A Hunting We Will Go

We've got plane tickets plus a car and hotel booked because we're headed to the London 'burbs on a house hunting trip in a few weeks. We've been snooping around at available houses on the net in our preferred neighborhoods, but who knows what we'll really find once we get there. Some of the listings have a pool, which seems to me to be a total waste since you might be able to swim in it without catching a case of pneumonia maybe one month out of the year. If it's in direct sunlight all day long. And they're having a heat wave in the British Isles.

The husband and I have booked a car so we can do a bit of looking on our own, but I must admit I'm a bit nervous about returning to life on the road over there. It's just so danged foreign, with the wheel on the *wrong* side of the car while you're forced to drive down the incorrect side of the road. 

And don't get me started on the roundabouts. Just stay left will be my mantra once again. I hope I'll be able to talk to passengers and even listen to the radio straight away. That was strictly forbidden when I first got behind the wheel on our previous expat stint. I smashed the side mirrors into a variety of things. And got honked at quite a bit for going too slow, not using my blinker on the traffic circles and driving in the bus lane. 

The good news - my UK driver's license is good for another six years and I have no points on my record. Plus I plan to purchase an SUV that doesn't rival a Sherman tank in size. Last time I was all cocky and got a model closer to the size of my then Yukon I was driving here in Texas. I confess - learned my lesson the hard way. So yeah, looking forward to house AND car shopping in the coming weeks. I'll keep count of how many Brits give me the finger as evidence of my less than stellar driving skills when we're over there for house hunting and report back to you.