okay...

so the caffeine has kicked in... I don't usually drink coffee at work... but today my 15h drowsiness was unbearable!

I know I've mentioned it before but the sun rises so early here in the summer that It freaks me out. I bolted awake at 4h45 this morning thinking I had slept the day away. Turns out I hadn't it was just the daylight outside that confused me. London almost gets 2.5h extra hours of daylight compared to Seville. And nearly an entire hour more than Toronto... We be proper northerly

The flat hunt is still as dismal as it's been all along... Pushy twatty estate agents that insist that we need to live in hoxton as it's the only area with suitable unfurnished flats... What part of WRONG LOCATION do they not understand? Grrrr. Seeing one more place tonight in the right location... bet ya its' going to be a dump!

Going biking on Saturday with my co-worker Luke. I can't wait. It will be a nice change to cycle somewhere else other than central London!

*scurries back to work*

The weekend was filled with many an ouch and lots of hilarity...

I met up with the lovely Hon for lunch on Friday afternoon... Then Micha after work. We had a few drinks in Shoreditch and then headed home.

There was lots of sunning to be done on Saturday morning as our gracious neighbours decided to come home at 6am and crank their music. Nice. Went to view a flat in the afternoon... then a picnic on the green.

Saturday night met up with the lovely miss Dearbhla and finally got to give her her b'day pressie. Lots of wine ensued and the evening ended in the jazz bar followed swiftly spilling onto the concrete when foolishly giving my friend a piggy back. My knee is most likely broken (okay so I exaggerate but still) it hurts like an SOB! I'm still wobbling around today... if it's not better by mid week I'll get it x-rayed but i'm not a big fan of 10h waits in the A&E of UCL...

Sometime during the night the funniest thing happened... Jo jo's friend Sally managed to wander into Dan and Sally's room (wrong turn from the loo perhaps) and ended up waking up in the morning in their bed. I can't imagine the thoughts going through Dan and Sal's heads when they saw a stranger in their bed that they most definitely did not have in their bed when they got in it. One can only attribute it to sleep walking. It was nothing short of hilarious!

Sunday in a hung over haze I went and did something really adventurous... okay well in my book it is... Sean you're familiar with this activity as you've done the same thing in the past... Ouch!

Work today is mental busy and as I write it's 17h20 and I've not even stopped for lunch... feeling very hungry now... our office moves on Friday which means that we only work a half day... then again a half day on Monday too! Not that it makes the fact that we're moving to south Kensington any easier... but I've got to find something positive about it.

so I had to edit my posting yesterday

so that my friend dan's natzi-esq browser security at work will let her view my site... apparently I must writ p with and orn rather than the full word... well I'll be darned

went to see another flat last night... this one in the perfect location... nice size, bright, great quiet residential street... only one small problem... the second room in the flat was the size of a small storage cupboard... there is no way a double bed would have fit in there. So frustrating...

I watched a brilliant program on the bbc last night... it's about career change... it watched the life of a welsh farmer who decided he wanted to be an interior designer... it was heartbreaking and touching all at the same time... it's a good replacement for my other favorite program 'no going back'... the week previously they followed a baker of 30 years on his path to become a funeral director. Simply brilliant... and the best part was... that they both were successful. The Welsh bloke ended up as a cabinet maker for a high end kitchen design company and the Baker landed a job with a funeral company as a trainee funeral director (which would eventually provide him with a much heftier salary than he was earning as a Baker) Life is about well calculated risks and following your dreams.... these people have such spirit it's infectious.

it's a grey Thursday but Friday is not far off now. I'm counting the minutes.

after a long and well deserved break...

I was back a the gym this morning... nothing much had changed... the amount of theft from lockers in the changing room is apparently reaching epidemic rates... not nice.... the leather skinned 80lbs anorexic lady was there as per usual sweating and grunting and crunching away at what's left of her... however, new this morning... was an absolute vision of beauty on the treadmill.... toned, lovely... tanned... quite a bit of eye candy! Then later in the locker room as I was getting changed I noticed that she was too... now this is not going to turn into a 'p' with an 'orn' moment so don't' get excited... To my utter shock I noticed that this perfect specimen was stepping into possibly the mumsiest clothes I've seen a long long time. Large granny blouse, high-wasted trousers... and granny sandals. How could this be? yea yea, well I've got to find excitement in my life where I can...

work has been manic but good. keeping busy keeps life simple... or so that's the theory that I'm going with...

