Are you happy with your smile?

The NYT has lost interest and has reverted to sending me the usual blah emails. I think they realize that they have a problem they cannot solve and are hoping that at some stage I will just go away.

I have focused on a new problem – which is getting an appointment with a doctor. This is not as easy as it would seem to be as the doctors here are very busy and most are not taking new patients.

There is no such thing – as far as I can see – as rocking up to a doctor’s surgery and waiting to see him or her.  You have to ring to make an appointment and then wait at least two weeks to get in. You also have to describe your symptoms to whoever is making the appointment.

Perhaps they turn you away if they think you are not sick enough?

I had an appointment for yesterday but it was cancelled because the doctor was taken ill – they did not tell me with what  - but he apparently had to go to the emergency room.  

I have to wait another two weeks to see him – and no – no other doctors were available.

This is not a good country in which to be sick.

Meanwhile I broke a tooth and have to go to the dentist. It was easy to make an appointment but I had to fill out a five page form online. It included questions about my medical condition, previous operations, current medication – and was I happy with my smile? 

I have been escalated

Most of the major living problems having been solved – we are now working on the other procedural issues as we make a life in Indianapolis – the entertainment capital of the mid-west.

We thought we needed a frisson of excitement in our lives so decided to subscribe to the printed edition of the New York Times. I did this online with the first delivery to start on 16 June.

It is now 26 June and I have yet to receive a single edition of the newspaper. I send a daily email to the NYT telling them that yet another day has passed without a delivery.

They reply – almost daily – with encouraging words saying that they are working on the problem and hope to resolve it soon.

There was a flurry of activity yesterday when instead of the usual form email I received…..

“Since this is the third complaint within one month we will also escalate this to our internal escalations department so they can look into this matter further to get this problem resolved permanently”

Well – I can’t ask for more than to be looked after by the internal escalations department – and we shall see what bounty their intervention will bring.

I just sent today’s email to the NYT and await their response. Is there a step beyond internal escalation?

She will need to study assiduously

The box opening has continued at a frenetic rate and the house is now clear of full cartons.

Unfortunately – quite a few were consigned to the basement unopened because they were marked with self-evident titles such as ‘books’ - and were not considered to be worthy of close examination.

However – we are missing some items which we would like to see again so will have to go exploring. I expect that the movers meant to write ‘books and other things’ on the cartons but lost interest. We shall see.

We are still looking for coffee that suits our taste.  We have tried many different brands and are (I hope) finally getting close with some beans from Julian Coffee Roasters.  

70% of the coffee shelves in supermarkets are stocked with Starbucks so there is clearly something I am missing - although I must admit that we do visit Starbucks simply because it is very difficult to find espresso coffee in many other places – in fact in any other places.

The car registration process went so smoothly it made my head spin. I had a vast array of documents and passports and was able to satisfy every request by the very nice young man at the counter.

The next major task is Cate’s license but she is showing a marked lack of interest in the Indiana Driver’s Manual  - which she will need to study assiduously if she is to achieve legitimacy on the roads of Indiana.

Quite right too – you should be in church

To clear up any confusion – it was not my intention to import cat poo into America. I admit I should have emptied the container before the movers arrived – and after they did I just plain forgot.

As we all know – packers pack everything. At least I remembered to empty the rubbish bin. Some other bloggers have told me that a full rubbish bin has followed them to their new abode.

The movers also do some strange things. We have some ornaments Cate bought in Turkey and they each have little crescents on top of them. They unscrewed these things – which are each the size of a matchbox - and put them in a separate box.

We have found a few things like this where a relatively small item is spread over two or more boxes. This probably amuses them because it must be a very boring job. On the last move they spread my PC, keyboard and mouse over three boxes – talk about laugh.

Nothing dramatic has happened for a few weeks and I have almost a full set of the required documentation which enables me to be an honorary Hoosier.

I was proudly able to show my driver’s license as ID when asked a few days ago. This was when I was buying wine - and I am sure it was not because the retailer thought I was under 21 – they seem to ask everyone.

And you cannot buy alcohol in Indiana on Sundays. Quite right too – you should be in church.

We were asked to dinner at the home of a work colleague of Cate. They have a picture of President Obama on their wall so we felt right at home. We think they are probably not religious but did not go there just in case. 

The cat poo arrived in good condition

Well I have been busy so have neglected my blogging.

We have opened many boxes. We have discovered that there is not as much storage space in this house as there was in the apartment in Vienna. So the basement and loft are both filling up.

As each new box is opened there are groans of ‘oh no! I had forgotten about this’ and then there is a conference about whether it should go in the loft or the basement.

Some things we are not keeping.

The small carefully wrapped container containing cat poo has been consigned to the trash (I am learning to say trash instead of rubbish). We were surprised that this arrived in such good condition (all things considered) but were not tempted to keep it.

Naturally none of our electrical gear works properly - as they have a different voltage to that in Australia and Europe. It is theoretically possible to use voltage converters but these are each the size of VW kombi vans and are simply not practical.

So we have to buy all new stuff – but fortunately get an allowance for this.

I have had some issues with all the appliances in the house. All of these are new and are totally unfamiliar so before I can do anything I have to study the user manuals. But – and here is the good news – they are in English so I can actually read them.

Understanding them is another matter but I have managed to get the ice maker and the singing washing machine to work - after a fashion. The singing washing machine has a steam cycle but I have not gotten to that chapter yet so am just washing  the clothes in water.

And I have found both my cameras so photos cannot be too far away.