Morgantown

Wow, so it's been a few months since I actually posted anything here.
I'm now living in Morgantown, WV, working in the physics department at WVU.

Here are a few notes on things I've had to do;

1) Get myself put into the payroll system. That took a while, and involved having to get a bank account (first of all), a social security number, and then waiting for them to put me in the database. That took a while, but was completed BEFORE I started work. So far so good. However, even once you're in the system, you have to wait a month before your first pay cheque, which is not so nice when you've been living in a hotel and paying money left right and centre as part of moving. Luckily I had some savings, but anyone straight from a PhD is advised to borrow whatever they can from relatives or whatever.

2) Get an apartment. This was relatively easy. I got the local paper and read through the apartment listings. I only viewed two places, the first was disgusting, but the second was nice and that's where I'm living. Rent is really cheap here compared to the UK, but be prepared to pay a deposit AND your last month's rent up front. Again, without being paid for at least a month, "Ouch".

3) Driving license. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot exchange a UK license for a WV license. So I'm in the process of doing the WV driving test at the moment. Hopefully I can do that soon. Your other option is using your UK or whatever license, but you can only use it for a maximum of 90 (non-consecutive) days per calendar year.

4) TV and Internet. Necessity. I'm with Comcast but I'm probably being ripped off. Internet is fast though, and plenty of channels.

5) Phone. I was originally thinking of getting a contract to get a nice handset, but the cost of a contract here, with smart phone, is huge compared to the UK, and with a brand-new social security number, comes a crappy credit rating (ie. no rating at all). So I've gone with Virgin Mobile, and pay $35 a month, no contract, and get unlimited messaging and data, and about 300 minutes. Plenty for me. I had to pay $150 upfront for the handset, but the cost per month is so low that I didn't mind this expense. And I still have a smart phone, which I couldn't live without anymore (LG Optimus V, which has every feature I need -- I don't play games on my phone, I have a DS and a PS3 for that).

6) Entertainment. Walmart is your friend. I bought a PS3 and TV and haven't looked back. I rented a car for a couple of days to do all this purchasing and that helped with settling in.

Well, I've been gaming a lot recently, I might try to post on that soon, I also have a small GShock project which I'm going to experiment with as soon as the parts arrive. I will post that too.

Enjoy!