Garnet's Life Adventures

hole covered, heat & hot water restored :)

back into normalcy - plumber fixed the hole!

Labels: flats

posted by Sara @ 11:13 pm 2 comments

how low will it go?

the temperature in my flat that is? It's just part 2pm & the temperature is down to 13C . . . let's play a game: how low will the temp go before the plumber gets here & fixes the hole in the pipe??

Labels: flats, video

posted by Sara @ 2:07 pm 1 comments

14C and waiting

So the flat's down to 14C and I'm STILL sitting here waiting for the plumber who should be here "any minute" . . . I have to say that hot water bottles are the best - they can keep you totally warm all night long! I wish there was better day time shows on (LOL)

I just keep telling myself - I'm healthy, have a job, a roof over my head, food in my tummy & have a loving family for which I am very very thankful, so I shouldn't be complaining about my lack of heat or hot water, but it's frustrating when you're use to having these things at your disposal.

Labels: flats, thankful, update

posted by Sara @ 11:39 am 0 comments

problems in London

got home today & heard a weird thumping noise in my kitchen - discovered it was coming from the water pipes going to my water heater, then suddenly the fire alarm went when I also realised there was water all over the floor . . . after a long time standing in the cold trying to reach the "emergency contact" for our flats we discovered the water was not just all over my floor but it was leaking into the flat below me as well - also learned there was a hole in one of the pipes which is the size of which my pinky finger can fit into . . . it had been covered by tape for goodness only knows how long - lucky i was here to sort it out - the emergency line guy can't help as he's not a plumber & he'd been at the pub drinking so he admitted he didn't wanna do anything technical. so i'm without heat or hot water until they fix it - it's 16C right now & dropping - got both of my duvets on my bed and both wool blankets on chair next to it just in case I've also got 2 hot water bottles on standby from Nim & Andy's where I also showered tonight - this is so annoying! I sure hope my landlord is ready to hear from me & the guy who lives below me tomorrow - cause we're not impressed with the circumstances we're in - guy below me had water leak onto his mattress & all over his wardrobe - i'm going without heat & hw until this problem is fixed, last time it took 3 days to get a plumber & that wasn't during the holiday season . . .

Labels: flats, landlords, London

posted by Sara @ 11:11 pm 0 comments

Virtual Tour . . . sorta

view completely left from bed

Understand these photos are a mix from my phone & camera all from about 2-3 weeks ago, so it does look a bit different now, but you get the idea . . . I hope

Labels: flats, NaBloPoMo, photos

posted by Sara @ 12:55 pm 3 comments

bed, wardrobe & dresser

all arrived yesterday FINALLY . . . delivery time was between 6am and 12pm . . . arrival time was 4.15pm but what can you say when they arrive & immediately tell you that their van broke down & you're only half way through the deliveries, meaning they're going to be working till well past 6pm . . . nothing, you thank them for delivering it & you race to work as fast as possible since you were suppose to be there at 12.30pm. I arrived at 4.45pm and did an hours worth of work before leaving for Dan & Samana's birthday drinks & dinner. It was great fun, not the waiting around all day, but the dinner. When I got home at 10.30pm I decided to just place the mattress on the floor & crash instead of attempting to put the bed frame together - that fun will be saved for the weekend, along with putting the wardrobe, dresser & 2 night side tables.

Off to see Ratatouille tonight with me mates from uni, since it's 2 for the price of 1 on Wednesday with Orange phones (Orange is a mobile carrier like Verizon or Cingular)

Labels: flats, movies

posted by Sara @ 6:22 pm 6 comments

good news & goats

So my estate agent left a message for me saying he had some good news, but now I'm waiting for him to call me back AND my dear co-worker Annemieka just offered me a desk and tv stand, should I get it . . . now I can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!

In other news, who fancies buying a goat? I just had a brilliant idea for Christmas presents for me family. I might just buy each one of them a goat - I mean how cool would that be? It's not like a dog that they have to walk or a cat where they have to change the litter box and from the photos you can see it's way easier than building a goat pen. You can buy a brick as well, but I thought the goat was way cooler. What do you all think of this idea, do you think my family will agree or have I fallen off my rocker?

