Today marks one week from landing in the USA. It’s been pretty good, mostly trying to get settled in again. Going from west to east to west is difficult on sleep patterns, but I am getting better at adjustment. Loving the travel so wouldn’t change a thing.

Clothing project

Everything has arrived for the clothing project, namely the labels, updated patterns and the material. The material is amazing: a super light merino wool. I’m really looking forward to getting this into an article of clothing. I am meeting the seamstress/pattern maker next week Saturday so still have a little time to wait.

Snow

I’ve seen more snow in the last week than almost my entire life. It’s truly magical, when I see this snow it feels like I am in a movie. I know it’s a foreign concept for people who are used to it, but coming from Africa I would never see the light, fluffy snow that’s so common here.

Apparently there is a massive storm coming in this weekend, loads of snow and a blizzard, so we moved our trip to NYC to next week. We were told that DC shuts down after an inch of snow, and we’re expecting over 20. Better safe than sorry.

Bank project

I’ve been putting loads of thought into where to go with the bank project. I summarised some of these in a previous post and have been nudging away at the options since.

I’m leaning towards going directly through Visa/Mastercard and their developer programs, rather than through a third party like Stripe or Braintree. The question centres around what I want to offer:

  • Payments between people using mobile
  • Payments at a pay point (eg buying a coffee) through mobile
  • Payments using a custom card issued by Visa/Mastercard

I will carry on exploring these options over the weekend. I’ve also been looking into what it requires to become a bank and how difficult it really is.

Quicks

  • Bummed about losing 3⁄4 of the cash paid for an AirBnB apartment in NYC due to us having to move the trip due to the snowstorm. wait until it reaches maturity.
  • Subsequently found a badass hotel for the same price as the apartments, with no cancellation fees. Will consider hotels for accommodation from now on.
  • Decided to upgrade to SSL on this domain as well as for some side projects. I still prefer using a provider over LetsEncrypt.
  • Bought new shoes which I am excited to get. It’s been years using my current pairs.
  • I have officially decided to take two subjects for my degree this year, so am working around that. The only university I can find is an hour’s drive away, but should be fine to make a plan for two days in May.
  • I’m loving the single origin coffee brought over from SA.
  • My body is starting to respond to all the exercise. Resting heart rate is down to about 60 and feeling good.
  • Treated myself to two coffee table books I’ve been wanting for ages: Wall and Piece and Banksy: You are an acceptable level of threat. I’m a massive fan of Banksy.
  • Dates should be tied down by next week for the next UK trip. Will be good to see friends and meet some new people that side.
  • The house sale is taking ages to go through. I really feel there must be a better way to do this, and I know there are international buyers who would kill for this property. I’ll be putting more thought into this, hopefully I can fix some pain points.

Conclusion

A good first week of many in the USA. The next week should be pretty interesting with the snow, side projects, and knuckling down with studies.