This 'n' That

Root Canal.  For anyone who has never had a root canal, and/or, like me, never knew what one was, I can report that it is a very deep filling, and that, provided you have a good endodontist, you won't feel a thing.  In fact, the procedure was so long, and the doctor and his assistant so full of pleasant chatter in which I couldn't participate, that I soon became bored and nearly fell asleep while they were working on me!  It never did hurt afterward, either, although the doctor predicted it would.  I never had to take so much as an aspirin. 

Hint:  whenever a dentist numbs your mouth, ask for the version of the drug that does not contain epinephrin ("eh-peh-NEH-frin")  Epinephrin is another name for adrenalin.  Adrenalin, as you know, is what your body pumps out when you're scared.  It gives you that churning stomach feeling, and gives me the jitters.  You'll be a lot more relaxed, a lot calmer, without it.  Only thing is, the numbing lasts a somewhat shorter time without epinephrin.  This was no problem for me; it lasted until well after the very long procedure was finished.  I've had it done twice before, too, with no problem.

Purchase of flat in England.  Things have changed a lot in the 30 years since Demetrios opened his bank account in the UK.  Today, we are living in the age of counter-terrorism.  Therefore, when you transfer large amounts of money (as in, enough to buy that flat) from your US bank to a UK bank and then want to transfer it again, as for for example to the sellers of the property, the first thing bankers today think of is - money laundering!  We have literally spent since the 9th of July trying to arrange these transfers, and have not succeeded.  The funds are in the UK bank, but they aren't going to release them to our solicitors until we get there in person.  This may delay the completion of the deal for a day or two.  Big-time frustration, and we can't even take it out by changing banks.  Our solicitors strongly caution us against doing that, as it may be difficult to find another bank that would even accept us, as foreigners.  At least Barclay's knows us.  Knows us very, very well. 

Travel Plans.  Leaving Monday afternoon, arriving at Barclay's Bank Tuesday by around noon, appointment with solicitors at 1 p.m.  I bought a few autumn clothes yesterday, none of them black.  I'm having fun packing and planning.  You move into a furnished place and you think it's ready to live in, but not so.  Amazing how many things you still need, from toilet paper to wastebaskets to clocks, broom, cleaning rags, clothes hangers...  the list goes on and I'm enjoying compiling it.

Communications.  I will take our laptop, but it won't fit the electrical outlets and I don't know whether we'll manage, this trip, both to get an adaptor and figure out how to get Internet connection.  So I'm not sure whether I'll be posting anything, or e-mailing anything.  And we're still not sure how we want to handle the telephone issue, either.