Saturday, February 18, 2006
Stuff and things
Yesterday I was working on some numbers to try and figure out how we’ll be able to go to Scotland for Chris & Alison’s wedding. I really would like to go, but holy cats, its going to cost a shit load of money! For just one week away, its going to cost well over $4000 when you figure in airfare, hotels, meals, transportation, and boarding the dogs at the kennel. And that’s with NOT staying at the wedding hotel, but at a nearby much less expensive one! As wonderful as the hotel that the bride & groom have chosen looks, its just way out of our price range, with the “cheap” rooms being about $250 per night. :-p There’s another hotel (hopefully) not too far away that is less than $100 per night, and includes breakfast. If they want a gift, we’ll have to stay at a cheaper hotel! I hope cab fare will not be too expensive.
We had hoped to be able to spend the wedding weekend in Scotland and then go down to London for a few days to round out a week long holiday. London of course is very expensive as well, but I did manage to find a hotel in the west end that’ll be less than $100 per night. Train fare from Edinburgh to London for the 2 of us will be over $300. I’d rent a car, but having to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road just sounds a bit too daunting for such a short trip! Maybe some other time. Besides, the rental, plus the cost of petrol would likely be about the same as train fare. The train sounds much less stressful.
Hopefully I can keep the airfare costs to under $700 each, but it looks like we won’t be getting a direct flight. I hate connecting flights, there’s always such a rush and worry that your luggage will get lost. That would suck. If we have to connect at all, I’d prefer to connect in Newark, simply because I know that airport fairly well and wouldn’t have such a difficulty finding connecting gates. I know its been renovated since I was there last, but as far as I know, they weren’t really changing all that much, work had already started when I was last there, and it didn’t seem to be all that different. I just hope they’ve given travelers something to DO! I was stranded there once for over 5 hours waiting on our flight because of weather, and I tell ya, its one of the most boring airports on the continent!
We’ll fly to Edinburgh, then somehow get up to Kelso where the wedding is, stay there a couple of days, then maybe spend a day in Edinburgh the day after the wedding, and then take the train to London, spend a few days there, then fly home from either Gatwick or Heathrow. Flights from Gatwick seem to be cheaper than Heathrow for some reason. Probably traffic volumes. I don’t even know where Gatwick is, but I’m sure we can find it.
Maybe we’ll get several thousand dollars back on our income taxes and then we can pay for the trip with that. So far in our savings account we have almost one airfare paid for, and if I take the jar of coins in, that may pay for the other airfare. Or at least half. We’ll see.
On another note, James got a call from Domino’s yesterday and they’re putting him on a fast track through the franchiser training. Normally it would be several weeks for them to go thru the application and approval stage before they would send him to the next training. He was told yesterday however that they want him at the next class at the end of the month. I have no idea what happens after that for sure, but I’m guessing once he’s passed that class, we’re on our way to Wisconsin. Which means rushing thru everything, the packing, the renovating, the planning etc etc and there go our stress levels right back up to where they were on Wednesday morning. I hate stress. :-p
We haven’t even had a chance to go up there to have a look around at the place. All we’ve been able to do is look on-line at the town’s website and chamber of commerce website. It looks nice enough, but then so does the Morganton website where they lie through their teeth about how progressive and such a wonderful place this is! Bleah. We’ll either have to buy a house unseen, (scary thought) or rent something until we can find a house. Renting will be tricky, considering the size of our dogs! Plus, I’m really not looking forward to the drive. My ass is still sore from the last trip up there.
*sigh*
Anyway, I start working at the shop here on Monday, and wow, I just had a flash of déjà vu…or vuja de I’m not sure yet. ;-) I’m not really looking forward to working there; slingin’ pizza is not where I pictured the rest of my life, or even a small part of it. But it is what James wants to do so I’ll go along for the ride. I need to learn the business so in the short run we can save some money by not having to hire extra staff. But hopefully in the long run, I won’t have to work there too long. James is also dreaming of me barefoot and pregnant, but I’m not particularly looking forward to the torture of IVF either so he can dream on for a while yet. I try to steer the conversation toward adopting, and he slams doors, so I guess I have some work to do. ;-) Either scenario would get me out of the pizza shop for a while tho!
I wonder if it’ll still be winter by the time we get there?...
