Year Four begins

Today marks the start of our fourth year in London. How swiftly the previous three have passed. As Garry remarked last night, “it feels like we’ve been here forever”. I have to agree. As each year passes it gets harder to recall the details of our life in Sydney. Only the relentless cold weather and regular mortgage payments reminds me of all that we’re missing.

To celebrate our third anniversary we caught the tube into town for another meal at The Living Room last night. Unfortunately the food and service wasn’t as impressive as our first visit. The streets were full despite the incessant drizzle and a surprising number of stores were still open.

Even more surprising was the number of stores offering large discounts less than two weeks before Christmas. Several had 20%, or even 40%, off everything in stock. Last year, offering a 40% discount before Christmas would have would have had you locked up in an institution. How times have changed.

Three years ago we arrived in London as its booming economy began overheating. The talk then was of personal wealth and indulgent leisure. Today the signs of a serious recession are everywhere. The Bank of England has cut interest rates to 2%, while the Pound rapidly approaches parity with the Euro.

The official exchange rate hit £1.00 = €1.11 last week. However several exchange counters at airports and rail stations now offer a rate of one to one. Today’s headlines also include talk of unemployment benefit claimants passing one million before Christmas. A year ago the rate had fallen to 794,900 (2.5% of the workforce).

Fortunately full employment continues in our household. Garry’s contract has been renewed for another six months until May 2009. The project he’s involved with has at least another two years to run and would currently cost more to halt than it would to complete. As for me, I’m as busy as ever, but travelling far less. My next business trip isn’t scheduled until February. It seems that recession is the ideal antidote for reducing your carbon footprint.

UPDATE
This afternoon Garry and I went for a late lunch at Gourmet Burger Kitchen (GBK). Our meal brought back memories of our first lunch in London three years ago. As we waited for our serviced apartment to be readied, we ventured down the road for lunch at a local gourmet burger joint. This was our first experience of London prices.

Little has changed other than our immunity to sticker shock. Today my buffalo meat burger cost £9.80, plus a few pounds more a drink and side order of fries. I was curious to try Buffalo (delicious) but dread the thought of converting its price to Australian dollars.