Michele’s brother and his wife had been covertly organising a party to celebrate our recent migration, and Saturday night was the night. There was so much food, so much to drink, and so many people that it couldn’t fail to be anything but excellent. I even made a friend or two! Really! Of course I paid the price by losing my camera, but that’s only fair I suppose. Additionally it means that I don’t have to show you the pictures of me dressed up as Uncle Sam and looking like an even bigger tit than usual. We even got presents. The bits of it that I remember were really good.
Meanwhile we’ve been failing to make any sort of perceptible progress in our nesting. This Thursday is my long-awaited job interview in New York and I’ve been applying for a bunch of other jobs but with little, or rather, no feedback as yet. Either things are moving really slowly or I’m unemployable.
The biggest bummer, next to my complete inability to be comprehensible to any natives without saying every sentence twice, is credit. My lack of a credit history here is equivalent to having the credit history of a bankrupt crack dealer. I followed the advice of everyone I asked and applied for a store card (charge card) so that I could start building a history. Of course I got turned down. They usually give them out to everyone including 20 year old criminals. I was so annoyed that I just dumped the suit we were about to buy on the counter and walked out, resulting in more work for the assistant whose fault it wasn’t that I got rejected. Sorry.
In honesty Michele went back today and bought it because it was really nice and a total bargain: 100% wool, light-weight, Ralph Lauren, black suit with a cotton shirt and tie for $200. It feels so nice on too. Jesus, what’s happening to me ? I hate suits. Age is so cruel.
Tip to those who are planning to move here: get a social security number on day one and then apply for a “secured credit card”. It’s a total con but apparently opens the wonderful door of debt that blocks the path to a mortgage and somewhere to live.
Applying for jobs and getting annoyed by things is taking so long that I’ve hardly been able to do any work for my UK employers which does, as you’d imagine, suck. But on the occasions I have been able to do some work, I’ve been enjoying the Comcast on-demand cable and watching many films. Here are some films that I’ve just watched and you have to see, otherwise your mum is gay:
- Idiocracy
- Rosemary’s Baby
- Short Cuts
- Under Fire
- Broadcast News
- Anything by The Cohen Brothers, especially Barton Fink and Miller’s Crossing
- Anything by Terry Gilliam, who is my all time favourite director
