God Save the Queen

My wife is highly amused that I'm so upset at missing the Queen. It turns out that CancerResearch UK is opening a new research facility in Cambridge the week before we arrive--and the Queen will be in attendance! I even received a press invite to attend the event and KT could have gone too given her past work in cancer journalism. Oh well, once we find a place to live, we will invite her over for some hot dogs off the BBQ grill.

Pottery, and also smoked fish.

The online description at visitbritain.com:

Great Yarmouth Potteries Craft Centre, Great Yarmouth
Address: 18/19 Trinity Place, Great Yarmouth, NR30 3HA

Full working pottery. From liquid clay to finished ware. Gift shop, refreshment area, herring smoking museum. Video showing fishing era and town wall, 700 years old. Photos of fishing. Gallery of nautical oil paintings, carvings and sculptors.

What happens when the airline cancels the flight?

Well, here's an interesting wrinkle in our move. Maxjet has left a message with us to "discuss options" for our Feb. 11 flight.


Maxjet to suspend Dulles-London flights
By Sean Lengell
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
January 13, 2007

Maxjet Airways announced yesterday it will temporarily suspend service from Washington Dulles International Airport to London beginning Tuesday.
The low-fare carrier, which operates four weekly flights from Dulles to London's Stansted Airport, said it will resume the service on May 24.
The Dulles, Va.-based airline said it's suspending service from the airport so it can focus on its more successful New York-London and Las Vegas-London routes.
The airline said it plans to increase its Las Vegas-London service from twice to three times a week beginning March 10.
Maxjet service operates six flights a week from New York's John F.
Kennedy International Airport to London.
The carrier, founded as a low-fare international airline catering to business travelers, debuted in 2005 with a single Boeing 767 flying one route -- London to New York. The airline added a second plane months later and began its Dulles-to-London service last March.

Visas

We had been repeatedly assured that, in terms of the international paperwork needed to move overseas, "it would all be taken care of" by the employer. So, imagine our surprise when we were told on January 3 that the work permit was ready, and now it's up to us to get our visas. Of course, this makes perfect sense to anyone who's thought about it for 30 seconds rather than two people who've overthought it for 3 months. Well, we now have the forms filled out, the photos taken, and the $170 EACH paid. And now, one month before we leave, we have to send off our passports. I know it's what everyone has to do, but that doesn't make it any less unsettling.

For the record, here's visa information: http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/

Good momentum

I'm officially unemployed, so the packing is on. Don't stand still or you, too, will be wrapped in bubble wrap and put in a box.