The first day of flat hunting was an astounding flop... I saw a tiny, hot dark carpeted place 5 minutes walk to Angel... I can't believe the estate agent wasted his time showing me that!?!?! What's even more incredible is that they wanted 350£ a week for it! The next place was beautiful, 4th floor, modern all mod cons... a bit on the sterile side... gorgeous view of the city...but again the neighbourhood was so so and really at the end of the day now what's on the cards... The hunt is supposed to resume this evening but I'm not too sure if that's going to happen.

I'm really starting to seriously think about this Spain thing... sooner rather than later...

avis aux liseurs... ne m'approcher pas, sans avoir lu les directions...

My room....

is now a shrine to cleanliness... okay so my sock bins are still not organized but everything else is dusted washed and cleaned... It's amazing how much junk I've accumulated since I moved to London nearly 2 years ago!

Got a letter from miss Denise today... I can't believe she'll be back in Ireland soon. A year of travelling sure when by quickly for her! I wonder if she's going to end up moving across the pond to work in London once she's settled?

Did some flat hunting over the weekend and I'm going to look at a place after work tonight. After yet another weekend of noise I'm about at the end of the tether... At this this time one of the landlords came round at 3am to demand the music be turned off. Surprisingly enough it wasn't the arseholes next door... it was the people on the second floor in the other block of flats!!!!!!!!

Work is very busy, and before you know it, it will be next Friday and we'll be out of this office. My story of air-conditioning relief was short live... they've turned them on here and it's terrible my throat has been sore all day long and i'm shivering in my jumper when it's freaking 26 degrees outside. I HATE IT!


Had a nice drink last night at the firefly in Stoke Newington last night... yummy long Island Iced tea! That part of town was such a buzz last night! Live jazz is brilliant!

Just found out today that my friend Lisa who is expecting (she's such a dear friend she's like my other sister) well, she's having a boy! She'll have a right nuclear family! One boy and one girl. I'm so pleased for her and her husband.

I was actually almost on time to work this morning!

I was greeted by a lovely email in my inbox from my friend charlotte in Ottawa. It's simply been ages since I was last in touch with her! She is full of joy and fun as always and keeping busy with her dogs and her lovely husband! Bless!

It's a gorgeous day and I'm wearing girlie shoes... bought them in Spain for a whopping 14euros... they're purdy! Gosh it's not often I wear heels but these ones are comfy in that they are wedges... man oh man does the world ever look different from this height! Yea I know... get a life Sarah.

I arrived home last night to a new flat mate... his name is rattus henry II... He's so sweet. Yea yea so we can't have a dog or a cat but this little guy is sweet. Dan is the proud mum and stayed up late into the night playing with him.

*scurries off*

and I was ridin' by
ridin' along side
for a while till you lost me
and I was ridin' by
ridin' along till you lost me
till you lost
me in
The Rear
View
you lost me
I said
way up North I took my day
all in all was a pretty nice
day and I put the Hood
right back where
You could taste heaven
perfectly
Feel out the summer breeze
didn't know when we'd be back
And I I don't
didn't think
We'd end up like
like this

A Sorta Fairytale- Tori Amos

sooo

i'm back from the land of the sun. Had a lovely time in Sevilla and prospects look surprisingly good. For professional and personal reasons I shall not post all the details of my visit here, as it may be more trouble than it's worth... needless to say, life is full of surprises. It's strange to be back in London, I quickly grew accustomed to the sun, and now that there is none I feel so disjointed!

I got to spend the weekend with Siobhan and Hugo. It was manic as they were working driving mule carriages during the el rocio. the best part was is that she was working for this hotel which is absolutely gorgeous... Swimming in that pool was pure heaven!

