Some updates

Driving: I am still getting used to driving, but feeling much more comfortable. Wife drives the car everyday to the nursery and work and she has gotten used to it too. Navigating the roundabouts is still a pain. I am the proud owner of a certificate confirming I passed the theory test for driving licence in UK! It took about two weeks of preparation - reading the "highway code", reading through practice questions, taking a mock online test and finally the test. The interesting part in the test is a "hazard perception" section, which is quite unique to UK. I had to watch a video of real driving conditions, watch out for hazards like a car turning in from a side street or a cyclist cutting in and click on the screen confirming that I perceived the hazard in advance. It seemed a novel idea, but I am not sure whether it tests anything useful in real life.

Grocery shopping experience: One major advantage of a car is the pleasure of buying one week worth of groceries and stuffing it in car trunk without worrying about carrying the bags home. We were previously restricted to a small Sainsbury's nearby and an Indian store accessible through bike. With a car, we could drive couple of miles and go to many different stores. We have tried Tesco, a bigger Sainsbury's and Morrisons. Wife likes Tesco more since she thinks they have a better availability of fruits and veggies. We both agree that the fruits and veggies are better in any of these stores than one can find in US supermarkets like Shaw's or Stop & Shop. We used to frequent a local market called Russo's in the Boston area and loved it. The supermarkets here are almost to that level. We have stopped going to the Car boot sale.

Cycling: With a 2.5 hour commute every day, I hardly get time to workout (don't ask me if I did any better with my 10 minute commute in US). The City of London has recently started a cycle rental scheme where you can rent bicycles from one of their many docking stations, ride around and return to another station anywhere in London. It is a pleasure to ride from Waterloo station to work - I pass through London Eye, cross Westminster Bridge, Big Ben, Parliament house, Buckingham Palace and St. James Park - tourist spots that I myself spent a whole day visiting not too long ago. The hire scheme works out pretty well for short journeys - rentals for 30 minute and less are free. You only have to pay an access fee - either a weekly fee of £5 or a yearly fee of £45. I tried it for a week and realized it took me the same time from London Waterloo station to reach work by cycle as it did through the tube. I would get the workout, however small it is, plus save £60 a month on Tube season ticket. There are some issues with the cycle hire scheme though: sometimes it is hard to find a cycle in Waterloo station and you have to wait for few minutes till someone returns one. Worse, the docking station closest to my work is usually full in the morning. I would have to ride around and find a station with a free slot, drop it there and walk to work, which is not very efficient. The scheme is just two weeks old and I am sure they will address this, but I am considering buying a commuter bike and using that every day.

Mobile phone: I finally ditched my prepaid phone and got a contract phone. I have a 12 month contract with O2 and pay £15 a month (including VAT) for 600 minutes of talk time and unlimited land line calls. Incoming calls are free. Wife has a mobile phone with unlimited O2 to O2 calls, so we use that for our communication. The rate is so cheap because I am on a SIM-only plan and use my own handset (the cheapest Nokia I could find). Compared to $40 + taxes and other charges in US, this sounds like a bargain. I don't even need the 600 minutes - 300 should be enough, but that was the cheapest I could find. As you may expect, there are some twists with the mobile phone rates here: calls to toll free numbers - 0800, 0845 and 0870 numbers, like 1-800 numbers in US - do not use the included minutes, but are charged at an exorbitant rates of 10-20 pence a minute. This is true with all the carriers here and makes no sense. I end up needing to call customer service from my mobile for something all the time and all I have is the "toll free" numbers. Fortunately, I was referred to a website called www.saynoto0870.com that lists the landline numbers for the toll free numbers of many companies and it has proved very useful.

Since my last post, our boy has turned one! He has come a long way and is walking and exploring all around the house. It's a pleasure to play with him and watch him giggle. Time flies!