Steven wants to move to China!

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

Just thought I’d let you know...

One Bridge, Two Bridge...

Red Bridge, Blue Bridge! France is just so... French. I don't have any pictures for this part because when I whipped out the camera (sorry, "device") as the plane landed at CDG (coach, no upgrade) it told me there was no more memory. I was too freaked out to deal with deleting things until I got the thumbs-up sign from the pillbox/sailor hat-wearing Hoverspeed lady in Calais. I'll just tell you that the bridges over the Autoroute were painted alternating lego-like colors (red, blue, yellow, green) and that Alice's paws did touch French soil (or sand, but she was too catatonic to do any business). Oh, and how much am I kicking myself that I didn't take pictures of CDG-1, that technological octopus of undulating moving metal and rubber walkways whisking passengers through criss-crossing glass tubes?

Anyway, here's Alice waiting to be loaded (as cargo) onto the ferry in Calais:


These are our papers. Alice's had to be faxed someplace for authorization to enter the UK, which was a little touch-and-go since the vet in SF filled out all her forms using the American date format:


This is the Hoverspeed waiting area. Let's just say this ain't the Eurostar...


Once on the ferry (which departed over an hour late and took much longer to get across to Dover because one of the engines was broken) I passed out. Alice was somewhere in the cargo hold. I did drag myself out onto the deck to take a look at the white cliffs of Dover:



Here's the gangway at Dover. Kinda reminded me of the Seattle Public Library, but maybe I was just delirious...


Anyhow, we just made it onto a direct train to Victoria Station where Steven met us for the cab ride back to Penzance Place. In Calais, the Hoverspeed hat lady told me that if I was going to be doing any more traveling with the cat I should get a Pet Passport. I told her there would be no more traveling with the cat.

Packed

Here are all our worldly posessions, ready (or not) to be taken away:

Ordeal

I've been experiencing waves of nausea all day. I don't know if it's lack of sleep, low blood sugar from forgetting to eat (just got a chicken salad from Chow -- can't tell if it helped yet). This experience is very disorienting. Four big burly tattooed guys handling (and taking note of) all our possessions. The guy packing up the kitchen said we should open a restaurant. The guy packing our books said we must be very interesting people. My eiffel tower key chain fell apart and I needed needle nose pliers to fix it. Already packed. Wanted to slice a banana on my cereal (consumed in plastic bowl, with plastic spoon). No plastic knife. Alice was very interested and involved up to a certain point, but now she has retreated to her safe space (cardboard box filled with mangy blankets near dryer in mud room). I don't really have a safe space now. Well, maybe judging from Steven's latest report my safe space is in London. Oh, and speaking of which, here's the latest Alice update: After two weeks and many midnight or 7am phone calls to Paris, they finally decided it was time to let me in on the fact that you simply can't transport an animal by plane from Paris to London on weekends. I found that out at midnight Sunday night. So here's what we're doing: Alice and I are flying together on United from SFO to CDG. At CDG we're renting a car and driving to the Hoverspeed terminal in Calais (we've got exactly three hours to make the ferry, which is exactly how long the drive takes -- anybody know whether they crack down on speeders over there?). We will then board the 5:45 ferry to Dover (Hoverspeed is the only ferry service which allows "foot traffic" with pets). From Dover we'll take a train to London. Not sure which one, because I have no idea what bureaucracy we'll face entering the UK. Steven will meet us at Charing Cross Station and we'll take a taxi back to Penzance Place...

Ess Eff

It's been quite a week. We've done a lot of purging. Not as hedonistic as Steven's previous visits, but we've had some good times with dear friends, new acquaintances, and each other. Didn't really do any specific ritual, like burning or burying anything. Shredded heaps. Recycled tons. Gave away this and that. Basically all different forms of letting go. Some things we've had our entire lives. Some things since high school. Some mementos of our seventeen years together. Some of the fifteen years since graduating from RISD, some of the eleven years we've lived in San Francisco, and some with less history but great significance (like Haji, Steven's futura yellow VW GTI and first car). Tomorrow morning I'll be winging my Ideal Job Portrait (final presentation) at Life's Work Center. Then Steven leaves for London. Then I go to the dentist. The movers come to start packing at 8am on Tuesday. I feel totally ready and not ready at all. Didn't take nearly enough pictures for the blog. Nothing from Liz's labor day BBQ. Nothing from the chef's table at Quince. No pics of Ben, Chris, et. al. at MAC. Oh, well.

