The most bags I have ever checked for a flight. 8 in total. We needed 2 SUV’s to get us to the airport.
Month: December 2017
At Least My Amazon Tap Is Ready For London
I followed a how to on Reddit for how to get my Tap working in the UK. It wasn’t straight forward like an Echo since it apparently is not sold in the UK. I was prepared for a challenge however it worked on the first attempt. For the next day i have to remember the time it gives me will be in GMT. MC and I are also going cold turkey and have the Tap giving us weather in Celsius. Apparently its a thing. Thankfully the Tap can convert stuff for us when we have no clue what it is telling us in Celsius.
A Good Old Fashioned American Diner
The other day I wrote about “American Food” and trying to get the girls into eating some American staples so they at least have a memory of it as we move to the UK. That topic brought up a few other things I started to wonder about. Most importantly is were can I find or even is it possible to find some foods we love and take for granted in the US? My friend A (lets call him A since he is a security minded person) is from the UK and lives in NY. He has been a huge source of information. Other friends from work who live in the UK have been other sources of info. A has said that there is at least one place i can get a decent bagel. I think he also mentioned a BBQ place too. The Expat group i joined did also discuss good Souther BBQ and what options there were.
But what about the other foods? I am not a huge Indian food fan but I know getting good food in London is no problem. Sushi, sure should be ok. Thai, I am not a huge Thai fan but I have eaten good Thai food in london already so no problem. So what local American items are going to be an issue.
Pizza for sure will be a problem. I am pretty positive i can get Pizza. The issue is how good is it? Lets face it I live in NYC. When i goto my in-laws in the Hudson Valley i am always surprised their pizza is good since its not NYC. When we go to their place in Tampa the pizza not so good. I always heard its the water but who knows. I do know that good Pizza will be a challenge.
Then there is a good old fashioned American Diner. MC and I both love them. Were the menu is a book. The portions are huge. If you order pretty much any mainstay item it will be greasy delicious. I typically get the same thing (most of the time but not always). Some sort of burger and onion rings. I just don’t think we are going to be getting that in London. I envision getting off the plane when we come to America to visit and stopping by somewhere on the way to wherever we are staying in NY. Just to get our grease fix. I may not be far from the truth on that. I hope I am wrong.
Those are the main food genre’s i can think of now. I am sure i will think of more or someone will sadly remind me of one. When i do i will add it to my list. For no particular reason and not for keeping score i plan on periodically writing pro or con posts on life in London. I guess you can consider this a potential entry in the con category however I have to get on the ground and explore first to be sure.
A Test of The HorcruxNet
When explaining my Resilio personal cloud setup to someone at work they replied that i have my own personal Horcrux minus the killing. I liked the idea so I think i am naming my Resilio backup setup HorcruxNet.
The network is having its biggest test this week in its 3 or so years of existance. I am moving. Movers are packing up our stuff tomorrow. That means i am putting my electronics into “Cleaning Lady Safe Mode”. it is what i used to have to do when our cleaning lady showed up. I would unplug everything so she didn’t mess stuff up. She did a few times.
I have expanded my network to have replica or partial replica copies on my laptop. I also have 3 working remote sites thanks to friends and family hosting some nodes. While we move and my two primary full nodes (my Synology) and mac mini) will be offline for about 4-5 weeks. During that time my remote hosts will hopefully keep humming along. With my home network offline i doubt there will be much changes however since my laptop has a partial replica if i do make changes it will propagate out.
I love a nice well configured computer system if I do say so myself.
So you want to move to another country Part 4: The Visa Application
Once I signed my employment contract for the relocation things started happening pretty quickly with my companies human resources and mobility groups. They got all the information they needed together to send The lawyers who are working on my visa application.
The visa application process was much more stressful than originally thought it would be. From reading the EU Rules on citizens relocating it seems pretty straightforward that we could move. The lawyers initially had major concerns because I was the one with the job yet I was not a citizen. As we got into more details they quickly came back and said our application should be pretty straightforward. However they were being lawyers initially and to me seemed all doom and gloom. It boils down to the more information we gave them when they asked for it the better our chances became that this would be pretty straightforward.
Surprisingly the hardest part in this entire process was the time zone difference with the lawyers. The other challenge was around document Catherine. For the visa application I needed to provide a huge amount of documentation. Most of it was pretty straightforward however I ran into a snag with my bank statements. Generally are use an online bank for most of our finances. It works great and I typically have no problems. The only time I recall there being an issue was when we bought our apartment I needed a bank certified check that I simply could not get from them. For the visa application the UK government requires a physical copy of statements. I opt to get electronic distributions of my statements. The lawyer said that’s not a problem print them out and have the bank sign and stamp them to certify they are authentic or simply order print outs and have them delivered. That was easier said than done. One bank we use housing for a walk down the street and have some statement signed and stamped in 15 minutes. Do you mean online bank however originally gave me a lot of back-and-forth on that they would not even do what we needed.After finally getting fed up with the back-and-forth I actually got results by sending a Twitter message to their support group. They confirmed that could go to a branch and have documents printed stamped and signed. Like I said they are an online bank however they do you have a few branches in the United States. Big challenge for me is the nearest branch is an hour and a half drive from New York City.
