Business at the front, party at the back.
I have looked it over a few times and am still confused about everything stuffed in the back garden - an extension for tiny pottery houses, a converted bathyscaphe, a fountain that looks like it came from a funfair and a tree house. All that before you get to the loft conversion that has the feel of a small caravan (we used to go on holiday in a Sprite). 🤷♂️
Haven’t moved quite yet. We’re leaving on Monday evening, so I have just enough time to see the rapist turn America into a Fascist Dictatorship from the inside.
We pushed the schedule up because we’re worried that when he starts mass deportations, people who are even here legally will freak the fuck out and grab the next plane out of the country and I won’t be able to get a ticket. Also we think it will be much easier for me to find someone willing to hire me from within the UK and with a UK phone number.
Maybe all the worrying will be for nothing. One of my elderly British relatives, who is not conservative, said I have Trump phobia. Maybe so. Maybe this is all panicking for nothing. Or maybe I’m saving my daughter from kristalnacht. I don’t feel like it’s worth gambling if I don’t have to.
Anyway, we’re going to end up in a VRBO in Blackburn, Lancashire for a month while I look for work, so I guess I’ll know how many holes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.
It doesn’t mean you have a phobia, just: this is a great excuse to see another part of the world, give your kid a bit more perspective, get in touch with your heritage, etc.
Just make sure you catch that flight!
You can count on it!
I remember an American postgrad I was teaching talking with horror about George W. Bush (the president at the time), and he seems positively cuddly compared to Trump. It may all be bluster, but it could be a Handmaid’s Tale prequel and I don’t think I’d want to roll the dice on it.
You are only about an hour away, so if you get in a pickle let me know.
It’s well located for Manchester, Liverpool (a current hotbed of the creative industries) and Leeds. You’ll find the cost of living is cheaper and the people friendlier Up North. Good luck. 🤞
Thanks so much for the offer. I have a lot of family and friends over there who can help me too. And yeah, I’d rather not risk it considering my daughter is queer.
No worries - Blackburn family? The comment from your elderly relative makes sense in the accent!
Only a couple of cousins, but no, that relative is actually not right-wing at all and he’s highly educated. He’s just also a pre-Boomer. He lived through WWII but he was too young to remember it. I just don’t think he believes it could possibly happen again.