Doctor Who?

I watched "Doctor Who" here tonight, which was much cooler than watching it in the US. There, it's just a recycled show, like Weakest Link, America's Got Talent, and almost all of the reality shows. Here, it's fresh and original. That, or I was just excited to see it after a 6-week hiatus. (Remember, I moved out of my apartment May 1, and have been itinerant since.)

I also found my money had been deposited in my checking current account, which was quite a relief. (Since all I had was a hand-written receipt, I really had no recourse if there was a problem.) Interestingly, they appear to have used an exchange rate of 1.98, which is much better then their stated rate of 2.11. Of course, they threw in a 2% commission, but I still came away with £50 more than I expected.

Not coincidentally, that was exactly how much a one-month gym membership cost. I also haven't been to the gym in 6 weeks, and I have been eating out every night. But that's not the real reason I joined; the real reason is that in the personal ad it asked how often I exercised, and I didn't want to be a liar.

Speaking of which, I have inadvertently become very popular on a dating site. I had filled out my match.com profile but set it as "invisible" so nobody else could see it while I was fiddling with it. Yesterday on the tube I saw an ad for datingdirect.com, so I opened an account there and copied my profile from match.com. Now here's where it gets weird: After I set it up, I was told I had to join to make it invisible! This is a monthly fee and I don't want to pay to have people not find me! So of course I refused, and today I got 9 winks and 2 emails from other members. Now here's the catch-22: To read the emails I got because I wouldn't join, I have to join.

And finally, I went and saw a letting agent today. This is kind of the equivalent to a real estate agent for rentals--they have listings, but they also vet the applicant, then collect some sort of finder's fee. I went in just to learn the process, but they pressed me for a number, so I said £300 per week. They laughed at me. A lot. Then they said I could get something dodgy in South Kensington for £350 per week, but even if I was shot or killed, I was still responsible for the first six months.

Now I've complained a lot about the cost of living here, but that's because the exchange rate is so bad, which doesn't affect Brits in the slightest. So a sandwich that costs an outrageous $10 for me is the equivalent of $5 for a Brit. But £350 per week is £18,000/year in an area where the average income is £34,000 for males and £21,500. So an average working couple is paying a third of their income on housing, and that doesn't include utilities or property council tax. (And forget about living alone.)

By comparison, in the US the median household income is $48,000, while the average rental is $633 per month, or 16% of income. (And that includes utilities and property tax.) So as a percentage of income, Londoners spend more than twice the average US citizen. (And if you actually open those links, you'll find conflicting information, so I selected for worst-case scenario in order to make the numbers look more dramatic. So sue me.)

P.S. What the hell is a "wink"? Is that shorthand for "you're not worth a letter, but what the hell"? I just looked up someone and it said she has sent 425 winks. Now, I'm not sure why they would post that information in the first place, but to me it just looks promiscuous. Plus she's 3 and a half hours away. And she's only 32. This is just so wrong on so many levels. How did I get into this? Oh yeah, my friend from high school suggested it. Thanks, Kathy...