Update: I got the new place - YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Labels: flats, goats

posted by Sara @ 4:54 pm 5 comments

My House

Zarina's & my bathroom - note the STAND UP shower on the left :)

left half of kitchen
right half of kitchen
garden view from Zarina's room
garden view from kitchen
my bedroom
looking right out my window
looking left out my window

I can't take any nice shots of the outside & all the pics look sorta dark, but that's cause it's been raining for over a week!!

Just wanted to say a quick Thank You to all of you who sent concerned messages, yes there were 2 car bomb scares in central London on Thursday and yesterday a flaming jeep did drive into the Glasgow (Scotland) airport, but I'm safe & sound.

To ease some of your concerns, I am not worried about taking public transport and my daily life goes on without change. I admit I do spend a few extra seconds looking at the people who sit near me on the buses and tubes, but only twice in the 2 years I've been here since the bombings of 7/7/05 have I gotten off a tube because of feeling "weird" about another passenger. I guess it is a threat that we all sort of just live with on a daily basis, as do many other around the world.

The bigger worry to me is that it may never stop raining, the temps may never get above 65F, and I may never see real summer weather this year. It's been cold & rainy for over a week straight now, albeit we did have 3 hours (not consecutive) of sun on Friday while I was at the zoo with my co-workers, but I did just looked at the weather & apparently we could have "sunny intervals" today, which is really exciting!! Course the rest of the week is rain, but sun on a weekend would be fantastic!!

Totally unrelated, if you'd like to listen to the radio I listen to at work, click here :)

Labels: flats, photos

posted by Sara @ 10:20 am 6 comments

I have a HOME!!!!!!!!!

Hello all,

I have a place to live :)

Flat six did not work out, so I'm taking flat seven with the super nice landlady & awesome garden & all new mattresses & appliances - I'm going to sign the contract tonight at 18.30 & get my keys! I'm very excited about this . . . finally a space of my own!

Well that's the only exciting thing that has happened since I last posted about 50 minutes ago, I think now I will go get my ID card sorted.

Speak soon, Tarra

Labels: flats

posted by Sara @ 10:53 am 3 comments

TB ANYWHERE IS TB EVERYWHERE

The title of this post is the theme for 2007 World TB Day, March 24th. So, what are you doing for World TB Day? My friend Analise is going to this, which I think is a fantastic idea, course I don't think many of you can join her since it's in Hotlanta as she calls it (aka Atlanta, GA). I see that there are currently 599 walkers, which in my mind is really good, not sure how many they were expecting, but that sounds like a good amount to me for a first annual event!

Here is a bit of info on TB in case you're not familiar with it, which you all should be, but I am amazed almost weekly with the expression of peoples faces when you mention TB & they respond with, "that's still around, I thought it was cured" or "oh I can't get it, I got a jab when I was little" Would any of you admit to thinking it was "cured" or that you "couldn't get it"?????

To mark World TB Day we at LSHTM we are having a series of lectures
from 12PM in the BENNETT ROOM (LG80)
*ALL WELCOME* * REFRESHMENTS PROVIDED*
12pm Jackie Cliff -Development of Biomarkers of Response to Tuberculosis Treatment
12.30pm Katherine Fielding- TBC
1pm Ulrich Schaible - Tuberculosis, Immunity and Virulence
1:30pm Terry Joe from UCLH - Active case finding for TB among marginalised communities in London.
Chaired by Prof. Peter Godfrey-Faussett and Prof. Ulrich Schaible

Aside from that it's just a typical Friday here in London, still COLD, but luckily no more snow/rain/sleet/hail - I tell you those are not fun when the temp is 1C (33.8F) out!!!!

I must apologise in advance that I will be taking my animal licencing course at the Royal Veterinary College (in Camden) from 9-5 so I won't be able to post any blogs those days - I know you are heart broken (hee hee) I am hoping by the end of today to be able to tell you about my living situation. I went to see yet another flat last night.

