Robin & I can offer advice on LA LA if you need it!

I wish I was there already, the weather sux here.

rkl57 - actually Venice was reccommended to me by a collegue who lived out there for a while, he loved it. I work in post-production here in London, it's project based, so I end up moving workplaces every 6-9 months. I find the best thing to do is just find somewhere that I like living, cos it's never going to be convienient for Everywhere.

Maybe I'll see where Maven finds a good spot, and then jump on the bandwagon

It was 80 in the Valley yesterday.

West LA is representin' on VJ!

Better air out here, for sure.

well it's sunny and 75 here!


hmmm - that's a tough one, because if you are freelance and change jobs quite a bit there will be no magic place that guarantees you won't have a bad commute since the studios are pretty spread out. Living on the westside and commuting to Burbank sucks, and vice versa. I hope you know how to drive!

My personal recommendations are Venice, Santa Monica, Culver City, West Hollywood, Los Feliz and Silver Lake. They are all nice and have their advantages.

yes - it's being freelance that's keeping me here for so long but I can't afford to burn any bridges, it's a small industry

Our plan is to move somewhere cheap get ourselves set up with jobs and all, and then once we know the city and have a better idea of what we can afford, look for somewhere more permanent. We are only going to be renting anyway, so no big deal. I do think it would be amazing to live near the sea though.


oh and did i mention - no - i don't know how to drive yet , commuting by car can't be worse than smelly packed tubes, surely?

oh man, you have *NO* idea....my hubby won't even drive here, he's that terrified. I'd say the worst drivers in the US.

I'd learn how to drive as a matter of priority!

There are people I know who don't, but they live pretty close to work. I did used to have a colleague who commuted by bus - it can be done and the bus is actually better than you might think but not as good as what you are used to in London. Hubs actually takes the bus or rides his bike, but we lived close by his office.

I'd say commuting by car is generally better (although if you get a seat on the tube you can read ) but sometimes you get things like a mudslide on the 405 like we did last week which can make it pretty unbearable. Actually I think I could either way on which is worse.



I concur, although Florida drivers do provide stiff competition

my OH learned to drive in Miami, so I better get someone else to teach me

I fully plan to learn, I've just never needed to drive before, and it seems counterproductive to learn here (and expensive and frankly more scary) and then have to relearn there. So we're making sure that we have enough dosh so I don't have to start earning money the second I get there - to give me time to get my LA legs

J rides his bike every day to work. He can drive, he just hates our car & LA traffic.

Miami drivers are the absolute WORST in FL...I don't drive there unless I absolutely have to...in Orlando, you just have to watch out for the tourists who have no idea where they are ("Honey, that's our exit...let's cut over three lanes of traffic so we won't miss it....")

My life flashed before my eyes at least 3 times the last when I was last in Miami.


Those who swerve across several lanes are one of my biggest pet peeves (and very common in CA) people, you need to plan ahead!

They give me a heart attack every time, too!

OMG - those are the people that make me freak about learning to drive in the US... combined with passing on both sides

I feel left out now - we'll be about 90 minutes east of LA

What are drivers like in NE? The whole otherside of the road thing doesn't bother me too much...I've driven in Norway, Sweden, France and Germany. Even managed to navigate a few roundabouts going anti-clockwise...now that was strange!!!!

By tomorrow night (all going to plan) I'll be in Nebraska. Damnit I'm addicted to VJ....must get back to packing, starting to when the battle and things might just fit although may need someone to come sit on my cases whilst I zip

WHoooo hooo for Debz, so close, you can taste it!!!

I'm learning to drive right now, and there are definitely some bad drivers in Florida. Most of them seem to be the snowbirds though

But yes, unless you're moving to somewhere with great public transport (by great, I actually mean comparable to the UK) then driving is a must. I missed out on a job due to not having a license... And the job didn't even require driving

g'morning everyone.

Afternoon

Thanks guys! I'll need it. I am totally addicted to westsiderentals.com right now.



How funny! West Hollywood, Loz Feliz and Silver Lake are the top three on our list right now. My best friend from high school lives in Los Feliz and he is hell bent on having us move next door to him (or close enough).

I'm really looking forward to learning how to drive over there... I have actually held off on taking my test over here for that reason. (Don't want to confuse myself )

I will be staying away from the beltway around Washington DC though. That scares me

People find it very odd that a 30 year old can't drive (around here at least.) I got looked at with suspicion when I told the guy at the DMV that I wanted a learners permit.
The Drug and Alcohol awareness test I had to take was funny though. It was so obviously written for 15/16 year olds

@ Debz - I'd be useless at sitting on your case cause I would just unpack it secretly and sneak myself inside I am sooo jealous!! I keep saying that but I think it has surprised me!! I have been so up and down about moving that I thought I would be a lot more apprehensive about the move. I am nervous obviously but the closer I get the more I just want to get on with it - can't believe I have to wait until the end of June

I'm defo going to need to drive - everything is so spread out where we will be living. I'm a pretty nervous driver though and the I-10 really doesn't appeal... I'll just have to get used to it or learn the back roads... only problem with that though are all the stupid stop signs!!!

