found a hotel a few blocks from my own hotel that has a ReadytoSurf hotspot.

and a power source!

ok the hotel’s breakfast made up for the tiny room.

homework for today: find a laundomat (laundrette here) and continue research for moving costs & such.

tips for walking in the london crowds (most are just good tips in any place with more than 3 people walking anywhere):

1) find the biggest, fastest person and stay closely behind him if you are both travelling the same direction.

2) when following the person mentioned in the previous tip, switch people periodically or you’ll spook the poor guy.

3) when departing the railway, find a large, immobile object and stand close to it while adjusting your coat, scarf, briefcase, etc. DON’T stand in the middle of everyone that is moving around you to make the adjustments.

4) same goes for looking wildly around for the signs that point to the next rail line or the “Way Out”.

5) when walking, lead to the left. you may bump into someone or another at times but at least you can say that you’re following the rule of the road… which leads to the next tip:

6) nearly everyone here comes from somewhere else. especially when you bump into others in the railway. since social mores and attitudes differ from culture to culture, be conservative and practice the (hard for us americans) skill of not looking around whenever someone enters the rail car. to us americans, it’s considered part of a normal appraisal process. to londoners it’s considered gawking and brings attention to both the viewer and the viewee. not good.

7) you can smile and nod to indians and the french and they’ll smile back and may even cut up a bit if you share a common funny experience (like losing your balance when the train moves about and flailing wildly into the air for the grab bar). don’t expect a response from anyone else. they’re not being rude — they’re just trying not to embarass the both of you. see previous point.

8) don’t carry bulky big black briefcases with you on the railways. that sets off all kinds of security alarms. you’ll soon have an entourage of uniformed guards casually stolling past you. on the plus side, the added security presence scares off the pickpockets.

9) when you bump into someone or are in someone’s way, DON’T say “excuse me” or “pardon me”. doing so will announce the fact that you’ve just farted. say, “sorry” instead.

fyi, t-mobile internet is not free even with a t-mobile phone account. it’s also 5 GBP on a per-hour charge, and 16.50 on a per-day charge. more homework to do… and i may end up keeping my per-use account and phone with virgin after all.

for some unknown gift from Providence i am able to hook into a random signal from my hotel room that sometimes provides access… signal is weak and transmission speed is low but it’s live and that’s what counts!

now i can do online homework on the local schools for the kids…

got the phone. yay! i’m currently at a corner somewhere near Moorgate underground station. hooked into a local company’s wireless internet connection. not telling which one though…. hee hee.

btw i WAS doing something constructive today…. turned in rental application before hunting for wireless internet. next is the phone after i check email and bank account.

also btw the Leicester square adventure this morning while looking for a supposedly actual t-mobile location was pretty educational. not for kids. i’ll leave this off my list of family attractions. who knew about charing cross station area? apparently the guy at starbucks knew and is having quite a laugh at this funny joke.

ok the bagel factory at canary wharf is definitely having problems with their wireless. probably dns issue. i’m at the Westferry circus location and can connect no problem.

it’s a bit out of the way though but i need a lifeline so i can find a tmobile shop nearby. starbucks is essentially omnipresent which makes the tmobile hotspots easily accessible also. since i really need a mobile (they are expected of all professionals) i might as well get one that offers free broadband internet as well. and coffee.

too bad java joe’s closes at 11 am… even though it’s 9:50, the guy’s closing up shop. grr and i missed the 9am breakfast club at the hotel. tomorrow i’ll be more on the ball.

funny – you’d think a place called java joe’s wouldn’t be posh but it is very upscale. it’s on the ground floor of a fancy hotel. gotta go – the guy wants to wipe down the chair i’m sitting on. onwards to the next adventure.

ok now i’ve definitely got the hang of the wireless connection thing. i made a mistake and turned on the option to connect to any non-preferred network. it seems that tmobile and eurospot are more grabby than readytosurf and take over my wireless connection.

this is what i see when getting around town:
London Underground – Free Pictures – FreeFoto.Com

ok i think i figured out the wireless connection thing. if all goes well then i’ll be a coffee/bagel hound for quite some time. lots of free internet connections here at cafes and coffee shops.

but not at starbucks. it’s a fee-based thing. too sad. but bagel factory does have some really good espresso.

boy this shower sure is small. the whole hotel is small. i barely fit my 2 suitcases, myself, and my laptop bag in it. the guy at the lobby was worried about the total weight. ha ha.