Flat Seven:
Located in MH but a few bus stops past flat six. The house is a 7 minute walk off the main street, located in a quiet neighbourhood. There are 5 bedrooms (all with brand new mattresses), 3 bathrooms (all with new showers), HUGE kitchen (all new appliances), garden with exotic plants, BBQ pit, outdoor furniture, only down sides are no living room and I would not get to meet my flatmates (2 rooms are taken but nobody has moved in yet), but on the plus side the landlady is super sweet and lives just across the way.

I'm hoping this place will be my fall back living situation, should flat 6 not work out, again fingers crossed!!!!!! Okay I should try to read something scientific today and get my ID card sorted, along with my bank details to payroll so I can get some money - yeah baby yeah - first time in nearly 2 years - I'm loving that change for sure!!!

Hope you all have a fantastic weekend & remember World TB Day tomorrow, I'm amazed that Hallmark hasn't made a card for this holiday yet . . . maybe I could make a few million designing cards for them, now that's a brilliant idea :)

Labels: flats, TB

posted by Sara @ 10:00 am 1 comments

tubes/flats/work

So I've made it to Thursday, but barely, someone pushed me off the tube this morning on my way into work (I still have a hard time saying work, I'm so use to saying school or uni!!)

So here's the story . . . I stood outside waiting for the complementary shuttle service (b/c it was freezing cold & snowing) that exists in this posh estate that I'm living in for the moment! I got on the tube at Arnos Grove, couldn't get a seat (which is unusual, but I was 30 minutes later than normal so maybe that's the reason) so I got stuck standing by the doors. At Finsbury Park lots of people where trying to get off, this guy who smelled of wee just pushed me off the train so that he could get off as well, WTF? So I figured I'd just push my way back on, right?!?!?! Well nooooo! All the other people who had been waiting on the platform felt that they had priority over me, not sure why since I had been on the train in the first place, but none the less I was not allowed back on, so I had to wait for the next train - how annoying is that?!?!?! Note to self never get a train past 7.50am unless you want to stand for 15 minutes, get pushed off a train, wait for the next one & then stand another 15 minutes on the second train!!

As for flat hunting last night:

Fifth Flat:
The place was very luxurious (marble tiles in the bath, but no stand up shower), HUGE ("my bedroom" was the size of my old flat), beautiful (wooden floors through out, new furniture), big roof deck, 2 nice girls living there, but I learned they both smoked when they said, "fancy a fag" (that statement still makes me giggle) and lit theirs, PLUS it was a 20 minute walk from the Arnos Grove tube station, so it would take me about 1.5 hours to get to work, which I'm not too keen on & I'm not exactly sure where I would buy groceries. They both have cars so maybe I could bum a ride from them once in awhile, but it's not like I could easily walk anywhere else.

Sixth Flat:
The second place was smaller, in Muswell Hill, an area I really like. It has your typical kitchen, bathroom (with stand up shower!), living room & 2 bedrooms, the girl who is staying is Irish & works near Blackfriars tube. She's gone 2 weekends a month visiting her boyfriend who is stationed in Wales with the RAF (Royal Air Force) and he comes down one weekend a month. I will know more tomorrow about this place & I still have one more place to see tonight in MH.

Well I just finished my appt with personnel (finally) & they didn't have much to tell me aside from asking for a copy of my passport & they gave me a rather large folder full of papers to read on equality, health care, ID cards, pension plans, etc.

Next on my agenda for the day is to make a cup of tea, did I tell you it's freakin freezing over here in Londontown?!?!?! Well it is, there was proper snow falling in Princess Park Manor this morning while I waited for the shuttle. After the tea is ready I think I will get back to reading all these exciting papers I just received & looking for a vial of MAC4 in the liquid nitrogen freezer log - don't ask me what that is, I have no clue, Greg just sent an email from Washington DC asking me to do that, so I'm going to!

I'm hoping all of you in EST are getting up & getting ready to go to work and I hope those of you on PST are soundly sleeping as it is 04.22!!! This Sunday we switch our clocks forward which is really going to mess me up b/c I've finally learned to subtract 4 and 7 hours depending on which time zone I'm calling, now I have to go back to 5 and 8 - I have such a tough life, I know!!!!

Labels: flats, work

posted by Sara @ 11:25 am 0 comments

back to the grind stone

As for Zee's question about Mame's place - I decided not to take it after speaking with her again to confirm the price & realized that for that price I could get my own studio with a lot more room & since I'm not in a rush I decided to decline & check out some more places.

