still no? My, sir is quite the connoisseur! Well we do have a bottle of scotch for £5000 from the 1950s that sir might like. Yes? Excellent choice sir, I'll wrap it up right away! Oh..no need to wrap it up? You'll just drink it here? I see, well done sir. cognac1.jpg cognac2.jpg

Smile!

Oh England, you are not a land of beautiful people. I suppose stereotypes have to start somewhere and England's reputation of producing bad teeth'd trolls, I can report, is proving accurate.Now, technically being of British lineage, I feel I can say all of this with a sense of cheeky (British) self-deprecation. We/they are not an attractive people. At all. Now of course you do get the occasional exception to the rule, just like anywhere. David Beckham, Catherine Zeta-Jones, Keira Knightley, Jude Law to name but a few, are beautiful people. But for the most part we get the type of sun-fearing trolls that you'd expect in a country that sees the sun for one hour some time in August. Even the moderately attractive people, there's just something not right. You see someone from a distance and as they get closer..."Oh hey now, he/she looks pretty cute!....yeahhhoohhh....oh..oh dear....oh that's a shame." You look at them carefully and there's just something not right. Something ever so slightly off. Eyes ever so slightly too far apart or forehead just a little too big to land a helicopter on. Perhaps it's all due to comparison. As I noted in my previous post, London is full of beautiful foreigners - perhaps seeing them in contrast to the average Brit isn't helping the situation. Maybe THAT'S why they're so adamant about cracking down on immigration. I see what you're up to! But in all seriousness, one thing has struck me since I arrived here. Everywhere you look, in pubs, on the tube, on the street, the Brits are smiling a lot more. It's really nice. I don't know what they're smiling about and frankly I don't care but it sure does make them seem more attractive than their permanently pouting European neighbors. So with that, I declare Britain the winners in this little Tete

Random Thoughts (or Wandom Foughts, innit)

So I've been here for a couple of weeks now and here are my random thoughts so far.- If I ever write a book about my life it's going to be called "Continental Drift" or "Dislocation" - There are no English people in London anymore. That's not a good or bad thing, just an observation. In case you're wondering, it's now filled with gorgeous (both male and female) europeans and russians. - I don't do well without my wife around. At all. I'm really glad she's here. - the Brits are a lary, loud people. They love to shout (be it agressively or positively) at you for any reason they can think of. - The weather and darkness...really not that bad. I have a feeling being in the city really helps that which is one of the reasons I want to live in the middle of things and not out in the sticks. - It's really hard to eat badly here. Yeah there's McDonalds and the BK Lounge but everywhere you look there are great restaurants and really good, clean food options that are just as fast and cheap as McDonalds and the BK Lounge. - I don't miss the things that I thought I would. I don't miss the food (although my kind mother-in-law shipped some roni and cheese over to me, which I am really looking forward to!). I don't miss the TV as much as I thought I would. In fact I have barely watched any British TV since getting here. - I think there might be more Starbucks per capita in London than in San Francisco. It certainly feels like that. Oh and they don't have Raspberry Mochas here - what the hell is up with that shit? - So far since moving here I've eaten Indian, Mexican, Chinese, Singaporean, Malaysian, Italian and Middle Eastern food. All within 500 meters of my apartment. Awesome. - Guitar Hero has reintroduced me to my love of Velvet Revolver. They're song "Slither" is featured in the current commercial that's playing in the US. - I miss my US family immensely. Especially my nieces. But as my sister-in-law Donna pointed out in her recent blog post, in this day and age, you're never really far from anywhere. - Internet connectivity is so much faster here. It's not even funny. My wireless connection in the apartment is 5x faster than my wired connection in San Leandro. I hate you AT&T. - This is a great article on being an American in London http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/books/book_extracts/article3136495.ece - Tea flows like water here. It's extraordinary. About 5 times a day someone comes around the office and asks if we want a "cuppa." Oh and tea tastes better here. I can bring back tea bags and make the same tea but it just tastes better here. - Apparently if you drink beer from a bottle here, that makes you gay. Well call me Liberace then. No, you have to drink beer that has grass clippings in it and tastes like the drainings from a compost pile. - Things they have here that surprised the hell out of me: Chili's, Papa John's Pizza, and Mexican food. - Things that are hard to find here: The Onion, Wired Magazine, Dental floss, garbage cans, TV shows worth watching. - Things that are not hard to find here: Starbucks, Cell phone companies, Chinese restaurants, clouds.

