What is there to do?
 

House sale in the UK goes through next Wednesday and we fly LGW to Dallas on Thursday. A night in Dallas to recover before driving down to Austin. There will be a period of about a week to allow the funds to arrive before we can move into our new place. In the meantime I'm making a list of stuff that we need to do.

Try to find a cheap truck to haul cheap shit scored off Craigslist
Find reasonable priced car insurance
Try to get cheap shit off Craigslist - bed + couch + beer fridge
Get beer
Organise buildings and contents insurance on the new house
Learn to spell organise with a Zeee
Get quotes for health insurance
Get beer
Enroll child in school
Find a job for the missus

Anything missing?

Re: What is there to do?
 

Social Security No.
US Bank account
US Credit card

Re: What is there to do?
 

nothings missing as far as i can tell :beer:

Re: What is there to do?
 

Learn to say y'all !

But, before you leave the UK, get your kids school to supply you with their records etc. We had quite a delay here (especially with the older kids) because the school in the UK were very slow in supplying those. Also, get shot records from the doc in the UK. If your kid doesn't have all the correct shots make sure they get them before you enroll in school. If you don't have health insurance here yet then try to do in the UK before you come.

Re: What is there to do?
 

:D

Re: What is there to do?
 

Visit the people and places you love
Take photographs
Go to a restaurant you will miss
Be a tourist in your own town

hold those memories, you will apprecate them later :)

Re: What is there to do?
 

Ditto! My sentiments exactly!
(oh and buy everything in Tesco's that will fit in your suitcase!) :p

Re: What is there to do?
 

Any suggestions? What is there that you just can't get in the US? HP sauce and Branston pickle, got those.

Alex.

Re: What is there to do?
 

Got all those already. Could do with a decent credit card though.

Re: What is there to do?
 

Crisps and decent chocolate, plus cheese, sausages and bacon.

Re: What is there to do?
 

No need seem to remember reading somewhere that Tesco is opening in the US. :D

Re: What is there to do?
 

If you like tea, get a bumper size PG Tips box, can find it over here but is bloody expensive!

Re: What is there to do?
 

Tetley's British Blend is pretty good, available in most supermarkets.

Re: What is there to do?
 

The only problem with that is I think they said for now they would only be on the west coast so you would be buggered if you live anywhere else! :(
But in answer to the question what exactly to bring from Tesco's, my answer to that would be anything that you just cannot live without that you're not 100% sure you can get over here. The problem is that you get cravings as time goes on and you never know what those are going to be so you can't stock up for them. My Mum is coming to visit next week thank god because I am craving cheddars something cronic! As far as PGtips and things like that go, yes, STOCK UP NOW!, they will cost you an arm and a leg over here and most American tea is disgusting! :D

Re: What is there to do?
 

Buy as much chocolate as you can, that you can fit in your suitcase.Your wife will appreciate it when she gets cravings for good chocolate :)

Re: What is there to do?
 

I always get people to bring Paracetamol with them too, don't like using aspirin, and can't seem to find it over here, plus it is cheap as chips too (in the UK i mean) but thats just me, i am not a Hypochondriac i promise!

Re: What is there to do?
 

before you leave ...
get copies of medical records
get kids vacination records if you can
get a letter proving no claims from UK car insurer

Re: What is there to do?
 

Paracetamol is Acetaminophen (generic name) in the US, 500 tabs for a few $$'s at Costco. Brand name Tylenol.

Re: What is there to do?
 

I did not realise Tylenol was the same thing, my mistake! Now I will have to get them to bring more chocolate with them when they visit! Oh well, never mind :D :D

Re: What is there to do?
 

Most chains, WalMart, CVS, Target, Costco etc. sell it under their own brand name with is much cheaper than regular Tylenol.

Re: What is there to do?
 

Get an AMEX in the UK now. Then change the address once you get here. There are other threads on this one.

Re: What is there to do?
 

Bring Lemsip

Re: What is there to do?
 

I don't believe you are permitted to bring cheese, saussages or bacon into the country (as a private individual). It would not be a good start to the OP's life in the US to get pulled by the CBP for prohibited items....

- Tim.

Re: What is there to do?
 

Just don't bring anything with codeine in it, it's a prescription drug here. Apparently it can be made into something a lot more mind bending in large quantities and your body can also do the same thing on a smaller scale...

- Tim

Re: What is there to do?
 

Hard cheese is ok ....

Re: What is there to do?
 

I think it is ok if it is pasteurised rather than hard or soft. Not positive though.

Re: What is there to do?
 

1: Learn how to slap your knee like any Texan would do

2: Buy DVDs of all "Dallas" TV shows and watch them relentlessly

3: Upon arrival, start looking for a white dually pick up truck, so as you can jump right in to the Texas style of driving and everything "BIG" in general ;)

Jim.

Re: What is there to do?
 

Get an AT&T credit card, pay for everything you possibly can on it, pay it all off every month, get thank you rewards points which buildup incredibly fast so you can get $100 Target/Smith&wollensky/Ruth'sChris (read good steaks for last two) rewards cards. Much better value btw than the pathetic airmiles they give you for spending cash, though of course if you do shop at Safeways you get those as well :) OOooh and register for Ebates and buy everything you can online through them and get a % payback from ebates. The amount varies depending on who is the seller. Start clipping coupons from the Sunday newspapers LOL never though I would do that. Get a CVS card, A safeway card, a giant card and any other card of the like or you pay stupid non card prices.

Re: What is there to do?
 

Good luck getting an AT&T credit card with no credit history - unless you follow the post above about getting a UK Amex and converting it to a US one once you get here!

Re: What is there to do?
 

I already have a credit history. Been working on that a couple of years now thanks to previous good advice gleaned from this group. I have a secured card, but an offer of an unsecured one which I will take up when we get our new address. I think my score is somewhere in the 730's.

I'm hoping to get a card that gives me American Airlines miles, but the AT&T one sounds promising too.

Alex.

Re: What is there to do?
 

I forgot to say there is no fee with the AT&T card either.

Re: What is there to do?
 

Absolutely - do this! If you have a UK Amex Card, you will be able to get a US one once you are here:

http://www.americanexpress.com/globa...nsfer_en.shtml

You dont realise how much it will help you to be able to get a US credit card straight off (starts building your 'credit score' ... VERY important here.)

People on this site recommended I do the same before I left the UK, definitely one of the best pieces of advise I received. :D

Good luck!!!

Re: What is there to do?
 

Umm Paul, what do you mean about health insurance and getting it from UK before one leaves? I personally wont have health insurance when I get to ohio and my fiance over there doesnt have health insurance - we will be buying into a private scheme (unfortunately he doesnt get it with his work:(). And really we wont have the mney for it until my funds from selling my house here in uk is transfered to a bank account i open once i get there. What do you or anyone else recommend?

Lina (UKC)

Re: What is there to do?
 

Don't get sick before your sales proceeds come through!!

Re: What is there to do?
 

yes that is true - but im a born worrier i worry about everything lol. Good answer but I was hoping to find out if anyone took any health insurance out before they left UK and will it cover them over there in the states for a short period?? Anyone got ideas?

Lina (UKC)