I've been on Gumtree most of the morning checking places out & hopefully will have a few replies later this afternoon/evening!

Aside from that I personally don't have much to report, had lab meeting, ordered some antibodies, and now just searching endlessly for flats. This news was pretty cool - I heard about it this morning on BBC One along with this topic, which I'm sure will start some sort of controversy!! And this article about the A380 is pretty darn exciting since my lil sis use to work on the engine which Pratt & Whitney are making.

Will keep you posted if I hear anything exciting during the day, so far it's been pretty dull & the weather is rather cold & cloudy to bout!

Labels: flats, news

posted by Sara @ 11:22 am 0 comments

Back to the Drawing Board

So the flat I really liked was given to the other girl b/c she went to uni with one of the girls who already lived there :( Now I'm back to square one . . . but since it's nearly 7pm I'm going to head home, get something to eat and watch a wee bit of telly. Hopefully tomorrow will bring more luck on the flat hunting

Labels: flats

posted by Sara @ 6:49 pm 1 comments

Flat Hunting Adventures Continue . . .

So after my rather nice experience last Thursday, I was very optimistic about Saturday's viewings, here are the three stories:

Flat One:
I met up with MissyLou at the bus stop & we proceeded over to the first flat of the day. WOW, this place was fantastic! The rooms were bright & large, the place was clean. This place is a house, not just a flat. The house has a private entrance at ground level, but the house itself is on the first and second floor (with a one-bed flat below). It has cream walls and carpets and is fully double-glazed. On the ground floor entrance there is a second toilet and area for shoes, on the first floor there is a large, fully fitted kitchen with dishwasher and washer/dryer, a dining room, a lounge room and a spare room for when guests come to stay. On the top floor there are 4 double bedrooms, a 3-piece bathroom (with shower over the bath) and a separate shower room. There are 3 girls and a couple who live there now, with one of the girls moving out.

The room up for offer is large (you could fit about 3 double beds in it I guess), has cream walls and a light carpet. It is fully furnished with a fitted wardrobe, chest of drawers, double bed (which is less than a year old) and a desk/table. The room has 2 double-glazed windows on different walls, which means it gets lots of light, and has a double radiator.

Only problem here was that the girls who were going to be living there were not in, so I would have to come back on Sunday to meet them. NOT a problem as I really liked the place!!!

Flat Two:
Had we not just called to say we were lost, we would have just kept on walking, based on what we saw on the exterior of the building, but we sucked it up & walked up to the 3rd floor, wading our way through piles of smelly garbage & flies. The boy as I will call him, answered the door in jeans that looked like they had been painted on (not attractive at all!!). He was a bit shorter than I am & his eyes were about at my chest level, which normally would not be a big deal expect for the fact that instead of looking up to speak to me, he decided to just look straight at my chest the entire time MissyLou & I were there!!!! The inside of the flat was not horrific, but the boy looked like he was strung out on some drug & told us he worked as a music journalist, he tried to say he went to a few gigs a month, but the girl tenant corrected him with a few a week. The living room was really rather small for 3 people. I could not get over the stench of the stairwell!!

Flat Three:
A rather homely looking woman answered the door, showed us up to the flat & one at a time we entered. One at a time b/c when the door opened there was only room for 1 person to walk in, step around the door & let the next person in. I was not really thrown off by this, at first. Carefully we made our way down the hall to see the bathroom, again step in next to sink, close door before being able to reach shower or toilet. From there we went to the room that was being offered & she explained that everything but the bed was staying, so I would have to buy a bed?!?!?! Then on to the kitchen, which was typical, no problems there. Then down 3 steps to the living room/dinning room. Where we met the tenant who was moving out. The girl who will be staying said, "okay, ask away" and the guy started to fire questions at me. I thought it was funny that he was asking questions since he was the one moving out - shouldn't she be asking them?!?!?! Whenever she spoke (which wasn't often) especially when answering a question I asked, she would defer to him - I found that a big strange.

