Update
 

Guess what? I just discovered one of my neighbours has wireless internet. Hehe. :D ;)

I have been bemoaning my lack of internet access but when I turned on my laptop earlier, I saw the wirless signal indicator was yellow - ha! I've been waiting on BT to install my wirless internet/BT hub/VOIP phone (another 10 days to go - backlog on the equipment or some similar weak excuse).

Anyway, I'm here!

Quick update:

Living in a 6-month rental in Caerphilly, finally, after 3 days at my brother's (Warrington), 1 week in a holiday cabin )Tredegar), and 1 week commuting from a friend's sister's house (Somerset). Even though the rental is a 3-bed with lounge, dining room, and conservatory, it seems so SMALL. Yikes! Right now I feel like I'm in a warehouse - boxes taking up every available square foot of floor space.

Have found miles of walking and acres of fields at the end of my road. Suzy (pooch) is loving it, she is like a completely different dog. She has found all kinds of fun stuff to roll in (various types of animal poop and dead critters) and eat (see previous list). :eek: We walk every morning before I go to work and every evening when I get back. Luckily so far the weather has been dry (and HOT!!), wonder what it will be like when the wet, cold winter draws on.

Spent some of my time in Somerset driving my friend's sister around looking at houses in south Somerset (she's selling up and moving), and was blown away by the beautiful countryside, picture-perfect villages (especially the pubs!), and how narrow some of the roads are. My driving skills have needed a quick crash-course - I just close my eyes and cross my fingers!

I was also very pleasantly surprised by the house prices in south Somerset - really not too bad at all. For 140k to 160k, you can get a 2BR or 3BR in some of the loveliest villages in the UK, I was gobsmacked. Have been looking around my area a little too (south Wales), and as long as you don't mind being more than 10 miles north of Cardiff, you can find 3BR places for less than 150k, easily.

Not everything has gone smoothly, naturally. My shipment arrived last Monday and it was horrendous (I took pictures and when I find my cameral lead I'll post a couple). It was as if someone had taken the container and shaken it around - everything was lying on its side, against other things, boxes crushed, etc. The local shipping company (see my earlier posts) were as incompetent as I suspected. They should be ashamed of themselves. The unloaders said it was the worst packing job they had ever seen. Thankfully (and miraculously), so far I haven't found any major damage (still unpacking), but lots of minor niggly things - dented upholstery where they had just packed things on top of the settee, dirt sheets where they had used them to cover things in the shipment, all my ties need ironing because they had just dumped them on top of all my wooden hangers, which were dumped in turn on top of my shoes, which were similarly grubby, scuffed, and squashed.

My job also is a bit ho-hum (which I somewhat expected), although I am being philosophical about it - foot in the door type attitude.

Couple of recent posts rang a bell. Size of furniture - it's not just the door size you should consider but the narrowness and awkward shape of hallways. My sofa only barely fit into the living room. Unless you know you will end up in a large house here, I would definitely advise against bringing oversized furniture back. You will get pennies for it if you sell it here.

Internet and phone companies - this is a hot topic here right now, all of the companies are launching all sorts of new plans and equipment. I would have chosen NTL (cable) except it isn't available in much of S. Wales. Sky is another option, except I'll be moving in 6 months and could not be arsed moving the dish. Although BT isn't the cheapest, I went with them because they seem to offer reliability, and equipment that wil soon allow you to receive TV via your phone line. The top BT wirless option includes the BT hub and VOIP phone, with calls to the US only 1.25p a minute (mind you, BT landline calls to the US and many other countries are only 3p a minute for a monthly fee of 1 GBP). The BBC did a show on various options (the Money Show) just last week and I bet it is available on their Web site.

OK, waffled on way too long. I'm sure I'll be back to add more now that I know I can access the net from home instead of in 1-hour slots at the local library.

Bottom line, though, is that it is great to be back. Challenging at times, and I don't seem to have any time for anything but "settling in", but just walking in the fields with the dog is enough to make it all worth while.

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Sounds like you're having a lovely time. Good to hear you're settling in okay.

...cough cough...'I've been waiting FOR BT'.... :D

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good to hear your update.....life sounds good....cheers :)

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lovely post, I've been thinking about you. Looks like I will be hot on your tail, I'm returning at the end of October. Posts like yours are exactly what spurs me on.

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Glad to hear you made it back ok - shame about the belongings though.

Wish I'd have known you were down in the West Country - we're on the Devon/Cornwall border, (almost).

Good luck with getting all your stuff sorted.

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Thanks so much for the update.

I am pleased to hear that you are getting settled. How are the emotions of being back with family?

Good luck and enjoy those walks and village pubs :D

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Great to hear from you and that things are going well over all. I leave in five weeks! :scared: We're in the horrendous sorting things out stage right now. As we'll be staying with my parents to start with I'm hoping it will seem like a rest when we first get there.

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I was just going to ask about you if I had not seen this post.

Did you know we are just up the valley in Bargoed? Caerphilly is my closest shopping day out. :D If ya want to meet for a pint sometime give a yell and I'll brave the train. :D

Sorry to hear about your shipping experience. :( .....for our move, we packed it ourselves and DH was very anal retentive about how we loaded everything and how it was all to be tied down.

Don't worry about winter. I think it's milder here than Atlanta was. It certainly didn't get as cold last winter. It's much more moderate here with temps staying middle of the road.

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Great post - glad you're enjoying most parts of the move so far - long may it continue :)

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I've been waiting for this post...been wondering about you. Glad you and Suzy made it safely. Arent those fields just lovely!! Nothing seems wrong with the world when you are strolling about those beautiful, friendly, heavenly fields with your dog. I dont think you can possibly appreciate the beauty here unless you have been away for awhile.
Sorry about the shippers. :mad:
Ayway, welcome home. Hope all goes well for you and update us from time to time. :)

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Well done...

and welcome home :)

I so much know what you mean and we are 4 and not even have a conservatory :rolleyes:
Was that the family business who packed all you stuff up? I had a feeling about that...oh well never mind...you are here ;)

Enjoy your time and let us know what happen next :beer:

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Excellent post - makes me feel soooo excited when I read posts like this. Ahhhh....can't wait to be walking my dog in the UK....I just know he's gonna love it!!

Only 8 and a half weeks til I leave Oz :)

All the best!!

Baz Brush
:beer:

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Look who popped in! No updates from you in a LONG time.

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:D

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Ahh very good to get the update and glad you're settling
in..I'll be home in Dec.

Don't forget about us now you're back...remember
we need titbits to keep us going til we get there :D