MC and I opted to drive out there together with the girls and make a morning of it. She took the girls to play playground while I got the documents printed. We then met up with her parents for lunch. They lived only about 30 minutes from where we were so we thought was a good opportunity to see them.
In the end things worked out and I was able to get all the documents I needed however it was extremely challenging pulling all the information together. I was glad that I keep really good records of things. Not having lots of readily available digital copies of information to send the lawyers would’ve drawn out their preparations.
Once we got all the documents together we all had to go to a visa processing center to get pictures and fingerprints. Only my youngest daughter who is under five did not need to have her fingerprints taken. I’m glad for that since she barely would look into the camera to get her picture taken.
After we had that done the application was submitted with all the documentation to go along with it. We were concerned that we wouldn’t get it back in time for the trip we were planning to house hunt in London. The guidance we were given what is up to 15 business days to get a reply. It turned out we got an email saying the visas were being printed within two days of it being submitted. Total duration between when we submitted the paperwork to the lawyers and when I picked up all the papers and the pieces was one week or five business days. It was a major relief.
But wait we’re not done. What I learned on this process started because you get a visa for six months that get you to United Kingdom. Once you’re there you apply for five your visa that you can only apply for if you’re actually living there. This might be different depending on your situation however for that type of visa that we are getting at is what we had to do. That means once we get there we start the process over again. I’m not sure what documentation we need to provide for that however i’m assuming it’s going to be as much or more information then we’ve already provided for the first visa.
In the next part of the series talk about money. I am told they don’t take US dollar:)
Amazon Tap, Tapped Me Out
I bought an Amazon Tap so my spooky spying music speaker can travel with me around my new house. I know officially the Tap isn’t sold in the UK however I have read a few people who documented the hoops (and there are a few) to go through to get it to work.
My Tap arrived yesterday and setup was super easy. I did notice that the wake word is Alexa. Unlike the Echo you are not able to change it. I was cleaning up around the apartment and took it with me to listen to Spotify. After about an hour it stopped working. it kept saying it lost its connection. My Echo and all other devices working fine. I repaired the tap with my wireless yet it still isn’t working. I bought another Amazon speaker partially because it was branded easy to set up and get working.
I didn’t have the mental energy to deal with trying to reconfigure this. By the 3rd restart of the device while it was in its charging base it started working again. Lets see if it stays working ok.
From Cellular to Mobile
One of the first things I need to get in England is a phone. More specifically a UK Sim card for my iPhone. It sounds pretty simple. You can get them pretty much anywhere. Seriously the recommendation was to buy one in a Tesco (a Grocery Store) Surprisingly for an American they’re super cheap compared to US plans. I think we pay around $130 for two iPhones and one iPad with about three or four gigs of data and unlimited minutes between them.In the UK you can get close to unlimited or unlimited minutes and three or four gigs of data per line for about 15 to 20 pounds a month. What I found is not all plans are created equal.
I’m probably a stickler for technical details more than most people however there were a few things that I’m concerned about. For one what is the service look like where we want to live and near my office? When I had AT&T in time square I basically could not use my phone for three years at work. That’s not really acceptable in 2018. Since we own our phones were looking for a pay as you go or a pay monthly without contract.
I’m going to try 3. The reviews have been decent. I’m concerned about coverage but I’ll have to be there to test it. The advantage they have over everyone else is for about the same price they offer complete roaming in Europe and the US for no additional charge. That means calls to the UK and data usage is like I was still in the UK even when traveling. I would need to continue the use of voice over IP solution when calling US phone numbers however that’s not different from when I would be in the UK as well. That set up seems like the most liberal roaming policy of everyone. It’s even better than the T-Mobile options I have in the states now.
One thing I learned that I heard rumors about previously was you by prepay some cards from the grocery store. That’s a little different from the US. While on our house hunting trip I bought a 3 & EE SIM card at a Tesco. I wasn’t able to use 3 Sim card I bought. I was able to use the EE card for my phone and i bought another one for my iPad. I didn’t really pay attention to signal strength in the neighborhood we were looking to get a house. I also wasn’t near the office very much. I was hoping to settle on a carrier during the trip and then keep the number when we moved. What I learned when I went top up the prepay card while I was there was to do a top up remotely you need a local address. Even though I had a local debit card it’s still tied to my US address until we move. At the time of this writing we don’t have a house sorted so I will either not use the number I got or once the house is sorted I can top up a card and be ready for when we arrive.
