Momentous Event

Wife had a big week this week. Her foot injury had suspended driving lessons for a couple of weeks while it healed, but we were able to resume practice sessions on Tuesday night. That night we only did a very little bit of practice around our apartment, but the next night we made for the country and some more wide open space. After about 10 minutes of driving it was obvious she needed a bigger challenge to test her newfound shifting skills.

I told her to turn right and drive home. It was the first time she had driven into Southampton. While I think she was a little nervous, it also did her a lot of good. Having to drive in a situation with a little more traffic and some city driving conditions focused her efforts. Her drive in wasn’t flawless, but it was still very good. She didn’t stall the car once and made smooth shifts throughout the drive. She was understandably happy, and I was extremely happy for her. It’s a great relief to me that she can drive now so I don’t have to do all the driving, or if she really needs to get somewhere she can.

There is one thing that worries me about her driving. Her car back home isn’t a slouch, but the GTi is a little more power and acceleration than she’s used to. Now that she’s driving more normally the lead foot has a tendency to make an appearance. That wasn’t a big issue back home, but the Golf really likes to accelerate so she’s going faster than she thinks before she knows it. We’re definitely going to have to make sure she has a GPS with speed camera data in it.

We’re heading home for a week on Tuesday. Our close friends are getting married next Saturday. I’ll be having some meetings at work and we’ll also get to see our families before. I think we’re both looking forward to the trip. I know I am. Chipotle is calling my name. So is Jack Stack.

What I think I’m looking forward to most is getting away from the little things that are just slightly annoying because I haven’t adjusted to them yet. Overall living here has been a lot of fun, but the small things are starting to pile up and making me more negative than I like to be. I’ve heard this is fairly common and will pass with some more time.

Our sea shipment still hasn’t arrived. It’s supposedly in country and has cleared customs, but has not been brought to the depot for the destination agent to pick up. It seems weird that it would take a week for the shipment to be picked up, but I guess this is fairly common. The other American in the office said that was the same thing that happened to her.

One thing that I can’t understand is the European belief that drinking hot drinks to induce sweating is better than drinking cool drinks when the weather is hot. I may be different than the average European, but I don’t have any problem sweating. I’ve been traveling a fair amount lately for meetings and the one constant has been that I’ve been hot. It’s going to be terribly hot when we go home, but at least everywhere you go is refreshingly air conditioned and has air moving.

I’m long overdue for some food posts from my travels. My hope is to get to them later this weekend. For anyone who reads my blog and doesn’t care about the food bits don’t worry. I’ll give a clear warning about food only posts.

Cheers,
Frog