I’m toying with the idea of buying a Mondeo, so it’s kinda nice to see that it’s a possibility that the stigma of Mondeo Man seems to be dissipating… besides, it’s not the car, it’s how it’s driven…

Marmite. The one foodstuff that kept me in a state of adequate nutrition during my student and dole-scrounger years.  The one ingredient that made a processed cheese slice on stale bread edible. Commemorated here, with all the facts.

Time to go and have some, methinks.  

Her name is Little Moo. She is a calf who lives at the farm where my lady wife rides her pony. 

She's lovely. Affectionate. And has beautiful big pretty brown eyes. 
And, unsurprisingly, I no longer wish to eat steak. But I'm not going veggie… I have no problem eating chickens, as they're horrible creatures that are at their best when dead and covered in garlic butter.  

But not Moo. I want to save Little Moo from her eventual journey to the butcher's hook…. I wonder how I could go about that. 
Our pet tally is going to increase, I suspect… three cats, with a new kitten coming soon, and then possibly a cow? At least the cats need never be short of milk.   

New horse: Check. Her name's Lizzie and she's lovely.

New desires: The MacBook Pro 17". The Dodge Caliber. Bring 'em on.  

Hell, when I first moved out into sad, grimy bedsits, they were bigger than this. And I wasn't sharing with a wife.

So, the hunt is on for proper marital accommodation, our first proper "starter home". But where to look? My criteria are what I decided on before we moved back – if we're going back, I don't want to live in Croydon, and nor do I want to live anywhere worse than Croydon, as I mentioned in the last post. Unfortunately, anywhere nearer London or on the Tube is either unattainably expensive or completely horrible, much as it would be very convenient for many things. So I'm looking outwards a bit (on behalf of both of us, of course). As I mentioned, Crawley is looking good, and now we have a new reason to move down that way- it's close to Gwenny's friend Cheryl and her horses! Ideal, really. I saw a nice-ish house today, but do we really need a whole house? It'd be more prudent to get a smaller flat, and save the difference in rent, council tax and bills towards a mortgage deposit – it really grinds my gears that, at nearly 34, I'm still putting money into someone else's pocket in order to have living space.

But that doesn't mean we're not going to be fussy… the place will still have to scream out, "live in me" for us to take it. I think we can afford to be picky and take "the right place", the one that speaks to us. So I shall keep whatever very few readers I have updated as this endeavour progresses.

I was thinking today about the whole America thing. Did we really give it the chance we should have done? Maybe not. But it would have been a much longer uphill climb to get established out there than it will be here. I maintain, America is a great place to live if you have lots of money. And if we ever win the lottery, you can bet we're going back.  

Oh, that pic is my nice Chrysler Neon. It's thirsty, a little unrefined and a saloon, but I still love it.

This is probably fake, but I love it.

Call me shallow, but not only do I come from the Henry Ford school when it comes to car colours, it applies to computers too. I've attempted to learn to love my PC laptop, mostly by tweaking it to make it as much like a Mac as possible, but it just hasn't happened. I even tried to install the x86 build of OS X on it (the Deadmoo image that's been floating around teh intarweb for the past couple of months), but its hard drives aren't supported (note – if you have a laptop with SATA drives, it won't work, even with the patches that are out there).

Save me. 

The whole job thing in London ended up being a laughable shambles. Project direction? What's that? Let's all just go down the pub. That seemed to be their working philosophy. If that's the meaning of "work hard, play hard" then count me out. They seem to have forgotten the actual "work" part of the equation. Still. At least I no longer have to put up with irritating middle-aged middle managers with fat middles who like to find themselves in the middle of a complete clusterfuck of a company attempting to work themselves up from the middle via middle-of-the-road tacky websites. I am not a "middle" man.

So. I am now working with a jolly decent bunch of chaps and chapesses at a company in Crawley, and at least it's actually work I can get my teeth into. They have lots of Macs here, I even have one on my desk (although I have to do most of my work on a PC). Crawley's a nice place. Well, nicer than Croydon anyhoo. Which isn't hard… the truth is, I'm almost scared to stay around Croydon for much longer. Having lived around there most of my life, and seen how the place has gone to hell in a Burberry handbasket, the sooner we can get out of there, the better. OK, I might be in my thirties now, but I still like the idea of being able to go out in the town where I live and not have to suffer the likeleihood of physical violence. I guess placing bets on the outcomes of the various fights that happen outside Lloyds, One 92 One and Walkabout might be fun for a little while (not to mention lucrative), and vomit-puddle-hopping might be a good way to keep fit, I think cutting our losses is the way forward. We've been looking at flats over near Crawley (specifically near Three Bridges station, as Gwen can get her train to Farringdon from there), as they're rather nice, we're away from the chavmare that is Croydon, but near enough that it's accessible for seeing my mum, having band rehearsal and so on, and a lot closer to Brighton. So, if a suitable place comes up, I shall surely mention it here in my "web-moirs". 

