Those of you who’ve been either curious or patient enough to be following my anguished languishings over the subject of a trip to america will be happy to know I finally worked out which way was up. Every time I pulled at it, other factors came with it, until finally I think I found its root. The root was:

“Seven months is not long enough to justify a full uprooting”

So therefore #1 is to make sure my life in dear old Blighty continues in the direction I intended, and Americaland should be regarded as a series of diverting jaunts with added work. This will make the work more challenging but at the same time it will force a better focus since every visit will be “OK, what can we do do make sure you’re productive next time you go back home”.

From trip #1 I’ve discovered that (a) insurance ppl don’t like a car / house being left alone for more than 30 days and (b) royal mail’s forwarding service is bloody appaling. So this says #2 4-5 weeks away, one week back should be workable and #3 deal with post at home.

Other plans are paid for thus I’ll need compensation if they want me for those periods. I really want this project to succeed but at the same time it’s not worth the destruction of Kate’s and my relationship, or the loss of my place in York or the investment I’ve made into the Spitfire.

So I’ve offered 2 weeks jun-jul then 3 weeks aug then most of oct nov dec jan feb with a return home every few weeks. Let’s see what they think.

Yesterday round about close of business I got invited back to Americaland. They’re waiting for me to let them know what I think I can manage out of tomorrow to the end of Feb. The response goes something like:

Yay!

I’ll get to see the grand canyon, death valley, monument valley, petrified forest, meteor craters, dinosaur footprints, yosemite, goblin valley utah.

Boo!

I’m booked for the whole of September in Australia and a week in July in France. This isn’t a problem in terms of time off, but the aus trip will end up being preposterous: about 36 hours’ flying the long way round most of the world.

Yay!

Living is great over there

Boo!

The cost of property / rent is immense. So I’d better get assistance.

What do I do with my stuff? I have the cinquecento - better sell that I guess - the spitfire - I’d rather not sell it but where do I put it? I could take it with, which might be more cost effective than renting a car over there, but highly unlikely given that I’d still have to rent a car for longer journeys. If I mothball it - where? Plus, that’s a complex job the like of which I am very good at cocking up. Perhaps I should sell the spitty? But I just (January) spent £500 on exhaust, carpets and tonneau, which I was JUST getting round to fitting after the last US trip.

The last trip was 10 weeks and Sam very kindly visited my place to check on it and water the plants. I couldn’t ask her to do that for 6 months or more.

There’s a Kate on the scene, who is invited but probably wouldn’t be allowed to work there. So I’d be asking her to give up allotment, home and job (possibly in that order) to hang out all day watching 72 channels of crap and making crafts to sell (possibly illegally) on the sunday craft market.

Though I want to own a place, the rental place I have in york is great value for now and I don’t really want to lose it. That said the landlord might decide to move in a housemate any time so it’s not a given.

I have a roomful of junk which needs to be jettisoned or stored. I need to do a “life laundry” ASAP. Especially since ebay are apparently having free listing day this thursday.

The “new opportunities” offered by ETAS are passing me by and I’m missing out on all the training / indoctrination into the corporate culture. This sounds like so much horsefeathers but I really do need to get my salary caught up with avarages. I keep selling myself low in job interviews which works great but then I fail to negotiate later. So doing all this gadding about the world ought to count for some interpretation of “commitment” but I don’t have that much faith in our new highly proceduralised management engine to notice and reward that. If in the meantime I’ve lost chances to learn the rules of the new game, and to take true opportunities, then it’s going to end up costing me big style in the long run.