Capitalism

One really cool thing about where I live is that I am on the other side of Greenwich Mean Line. I don’t know my specific ‘coordinates’, but if you look at a map, I am just East of the line. Cool.

I am all settled in to my place now. Saturday, Jane, Joe, Marissa and I went to Tesco to buy all my ‘settling in’ things. Jane rented a car for the weekend and Marissa needed some more things, too. I got all sorts of electronic stuff – George Foreman (yippee!), stereo, clock/radio, landline phone, fans, lamps, etc. We were a “three cart family” going through this giant store. It was a lot of fun just going up and down the aisles and marveling at all the random things there are – a mango slicer? Is that necessary?

Funny with this store – it was east of where I live and in a strip mall. Could’ve been in America. Sure, Londoners might like to claim they like the independent stores, quaint things, etc. But this 24-hour Tesco was packed. People everywhere. You would’ve thought a major storm was coming through!

Joe had the TV of a former employee at his place, so he brought that and hooked up it and the DVD player. Unbelievable that I am now the owner of so much technology! The DVD player is set to play ‘multi-regions’ so my US DVDs will play here – whew! What would I do if not able to watch Star Wars, Fever Pitch, or Pride and Prejudice (BBC version of course!)?

The kitchen, I find, is the most confusing part of moving to any new place. How does the dishwasher work? The washing machine? The stove top? The oven? In the effort to make things ‘universal’ by having just pictures/icons on the knobs and dials, it has become more confusing. Even with the giant binder of user manuals that was left in the flat it is difficult.

And, I think the kitchen is the hardest room to get to fit ones needs. Unless you completely redo your own kitchen, things will never be right. For instance, here, the cabinets are tall so I need a step ladder if I want to reach the back of the second shelf (ok, it might be normal for the rest of the world, but I’m short!). This place doesn’t have any wide drawers, so I have to put my silverware organizer on the counter (taking up space)

But, I think moving around from place to place is good – it helps one to know what one wants / doesn’t want in a future home purchase.

Another oddity I’ve seen here is that there is limited to no closet space. The ‘wardrobe’ is a big hit. I’m not a fan – I want a closet where I can have lots of space and toss things I don’t know what to do with.