The wedding, take 2. Less than two months now. There are tuxes to get, invitations to post, DJs to book, guests to arrange, and generally still lots of stuff to do. Gwen and her parental units have done a great job thus far, and I'm getting more involved now. Basically, until recently, it was a case of me turning up, saying "I do" a few times, and not much else. But it's nice to get that bit more involved. I am actually looking forward to it now! We went through a stage where it almost seemed pointless, since we're already married, and this one is just a big show for all the friends and relatives who couldn't make it the first time, but it's actually starting to sound like it could be rather a fun day now. And it means we get to go back to the US, where I get to see the cats again! I miss them so much. And now that Maiiah has been found, we shall be able to get our three furry little children back!

Oh happy day.  

It's a little surreal being back. On one hand, it's weird being back without our cats, without our own place to live and with seriously limited finances. But, on the other hand, I slipped straight back into things like I was never gone, and I have noticed a few fundamental changes too. I feel good. I feel like a Londoner, and I feel proud of my city. I love the Tube, the chaotic hustle-bustle of the busy streets, the small of diesel fumes and sausages from greasy spoon cafes. I love the architecture, hearing the brassy brogue of real Londoners, seeing dirty Transit vans driving past where some kid has etched "clean me" in the dirt using their finger, and I look forward to the possibilities. I want to live here. I want to live near a Tube station, near a park, near centres of activity, near constant sensory stimulation. I want to live near LIFE. And this is life, in abundance.

And I feel I have my technolust back in abundance too. I want to blog. I want to use my mobile phone for more than just talking. I want to take digital pictures of everything. I want Macs -  multiple Macs. I want to develop websites. I want to play video games. I want to read books on PHP, Flash, databases and Unix.  I want a PVR. I want friends who have an '@' in their name.

I am looking forward to being a Londoner again.

So, here I am back in the US again, after a nightmare of a trip back. Ostrich-ups galore (like a cock-up, but a lot bigger). Firstly there were problems checking in for the flight, then there was a fault with the plane which meant everyone getting off the plane and waiting hours for another one, then a somewhat sleepless overnight flight (largely thanks to a very annoying drunk’n'stoned passenger a couple of seats in front of us) that resulted in us getting back to JFK at 3am with a very sore neck from sleeping awkwardly. But getting through immigration with the visa was easy, and I am now officially allowed to work here in the US.

The thing is, now we’re back, we can’t wait to leave again. The thought has crossed my mind that I should at least attempt to try and make a bit more of my time here, after everything that’s gone into it. There is still a lot to like about the US, especially now that all work possibilities are now open to me and I now no longer have to pump petrol for money, but there is still a lot that doesn’t, and hasn’t sat right with me about things here – see previous post. And Gwen is a full-on Anglophile and, if anything, is even more desperate to get back over there than I am!

There’s a lot to do before we go back though… most of the bills, etc over here can go to hell, frankly, but there’s getting together a deposit for a place back out there, then getting a car, and having that taxed and insured, etc, moving our stuff out there, then moving ourselves and the cats back out there. This could prove to be a somewhat expensive endeavour, which may well have to be done with judicious use of excess baggage, as it’s cheaper than shipping! There’s plenty of things to sell over here in the US to help finance this, two cars, two TVs, furniture, and various other bits and pieces, plus if we let the bills go to hell, we can put aside some money out of our usual budget. And there’s a lot of stuff I still have back in the UK, a TV, DVD player, surround sound system, some furniture and a few other things, so there shouldn’t be all that much that needs buying again. Things will become clearer over the next couple of weeks.

Then there’s the impending US tour for 5th Man Down – this begins next week, and should prove to be a great laugh. I am a little concerned about Ben, our drummer, though. His motivation has been off since late 2004, and, according to Steve and Glen, he seems to be losing interest rapidly. Hopefully the tour will give him the kick up the arse that he needs, failing that, a new drummer may be on the cards when I get back to the UK and the band reconvenes properly. Despite all this, I’m still very optimistic about the band’s future – we’ve still got it! It just needs focussing and packaging properly.

But, the most exciting bit of all… I will be a married man in 6 days!

This is the more low-key wedding, for the visa, etc, with the big one following in June. Hence the “getting married twice” thing in my main description…

I can’t wait!

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