It’s a miserable day here today. Once again the weather forecasters predicted doom and a foot of snow, and all we get is rain. Which really sucks because I just washed the kitchen floor the other day and now its all muddy again. GAH!
I bought (another) new vacuum yesterday. It was on sale at Big Lots. I got a Hoover, too bad I didn’t have $300 tho, they also had Dyson’s on sale. The Hoover works a heckuva lot better than the crappy Dirt Devil we have, which lately hasn’t even been able to pick up fluff. The red clay here destroys vacuum motors. I’ve gone thru 3 hand vacs and now the Dirt Devil since I got here a year and a half ago. Hopefully the Hoover will last a little while anyway, until I can afford a Kirby. Pretty sad that my dream is to one day have a Kirby eh? I dream of clean carpets and furniture, so what?!
Well, I suppose I should get at it. I don’t know what exactly, but I should probably do something today. ¶ 11:50 AM
We had hoped to be able to spend the wedding weekend in Scotland and then go down to London for a few days to round out a week long holiday. London of course is very expensive as well, but I did manage to find a hotel in the west end that’ll be less than $100 per night. Train fare from Edinburgh to London for the 2 of us will be over $300. I’d rent a car, but having to learn to drive on the wrong side of the road just sounds a bit too daunting for such a short trip! Maybe some other time. Besides, the rental, plus the cost of petrol would likely be about the same as train fare. The train sounds much less stressful.
Hopefully I can keep the airfare costs to under $700 each, but it looks like we won’t be getting a direct flight. I hate connecting flights, there’s always such a rush and worry that your luggage will get lost. That would suck. If we have to connect at all, I’d prefer to connect in Newark, simply because I know that airport fairly well and wouldn’t have such a difficulty finding connecting gates. I know its been renovated since I was there last, but as far as I know, they weren’t really changing all that much, work had already started when I was last there, and it didn’t seem to be all that different. I just hope they’ve given travelers something to DO! I was stranded there once for over 5 hours waiting on our flight because of weather, and I tell ya, its one of the most boring airports on the continent!
We’ll fly to Edinburgh, then somehow get up to Kelso where the wedding is, stay there a couple of days, then maybe spend a day in Edinburgh the day after the wedding, and then take the train to London, spend a few days there, then fly home from either Gatwick or Heathrow. Flights from Gatwick seem to be cheaper than Heathrow for some reason. Probably traffic volumes. I don’t even know where Gatwick is, but I’m sure we can find it.
Maybe we’ll get several thousand dollars back on our income taxes and then we can pay for the trip with that. So far in our savings account we have almost one airfare paid for, and if I take the jar of coins in, that may pay for the other airfare. Or at least half. We’ll see.
On another note, James got a call from Domino’s yesterday and they’re putting him on a fast track through the franchiser training. Normally it would be several weeks for them to go thru the application and approval stage before they would send him to the next training. He was told yesterday however that they want him at the next class at the end of the month. I have no idea what happens after that for sure, but I’m guessing once he’s passed that class, we’re on our way to Wisconsin. Which means rushing thru everything, the packing, the renovating, the planning etc etc and there go our stress levels right back up to where they were on Wednesday morning. I hate stress. :-p
We haven’t even had a chance to go up there to have a look around at the place. All we’ve been able to do is look on-line at the town’s website and chamber of commerce website. It looks nice enough, but then so does the Morganton website where they lie through their teeth about how progressive and such a wonderful place this is! Bleah. We’ll either have to buy a house unseen, (scary thought) or rent something until we can find a house. Renting will be tricky, considering the size of our dogs! Plus, I’m really not looking forward to the drive. My ass is still sore from the last trip up there.
*sigh*
Anyway, I start working at the shop here on Monday, and wow, I just had a flash of déjà vu…or vuja de I’m not sure yet. ;-) I’m not really looking forward to working there; slingin’ pizza is not where I pictured the rest of my life, or even a small part of it. But it is what James wants to do so I’ll go along for the ride. I need to learn the business so in the short run we can save some money by not having to hire extra staff. But hopefully in the long run, I won’t have to work there too long. James is also dreaming of me barefoot and pregnant, but I’m not particularly looking forward to the torture of IVF either so he can dream on for a while yet. I try to steer the conversation toward adopting, and he slams doors, so I guess I have some work to do. ;-) Either scenario would get me out of the pizza shop for a while tho!
I wonder if it’ll still be winter by the time we get there?...
