Erieversible

Nipped across to Cleveland today to look around the residential areas that would seem most convenient should the bank job become more concrete.  All looks okay, but nothing to write home about (so luckily “home” isn’t reading this).  Lots of checking up to do on schools and suchlike.  If anyone has any specific views on the southern suburbs (around North Royalton and adjoining areas) we’d be glad to hear them.

Yesterday’s concerns about taking a job with a bank may be mitigated by the financial news today - another couple of days at this rate and I’ll be able to buy my own bank.  I will promise not to sack myself.  Unbelievably the RBS share price today closed at 90 pence.  Less than £1.  Mere pennies will now get you a stake in the 5th largest bank in the world.  Think about that.  You should be scared!

Having taken some time to catch up with election matters, including footage from SNL and from real television interviews, it strikes me that Sarah Palin has become a parody of herself?  It’s really strange.  Many years ago there was a satirical puppet program called ‘Spitting Image’ - that helped turn some politicians into parodies of themselves, but this is the first time I’ve noticed the phenomenon as a self-inflicted process.  I can’t say I like the way the campaigning is going…

Just read that McCain/Palin are due in Strongsville tomorrow.  Phew!  Missed a possible traffic nightmare by sheer luck.

Today has been rather hectic in the job hunt arena.  A telephone interview (after last week’s failure to communicate) with a bank in Cleveland and arrangements for a face-to-face set of interviews in Buffalo.  Things are looking up.  We must be on the “quick, quick” part of the employment tango.

I think today’s telephone interview went well, but should I be joining a bank while the economic turmoil is as it is?  Will the bank still be there when I turn up on my first day?  It wouldn’t be the first such event - old news, but topical, from the Independent newspaper.  I wouldn’t like, after all our efforts to relocate, to end up in that position.  Which bank?  Right now, does it matter?  No bank seems to be ’safe’.

All the phone calls today have highlighted the dead zone for cell signals in our rental house.  We knew it existed, but today it has been particularly problematic.  It isn’t just AT&T….the Jolt phones we had to tide us over when we first arrived had the same problem.  Just one room seems to be affected, and unfortunately it is the room we’re using for our technology stuff.  Sod’s Law strikes again

Tomorrow I think we’ll nip over to Cleveland to do a bit of on-the-spot research into houses, districts, etc.  The trip last month to Buffalo was very useful so let’s go look at Cleveland!  (Where did I put the Satnav?)

I am considering a job.  In Cleveland.  It is a 9-month contract so, for now, we would not plan on moving away from Erie.  Does anyone have any experience of commuting from Erie to Cleveland?  I suspect it would be possible but make for long days.  What about when the snow falls?  Current thinking is commute quite a bit on a daily basis but plan for some weeks being spent M-F in a hotel in Cleveland.  So, is this crazy?