Even the drug-sniffing dog has a job!

I must start today's blog entry telling you about the picnic Sean and I had today! The sun is shining brightly, there is plenty of blue in the sky, and there is even a gentle breeze which meant Sean and I, picnic blanket in hand, went to Marks and Spencer's to buy ready-made sandwiches, crisps, grapes, and limeade. From there, we walked a harrowing 4 minutes to the beautiful Rosebury Park. It was glorious.

 

A fine lunch indeed

And there weren't even any bugs!

I haven't submitted an entry in a while.... mostly due to being wrapped-up in applying for jobs and preparing for interviews. Oh yeah, and also a bit due to drinking cider. Have I mentioned how many ciders there are to try here? Actually, I don't know how many- but if you really do know how many- it probably means you're spending too much time studying the matter and not enough time tasting it.

I made Sean prolong his first sip in order to photograph mine...

Speaking of cider, while in search of a new one a few weeks ago, we also enjoyed the musical stylings of random people at pub-based open mic night. We chatted to a few people, one of whom even told us the secret location of another pub, The Barley Mow, in the area... just what we needed!

This was meant to be a pic of the open mic performer...but my cider insisted it be featured

Cider-drinking aside, I actually have been fairly busy preparing presentations for panel interviews... I was walking to my first interview and as it turns out- interviewing in London feels strangely similar to being a tourist.....

The unreknowned area near my job interview

I've really been enjoying my interviews, despite worrying a bit about my American-accent being off-putting. Also, in interview 2 this week, I learned that to "get one's feet wet" is NOT a British term. Thankfully, it was appreciated nonetheless.

I'm sure many of you have been worried about how we're doing without Tex Mex and BBQ.... well- thankfully, my Aunt Judy sent us a great article from The Houston Chronicle which tells us about Texan BBQ places in London. Our Summer goal is to get to each of them! Until then, we're doing fine with food we find locally. There is great variety- which is fantastic!

Our lunch at the recent "Epsom Thai Market"

A very English breakfast, complete with beans!

This week promises to be great as Mum, Dad, and Rosie are headed over for holiday! In addition to taking them to several pubs- we will also be sure they eat at our fav Indian Restaurant, Blue Mint. I'm sure we will do some things other than eating.... but you know- we are mostly Pliszkas... so dining will feature in the reunion.

Hopefully, I will be employed by the next time I blog. This week, I found myself envying a police drug-sniffing dog as he had a job. I completely get what everyone is saying about "waiting for the right opportunity" but if I don't have a job offer in the next few weeks- I'm ready to start bagging groceries. I really hate being unemployed!

I almost forgot! I have become a friend of Surrey Police Department! There was some youth after-school fight outside of the train station which I could, conveniently see from one of the windows in our flat. As I witnessed the teen testosterone fight... I called the police to report what I saw- two calls later and I was sincerely thanked as I was the only person who was not a friend of the boys to give a statement. Unrelated to this, I also communicated on FB with our local police inspector who welcomed Sean and I to the neighborhood.

Surry Police, our bff in Epsom

Something tells me I didn't mention cider enough in this post- so just in case you weren't sure if my post made you want a cider..... I'll leave you with this:

So refreshing....

Spiceworld... No, not the movie.

So this week has been eventful! Myself and a coworker headed into London Tuesday and Wednesday for Spiceworld London 2014! Sadly, to Anna's disappointment, this was not a Spice Girls reunion tour, but an I.T. conference put on by Spiceworks (an I.T. Management platform.)

Soooo many awkward nerds! All in all though, it was pretty informative, and I scored a bunch of free swag. The company is also based out of Austin, so I had a heathy dose of Texas for a couple days as well (I even called out one of the presenters on his liberal use of "y'all" at the after party.... Free drinks were involved.) Oh, and commuting into London is definitely not for me. So many people in such a small place, the rush hour underground is my own personal hell. Driving around Surrey is much nicer!

Let's see, what else. Last weekend was nice enough... We ventured into Wimbleton to buy Anna a new interview suit (she has 3 this week!) And while we were there, we found the nearest Chipotle... The menu is exactly the same, minus the huge American soda machines! Oh, and I think I had to sell a kidney to afford the guacamole, but it was worth it!

We also found a cool little market by the Wimbleton library, and Anna bought some jam (that's my jam,) and some handmade cards. Here's a semi-interesting picture of the library exterior!

Brick books!

Anyway, things continue to be pretty great here. We (eventually) managed to Skype with my mom and brother on Saturday, and Anna's mum on Sunday, so that was nice... To honor Mother's Day, we even had a double rainbow!

Leprechauns must live on The Ashley Center.

Yeah, the weather here changes. A lot. Still, this results in many amazing rainbows appearing directly out of our living room windows, which is awesome.

Tomorrow we get to celebrate Combat Stress' 95th anniversary by having a pig roast and casual Friday at the office. Yeah, I have no idea what to expect, but I bet it will be interesting, no matter what!

Anna has an interview with the Ramblers tomorrow, so wish her luck! She founded the Ramblers Group at her college, and as we all know she kicks large amounts of butt, so really they'd be crazy not to offer her a position! :-)

Updates to follow!

Time keeps on slipplin, slippin...

Whoa, it's been nearly a month since our last post? Sorry about that folks, we hate do disappoint our faithful readers (all three of you.)

A lot has been happening. I'm driving now, and at this point, I'm pretty comfortable with it all. Car parks still confuse me for some reason, but I think I've done ok. Here's our new (to us) car, named Jeff, at my brother's request.

I don't know what happened to the bottom of this picture. I blame Anna's phone.

Our Honda Jazz has taken us on many adventures now, we've driven to Box Hill, Penshurst Place, Bromley, and Esher... all without killing ourselves or anyone else on the road!

Speaking of Box Hill, here's some pictures from our hike. The views were pretty fantastic.

 

 



Penshurst place was also amazing, though we didn't really take any pictures. We met up with the Longhursts though for an excellent picnic after touring the grounds and garden, so if they send some pictures our way we'll be sure to post them.

 

Lets see, what else have we missed... we went to see a ridiculously amazing play called The Drowned Man near Paddington Station in London a couple weeks ago. It wasn't a play in the traditional sense though. The production is spread out over a number of floors of an old postal sorting facility, and you're free to wander and follow particular cast members throughout the performance. Audience members wear a mast to distinguish audience from cast, though it has the added benefit of making you feel very anonymous. The lighting, sound, and acting were all phenomenal, and I managed to have a one-on-one experience with one of the cast members. This was the result:

 

I got a bit of red on me.

Other than all of that, things continue to go well for us here. I'm really loving my job (despite us having to fire someone for literally drinking whiskey at his desk,) and Anna's job search continues to progress with more and more interesting opportunities (I'll let her touch on that.) We've continued to discover local pubs, the most recent being The Cricketers, where we met up with one of my coworkers and his girlfriend on Friday night. The night ended with a cab ride home at 2am, and a promise of Bushmills delivered directly from Belfast. All in all, a great night.

 

I suppose that's enough for now... we'll try to be a bit more regular in our updates, promise!