Family,
And a good afternooon to you from across the Pond. Wow – another great Saturday in the books. First off, JT and I read about 150 pages in each of our respective “Twilight” books last night (I’m on book one, and she’s on book 2…so far, so good, but really, could she have figured it out that quickly? I mean, I’m a vampire and JT hasn’t figured it out yet, so I’m going to say no…and all I could think about was the Neah tribe near Cape Flattery…and how much I wouldn’t have trusted a word they said…).
After our reading spell that ended at 1:00 AM, we slept in until 10:30 (yes, Chuck, I know…), at which point we popped up and had some breakfast. Actually, JT made breakfast while I tried to deposit our first ever check in the UK. In the continuing saga of Sam’s bank account, some key points:
1. You don’t sign checks in the UK. Instead, you kill infinitely more trees by signing the massive “pay in” slip when you visit the branch. And no, you CAN’T deposit checks at the ATM. It’s all about the personal touch, even if the gal at the counter asks “Where are you from, Texas? You sound just like George Bush.” Yeah, she’s lucky she’s still breathing…STRATEGERY!!!
2. I have activated my online banking account and my checking account via the internet, but NO – that isn’t linked to the ACTUAL CARD. That is apparently a separate set of activation codes and PIN numbers, even if I changed the ATM PIN # with the same card that has apparently NOT been activated.
3. I finally did manage to deposit the check, but I had to enter my PIN # 4 times because my card wasn’t active (and somehow won’t be active until Tuesday even though I USED IT TODAY). Honestly, at this point , I’m glad we dumped tea in Boston Harbor (UK friends, my apologies…I’ll translate – HARBOUR).
So we tried to go to a show today, but we never bothered to check show times. As a result, we didn’t realize that both the Mousetrap and Blood Brothers didn’t start until 4 PM. We couldn’t do that due to already made plans, so we hit the Empire Casino (same locale as the European World Series of Poker Final Table), where JT and I lost 10 sterling each on video craps (both 13 and 14 did hit, however). After that, we caught some pints at the Bear and Staff
(see what I said about any two names going together to make a pub?), where I tried Wainwright's and Top Banana (same people that make Deuchar's).We went back home, where we met a fellow expat, Carolyn Parnell,
at a local spot called La Fromagerie. This place rocked – we got 5 GREAT cheeses for 13 quid. But more imporantly, it was our first ever celebrity sighting! So we sit down, and almost instantly I notice that the dude across from me was the dude that was the British bad guy from the East India Trading Company in Pirates of the Carribean (parts 2 and 3). And who was beside him (we are talking the person sitting BESIDE muffin puffin – maybe 2 feet away)? None other than Rachel Dawes – Maggie Gyllenhall. That’s right – Mona lisa Smile, Batman Begins, and several others? Jenny’s comment as she walked away??? “Oh, I didn’t even notice.” Honestly, could my wife BE ANY CUTER? After that, it was off to a new pub called “The Marylebone”,
where we had Sagras (Brazillian Lager) on draft for the first time ever. All in all, it was a GREAT night! The only downside is that, after 2 years, Carolyn is moving back to the US! We’ll just have to make the time count while she’s here! Dinner was a plate of SERIOUS lasagna at Demario's at 11 PM...yeah, that's how we roll (and how I keep this girlish figure).
Okay, that’s all the news that’s fit to print. Chat tomorrow!
Love,
Sam and Jenny
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