I've got pictures but as blogger is rather naughty when you try and publish pictures... you'll have to write to me if you want to see them.

Work is mad busy and I managed to get some things done this morning... this afternoon however, seems much less fruitful as I'm writing this rather than working.

ici je reve de l'audela par me sens inconscients

pretty oh so pretty

bike rides, sun tanning and corona

fell asleep like a trooper on Friday night 10pm I was zzz on the sofa. And who says I'm a party animal??? I woke up bright and early on Saturday 7h30! Jumped on my bike... stopped at the Euphorium bakery and picked up a freshly baked pain au chocolat and an iced tea and went along my merry way down to kings cross... then along the canal to Camden... then to regent's park (which is absolutely stunning... god why have I never been there before? I work 2 mins from there!) stopped soaked up the sun and ate my brekkie. Then I rode to the bike shop near my work and bought a new saddle which is immensely more comfortable than the one that came with the bike... Then I continued along up towards Kensington and around green park. God it was just so lovely. Being on your own like that is so good for the mind and does allow for much mental irrigation... the nice weather really does brighten your spirit. Perhaps that's why the Spaniards are so happy all the time? At 11 I rang jo jo and dragged her out of bed and we sat in Islington green having iced coffees. Met up with the girls for lunch at the living room then biked home did some laundry and rested.

Sunday was for sun tanning and then a trip to spittalfields market... met up with Dan and jo and jo's friend who's name I always forget... had a few coronas and watched the market pack up for the day. Some really nice stuff there... Good ideas. I'm going to make some really cool neck ribbon-like things made from old neck ties and buckles... very cool idea but the girls who had made them had them priced at 20£ which was extortionate... sorry but at a 5£ I would have bought two but they were asking just too much.

Stopped by the embassy later on where I met up with jo jo again and sally and jo's friend Lisa (who is such a doll) and her boyfriend who was in town from Wales... had a few drinks and some laughs then I headed home. The rain at 3am was amazing. such heavy rain is so exotic.

Short week for me... Wednesday can't come soon enough. I only wish I could bring my bike with me to Seville. Ah well.

do di doo

I got a lift to Kings Cross this morning as Miss B was running late. It was so glorious outside that I decided to walk the rest of the way in... and the fact that I was then so early that I would be at work at 8h15 if I took the bus! I walked all the way... though the polluted streets and it was surprisingly pleasant. I stopped off at a little café just near to my office and had some marmite on toast (god love this country) and a bottle of water and soaked up the rays...

then at 9am I arrive at work

and there are a zillion things wrong with the weather application we built... Okay not a zillion but two... two more than anyone wants to deal with on a Friday morning....

however

clever Amazon sent me a mail letting me know that this... was now available... yea yea so I'm probably the last to know but how excited am I? Sadly Amazon will not get my business as the instant satisfaction of visiting HMV at lunch down on Oxford street will prove much more fruitful.

I went to bed early last night after having a very relaxing bath... only to be greeted by what can only be described as carnival-like noise levels in the courtyard. It was like standing between two different rides playing equally offensive music... everyone's windows were open. It was nothing short of torture. Thank goodness that my ability to sleep rescued me from this terror and I made it though the night without killing any of my twatty neighbours. I will miss my flat when we move but I certainly won't miss the noise!

Production meeting in the park this afternoon... sounds like a really good idea. Lets just see if we can muster up the gumption to pull it off... the boss is away so...

this morning there is a lovely breeze flowing in through the window that I sit next to...

i'm so happy to be free of air conditioning... that's one think I really hated about working in an office back in Canada... their insistence that the fact that it's freezing for 8 months of the year isn't enough... and that it's customary to freeze all employees during the summer months as well. I'll never understand that one...