GG Bridge from Land's End Trail hike with Roberta, Nenad & Stella.

Land's End Trail wildflowers, grasses, and weeds.

Starfish.

Sunday morning line (actually in SF I think it's a "cue") at Blue Bottle Coffee in Hayes Valley.

Wow. It's September 11th...

Brrrrrrrrrr!

I mean, I know there's that alleged Mark Twain quote about San Francisco in the summer and everything, but it is fuh-reezing here! I got in on Wednesday evening and Steven arrived on Friday afternoon. The to-do list seems to be growing faster than I can cross things off, but we are making progress and managing to squeeze a little fun into what may be our last days in SF for quite a while. We just got back from Sexy, a once a month party at Underground SF, the little Lower Haight bar that used to be The Top. London just doesn't seem to have intimate dance bars scattered throughout the neighborhoods. If you know of one, please pass it on!

The Right Thing?

It's the day before I go to SF. Steven's supposed to join me Friday for a fun-filled week-long purge 'n pack. Wondering whether we're doing the right thing. My shrink thinks it's last minute jitters and I'm inclined to agree. But you never know. Could be the biggest mistake we've ever made. If you have any words of encouragement, please email Mr. Overman. He needs 'em. Steven underscore Overman at Jackmorton dot com.

In addition to shaving off my brow again (adds a nice symmetry to the whole experience - also, that brow merkin might not be a bad investment after all), the skin on my left hand has started peeling off (eew, gross). Don't think it's flesh-eating bacteria. Could be the hard-as-nails water. Probably stress. Wound up getting briefly snagged in some internet moving scam. Today found out from Thierry at First Line in Paris that animals normally travel only on weekdays. I'm due to arrive on a Saturday. Hurrah. Could any of the legion of BA or BA Cargo (separate entity) representatives in New York, San Francisco, London, and (most likely) Bangalore have told me that before today? Or maybe before I booked my ticket from SF to Paris? Of course not. What kind of nonsense is that? Information? Useful? Timely?

Oh, well. What're ya gonna do? Here's some eye candy:

Brixton market mosaic

Hadn't realized Sainsbury's was a Klingon-owned company...

Took another ride on TC2, up the Grand Union Canal to somewhere around Wembley.
This is where the canal becomes a bridge over an 8-lane freeway. Yikes!

Holland Park flower bed
This was the day I walked down to the pet store off Kensington High Street to stock up on Alice supplies in preparation for her arrival in London on the 17th. If BA Cargo or any of their Paris agents can manage to put a cat on a plane on Saturday. But you know the French and their work ethic...

Subway by the Imax again. No, really, it's cool!

Notting Hill Carnival
I've got a video clip of this, but until I figure out how to get it on the blog, you'll have to keep looking back & forth between these two pictures and pretend.

Are we doing the right thing? I don't know, but that's Alicia Silverstone reflected in the window of Julie's. I was staring all through dinner. What did you say, Steven?

Dissociating

Mmm-kay. I've got two more weeks here. Then two more weeks there. Then that's it. What the hell were we thinking? Moving to London??? ARGH! Dear readers, we may require your assistance. We've got stuff we're not taking with us (Haji, dining table & chairs, kitchen table & chairs, dishwasher, microwave, who knows what else?) that need to be dealt with. We've got a bit more GROS (getting rid of shit) to do at 25 Landers. I have to get an IATA-approved cat carrier (poor Alice!). Figure out what the heck you do with mail & stuff (legal address for voting, tax, driver's license, etc.) when moving overseas (anybody have a clue?)... Back in SF I've got appointments with doctors, dentists, shrinks, my final Life's Work Center presentation (supposedly on the 12th if any of you were interested in watching me squirm)... I thought LSE started on the 29th but apparently there's some kind of thing on the 20th (the day LB lands in London)... Steven's only going to be in SF from the 2nd 'til the 12th - and will be working his a** off, since there are "major deliverables" for Nokia that week... And then he's going to be in New York, Helsinki, Barcelona, Helsinki, New York, and Helsinki through November... I'm freaking O-U-T!