So after a long interesting day, MissyLou & I parted ways to go home. I had made plans to meet with the girls from the first flat at 1pm on Sunday. Saturday night was uneventful, Jim & I just watched movies & went to bed around midnight.

Sunday I woke up, showered, had breakfast & headed back down to meet the girls. They were super sweet & I really enjoyed them both. They announced it was between me & one other girl & that they will email me on Monday, so I've got my fingers crossed!! Will let you know asap.

Last night, Jim made pizza while I was talking to my mom -

I had called to wish her a Happy UK Mother's Day. I also had to tell the funny story of someone who shall remain nameless (recalling that Rob is away for 4 weeks) fell asleep on the couch Friday night with a FULL glass of pineapple juice in their hand. I woke up Saturday morning, stepped into the living room & the couch cushions were missing all of their covers & there was a faint smell of pineapple in the air. I looked in the washing machine & there were the covers, Arsenal shirt & jeans which nameless person had been wearing the night before. Apparently said person woke up when said person spilled the juice all over themselves, the couch, and all three remotes (TV, cable, and surround sound stereo). Feel free to laugh as hard as you want, I sure did & so did said nameless person.

I also wanted to wish my mum a Happy 26th Anniversary today - YEAH MOM, you rock!!!! Isn't that amazing?!?!?

BTW, it's hailing outside right now & yesterday I got stuck in a major hail storm, where it came at an angle & ruddy hurt when it hit your face :(

Labels: AA, flats, mothers day

posted by Sara @ 11:10 am 0 comments

safety differences

So over here the footwear requirement is only, "Footwear should be appropriate for the work being undertaken. Open-toed shoes should not be worn when handling liquid nitrogen or moving heavy items" apparently sharps are not as much a worry?!?!?!?

Also "Radios & tape players, including personal stereos of the Walkman type, are NOT permitted in the laboratories" Back in the good old days at TI, Pete & I use to listen to CDs all day long during big experiments - it's where I learned to like lots of different types of music, for example the day he brought in the zydeco band cd, forget the name of them now, but the music was fantastic!

They require a lot more reading than I ever remember in the states, but then again it was nearly 6 years ago that I started so maybe I did read all this stuff. LSHTM's general safety manual is 42 pages (read), the specific codes of practice safety manual is 90 pages (read), and then there is the Biological Services Facility Code of Practice which is 37 pages (read), followed by the Entrance to the Laboratories and Specific Codes of Practice for Burkholderia pseudomallei (ACDP Category 3) packets which are both about 10 pages long (both read). There is also a HUGE check list for general lab techniques & then also the Bp specific lab techniques!!

Thanks Zee for the food idea! I think this means that before I can say anything I need to try it out :) so I'll put it on my agenda to start checking out restaurants!! I know tomorrow MissyLou & I are getting a curry, so maybe on Monday I can talk about Indian food, which I already know is 900% better over here than in the states, I don't know if it is the water or what, but I've never had a good curry in the states (that is after tasting curries here!)

So I've got 3 flats to look at tomorrow & hopefully that will help me make my decision - if not I can come back to the drawing board Monday morning!

Labels: differences in the UK, flats

posted by Sara @ 4:20 pm 1 comments

Flat Hunting Story #1

So last night after a longish day at work - did I tell you I was bloody knackered all day yesterday, guess going back to work full time after 6 months of holiday finally caught up with me, well that & staying up past midnight chatting with Jim & watching Pretty Woman - which btw Jim knows many of the lines to the movie, it kept me laughing - I jumped on the Central line over to Marble Arch to visit with MissyLou (my old flatmate) & Jeremy (her boyfriend who she is now living with).

After arriving at their flat we immediately started cooking dinner, as MissyLou & I were rather peckish!! We had cheese & ham tortellini with spicy tomato sauce - yummers! After dinner we decided we needed a bit of sweet, so we popped down to Green Valley (Green Valley Lebanese supermarket on 36–37 Upper Berkley Street, London, W1H 7PG - highly recommended!!!) for some baklava - again yummers! After dessert we legged it up to catch the bus to Chalk Farm area to view my first flat.

