Enjoying this long weekend (President’s Day on Monday), we have our FIRST day of doing NOTHING!!!!
In the garden, please!
Monthly Archive for February, 2007
Well, well, well… It is Friday and I have just completed my first week in my new job… Not that I haven’t been there before, but the office I sit in now has my name on the door, I have a computer on my desk and I don’t have to fight jet lag…
Monday, first day at school, felt weird, as if I was going to a new school or going to University… 50% excited, 50% apprehensive (if not scared). But Mike and the team made me feel like home and after a couple of hours, I was back to my bad habits, hacking my own machine to fight IS support disfunction (London account vs. Burbank account)
I love my new office and especially the view from it, thanks to being located on the 18th floor of the building: Warner Brothers and the breathtaking mountains…
Going back and forth from home to there is pretty simple as well… I don’t even need to drive as I can walk to the Studios, jump on the shuttle and be at my desk 10 minutes later. This gives me as well the luxury of playing with the squirrels in the morning. I need to get Thia there this weekend, she’ll be in heaven!
Many things had to be accomplished this week on both work and personal sides and I think we have done it all, at a cost: We are exhausted! 
We now have a bank account, we have moved funds from the UK to the US (resulting in a confirmation call at 3:41am from our banker Raj), I have touched on a whole new tax system and fought several administrative non sense…
Still no social security number, but this shall be with us early next week… Well, had to give a bit of verbal abuse to the lady on the phone but it should be fine. And I thought the French Social Security was a pain to deal with!
More pictures from the new workplace in our PrettyPix section
We made it! In less than 2 weeks, we have found our new home!
It has been a long week but we signed the lease agreement yesterday afternoon and already have the keys!
Finding the place has not been a walk in the park and I guess that the 3 times 3 hours long relocation tours we had last week have paid.
After having visited several houses last weekend (thanks to the list provided by Yvonne, our relo guru), we had our eyes on only 2 properties. Once located in Studio City, close to Sunset and West Hollywood and spitting distance from the office. The only issue: The estate agent sounded really dodgy, wanted a double deposit as we are foreigners here and wanted it in cash on the following day. Adding to this that the guy sounded totally paranoid and high on drugs, decision was made to put this one on the back-burner…
Second property, at the bottom of the hills of Montrose. Sarah first felt that this was a bit remote, but as she walked around the house last weekend, she met with a dear, soon followed by 3 of his friends… This turned into a major selling point to us… Adding to this that the city center of Montrose, 2 minutes away from the house, is fantastic. Small town feeling, loads of mums and babies with a farmers market every Sunday. As they say here: “Fantastic community!â€Â.
Sarah went back on Monday with Yvonne to see the inside of the house and decision was immediately made: This was the place to rent! 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, double garage and top kitchen!
So after a week of various discussions with banks, credit unions and other nice people, we signed the lease yesterday afternoon. The landlord seems extremely nice, agreed to minor changes to the lease (pays for water and gardner) and gave us the keys 2 weeks earlier than expected!
We then spent some time in the place, taking picture, walking to the communal pool (2 minutes walk, if that), meeting with our new neighbors and finally having a last drive through the town center…
Oh, I forgot to add that before signing the lease, we spent an hour in Montrose, bumping into Rosanna Arquette (shooting a TV show), having a bite and simply musing around. I already love the place. Especially after we found HUGE Cheese and Wine delicatessen!!!
More pictures of the place in our PrettyPix
Arnaud, Mike and Chris shown up with their respective families, and kids ran around with Thia for the most part of the evening, discovering hidden places in our new home, playing games and “watching the universe”
Excused were Philippe stuck on the east coast and James recovering from his Friday night (he might show up tonight, who knows!)…
MIA: Sylvain and family… shame!
Mike respected the inherited Russian tradition and brought salt and bread and we managed to try various types of beers and wines from around the world, as if we were in Europe (actually, even more diverse… Shocking!!!)
Conclusion of the evening:
Wherever you have a party in the world, it’ll always end up in the kitchen (in our case, we didn’t even leave the bloody kitchen).
Day 4 of our life in California, we are now finding our marks or some of them.
One thing is sure, we are not allowed to have a rest yet…
After a couple of days of fighting with our cable provider, we now have access to the outside world again and can start exchanging emails and watching TV. But only during our breaks!
The relocation program is pretty intense and we have been so far through a 2 hours discovery meeting, a one hour financial advice meeting, a 3 hours tour of Burbank, Glendale and Montrose and a 2 hours social security appointment…
We have assignments and now have to go through another 3 hours tour of Pasadena (this afternoon) and a 3 hours tour of “The Valley” on Sunday. In between, we both have to start working on our drivers license written test and find the time to visit 8-10 rental properties and try 2 to 3 different shops…
And I thought I would have time to rest before starting work…
First glitches in the system: 10 of our boxes are stuck in customs, waiting for clearance since Tuesday afternoon and immigration seems to have forgotten to enter me in “the system” resulting in a delay in getting my Social Security number and as a result, a bank account, a car for Sarah, my first pay check and several minor other things…
But let’s stop complaining and look at the bright side…
20ºC, reading in the garden, windows and doors open all the time and Sarah has managed to find several shopping zones for her…
The future is bright… well, as soon as we can have a nap!
