The Willimers in America

New Homeowners

Phew ! The day is over and we own the house. I'd like to be able to say that we are sitting here with a glass of champagne catching our breath after an exhausting day, but it really wasn't like that. Tom was away on the school bus at 8am, then after an abortive attempt to get Linda's car serviced, I went off to the bank at 9am, and came out ten minutes later with a cashiers check (bankers draft) for $100,000. The walkthrough at 10am presented no problems, so after a leisurely lunch we headed for the 1pm closing at our Attorney's anticipating a marathon session of paper-signing and the inevitable cock-ups to resolve. We walked out before 2pm with everything complete and the keys on our hands.

I don't regret getting worked up about the stuff we didn't know about or weren't told, and decisions being taken without our input. But on balance, I have to say that the 'just let it all happen and we'll deal with it' approach seems to have paid off. Or maybe just 'expect the worst and you won't be disappointed'.

Anyway, tomorrow the cable guy comes to connect us up, the pool guy is coming to open the pool, and the decorator is going to start on Tom's room (he chose green). The electricity is on, the phone moves on Saturday and after we've cleaned up a bit, we can start moving boxes. Everything seems to have a momentum or a rhythm that seems to have a life of it's own and resolves itself to the natural rhythm of our lives.

My only flicker of uncertainty and doubt arises when I look at the empty building and see so many things we'll want to get on and sort out - not things that actually need doing, but things we'd like to do to get it how we want it. Patience must be our watch word now - either that or, perhaps, 'decorating frenzy' - oh, that's two words...

Today's the day

It's after midnight on Sunday 19th June, so its actually Monday, and today is the day we make our biggest step so far in our American adventure by purchasing 231 Pennington-Rocky Hill Road. I promised to write regularly about the trials and tribulations of buying a property in the USA, but I've written so little because, by and large, there haven't been any.

We had a run-in with our realtor, who had gone and made some arrangements behind our back which she hadn't told us about, we weren't happy with and turned out to be unworkable, but her excuse/explanation for not involving us was that "we try and give you a trouble-free purchase so you don't have to worry" - and that's largely what has happened. I've heard some horror stories about 'closing' (which apparently involves between 2-3 hours of signing papers) and I'm tempting fate by writing this the night before, and we still have to collect a bankers draft for $100,000 from the bank tomorrow.

But we couldn't resist dropping in today to take a more excited look-see at our new home, and snap a few more pictures for the web site. One current neighbour (who is also one of my colleagues) asked interestedly about how things are going, and then always concludes by describing our new home as 'a lovely property' - and he's right. Not only is it going to be a great home once we get to work on it, I'm blown away by the size and beauty of the plot. I think we're making a great investment for the future as well as putting down some genuine American roots.

Six Flags...again

Tom did a sponsored 'Mathathon' in May, and successfully answered over 200 maths questions correctly. His selection of 'prizes' included a free ticket to Six Flags Great Adventure, and being the original 'roller coaster' boy we were soon bound down Route 195 one more time. Last summer Tom and I went on our own two or three times, and apart from the excitement of losing my car keys and dragging Linda to our rescue, there was a strange feeling of 'been there, done that' as we trudged around the same old attractions.

This feeling was not helped by the fact that Tom is desperate to ride the big coasters at Six Flags, and has been between a half and one inch too short for the longest time. The expectation this year is much higher because he seems to have shot up, and coincidentally Six Flags have opened 'Kingda Ka', described as the tallest and fastest coaster in the world today (and only 45 minutes away).

We knew before we set off on Saturday (giving Linda a peaceful and uninterrupted day of box packing for our impending move) that Kingda Ka had broken down within two weeks of opening, and would remain closed for at least another four weeks. What we didn't appreciate was that Tom was still a quarter of an inch short of the magic 54 inch mark, and would not get to ride on Medusa, or Nitro or The Great American Scream Machine. Our first 45 minutes at the park was a rather difficult (and pretty circular) conversation about his sole reason for coming to Six Flags to ride Medusa and the big coasters, the refusal of the operators to let him, and what alternative things we could do. ("But all I want to do is go on Medusa...")

But Tom is maturing fast these days - we've used that word more than a few times recently. Once he got his disappointment out of his system, he told me it was not going to spoil our 'boys day' - "that would be dumb, wouldn't it" - and we explored rides and shows that we had never done before. Most interestingly, Kingda Ka is part of a new feature called 'The Golden Kingdom' which is based around The Temple of the Tiger, and some wonderful white tigers they have in captivity. We watched the tigers perform, and even got to see the dolphin show we'd never seen.

We left earlier than usual as tiredness (compunded by disappointment) set in, Tom with cuddly tigers under his arm, and we managed to make a good day out of what was nearly a disastrous one.

Look Out ! A snake !

We forgot to tell you about the snake. About three weeks ago, my colleague Mike came over from our London office, and I invited him over for Sunday lunch. Tom and I have soccer on Sunday lunchtime, and when we returned Mike was waiting on the drive with his cellphone clasped to his ear.

"What are you doing out here ?" I asked

"Avoiding the snake" he said with a straight face.

Apparently Mike's arrival coincided with the that of a large black snake which probably chose to take refuge in our garage on the hottest day of the year so far. Mike had expected my response to be along the lines of 'oh no, not again' but after catching a glimpse as it slithered behind a cabinet at the end of the garage, it was unlike anything I'd seem before - deep black, at least 4 feet long and around 3 inches around, this was a REAL snake !

We tentatively approached it (resisting the urge to prod it with sticks) and, of course, fought Tom's desire to go and pick it up. After about a 5 minute stand-off, we thought we better ring someone. Normally you can get the local Animal Control department to deal with issues like this, but after ringing the Township, then the Police Department, we found that Animal Control don't work the weekend, and we were offered the number of a paid service. Before committing ourselves to a charge for seeing off the snake, we thought we would check it out one more time - only to find it had disappeared completely. A good thing (no more snake in the garage) or a bad thing (are you sure the snake is no longer in the garage) ? Look at the picture and judge for yourselves...

Sideways

I bought Linda 'Sideways' on DVD for Mothers Day - I thought she would like it, and I was intrigued by the prospect of seeing a film which created so much buzz at this years' Oscars - Lord knows we see so few 'grown up' movies this days.

We were both a bit underwhlemed by the film - it was interesting and quirky but we really weren't sure where all the critical acclaim came from. Not bad, but not sure what all the fuss was about.

Sideways is set in Californian Wine Country, and follows two friends on a 'stag' wine tasting odyssey. They set up camp for their tour at the (fictional) 'Windmill Inn' in Buellerton - which was actually the 'Windmill Inn and Hotel' in Carlsbad, where the three of us stayed in our grand Californian holiday in 2002.

Our recollection of the hotel revolved around the wide collection of amazing wildlife, and the rather geographically confused description of a hotel with a windmill as 'Danish-themed'.

But most alarmingly, in the movie the hotel is known for its exceptional culinary reputation, a true gourmet eating spot with a fine wine collection - when we visited the restaurant was a TGI Fridays, with the usual menu and some very belligerent staff !