I had a really really good chat last night with my friend Mark. I've not spoken to him in ages and he gave me some really sound advice... and some really positive ideas to work towards... Some things to think about and just some really nice support. He's such a top bloke! Even after I got off the phone with him I went and wrote some stuff down just so as I wouldn't forget. I'm looking forward to going to Seville next week, but I've resolved in my mind that it's going to be more of a mini-holiday on my own... more so than anything else. I think I should send him a really fun present from London... hmmm *off to spittafileds I shall trott*

work is quiet as our NL counterparts are all off today for ascension day... most of them have tomorrow off as well making theirs a four day weekend. Good for them... they know how to celebrate their antiquated catholic holy days!

please welcome a new blogger to the world!

*said in theme park voice*
thank you and enjoy the rest of your day here at Canada's Wonderland

i can't imagine that...

it's possible for me to be more distracted than I am today... the sun has come out for the first time in what seems like an eternity. My mind is fluttering and work is just not on the agenda

I finally found a place to stay in sevilla and then realized that I've got no freaking credit card to make the booking. damn it. what a pain in the arse... I forgot about this. Why don't I have a credit card again? hmm dunno? oh yes, i remember... it's because they're eeeeeeeeevil!

As part of my gentle induction into tube travel I took it again this morning... *shudders* oh wait... we got paid today... yipee!

Perhaps some strawberry tea might kill some time...

gosh sean's blog is tres drole as of late!

this morning on my way to the gym...

I passed one of the 'working girls' who was standing on the corner a block away from my flat... she was wearing a cowboy outfit... complete with little fringed skirt and hat that was dangling from a string and hanging down her back. This is a very new marketing initiative, by either her or her pimp (assuming she has one). As I walked by I gave her a meak smile... she is human after all I can't just pretend she doesn't exist. She responded with a very timid 'hello' I looked her in the eyes and tried to give a very quick but reassuring greeting back to her... and I kept on walking. The poor thing. She couldn't be older than 16... My heart broke into a million pieces for her. I mean, there is no way that she wasn't humiliated by standing around in an outfit like that on a suburban street corner. The world is a yucky place sometimes.

Had a very good work out this morning... detox is definitely on the cards this week as this weekend involved more drinking than biking... although there was biking involved... there was also, cleaning and resting and hangovers... Saw Jo jo and her sister on the weekend too which is always fun. Jojo is looking super fly with her very ultra trendy hair style. She can really pull it off. It looks straight from the Vidal Sassoon workshop!

I've booked my flight and I'm very nervous but I'm off to Sevilla again soon... you never know unless you try... and if the meeting doesn't go well... I still have a nice mini holiday! I think getting old must be making me go a bit soft as doing something like this in the past wouldn't have fazed me one bit... but then again my life has been pretty hectic as of late so that can't help.

Meeting up with the lovely Micha tonight to hear all about her loved up holiday in Thailand! T'will be a non alcoholic meeting for me! *heh*

either the fates are too busy to measure my piece of string...

or they've done it so quickly that it's been unrolled, measured, snipped and sent in an express envelope... no word back from my deluge of emails... maybe it's just me not seeing things in a more relaxed way... it will take time and patience... it's a different world over there.... not as zap boom pronto as things are here...

another grey day... I think it's been like this every day since I've been back. I'm hoping the weather can at least help it's self from pissing down with rain tomorrow as I'm out to test out my new London cycle guide and on Sunday... I hope to mostly be doing the same thing. Hopefully it will be cost effective.

random question...
are cranberry's and black current's in any way related?

Had a good chat with Dan last night. It's always nice to get someone else's perspective on my desire to move to Spain.

relaxing weekend ... (long weekend!) here I come!

what a strange night

nope I wasn't up late watching American HBO programming... I went to bed at 11...

at 1h30 in the morning I bolted awake... no apparent reason or impetus... Now, sleep to me is one of my most natural things... I fall asleep very easily (sometimes too easily) and it never takes me more than 5 mins. I never wake in the night and generally sleep through most disruptions... Thus why awaking at 1h30 was so very strange to me.

Sometime in the night or this morning I had this very vivid dream... I was in my elementary school... In the corridor just in front of the gym, when for some reason I realized I was with my friend Brad from Ottawa... He leaned in to kiss me and I stopped him... I then took out my retainer... chucked it in my pocked and then went back in for the snog. How odd is that? what on earth could that mean?!?!?!

