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Nov
18
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When we first moved to North Carolina - many people told us that fall is the best time of the year; on days like today - I can't argue. Warm (68 F), Blue Sky and leaves the colour of which I haven't seen in a long time.
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Aug
12
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Our relocation to Cary, North Carolina is finally complete. Our furniture finally arrived last Thursday and we've been unpacking boxes ever since - and will probably be unpacking for a few weeks to come.
The move wasn't without it's stressful moments; first we closed 4 days late because my bank in the UK couldn't provide a piece of paper in exactly the right form for my lender in the US; then when we finally got that there was confusion over the new closing date - at one point we actually had the keys in our hand only to be told we'd have to give them back and wait over the weekend to close.
Then there was the delayed arrival of our furniture from California - we we're misled repeatedly by the moving company; on the date our stuff was supposed to arrive in NC, it turns out it was still sitting in a warehouse in San Jose (where it had been for 10 days). When the truck finally did arrive there was no local labor to unload it so the driver, Jo and I made a start - on the hottest day of the year (104 + humidity). I did a bit of research on the moving industry - some of the stories are pretty shocking. My advice to anyone trusting their possessions with one of these companies is to do a bit of research before hand - there are some good resources online - MovingScam maintains a blacklist, the FMCSA maintain statistics on all carriers so you can get a feel for their track record - look specifically for fines for overcharging, etc.
Anyway, so far so good - the kids are settling in and making friends already - we've hopefully seen the worst of the summer heat; once the house is sorted we're going to start exploring - a trip to the Outer Banks looks pretty appealing.
At some point I'll make my way over to Sun's Cary office (which is cycling distance) and I understand (from Dave) there's a monthly Sun lunch in Raleigh - if anyone in the area wants to meet up for drop me a line.
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Jul
20
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After almost six years in Northern California; early next week, me, my wife, two kids and two cats will be relocating to Cary, North Carolina. The decision was a tough one to make. It takes a lot to draw anyone away from the perfect climate, stunning natural beauty and the friends we've made here in the Bay Area - the insane property prices and less than stellar school system finally did it though.
We've been researching the move out of the Bay Area for about a year - we looked at a couple of options - including moving back to the UK (but everyone we know in the UK managed to talk us out of that) and relocating to Austin. We finally decided on North Carolina for a number of reasons - firstly it gets us a little closer to the UK; second it has really good public school system and last but not least the size and quality of the property we can afford (compared to the Bay Area) was absolutely jaw dropping.
So about month ago we took a
little vacation to North Carolina; 15 viewings later; we bought a
little fixer-upper 
in the leafy burbs of Cary and if everything goes
according to plan we'll get the keys next Wednesday.
Making a
move of this magnitude shouldn't be underestimated. When we moved from
the UK to the US, we had the help of relocation company; this time
we're on our own. Fortunately my wife seems to have everything under
control and has managed to handle the logistics while keeping two kids
(out of school) under control. It also really helps having some friends
in North Carolina to help out - so a big thanks to the Grays and the Adams.
Anyway - I'll be off-line for the next week or so; hopefully when I return I'll be able to report an uneventful move.
It will be interesting to see how we get on with the "thick air" in North Carolina - apparently, if we can survive August we should be OK
