elfman

Well I've just come back from a two week trip to Britain as well, and I think the above is a load of old cobblers.

USIMPORT

Actually both Brits. I am just a more positive person than him, he is a grass greener on the other side type! We still have a house in the UK and have a bolt hole if we needed it (and kick out the tenants!) but he was never happy there either. He hated giving up his guns when the ban came in, hated being told that we had to estimate and pay our VAT up front, when we were a 2 person company, hated.... well you get the idea!! Since he is in his 60's I made him become a septic as well, at least we can get him on Medicare if he gets any health problems! He had problems with the pledge though, and I think he said in Dog We Trust!!!

dunroving

The opportunities are starting to show in the job ads but nothing that fits yet. I chatted with my old HoD and she will be advertising two suitable posts in August, for 2009. So, not looking too bad but hopefully the spring rush will start soon.

fatbrit

You can cross your fingers when doing the oath and pledge -- most of us do!

dunroving

I live there and I can tell you it isn't like that. It just has it's fair share of losers, which the media dutifully picks up on and splashes all over the tabloids so you think you are living in AnBar Province.

USIMPORT

Oh, so my 87 year old mother in law is lying to us when she says that her doctor is putting her on the reserve waiting list at the hosptial to have her accute pain treated, only another 1 year to go before getting on the proper list to begin her real wait then?

My brother in law didn't get his car broken into while it was parked in broad daylight in Westminster 3 times this year?

4 of our friends didn't end up closing up their small business because they couldn't afford to pay safety officers, write up assesments to stack a pallet, send staff on 5 day training courses to drive fork lift trucks, or pay their estimated VAT and taxes in advance of earning the money?

Marks and Spencers, Selfridges and Harrods didn't all announce over tannoys that pick pockets were working the stores and to be extra vigilant of handbags and wallets - my hearing must be failing me big time. Those people dressed like security officers and police walking around the shops and the streets in multiple groups of pairs must just be some kind of new English fancy dress tradition that I must have missed in the expat's Daily Mail. Ditto the homeless and drunk teens which have increased alarmingly as well.

Shop staff didn't misunderstand "I would like the Standard and a packet of tissues" and try and offer me stamps instead then. The phrase 'white toast' didn't result in quizzical looks from several members of hotel staff - must be my dreadful imagination at work again.

Which dimension of Britian were you visiting Elfman, I think I want to visit that one instead next time!

Bob

yeah, bits are shit, but the same happens all over the world, doesn't mean the whole country is shit because of it though...

snowbunny

American businesses would refuse to make such an announcement because it might be bad for business. Head, meet sand. There are permanent signs in areas of Amsterdam warning against pickpockets (though the signs are only in Dutch, of course) -- can't see the same pragmatism working here.

American small businesses are failing not because they're being forced to take care of their workers, but because big companies are running the country and are breaking every law they can to get rich.

It's just variations on a theme.

I agree that Britain has a serious problem with binge drinking and teen pregnancy, but the US has its own issues like the crystal meth epidemic.

snowbunny

It's not about the size of the house but it is about the possibility of owning one's own home before one retires. Not only is this a huge benefit to financial security, it's also about emotional security as well -- a place you can call your own.

If you had to rent forever in London, how would you feel? I'm not having a go -- I know how much it's home for you.

elfman

One person's personal experience/anecdotes do not a shite country make.

aaah there we are

Scotland, actually.
Dumfries, Glasgow, and the Isle of Arran, to be precise. And it was fab.

Elvira

Do you seriously think that if I had to choose between staying in my owned house here and a rented flat in London I would take me even a nanosecond to decide?

snowbunny

Erm, no!

But some people want their own tiny pied-a-terre.... and I don't think there's anything wrong with that. It's not just about having a huge, new house -- it's about whether or not one could own even an efficiency (tiny flat.... usually in NYC.... don't know the British translation other than a bedsit?).

I'm still on the bottom part of the Maslow hierarchy. Security drives a lot of what I do, and I feel most secure in owning my own home. I can't imagine going back to renting long-term, and not because I am a snob, simply because it's a tiny shred of security.

Jerseygirl

Owning my own home is extremely important to me. Maybe it's because I was brought up in a rented house and it was my mother's dream to own her own home.

On the other hand...if you're not happy with your surroundings I don't suppose home ownership is that important.

snowbunny

I agree. We all have different priorities. Some people would be miserable with their surroundings if they couldn't paint the walls purple and others could have their very own mansion but be miserable due to lack of friends, family and familiarity around them.

Mallory

Trouble is that rents go up, especially in London. By the time you reached retirement age, you would be priced out - unless you are extremely wealthy??