I know I can do most of this when we get there however especially for technology challenges like this I want to be prepared. This particular challenge won’t get resolved until were actually living there. I will likely post an update once I have figured out what we will do and then see how it goes.
The W Sisters and the Story of Did I Eat Well?
I am hoping it is universal for little kids to constantly ask if they “ate well”? For those without kids that is their code for did I eat enough to get desert or a treat. Little tip kids if you are asking it is likely a “no, no you did not eat well”.
My wife and I realized the effect of sugar on T early on. We try to avoid treats or desert every day. That doesn’t mean the girls do not get treats or try to get them often enough.
Recently we have experienced a new phenomenon. T will eat a lot f her meal or even all of what us in her plate without anyone asking. At or near the end of the meal she will ask if she ate well. At that point I am like, actually you did. At time of writing this T has done that at least 3 times with successful desert for her. Now all she needs to do is not be a crazy person after getting desert so I won’t regret giving her anything.
Her sister is not as evolved. She is still at the phase of being outraged when told. She cannot have desert after not eating a single piece of her dinner. MC and I are just bastards. I am hoping she learns or just toned down the yelling. I am good with that. I know neither are realistic for a while.
So you want to move to another country Part 3: Selling Apartment
By early September with paperwork imminent for my work relocation our focus shifted to actually getting ready to move. Up until this point we felt like the move was a possibility however until we had something tangible in our hands we did not want to believe it was happening.
When the reality set in that this was happening we realize we needed to scramble and get her apartment ready to put on the market. We had to declare and give away a bunch of stuff. MC already started the process of purging some things however that process kicked into high gear. We also had some minor work around the house to do. Nothing major but things we were just procrastinating on until then. The deadline is a great motivator. By the middle of September we had secured a realtor and listed the apartment. We were pleased to hear that it was a sellers market. We have a two bedroom in a great location. That type of apartment is generally low inventory and there’s demand for it. All things as a seller we wanted to hear.
The first day realtor show the apartment we had somewhere like 23 people show up. From that we got an offer we were happy with and work to get the contract. That took longer than I would’ve liked. Of course that’s one of those things that can ever go fast enough even if everything is perfect.
I was concerned about the timeline for selling especially since we live in a co-op and the guidance we were given was 60 to 90 days from contract close due to board approval and other things that have to happen. Not having to worry about the New York apartment would be an extra bonus when we moved. I was pleasantly surprised to be able to go into an offer as quickly as we did. That just confirmed he original assessment about low inventory and high demand.
At the time of writing this we are still not sure if we will get the closing before we leave. It’s not a huge deal since we can have a power of attorney with someone. Having apartment clothes on or around when you’re planning to leave is also beneficial because we don’t have to worry about being temporarily homeless before we leave if we close to soon.
We’re not done yet so I’m knocking on wood as I write this since I don’t want to jinx myself however I was concerned about this process being one of the more challenging parts of our move. What’s turning out to be more challenging is finding a house were preparing to find a house in London versus selling in New York. That however is another chapter.
Please Take My Money Target
One Saturday not to long ago we went to Target to spend some gift cards that we had lying around that we need to use before we moved. While I was there I wanted to grab a coffee at their sort of Starbucks. You know it’s says Starbucks but it’s not. I know it’s not since I can’t use my Starbucks card.
While I was at fo-Starbucks I noticed they had a tap to pay/NFC reader on their point-of-sale terminal. Since I try to use Apple Pay everywhere I can in hopes that one day I won’t need to really carry a wallet. I was happy to try to use it.. Then I tried. The checkout clerk said oh it’s Apple it won’t work. The machine only takes Samsung Pay. I didn’t really want to argue the technical details of NFC payment terminals with a fo-Starbucks Clerc. To be clear however what he said is not entirely true. Apparently target is deliberately limiting their system to Samsung pay or simply telling people anything else will not work. And NFC chip is an NFC chip. If I had one in my credit card I should be able to just tap it on their system.
I find it frustrating when a retailer is misleading customers about their deliberately limiting their choice at the same time. Let’s face it there’s nothing stopping them from doing it. And I don’t think it’s a legal issue however it’s a bit shady to tell me it just doesn’t work. As it turns out Target cannot use the failed CurrentC. However they decided to use their own app to make payments only. That way they keep the loyalty information and save prices on credit card transactions. That credit card transaction savings is a good thing. A good thing for them since they are not passing the savings on to the consumers. On the plus side this entire engagement reminded me to be thankful that CurrentC was a complete and utter failure.
I sadly paid with my chip and PIN (only using a debit card since the US hasn’t figured out PIN’s for credit cards yet) and still enjoyed sipping my Cappuchino while pushing the girls in the shopping cart.
Photo is from a CVS POS were likely I had the same issue.