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Son of Blagger

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About Son of Blagger

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    Norwich
  1. Lol...better weather than Edinburgh I'm already there in spirit as I can't stand the Scottish weather! We have definitely got a minimum two year time frame as our target and we are looking froward to the adventure. Once had further conversation with relocation officer at new company it appears that a relocation agent has been scheduled for us as part of overall package so hopefully that will smooth the process in finding accommodation and translating leases.
  2. Cheers great info. I am looking at the healthcare and reckon at 15% of gross salary in DE compared to 10% NI in the UK then I can negotiate the difference. I'll quite happily stay in the state system as I've never been a great believer in privatised healthcare but that is a UK view. If the state system provides what is required then I can always take up additional healthcare if I feel that is what I require. I'll definitely factor that in now though and hunt some private insurance quotes out. The international school is one of the only state schools that teach an English syllabus in Germany (with extra German language tuition). It is not a full blown ridiculously expensive international school (EUR300 a month) and I completely share your thoughts about getting my kids to speak German (one of the major reasons to get the kids bilingual). The whole family will be studying German as I believe it is an important part of living and integrating in another country. If we are there longer term and get a feel for the area then once his German is up to speed I may switch him into state system. Any other tips are gratefully received. Any advice for finding rentals?
  3. Thanks abroad. My two major issues at the minute are health insurance and schooling for the eleven year old. I think I have schooling sussed as been having a conversation with the state international school in Seeheim and my other two will go straight into the german system. Definitely no religion thanks for the tip. The one to get my head around is healthcare and how it works as I am trying to get my future employer to pay for it.
  4. I'm going there as a local employee so not much help. Check out "toytowngermany" someone on there may be able to help.
  5. Nice try but no not financial services there are other industries (luckily!). However, have only lived here a year so right about transitory!
  6. In truth my decision is already made and I agree with the sentiment and comments, checked out all the ex-pat forums and have spoken to a couple of people who live there. All advice is appreciated and just knowing what a knowledgable lot Housepricecrashers are then felt I may get a good spread of opinion especially seeing as it is heading into Euroland. Economically, I want to be as sure as I can that I'm not heading out of the frying pan into the fire but I guess no one can really tell me that! Thanks for the views and keep them coming...
  7. I have been offered a job in Frankfurt that will leave me slightly better off than my current job in Scotland. I'm 33, married with three kids (11, 2 x 2 and under). Myself and my wife constantly strive to make a better life for the kids including eventual home ownership although that is not my primary aim as our happiness is not dependant on it. For some time I have felt that the UK is not the right place in regards to the children's futures for many reasons discussed on many other threads. Does anyone have any living experience of Frankfurt or Germany? Is it a case of the grass is greener? I'm trying to absorb as much info as I can before my wife and I sit down to make a final decision.
  8. Back from a house hunting expedition across the border and have to admit I didn't fully grasp the amount of housebuilding that has been undertaken around Edinburgh. I was looking at houses only but many of the letting agents were trying to encourage viewing of many flats in the city and found many of them refreshingly honest compared to many of the letting spivs in London. Feedback from friends in Edinburgh told me which areas to avoid etc and gave me an informed view of the general landscape so I was able to test the agents with various questions. Myself and Mrs Blagger looked at numerous four bedroom houses in most of the towns starting from Fife (Dunfermline/Dalgety Bay) around the edge of the bypass round to Prestonpans. Some of the new builds were awful and the expanse of the new estate in Dunfermline was something to behold! In the end, we have plumped for Tranent in East Lothian mainly due to the new build house actually having liveable dimensions, proximity to EDI for commute to work, new school on doorstep and being able to negotiate a sizeable chunk off the rental asking. It's not our ideal location but it gives us a base to get started and think towards the future. Unfortunately still the same picture with the price of housing as down south but at least my wage has improved.
  9. Maybe the sheeple are beginning to realise the extent of their mewing and debt. Beginning to panic and ask more for their properties while less sell. Eventually reality kicks in... I have no evidence to back the above but let's think positive!
  10. Grew up in Norfolk but moved to London six years ago for job opportunity and priced out of the market locally. After six years in London and being priced out of the market further, moved back to Norfolk with young family wanting to escape the daily grind of London and up our quality of life. After a year of being back realise that we haven't settled back into the old routine (pace of life, small town mentality) and house prices now being ridiculous compared to local salaries. The majority of under forties where I'm from appear to be on housing benefits of some kind. Lots of older generations sitting on property from inheritance or bought for peanuts years ago. The majority of people they are sold onto tend to be people moving from elsewhere in the UK with the leverage of having sold their asset (becoming more prevelant at the moment) or young local people at the bottom of the chain being heavily subsidised by the bank of Mum and Dad (through mewing against their own property). Never going to put my folks in that situation. Now new job in Edinburgh so off north to try and find a happy medium. If house prices come down then so be it and we'll review the situation when we have settled and know the area a bit better. We rent and never known any other way, we'd like to own our own house one day but at a time of our choosing when circumstances are right. My feeling is that we live in a time where the general populace expects job opportunity on the doorstep. Will the north suit? I don't know but me and the family will give it a try.
  11. Thanks all for the above feedback. Going to have a look at the areas at the end of May. Not looking to buy at present but may pop into a few developers sales offices just to see what reactions I get.
  12. I'm heading up to Edinburgh soon and am currently in house hunting mode albeit initally I'm looking to rent a four bedroom property in the vicinity of the airport so looks like Barnton, Cramond or Corstorphine. I will be working in central Edinburgh and Mrs will be looking for work at the airport. I am looking for a bit of space at reasonable price (circa 1000pcm) due to three kids. Planes overhead don't worry us too much as we used to live next door to Heathrow. Any advice from anyone with local knowledge on the areas would be appreciated (schools etc). Dunfermline has been suggested to us.
  13. Couldn't agree more and I'm not denying that fact especially in regards to steering committees and UAT but the PMs in these cases should be managing the projects and enforcing a delivery lifecycle. My own opinion is that PM and BAs have to take a level of responsibility to ensure the business understands what it wants, how it wants it and instigate debate prior to any delivery. I'm unsure if you have misconstrued my point but I'm not saying PMs are the root of all evil as there are many really good, effective PMs out there and I'm not having a debate about how the PM process works. However, I am saying a lot of those I have worked with have been underskilled and PM poorly and use ICTs as the fall guys. I'm not a big fan of offshoring/ICT but it seems fashionable for IT workers in general to have a pop at offshoring/ICT without taking a look at their own VI much like if I was a journalist in the mainstream media spinning positive houseprice news because I have a BTL empire. Some of the best and worst IT people I have worked with have been from offshore/ICT but it is also an equal opinion of the Brits. That's my opinion for right, wrong or indifferent.
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