I finished my 2nd week at work yesterday and...ta da! I got paid! Yes, everything managed to go right and a big lump of British Pounds Sterling (paper version sterling) was dumped into Alan and my joint checking account Friday. (They call that a current account here in the UK)

So I dragged myself home from work and we went out to dinner with Ron & Hillary and Pete & Laurie. Very nice evening. Excellent food and really interesting discussions. The only problem was that both Alan and I started fading by 10:30pm and finally Alan called a cab to take us home. We get up at 5am all week and leave for work at 6am so by the time it's night, we just can't stay up that late. We'll have to stick to weekends for social outings.

So- of course with my first paycheck sitting in the bank, I finally was able to get some things I desperately needed - like a small but reasonable selection of smart business wear for work. We also were able to get food and household stocks in this morning. And I picked out Andrew's birthday present and ordered it online.

Next week I get my 2nd paycheck and that will be a full one. I'll use that one to start paying back money I owe family and friends. I ant to get everything clear eventually.

And, Alan was able to order a stack of books he's wanted for while - AND the CCNA textbooks so he can start studying and preparing himself to add a major new set of skills to his professional array.