The Adventures of Lorie and Brian Groth

Onj stage at the O2.

I am playing around with Windows Live SkyDrive and have created a folder with good photos of Milo for you to enjoy. SkyDrive offers online storage that you can lock down for just yourself, those on your list of Windows Live Messenger contacts, or everyone on the Internet. It can be used to store anything, not just photos. If you are Brian’s parents, brother, or wife, then you will see a folder just for you. You can see all of this on the right-hand side of my Windows Live Spaces page (the one you’re reading) – just scroll down a page or two and you’ll see the folders listed under "Files".

http://cid-817ed2a8693b5fc7.skydrive.live.com/embedrowdetail.aspx/BestofMilo/

We are nearing the end of our holiday in New York, New York; Lake Pickerel, Minnesota; and Chicago, Illinois.

NY consisted of working with Hayley and others regarding Agents for Windows Live Messenger (yes Alex, all of our dreams will soon come true) , seeing friends and family, and a bit of shopping since buying clothes in NY now seems cheap compared to London. 

Minnesota was my favorite though since that’s when I got to sail (that’s me in the picture), bike 22 miles on my old recumbent bicycle with my dad (and a bit with nephew Haakon), jetski, wakeboard, kneeboard, kayak, cruise around the lake in the pontoon boat, and share some Pimms that we had brought from London. I have already posted a bunch of photos of the fun.

We are now in Chicago seeing family and friends, but mostly eating too much, such as some very tasty Giordano’s pizza, of which their deep dish spinach is the way to go.

Welcome to America.

Outside the Today Show and Rockafeller Center – both are looking down from Rob’s office building, which is a pretty sweet location.

Yes, the pile of paperwork, a pile of cash, and far too many hassles are over and we finally have the keys to our new flat in Fulham.    

We have quite a few photos uploaded – you’ll need to guess at which room is which though. Here’s some info to help understand the photos and to know more about what we just bought:

1. It is the 1st floor (2nd floor for the Americans), which means someone lives below us.
2. There is a loft, so it is a 2 story home (the main floor with the loft above it)
3. There are 3 bedrooms: 2 on the main floor plus the loft
4. The room near the road is the lounge/living-room and is the only one where you really hear any road noise
5. There are 2 bathrooms: 1 on the main floor with a tub, one in the loft with a standing shower
6. The kitchen leads to spiral stairs that go down to the garden
7. A woman lived in it during and since WWII and we bought it off of the guy who bought it from her. He gutted it, built the loft, put in a new kitchen, new garden, new carpet, and paint while also fixing all the cracks and other things that appear in a place after almost a hundred years. I think it was built in the 1920s.
8. Milo loves the carpet since he doesn’t slip on it like our current hard wood
9. It is 1313 square feet – bigger than our houseboat and our cottage that we had in the US!
10. It’s about two and a half blocks closer to the Thames, which means it’s closer to Bishops Park too.
11. It’s roughly where the A219 number appears on this map:
    
    

This one is for my dad who enjoys his WeatherBug gadget in Windows Vista: Our friend Alan summarizes our local weather and the approach to reporting it here in the UK: Alan’s Travel Tracker: The Weather

We are still waiting for final paperwork before exchanging contracts, which has to happen before we close the deal, which has to happen before we get the keys and can move in. However, we did a walk-through today with camera in hand. I will post more photos after I know we really have it, but we expect that to be within a few days though.

 

This afternoon Lorie and I signed a variety of paperwork before we can exchange, close, swap keys, and whatever else happens before we can move to a flat we are trying to purchase. It’s a very long and complex process compared to the US where most people go to a shopping mall and select a house from a variety of home stores – sometimes they are even shrink wrapped, which is always nice. OK, I’m just having fun with those of you reading this that have not purchased a house in the US, but I have to admit that the process here in the UK is a bit complex, but that’s probably because the laws, contracts, and split/shared dwellings have been evolving for a hundred years or more into the mess that they are today. Hopefully we will know more within a week though!