It's clearly not Friday yet and my morning gyming sessions have been yet again replaced by post work biking sessions. I'm in love with stationary bike number 7... oh yes... it's official.

I stumbled upon the most jammy website yesterday... it lists all the digital communication company's in Seville. I mean, how freaking lucky was that? 23 emails later I sit and wait... watching the fates unwind, measure and cut the fabric that is my destiny... well that sounds a little dramatic... but any time now folks!

well well well

what can I say?

some things are easier to predict than others... *smiles*

one of the unpredictable things is... that I scored a meeting with a company in Seville... now it's just up to me to haul ass over there and hopefully round up a few more meetings to make it a worthwhile journey. I don't think I'll manage to arrange it while Siobhan is available so it will be a real baptism by fire If I'm in the city on my own... Next mission is getting time off of work!?!?!? that will be the most difficult of all seeing as it's very busy here of late....

It's hump day.... middle of the week... little sleep due to the sopranos last night. Gosh this series if finally getting good! The first few episodes were such snoozers!

Spooks is coming back soon... six feet under starts again on Sunday... and *mutters* big brother starts on Friday I think these are arguments that stand up on their own as to why I shouldn't move!

I am at a loss...

I refuse to give up writing my blog simply due to the fact that someone is insisting on barraging my comments with their reflections and accusations. Break-ups are never easy but there is a very fine line between not letting go and harassment. Ah well. I guess I have not choice but to just go on and hope that one day soon it will stop.

Had a super busy weekend... Caught up with Dearbhla... whom sadly lost her job. It's a blessing in disguise we hope as she's so swell I'm crossing my fingers and toes that her and Micha both find new fab jobs in no time. I also caught up with Hon and helped him buy two really pretty necklaces for his gf in Japan :) Partook in Dan's b'day celebrations on Saturday which was a good laugh.

Spoke with Siobhan who's off to Belgium in a few weeks to explore branching her consultancy across to there too! Think I'll head back to Seville at the end of next month and check out some employment possibilities (lol)

James James Robinson Robinson

This morning I received the sweetest email from my friend James in Ottawa. He's so great! We lost touch for a while after I moved but have been in touch off and on over the past few months. He's going through a bit of a rough spell as his little boy is moving out of town with the mother and they'll be about 6 hours away from each other. My heart goes out to him as I know what an amazing father he is to his child and it's sad that he's going to have to be so far away from the little guy. I'm not in touch with many people from back in Ottawa anymore... we're all scattered around the world. It's funny how a few words from him bring me swirling back to the days where we hung out at zahpods before it was over run by all the 'jocks' back in the day where we could queue jump and pop in there leaving our massive winter coats at his place that was next door. The bjork, the stone roses... 'I wanna be adored' ah the fun times we had. I'm fully aware that I broke James' heart when I broke up with him. I know this and I will always feel bad about it. I'm very lucky to still have him as a friend.

it's grey and rainy today and I'm dreaming of Spain.... also realizing that I have to get my arse into conversational Spanish lessons in a hurry if I want to get things in order.

we're off at lunch today for celebratory drinks today to mark the launch of the FR portal that happened while I was away last week. Not particularly in the mood for drinking mid-day. I don't think I'll ever become accustomed to mid day drinking rituals in this country.... it feels too naughty!

I am the complete antithesis of my humour yesterday

I've got a spring in my step ad smile on my face and a glow in my belly. (no i'm not pregnant). Well it would be the immaculate conception if I were... I'll just leave it at that.

My boss is away today and the sun is shining. I'm probably wearing the most dodgy outfit I've put together in a while involving fishnet stockings... high top converse and a red hooded jumper. I feel like a tarted out little red riding hood but I don't care. Now if someone would be kind enough to hook me up with some peeps in Seville for a job then please please please feel free to contact me.

What else is up? hmm lets see. Spoke with Siobhan this morning on messenger and she said the her consultancy is picking up and that she's got another job training and may even have a contact from London shipping over a horse for her to train and compete with... which would supplement her income and strengthen her consultancy name! At this rate she may just need an assistant some time soon! !?!?!?