For those of you who didn't go with me last night to see the place, the flat (location I will not post) was really nice! My potential flatmate's name is Mame, she's a Treasury accountant for a diamond company - sounds exciting right?!?!?! She is super friendly, very outgoing, and the place was uber clean. It's a 2 bedroom place with double glazed windows & a small deck off the living room. In "my room" the walls are a light violet colour with a TV, VCR & DVD player, double bed, built in wardrobe (aka closet), 2 small dressers & a huge window that faces onto the street. The living room windows face a shared garden. The bathroom, well it's a bathroom, but it has a stand up shower, unlike last year, so that's a big plus :)

Don't worry if I move in I'll take lots of photos & post them up for you to see. Louise & I had meant to take photos last night, but never got around to it, we were too busy gob-jobbing it (aka talking) with Mame. I'm just going to look at a few more places this weekend just to make sure I like this place for sure.

The really cool news is that I sent Mame an email this morning explaining I really liked the flat, but that I didn't just want to take the first one I saw so I'd like to check out a few more this weekend & get back to her. Within a few minutes she replied with, "I was just about to email you to say that I really enjoyed meeting you too last night. I totally understand that you need to see what else is out there so I’m happy to hold the room for you until Monday. Basically the place is yours if you want it so just let me know." How cool is that?!?!?! Maybe flat hunting isn't as bad as I had made it out to be????? Well there is still a flat to see on Saturday at noon & a few more phone calls to be made, so I'm sure on Monday I will have at least one other flat hunting story & a decision about what to do with Mame's flat.

As for my flat which you saw yesterday which probably made you drool all over your keyboard about. Things are much better there as well, Mr Annoying (RG) as I will call him, left this morning for a 4 week trek around Thailand, which means I get my own bedroom & en suite bathroom, yippeeeee. Course if I take this flat with Mame it will sorta be a mute point & I actually think I might miss hanging out with Jim, but I can still go up for visits.

Okay I'm asking for your help now, what sort of things would you like me to blog about, aside from my oh so exciting days at work?? I know Pete was looking for flat hunting stories, but does anyone want to "see" or "hear" about anything in London or England for that matter?

Okay I'm off to read some safety manuals, I know you're all very jealous & want to read them as well - LOL - Happy Friday & have a great weekend in case I don't post again today or speak with you in the mean time via email. I miss you all, but things are starting to fall back into place - yeah!! I knew it would if I could just, let go & take it one day at a time.

Oh yeah Happy Saint Patrick's Day to ya!!!!!!!!!!

Labels: dinner, flatmates, flats

posted by Sara @ 10:33 am 5 comments

Ides of March

For more info on the importance of this day, click here

Better drink lots of fruit juice!!

Look at where I am living!!!! If you go under "plans" then click "garden floor", then scroll around & zoom in to look at flat 300, that's the layout of our flat :)

So I'm bloody knackered today!! Apparently staying up past midnight watching the telly & chatting with my flatmates was not a good idea . . . my eye lids feel like lead weights right now!

Labels: flats

posted by Sara @ 2:25 pm 1 comments

flat hunting fun

I hope in reading that title you heard sarcasm in my voice!! So last night I had booked an appt to see a flat in Queens Park area, but 15 minutes before hand the girl called to say she'd found someone - ugh!!

Tonight I have an appt to see a flat in the Kentish Town/Chalk Farm area (semi near my old stomping grounds :) at 7.45pm. Louise is going to go with me, I've got my fingers crossed that I can at least see this place.

Aside from that I don't have any other good flat hunting stories, but I'll keep ya posted . . .

Labels: flats

posted by Sara @ 9:27 am 1 comments

landlords can be such a pain in the arse!

So in typical Leo style (nothing has ever been easy with this particular landlord) he had to haggle with me on the phone about returning the deposit money to me. He started off by saying that I shouldn't be looking for a 2 bedroom b/c then when my flatmate & I have a fall out I'll be stuck for the rent - I don't recall asking for his advice, I just asked if he had any 2 bedrooms, (which he doesn't) so he decided to rehash the fact that he specializes in 1 bedroom & studios for the exact reason mentioned above & AGAIN advised me not to have a flatmate - ugh!!!

Labels: flats

posted by Sara @ 1:15 pm 1 comments