Thoughts from SFO

I'm at SFO on 19-March following two days of data collection to (nearly) close out our current research study. It's 5.50pm but my flight does not leave until 12.40am (yes, 7 hours away)-- I'm meeting my college roommate for a drink at 8pm and in the meantime I've used up my last Northwest executive lounge coupon to hang out in the Delta SkyClub, so there are snacks and free drinks and free internet until Ken gets here.

Everyone we talk to is very enthusiastic about moving to Scotland-- as Lynn pointed out, "they don't have to sell a house, get rid of 80-90% of their belongings, transition the kids to a completely different school system, ship 500 lbs across an ocean, and coordinate a flight to live in an apartment we've never even seen before."

Not that we don't appreciate everyone's positive attitude and excitement-- we share a lot of that (or we'd go nuts, I think)-- but it does seem to be a huge challenge.

We found one city centre apartment that looked great-- even has a piano-- but the bedrooms are carpeted, and we spent the last 5 years carefully removing every square inch of carpeting we could in the house-- starting with the kids' bedroom. We assume they have dust/dust mite allergies, and old carpeting was likely the biggest culprit in the many sleepless nights we spent while the kids coughed and coughed, despite assurances from the doctors that they were "perfectly healthy." So moving back into carpeted rooms is less than attractive. There are some flats with mostly/all wood floors, but this one apartment just had everything we wanted (including a tumble dryer, which isn't that common in the UK).

There's just no way around how difficult this move will be-- but there's also no point in stressing unnecessarily-- though I think at times Lynn and I are giving it a go. We just have to stay positive and roll with the complexity and punches-- it can't possibly be a perfect move, so presumably if we all survive and move into a flat by September 1, we'll call it a success.

In the meantime, I'm just glad Taran's in a walking cast-- hopefully that will make next week's trip to DC and Passover in Milwaukee a lot easier.

Adam