The Big Move Feb 2009

Family and Friends-

Shadow and I are settling in nicely. He is back to being his obnoxious self which includes lunging at other dogs (I purchased him a new harness), barking unnecessarily at unsuspecting Brits and sleeping on the bed when Jeff is gone. He has successfully spread his dog hair everywhere and I am back to vacuuming every other day.

I have signed up for my first driving lesson tomorrow. I have been driving now independently for two days and I would classify myself as "moderately dangerous". The roundabouts are quite tricky and they are very popular here. I am fine with driving on the left side while being seated on the right side of the car but the roundabouts and switching lanes are throwing me for a loop. I am constantly getting off the wrong exit at each roundabout. I am also perilously close to damaging the passenger side of the car since it is hard for me to judge my distance to the curb while being on the other side of the car driving. I even have scared Jeff on a few occasions who as you know is difficult to rattle.

Surprisingly right after I landed I received two calls for interviews. The first was from St. Jude Medical. They have two open positions in Southern England one for their Neuromodulation division and one for deep brain stimulation. I had my first interview this morning and am moving on to the second interview February 20th.

The second job is with the EP division of Boston Scientific (it is such a small world-my former employer). This proves that you should always leave on good terms. That interview is scheduled for next Friday. Plan B was working on a contract basis for Stereotaxis and getting my MBA and I am following fate on this one. Both of these companies called the day after I arrived in England. If I can get in with a top company in either of these positions I will run with it. This would give me a very worthwhile experience here while in the UK and both are international companies where I stand a good chance of staying when we return to the U.S. Cross your fingers that the right thing happens.

Jeff and I are going to Madrid this weekend on Friday so I will send along some pictures when I return. Shadow is staying at the "Old Beams Kennel and Cattery" where they have fleece beds, heated individual kennel runs and classical music piped in. Those Brits love their dogs!

Lastly- my biggest pet peeves so far are lack of Chrystal Light drink packets and instant oatmeal in the grocery stores, the size of my washer, dryer, shower, sinks and bathrooms (very, very small) and the lack of anything good to watch on Sky TV despite 1000 channels. Thank God they have Fox News and Brit Hume here!!

I am impressed that it is difficult to find anyone here who does not speak excellent English and by that I mean perfect grammatical English. There are a bit to many "brilliant, fantastic and keen" words thrown in but other than that they are extremely well spoken.

I miss you all!