Place to stay!

So not much has happened recently.

I'm getting my resume re-written by a professional company, We've decided on living in Richmond definitely, we've contacted realestate agents asking requirements etc. (they just mentioned bring some sort of proof of income from Australia so they know earning potential etc), obviously we won't be signing a lease until at least one of us has a job.

The jobs I'm going for start at 40-45k and go up to 70k for permanent roles and between 400 and 550 pounds per day for contract roles. all of them are central london or on the isle of dogs (the little jutty out bit bit in the thames to the east of the london CBD)

We're going to be staying with some friends of my boss in Clapham (just south of the CBD) for a short while when we get there. it's a great relief to know that we've got a roof over our heads for a few weeks until we can get our jobs sorted out. hopefully it won't be more than 2 or 3 weeks. They're very graciously only charging us 100 pounds per week

Ok - here's some google maps of where we'll be staying:
Richmond

And Clapham

If you've not used google maps before, just click on those links and it will take you straight there - you can zoom in and out with your scroll wheel and drag the map by clicking and holding with your left mouse button.

in other news, our car recently got it's roadworthy done....... $1,500 just to get a roadworthy due to the fact that we had a crack in the windshield, a cracked tail light assembly, suspension issues and two bald tires... also got some other stuff done that needed doing so it's all ready to sell.

Our line of credit is dwindling... we're down to 15k from the 30k that we got approved - 5k of it got converted to british pounds and is sitting waiting for us in a london bank. 5k went on airfares and insurance and the rest has gone on visa fees, car stuff, buying new work clothes for debbie etc. we're hoping to make up 8,000 at least on the car and perhaps a few more thousand on the drum kits we'll see how it goes.

Currently I'm investigating whether or not to go with an umbrella company or not if I get contract work. due to this law (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IR35), companies set up solely by individuals to get tax breaks are subject to the same taxation rates as employees. this is good at getting to employees who want to pa less tax, but hurts contractors who have more than a few different jobs per year. hence the need for an umbrella company to get arround it..... still investigating I don't know too much of the specifics yet.

also spending a bit of time reading up on the history of England. until a couple of days ago, I'd never heard of the treaty of perpetual peace that united Scotland and England and all I knew about the 100 year war until today was that it actually lasted about 116 years..... facinating stuff. I've got to get used to the age of the place. We're going to be staying next to a wildlife park set up by King Charles I 382 years ago. Australia hadn't even been discovered then and North America was still being collonised by the dutch!

Also, I'm looking seriously at learning Krav Maga when I get to London. it's quite a bit different to normal martial "arts" in that it's got no spiritual component. It's the standard self defence training of the israeli military and apparently quite effective. it also gives you a good work out from what I've seen of beginner classes on youtube.

anyway, that's all for me at the moment.

Debbie just came in and saw me writing and laughed and said "no one's reading it!"..... I assured her that there are people reading this..... you are aren't you?


Over and Out,
Andrew.