Good morning, Facebook. As I write, Ive been sitting here watching the sun rise over the Blue Ridge Mountains. This alone makes getting up earlier than I need to worthwhile. From about 6.30 theres a red glow in the eastern sky. It builds and builds with layers of orange, red and blue, until - at about 7.29 currently - the sun peaks over the ridge and the whole valley is bathed in an orange glow. (As nice as our house was, our council estate in Walworth was never like this.) Having been in America a week today, here are some observations after the first seven days… Some things are ridiculously easy here. On Saturday we went to find wheels and ended up driving a new car and a pickup truck off the forecourt a few hours later, complete with finance and insurance in place. Neither Marc nor I could believe how easy they made it. Oh, and the car insurance reduces our renter’s contents insurance policy by 20%. Oh, and they gave us free iPads too, plus very generous warranties and free oil changes for life. Yesterday we went to the bank (I love the novelty of driving up and parking right in front of places). A few hours later, after a very nice chat with my relationship manager over coffee and chocolates and some time with both of us going dewy-eyed over a nice southern boy called Matt, who set everything up (Aw shucks, Im sorry it took so long!), I came away with three bank accounts set up. (This despite not yet even having a Social Security Number.) Some things are less easy. Dealing with government agencies seems to be the main one. We had an unproductive afternoon at the Social Security office, and the guy at US Customs in Atlanta was surly and almost aggressive when we went to get Sushi and Arnie’s release paperwork. And everyone has warned me to expect much worse when I finally get to visit the Department of Motor Vehicles to talk about getting my Driver’s License. But that’s Big Government for you, I guess. We’re also living in a smaller city, which means certain things require driving to a bigger one (our nearest Apple Store is in Greenville, just over an hour away by car). Living so close to the centre of London spoiled me in that regard. The scale of things is impressive. Our Thanksgiving buffet with Tom at the Grove Park Inn almost took my breath away, both in terms of what was on offer and the sheer size and splendour of the resort itself. And it’s nice to go out for food, find it almost impossible to have a bad meal, and - more often than not - find that the portions are big enough that you can take some home for another day (something which is almost expected). Were staying in a holiday cabin owned by our friend Brett while we look for somewhere permanent to live. Its nicely furnished, but small, and time will tell whether its just too small for the two of us to live and work with two dogs sharing the same space. I may also need to do deals on studio time with some of my local VO friends for anything more than ad hoc recordings (something on my list to organise today). The dogs seem to be loving it. Theres a track that runs on down the hill above the cabin where no traffic goes, which means they can run free, romp up and down through the leaves and chase one another until they come back and collapse in heaps in the corner. Asheville will get them fit, for sure. So, we’re ticking boxes at the moment: cars, phones, looking at properties, getting the niceties of life in place. But around now the real work begins as both Marc and I get back to business. He has a business to build with William and I already have my clients in Europe clamouring for voiceovers. We both have work to do, and I have a makeshift studio to set up, so I’d better sign off - at least for now!
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 13:00:52 +0000