Dirty Laundry

So I figured when I got here there would be some issues or hurdles I would have to over come during the adjustment to my new life here. I figured maybe I would get lost on the tube or even walking the streets, maybe I would be cold. Well I have taken a few journeys and none have I got lost on and the cold has not really bothered me as of yet. In fact it is about the same weather I left in California.No it was the washing machine. A simple device which any good housewife should have mastered by now. I went to do some laundry because Alex has not done any since he has gotten here and I brought over dirty clothes in my rush out the door a few days ago. I found the laundry facility and thought thank god.. they look like american washers, not the ones I have seen out here before which are small. They even have really nice big dryers which to even have a dryer is a novelty! This, I thought, should be easy. So I load up my huge backpacking back pack, grabbed the soap and walked downstairs. I loaded up the machines and put my soap in. It had three containers and I accidently got soap in all three... no big deal I thought. Then I put my 2 pounds in each machine, because I was doing 2 loads. There were no directions but these were my selections: 30, 60, 60 with a circle around it, a circle, and 90 with a circle around it. Tempurature? Time? Who knows, but I didn't want a light wash so I selected the hefty sounding 90. The machines then showed 42 minutes on the clock and I left happily thinking I will be done with this by 1130 as I started at 10. I go up stairs... mind you it is five flights and the elevator is out of service, and head back in 35 minutes. Hmm... that is funny, the machines now say no time at all but are still running. So I wait and wait.... and one of them makes a buzzing sound and then the time pops back up saying 35 minutes and five minutes later, it still says 35 minutes. Well okay then. I guessed maybe I chose a 90 minute cycle? Back up stairs back down about a half hour later. No time indicated still in the wash cycles. So I wait and wait... The machine on the right dings again and starts rinsing but the time pops up AGAIN and says 25 now. The other machine was still washing. I thought for a moment maybe it was my soap, so I cleaned that out of the machines with my fingers hoping it would help. I don't know if it did but then I was left with nasty crusty powder all over my hands with no place to wash them, unless I went upstairs. I am used to doing nasty things and I saw a bucket outside that had some dirt and rain water in it so I washed up and then sat there as my hands froze realizing the whole thing back to cleaning out the soap was a bad idea. I waited a bit and the machines had not changed but the 25 min machine actually had counted down so I felt hopeful. I go back upstairs. Then down. FINALLY. The machine on the right stopped! In to the dryer they go. But the other machine... heh. It is in the whole 35 minutes with no counting down phase. I would just take the clothes out but they are still slightly soapy and with my luck the door will actually open and flood the laundry room. At least if the dryer wants to dry for a few hours I can stop it. So here I am now, one load drying, one load lost in laundry land washing itself over and over again. I don't know how long it will take for the laundry to dry so I will go back down in 40 minutes. I started at 10 and it is now 1:30. I suspect I will be here for another couple hours... doing laundry. Oh and if anyone understands the selections for washing??? Please tell me because apparently 90 means infinity. UPDATE: I finished at 4pm because the dryers both needed two cycles to dry which is not that bad. But upon removing the clothes, the first load which washed for 1.5 hours, turned all the white clothes only slighty darker. However, the load that washed for over 3 hours turned everything a gray/lightblue color. They all died evenly so I now have previously tan, gray pants and all of alex's bright whites are gray too. Like REALLY gray. And one of his sweaters is smaller than me. It isn't my fault though I swear and at least they all were dyed evenly so we can still wear them :) BTW, our apartment is exactly 256sqf. I am a nerd who packed my measuring tape.

and then there was one... and some kittehs

Alex departed probably just a few minutes ago. I dropped him off at the airport about 2 hours ago :/I was sad that we didn't get to depart together as we had planned but that is life. Everyone was sad to see him go and so was I. I will see him in 2 weeks and all should be back to abnormal again :) The kitties may finally have a home in sunny Santa Barbara to a petless good soul who has been wanting some kitties. It will be temporary until the end of May and then their kitty passport process will be complete! Hurray :) I am keeping them as long as I can so at least I have something familiar to cuddle with at night but they will make the journey down south early in the new year hopefully. I will keep on keepin on with the house because I am inches away from being done. I have to meet with the property management company next week and that should be that. A few more administrative things, sell the car, sell the matress, a dump run and a shopping spree and I should be able to duck out of here quickly. I am sick of fixing and working and stressing! I just want it to be over... So sorry if I have been a drag lately, only talk about remodeling and seem spacey and uninterested. i am at the point of forgetting family member names and washing my hair in tooth paste so yeah I am a bit out of it. Anyway..... almost there.... can see the light..... love you all :)

