We're outa here! (probably)

Thursday morning I came into work to find a charge number in my email! Of course, my boss is on travel, so it took until Friday to send off the travel authorization. Friday afternoon I got in touch with the person in our global mobility department who is working on my file. I said that I wanted to book my flight for Friday the 6th, and she didn't see any problem with that. I have one more person to talk to on Monday, and then I can turn in my travel request.

Also, it looks like Amanda may have found a place for us to live. From the online description, it looks like the perfect fit. We are having a friend at the AMRC go over on Tuesday to check it out and take pictures. I don't think it will stay on the market for long, so we may go ahead and put a deposit on it sight unseen.

We get to ship 1000 pounds of personal belongings, so now we are trying to figure out what to take and what to leave. We also get an excess baggage allowance. Amanda has started packing and figures that we will need yet another suitcase. Wouldn't it be cool if all we took was the absolute minimum that we needed. Live simply for 10 months, like a modern Thoreau. Just clothes. Clothes and my Xbox. O.K. clothes, my Xbox, and the computer. Clothes, Xbox, computer, dvds and all the other toys that I own. I'm so domesticated.

My Kingdom for a Charge Number

The one thing that has been keeping our trip in a state of limbo is Business Operations. They control the keys to the financial kingdom. Without money, I can't buy plane tickets, get my stuff shipped, etc. The magical words that open the gates to the well of virtual fortune, "Cost Charge Number". I've been waiting for months to hear those magical words and the 8 special alphanumeric characters that go along with them.

Today, I prodded at the gate keeper yet again to grant me access. "Tomorrow, promise". I think he means it this time. We'll see. If it is the case that I find out my magical phrase of corporate wealth, then I estimate that we will be gone in about two weeks (maybe less). Of course, I estimated that we would be gone on February 1st, then February 15th, then March 1st, then ... Maybe I should stop estimating departure.

Frist Post!

Stop me if you've heard this one. An engineer for a $50B multi-national company (let's call him Cog) volunteers and is selected for an extended overseas assignment. Cog's wife quits her job; he prepares his house and kids for the move. The Company gives him an estimated departure date of February 1st.

February 1st comes and goes.

March 1st comes and goes.

Bureaucracy sucks. However, it finally looks like Cog is in the last layers of red-tape. The purchase order has been signed and approved. About all that is needed is an assignment letter and a charge #, and then it's off to England for Cog and his family.

The continuing story of Cog's adventures in the far-away lands of Sheffield, England will unfold on these pages. His sampling of the fabled local cuisine. His basking in the endless sunshine of the British Isles. His disillusionment as he finds out that the food sucks and it actually rains all the time. But for now, he maintains his deranged optimism that "All I need now is a pony".

Cheers,