US Home & Beauty items not found in the UK

I've been lucky to find most of the beauty items I used at home in the drugstore chains (Boots & Superdrug)--thank god for my Pantene Mousse for Curls!--but there are a growing number of items that I'm afraid I haven't been able to locate in my 6 months here:

Crest Toothpaste

Cetaphil products (cleanser, moisturizer)

Ponds Make-Up Remover Wipes & other Ponds products

Cover Girl Make Up

Sonia Kashuk Make Up (Target brand)

Coppertone sunscreens

Bullfrog sunscreens

SwimEar (ear drops for swimmers) -- 1/2010 update: finally found 1 Sainsbury's in B'ham that carries it

Also have not been able to find comparable products for these household items:

Goo Gone (removes residue from stickers, etc.)

Swiffer Duster and Swiffer Wet Mop

rubbing alcohol (isopropyl alcohol)

travel adapters that fit USA plugs to UK plugs (the ones here all fit UK plus to something else)

Method-brand liquid hand and body soaps

Dryel (dry-cleaning sheets to use in your own dryer)

Woolite Delicates wash (limited availability in some supermarkets)

Do you have any US items to add to this list?? Let me know....

To Drive or not to Drive...

I'm having dreams about my old Audi convertible, and cruising down the PCH in the sunshine with the top down....ahhh....

I haven't yet driven a car here in the UK during these past 7 months because our sole vehicle is a large work van with manual transmission, and I only know how to operate an automatic car. Even if I could learn to drive stick, the thought of driving around a huge van on the tiny lanes around our house without the aid of a rear-view mirror is fairly daunting.

I drove a rental car in Australia for a couple of days when I lived down there, so the "wrong-side" stuff doesn't scare me much, but there are plenty of hills around our house, and I have visions of myself sliding backwards down them as I slam on the clutch and search for gears.

Since I'm now job hunting, if I get a job offer for a position that pays decently well or requires me to drive to work, I'm pretty sure that it would be worth it to spend some money to get my own car. That's put me to thinking about whether or not I actually CAN drive here without a UK license.

I took a look at this site on Directgov.com to find out what the government says. Apparently most drivers who are visiting the UK, or relocate here, and hold a valid drivers' license in their home country, are permitted to operate a normal vehicle (up to 8 passengers) for up to 12 months after arriving in the UK as a visitor, or up to 12 months from the date of taking up residency. There are some slightly different parameters if you come from a Commonwealth country such as Australia & New Zealand, where they also drive on the left and probably have the same signage, and those instructions can be found here.

Before the 12 month period is over, you must obtain a provisional UK drivers license and pass a driving test. If you do this, you can skip over having restrictions such as "L" (Learner) plates on your car, having to be supervised by a qualified driver, or being restricted from driving on the freeways (motorways).

If you fail to obtain the provisional license before the 12 month period is over, all of the UK's provisional license restrictions will apply, and your car will be branded with the dreaded "L" (Loser).

So go on, get organized, and make sure you have all the documents you will need to exchange your foreign license for a shiny, new UK one, by taking a look at the requirements here.

Me, I'm gonna be shopping for a new, tiny, automatic car....and I'll be keeping the roof up to stay warm, thank you very much.

Beware All Lawyers: Changes to Immigration Rules

I'm starting to feel like the UK Border Agency is personally out to get me! I haven't found the time or the energy to post anything new over the past week because we got some bad news about my UK visa and it's put me in a proper mood!

After spending the last 2 months dutifully preparing my Tier 1 General Migrant Visa for the Highly Skilled Worker category, and preparing a trip back to California to apply for it, I got a major shock last Monday. The one step in this process that I had made an assumption about was that my Juris Doctorate (J.D.) degree from 3 years of law school in the USA would be considered at least equivalent to a UK Masters degree (which only takes 1 year to obtain), and might even pass for a doctorate degree (Ph.D.). And until about 4 weeks ago, the UK government agreed with me.

In previous years it was possible to qualify for a Highly Skilled Worker category by only having a Bachelors Degree, plus previous employment with a high level of pay and some cash funds in the bank. Obviously, most USA lawyers working for private firms would easily qualify on those terms. However, in November 2009, the UK Border Agency further restricted the Tier 1 Work Visa category to only those with a Masters Degree or Ph.D. (i.e., "higher education"). Despite this change, I still assumed I'd be OK since I had a Bachelor's degree plus my 3-year J.D.

Unluckily for me, in January the UK NARIC (the UK's national university accreditation board) decided to change about 10 years of precedent and re-categorize a J.D. degree from the USA as equal to only a UK Bachelors degree, rather than a Masters degree. They gave no reason for this sudden decision, but it now effectively precludes any of the thousands of lawyers who practice in the USA from moving to England and looking for work under the Highly Skilled Worker category of the UK's Points Based System. It really makes no sense--basically, if I had spent 1 year at Tulane and obtained an LLM (Master of Laws) instead of spending 3 years and getting a JD, I'd be allowed in!!

So for all of you out there who have professional degrees that took years after college to obtain, but do not have a shiny diploma that calls that degree a "Masters", then look out. The UK doesn't really want you, or your brains or your potential--seems like kind of a bad move for one of the last EU countries to come out of the recession, no?

IMPORTANT NOTE: If you decide to try for a Tier 1 General Migrant Visa, before committing I'd recommend calling UK NARIC for an over-the-phone evaluation of the degree that you have, whether or not it says "Masters" or "Ph.D" on the degree title just to make sure that you and they are in agreement about it. The phone calls cost about 10p per minute from the UK, but that 11 minute call saved me from spending GBP 40 on the written evaluation and wasting 2 more weeks thinking that I could get the Visa I wanted.