It’s a miserable day here today. Once again the weather forecasters predicted doom and a foot of snow, and all we get is rain. Which really sucks because I just washed the kitchen floor the other day and now its all muddy again. GAH!
I bought (another) new vacuum yesterday. It was on sale at Big Lots. I got a Hoover, too bad I didn’t have $300 tho, they also had Dyson’s on sale. The Hoover works a heckuva lot better than the crappy Dirt Devil we have, which lately hasn’t even been able to pick up fluff. The red clay here destroys vacuum motors. I’ve gone thru 3 hand vacs and now the Dirt Devil since I got here a year and a half ago. Hopefully the Hoover will last a little while anyway, until I can afford a Kirby. Pretty sad that my dream is to one day have a Kirby eh? I dream of clean carpets and furniture, so what?!
Well, I suppose I should get at it. I don’t know what exactly, but I should probably do something today. ¶ 11:50 AM
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My wife and I did London and Edinburgh in September; here's a few thoughts.
We found the cheapest fares through United Airlines. The connecting flight was in Philadelphia, and our layover was about an hour - plenty of time for things to go smoothly. As long as you have at least 45 minutes at your layover, you will be fine. Any good traveller knows that you should always pack a change of clothes and toiletries in your carry-on bag - that way, if your bags get misplaced, you won't be "high and dry".
We rented a car and drove from London to Edinburgh, and back again. Don't underestimate that distance; it's well over 8 hours. We rented the smallest, most economical car we could find, and we still spent almost $40 in fuel each way. Our total rental cost for two weeks worked out to about $280 (plus fuel), so it *could* be a good deal if you plan it well.
Driving on the wrong side of the road doesn't take long to master. Make sure someone who knows what they are doing gives you pointers on roundabouts.
To do it again, I actually would not recommend doing Edinburgh and London in the same trip. It's like trying to cram New York and Miami into the same vacation. Stay around Edinburgh; there's enough there to last you a lifetime. One day in London won't even give you a taste of what's there; all you'll do is spend one frustrating day trying to get the lay of the land before you have to jump in a car and go home.
London is a wonderful city - save it for another trip.
Don't be afraid to explore the excellent bed and breakfasts that dot the UK countryside. We could a nice one northeast of Edinburgh that only charged us about $75 for a night.
Edinbugh is a wonderful, historic and beautiful old city. Enjoy every momet you have there.
We found the cheapest fares through United Airlines. The connecting flight was in Philadelphia, and our layover was about an hour - plenty of time for things to go smoothly. As long as you have at least 45 minutes at your layover, you will be fine. Any good traveller knows that you should always pack a change of clothes and toiletries in your carry-on bag - that way, if your bags get misplaced, you won't be "high and dry".
We rented a car and drove from London to Edinburgh, and back again. Don't underestimate that distance; it's well over 8 hours. We rented the smallest, most economical car we could find, and we still spent almost $40 in fuel each way. Our total rental cost for two weeks worked out to about $280 (plus fuel), so it *could* be a good deal if you plan it well.
Driving on the wrong side of the road doesn't take long to master. Make sure someone who knows what they are doing gives you pointers on roundabouts.
To do it again, I actually would not recommend doing Edinburgh and London in the same trip. It's like trying to cram New York and Miami into the same vacation. Stay around Edinburgh; there's enough there to last you a lifetime. One day in London won't even give you a taste of what's there; all you'll do is spend one frustrating day trying to get the lay of the land before you have to jump in a car and go home.
London is a wonderful city - save it for another trip.
Don't be afraid to explore the excellent bed and breakfasts that dot the UK countryside. We could a nice one northeast of Edinburgh that only charged us about $75 for a night.
Edinbugh is a wonderful, historic and beautiful old city. Enjoy every momet you have there.
# posted by 
: 12:42 PM
: 12:42 PM
Its something to think about for sure, its just that we have more friends in England than Scotland. Even our friends who are getting married in Scotland live in London! I've been once before, and can figure out the tube system fairly easily :-)
I did find on the Scotland tourism website some "clan tours", which sound interesting and we may do one of those maybe. Except my clan isn't one of them. I suppose I could pretend to be someone else ;-)
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I did find on the Scotland tourism website some "clan tours", which sound interesting and we may do one of those maybe. Except my clan isn't one of them. I suppose I could pretend to be someone else ;-)
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