Long plane ride. No crashing.

(NOTE: this bit was added later, after the internet connectivity thing was sorted out)

decided to switch hotels since i found one that runs almost £25 less expensive. found it online. looks good in print; hope it lives up to the reviews.  (Mabeldon Court, Kings’ Cross)

i’m too cheap to pay for cab service so i hope i can take the suitcases on the rail line without a problem. we’ll see.

(NOTE: this bit was added later, after the internet connectivity thing was sorted out)

Hi All,

Whew what a day.

I’m taking a well-needed break for a few moments but plan to head off soon to meet with Kay to discuss employment details hopefully today.

The hotel does have wireless internet access but unfortunately the access is not free. It’s provided by a company called iyzone.net and is actually a bit pricey. I made friends with the Bagel Factory here at at the mall here in Jubilee Station by work and they offer completely free internet access as long as I buy something. So I’m sitting here with a double espresso and a bagel. There’s a bit of security alert here because of the recent events with the Madrid bombings and yesterday’s assasination of Yassin so the security guard is making the rounds quite frequently around me. I guess I really need to shave the mustache and beard. Ha ha. It would help if I stopped looking around like I was lost most of the time as well.

As hoped, my contact was kind enough to meet me at the airport and helped me navigate my way to the hotel. I contacted some apartment folks I swapped emails with last week and found a local (free) paper with listings of places to let. I plan to mail that home today. Kris, this Docklands area is being built up like the Heights was a couple of years back. There’s anticipation of a 2012 Olympics being hosted here in the Docklands and LOTS of living places are being newly built to accommodate the traffic. That explains the low cost of the brand-new housing. It’s the emerging new Houston Galleria of London. I really think we should look into this area of town for long-term living arrangements. If you’re not working outside of the home then you can use the public transport to take the kids to pretty much any part of town, depending upon the school zoning requirements.

People here in the Dockland area are just as the books say – very friendly when you do speak to them but a bit suspicious if you smile too big at them or hold eye contact too long. No big hand-waving and shouting “hello” here. Everyone is very friendly to people he or she knows, so it’s easy going once I get to know some folks. I predict it’s the same all over town. Very nice people overall.

Weather – how can I give a report without mentioning the weather? It was about 40 F (6 C) yesterday when I came in and was a mixture of sun and mostly clouds all day. I got hailed upon for a few minutes while walking around to get my bearings… Thank you Kris for the long coats! The air is dry, even with the clouds and rain (a seeming oxymoron but it’s true). My sinuses are adjusting a little bit more slowly than the rest of me. Not many men wear hats here which is suprising considering the often changing wind/sun/rain combination. I seem to be making a bit of a fashion statement. I don’t care — it’s keeping me healthy.

Time for me to go – I’m heading off to brave the London Underground (subway system) to work my way across town. I got an all-day pass for Zone 2 which lets me ride around all day. I suspect I’ll be seeing more of London today than I plan to.

Kris, honey, I’ll send a separate email for you and the kids later today. I miss you all terribly and thank you for having faith and trust in me to handle this. We’re a wonderful team together. I got your email you sent yesterday. Thank you my heart.

I’ll check in again soon. It’s about 10:30 am now (4:30 am Houston) so by the end of the day today it should be around noon there.

(NOTE: this bit was added later, after the internet connectivity thing was sorted out)

max headroom is not just the name of an old sci-fi television show. “mind the gap” does not reference the clothing store.

(NOTE: this bit was added later, after the internet connectivity thing was sorted out)

arrived in london. should be an interesting week.

it was weird getting on the plane at 4 pm and getting off the place at 7 am the next morning, even though i was actually in the air only 8 hours. i’ll let you figure that out.

am i awake? this isn’t some weird matrix-y experience, is it? ha ha.