Byron

My grandfather’s name was Byron. He was one of the more inspirational people I’ve ever met. He was nominated for an Oscar once. Didn’t win, but still, pretty darn cool. He also produced some pretty amazing documentaries. It’s been a few years since he passed on, and I’ve written about him fairly extensively in my former blog, so I’ll save you all from that here.

Why does this matter? Well, tonight I ate dinner at Byron, a “proper hamburger” joint a few blocks from the IC London Center. I even took some photos to prove it.

Take time to enjoy old memories while making new ones.

‘Ello

I’ve been practicing my British typed accent… how does it sound? Yea, that’s what I thought.

Welcome to something that is sure to be as much an experience for me as it will be for you, the select few who will somehow accidentally stumble upon this page between google searches for good restaurants in Ithaca and LOLcats. My name is Rob Engelsman and I am a student trying to survive the semester in London.

Now when I say survive, it doesn’t really involve any health problems; swine flu here is a concern, but it is in its waning stages until the fall really picks up. Personally, surviving is the measure of money I have in my bank account.

I am no heir, no prince or Duke, so it should come as no surprise that money is of object to me. This trip is going to prove to be the biggest budget test of my life and I will bring you along for the ride (or lack of one) as I try to do what nations around the world continue to struggle with: balancing that budget.

I also plan to give you some accounts of my journeys, my course load and my internship, as well as a look into the life of one fairly average guy.

Twitter is my friend, and it should be yours, because I’m trying to “tweet” a few times a day. You can find those here.

If you ever have any thoughts, feel free to voice them on this blog or to my email at rcengelsman@gmail.com.

And if you want to really get your internet stalking on, you can find my facebook here.

When I was 17, I was as mere five merit badges away from achieving the rank of Eagle Scout. I looked through the requirements for those five and knew I could finish four of them easily in time to reach the prestigious ranking. The one I knew I couldn’t complete was Personal Management, in which I would have to keep a daily budget and show a fair amount of restraint when it comes to my finances.

Now it’s far past merit badge time. Let’s see what happens.

For my pre-Ithacan blogs, click here.