Keep on keepin' on

Preparations for for the move continue. We're going to be renting the house out, at least for the short term, so we've been doing a lot of work get it ready. We've had an army of almost exclusively female contractors, painters etc coming and going for the last couple of weeks. We're having the outside of the house painted a "Long Beach" brown - so called because we saw so many nice houses in Long Beach painted that color. It looks great, especially with the cream trim and white windows.SMALL200001.jpg Deanne's Dad has also been wonderful in helping us redo the front bathroom. We stripped it out completely except for the tub and replaced the subfloor and all that good stuff. SMALL200002.jpg We've also emptied all the rooms of furniture and we're patching up the holes, touching up the paint etc. SMALL200003.jpg SMALL200004.jpg SMALL200005.jpg

Have I lost my mind?

Shooting paintballs in the house? Sure!Wait what? Yeah I let Alex shoot some paintballs in the house but for a good reason, he needed to get the air out of his tank so we can transport it. It may have sounded like a stupid idea, but to see him giggle like a five year old as he splattered shots all over an old peice of drywall downstairs was kind of worth it. He does have to clean it up though before the weekend. That was my only stipulation.

Deanne's post on moving and stuff

Exciting isn't it! Whisked away to London with an amazing man? I am soo happy to go because it will be fun and new. I keep telling myself that but I am sure I will miss a few things like Carl's Junior, softball, the sun and oh yeah PEOPLE? Not like London doesn't have people, just not MY people. Friends and family are going to be the hardest to leave but I have been telling everyone to please please visit.In an effort to keep in touch we will have this blog running, or I might ressurect mine as well. Alex might not want this thing flooded with my mindless rants. Hopefully I will be good about this and I wish you all had blogs too. We will be busy when we get over there but I am more concerned about everything here. Christmas seems so far away but we plan to leave on the 26th or 27th (don't hold us to that) and then I think damn, ok. What to do, finish the house construction, pack, sell stuff, donate. Sounds easy but it is quite daunting. I already have about 15 boxes packed, maybe 10 more to go. Kitchen sorting has to be done next. It is all the stuff we can't take that is killing me! Sell Sell Sell.... cars, tvs, furniture then there is a ton of small stuff which is more of a pain. Yuck. So if you know anyone who needs plates, cups, dishes or a car, or a queen bed, or well geez anything, let me know. It needs to be gone like asap :) Cash only/You pick up is my craigslist motto! Anyway, the point is if I am aloof or preoccupied, it is because I have so much stuff to do and tons on my mind. I do need a slap every once in a while because I have a one track mind sometimes and I forget all of the wonderful things and people I will not see often anymore. Do they have taco trucks in London? If not I am going to buy a roach coach and open my own. The food will be good, cheap and 1 in every 100 customers will be garunteed food poisoning. Bunngggg. Yeah, I'm not going to fit in huh...

It all comes full circle

I'm hoping that I've been able to reach most of you in some way or another, but in case you haven't heard...Deanne and I are relocating to London next month. I am going to be the Head of Online for the Virgin Group and the offices are located in "sunny" England.We're excited, nervous, sad, happy, stressed, curious, and anything else you can think of. It wasn't a decision we made lightly...at all. I've been in California for the last 7 years and I consider it my spiritual home; Deanne has been here her whole life so upping sticks is not going to be easy. Over the weekend I found myself sitting on the deck saying to myself "It's 80 degrees, there's not a cloud in the sky......why am I leaving this again?" Well there's a couple of reasons. First is the opportunity - this is a great gig and I'm really excited about it. I'm incredibly sad to be leaving Virgin America, I've been there since the very early days and it's something I really feel has become a part of me. The second reason is...well it was time. Time for the next adventure. I've spent my whole life moving around the planet and to be honest, I got sick of it after I finally moved back to California. This last 7 years is the longest I've ever been in one place. I could also argue that it's been the best 7 years of my life. I got married to an incredible woman, bought my first house, became part of a wonderful extended family, watched my 3 nieces grow up, made some wonderful friends while enjoying old friendships from the past. And most importantly I've grown; both personally and professionally (and outwards, if I'm going to be honest.) But, as the old adage goes, a rolling stone gathers no moss. And with that, we begin to pack up our life here in California and prepare to ship it in a container across the pond. I want to use this space to keep you up to date with our progress as well as share some of the ups and downs of the move, getting back into English life, and being a pseudo-American in London.