It seems like my current lack of a social security number is not an obstacle to getting various services so long as I have the cash to pay for all sorts of extra fee’s. This has the effect of making everything that much more expensive. It doesn’t help that the bank in the US is playing silly buggers holding on to checks I deposit because it’s a new account.
So I spent the day looking for an apartment, work paid for a guy to help me out show me the good neighbourhoods etc and he drove me round. Nice guy named Leo who was also a musician in a Santana tribute band. Anyway we drove round 10 properties in the immediate area and further afield.
As most of you know, I'm taking care of EMW's rapman 3d printer while he's off in the US. I managed to get it up and running after a fair amount of effort (the car ride over was not kind to it..) and have printed a few bits to replace broken and likely to break components.
So I arrived in california to the remains of a pretty nice day. I just got the tail end of work kicking out so the roads were fairly busy but not too bad. I got to the hotel in reasonable time and set myself up. The hotel room was pretty nice reasonable bed, tv, bathroom, and a little kitchen area.
So here I am in T5 waiting, I’ve been waiting for a while now first till it was time to check in next for the security and now till the gate time comes around.
10 days until I fly out, and this will probably be the last blog I do before I head off...
So today was my last full day in the UK it was also conveniently close to my mum’s birthday so I spent it packing and also enjoying a nice pub lunch to celebrate.
By now, most people have noticed that I’ve switched from my venerable iPhone 3G to an HTC Desire. I’ve had it a little over a week and, on balance, I’m happy with it.
Once I've finished Ride Across Britain I'd like a bit more than sore muscles to show for it. Quite aside from being slightly damaged in the head department, I'm also a card-carrying geek, so it's to be expected that I shall be logging and blogging the trip.
It seems to do this rental thing there are a lot of palms that need greasing. Since I’m not going to be in the country and I don’t have anyone local who is foolish enough to get lumbered with the chore I’m having some outfit manage my flat for me. This obviously costs and they get a cut of my rental income.