My Passport is still in London (best as I can tell) but everything is still progressing smoothly (as best as I can tell) with receiving my Passport and Permanent Residency. So...what do I have to write about?

First, a little on progress. The job search is going nowhere right now, so let's just leave that out. But the living situation seems pretty good. I've been in touch with a few real estate agents about rentals. It's too early to get something, and one agent strongly suggested I wait until arriving before deciding on anything. I will probably take her advice. That is one of the nice things about the agents as well, they really seem to be helpful. The same agent that suggested I wait until arriving to find a place also referred me to another agent (with another company) because she thought the area she covers would be better for me. I found that to be refreshing and would never expect the same here.

So, now I've found a motel pretty close in to downtown that has $210nz weekly rates. That is probably cheaper than the weekly rates I'll be paying for my apt. when I find one, so seems like a pretty good deal. Of course, it may not be the nicest motel ever, but it does sound as though it will be okay.

My other progress is in trying to get rid of all my possessions before moving. That is progressing slowly, but progressing nonetheless. I sold my 20" LCD monitor and my Osterizer Blender to a co-worker. I have sold almost all of my DVDs and a decent chunk of my CDs. I think starting tomorrow I will take my CDs in to my work and try to sell to my co-workers and hope I don't get in trouble for it. I made a little webpage with many of the things I'm trying to sell pictured. Soon I need to start going through all of my clothes and trying to cut down on the clothing load I'm taking with me. That will be difficult. I like my clothes.

What else? Well, the emotional strain of the move is starting to show itself. The idea of leaving family and friends (even though I never see them here) is starting become more real. I was IMing with my niece the other day. She is coming down for a couple of days on her break in April. That will be our goodbye. I started getting a little teary eyed thinking about it. I'm still trying to find the time and money for a trip down to SC to see my mom, sister and nephew before I leave.

All in all, things are going quite well, the most disturbing trend is insomnia. I've had insomnia for a long time, but it had been improving over the past year or so. Now it is getting much worse. So many thoughts are constantly whirring around in my head, it is definitely a challenge to herd them all into their little corral to allow me to sleep.

It is a very windy afternoon here in NYC. I hear that Wellington gets a lot of wind, so this is just more practice.

Take care all,

Jon