Yeah, I got that too. "You're 34? And you're an American? And you don't have a licence?" It was like I was lying or some sort of mental defective, or both. The state trooper who gave me the test said it was actually not as uncommon as I thought -- we get a lot of people who move to CT from Manhattan, and they've never sat behind the wheel before. I still felt pretty dumb waiting to take my test sitting next to three 16-year-olds. Luckily, in CT if you're over the age of 18 you don't need to get a learner's permit first before taking the test, so no drug/alcohol ed required. I don't know if that's good or bad!

well I'm packed. Trying to find things to do to divert myself from un-packing to check everything and packing again. Only thing not packed is wedding dress but it's laid out to be packed just before I leave. I've tried weighing everything and i think I'm going to be fine.....I hope I'm going to be fine!

Do I have this right, even though I'm flying through Dublin, because I'm flying AA I still do immigration in Chicago?

I wish you a safe and uneventful trip!!! I'm so excited for you!!!

I thought he might have been thinking I'd list my UK license for some reason or other.
I guess there are a lot of people from big cities that have never really had the need (or the patience) to drive. I lived walking distance to my job, and even when I moved, the train station was only a 2 minute walk one side, 5 minute the other.
The only other person I saw there waiting for the test was another immigrant (although she looked a lot younger than me.) She wasn't too impressed that they wouldn't let her take it because of the lightning we were having that day.
I don't think I had to get a learners permit if I was ready to take the test within 3 weeks (or maybe I misheard) but I had to do the drink/drugs thing anyway.

If you are on westside rentals you are already one step ahead of the game!


I do like Los Feliz, it would just be a less than ideal commute for work. It would be great to be close to Griffith Park

Check craigslist as well!

Where will you be working? Any idea? Cuz LF is super cute but can be a commute if it's the West Side.

PS: Do you or hubby work in online stuff?

I work from home, mostly. I have two part-time gigs here in New Haven -- one I can be literally anywhere in the world for and will be going on at least until the end of 2008 (hopefully longer), the other is as a research fellow for a university. The university gig looks likely to keep going remotely at least for some time, but I will have to come back to CT once a month. The boy is an actor with a sideline in vintage hifi rehabilitation, so we need to be kinda near the studios. We are fairly relaxed about where we want to live, but we LOVED West Hollywood when we visited in September. Los Feliz also seemed to fit the bill pretty well. I just want to be done with living with my parents like NOW!!! We've been living with them for over 6 months now.

it would scare me too even if i was in my pickup truck

Yes that's correct. I flew thro Dublin with AA in January and cleared immigration in Chicago. Abit of a bugger flying in at that time, took 90 mins to get thro immigration.

Goodluck!

Thanks. I only have 1hr 45mins in Dublin but 3hrs between flights in Chicago.

That is a long time! We'll have to have drinks when you guys make it out - Robin & I have a great Happy Hour place in Culver City.

Heh - I can relate to the living with parents thing although I guess I haven't really known any different - it is very annoying now though knowing that I am moving so soon to be with Jeremy - I just want us to have our own space and our own freedom and our own lives... I can't believe I have another three and a half months to go... I need to stop thinking about it or it will seem to take even longer... I just need to try and keep a job for a while but this one looks like it is going to end in a few weeks

allo everyone!

Allo!

I've eaten far too much soup. Something you were all keen to know, obviously



Stu

I just had some awesome spanakopita (sp?) for lunch. No soup was ingested, as Stu already covered that for me.

56 hours till we leave for England! I cannot focus on anything. Champagne is already chilling in the fridge my bro-in-law told me.....

mmm...yummy...I love spanakopita!



Have a great time! I'm envious!

Enjoy at least you'll be away from all these election topics

Dont worry its not that bad - on my first visit to maryland back in november I got off the plane at dulles, picked up my rental, got completely lost around the airport and hit the beltway at rush hour so the traffic is heavy but don't move that fast so gives you some time to get used to it.

What I found more scary was driving on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road and in an automatic of all things so it was kinda comforting to be stuck in traffic at least.

De

Yeah - I think Jeremy was surprised by rush hour in the UK - he didn't realise that there is very little rushing like in the US

MICHAEL Jackson’s family are set to move to Devon, it emerged last night.

The bizarre pop king’s older brother Tito spent the weekend looking at luxury homes in the region to use as a Jackson family UK base.


http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/article906637.ece

Slightly random!


Stu

Wonder where?

Exactly so you can stay far far away

g'morning uk

I'M HERE!!!!!!!

Journey wasn't altogether horrendous, just a tad horrendous. Left late from Glasgow but it felt that as soon as we reached cruising altitude we were landing. Took 2 attempts to land because of the wind and we got thrown around something mental. Because of the lateness and busyness of Dublin I only just made boarding allocation for the chicago flight. I sprinted to the desk and asked the wee woman, since I had to sprint any chance of an upgrade with a big half panting cheesy grin, she paused a while and did something on her computer and said, no problem. The plane didn't have seperate business/first class so it was a combination of the 2. I got on the plane, got personally shown to my seat, as my coat was taken of me to be hung on a special rail I got "champagne or orange juice for take off?" took the orange juice, tummy too yicky for bubbles. That flight left late too but landed almost on time. Watched a couple of movies on my personal entertainment system with noise reduction headphones. Clearing immigration and customs at chicago was suprisingly quick I was through it all withing 35mins of getting off the plane. The Immigration officer said "welcome to america" when he gave me my passport back, friendliest immigartion guy I've ever had. Last flight was a bit bumpy but fairly quick. Just so glad it's over. Off to sort my stuff out now.