Sean is still humming and hawwing over his life that's in transition... no amount of bollocking from me seems to make him 'turn it into a positive' as my old boss would say. He'll click on to it. Got better advice for him? Tell him!

tenga un día fabuloso

this day is dragging

I think my hormones are churning... it's the one unholy day of the month where for my sake and for the sake of all those around me I should just be alone! I wish Hazel would just listen to me!

the post holiday bubble didn't burst but it slowly disintegrated in the London smog. The Strawberry tea I'm drinking is calming me a bit but it's not helping me stay awake. Watching the Sopranos on Tuesday night is always a dangerous thing as I get to sleep so late!

today I do not want to re-integrate... I do not want to play well with others *stamps foot*

so as per usual when I have too much to say I think it's best that I just jot down some high points of my holiday... perhaps expanding on them later.

day one
-arriving Thursday and heading straight to Seville and went to the festival. the costumes were so pretty and the whole city was alive! with music and dance. it was truly a wicked night. Trailing around the different casettas
-finding the only public casetta with drag queens... or 'fake women' as Tiago called them... how we managed to do that... I'll never know!
-winding up at a gay bar at the suggestion of one of Tiago's clients (the hilarity comes from the fact that Tiago is not gay) and after the 'fake women' was already a little shaken
-dancing and drinking and laughing till 4am


day 2
-witnessing a bloke have an unfortunate but hilarious incident involving a used condom falling out of his pocket in the middle of the street.
-amazing breakfast in a local restaurant in the Jewish quarter of Seville
-did I mention I'm going to move to Seville?
-drive to a horse ranch for a business chat with a man who simply could not sit still while negotiating with Siobhan... me standing outside desperately trying to rid myself of my white London hue
-bob marley and giggles and deliriousness on the way back to Portugal
-sleeeeeeeeeeep

day 3
-beautiful bbq at Sally and Tony's farm... the weather was amazing
-tan... nope not a chance... still as white as a snowflake
-arrival of Line and Sophie... annouk's cousin and friend and her two babies waalt and daan from Belgium
-girlie giggles

day 4
why can't I remember anything?

day 5
-slept till 11
-there was rain
-yummy Belgian food
-major business planning with Siobhan... building her a consultancy model (which ROCKS btw)
-drink
-gossip
-girlie chats

day 6
-helping Siobhan train her horses and ponies
-learning how to walk a horse... and generally trying to be of assistance... city girl with horses... never a dull moment
-boat ride with Tiago
-drinks
-crying babies
-dizzying amounts of Flemish and Portuguese mixed... I was in language overload


day 7
-more horse training
-trip to badajoz to visit Oopie and Soleil and check on some ponies that Sally has living there
-trip to Carrefour (including the purchase of a lovely pair of red sandals for me and my seestor)
-drinks
-dinner in a local restaurant including more than 11 beers between Sio, Marina and I including food that cost 21 Euros (gasps! how inexpensive!)
-crying babies


day 8
-witnessing a gypsy kid get struck by a car in town... and watching no one help him except Siobhan... I dared not as I couldn't communicate to him but no one else would go near the little guy cause he was a gypsy
-boat trip with annouk, line, sophie, all the kids and some of annouk's relatives
-the most thrilling motorcycle ride of my life wearing nothing more than a mini skirt and flip flops and no helmet. Over bumpy terrain, though olive groves. It was the most terrifying thing but also the most fun/stupid thing I've done in a long long time.
-Hugo landing the job he wanted in Spain (thus securing his ticket out of his limited possibilities of work in Portugal) BIG celebrating for him!

day 9
-lots of sunning and relaxing
-car trip into the Spanish mountains
-buying a huge picnic lunch for under 10 euros for 3 people!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
-picnic by the side of the road... playing football, laughing... taking pictures
-stopping random donkey drivers to ask if they had a bourra for sale to mate with Siobhan's Donkey Eeore
-picking up a very old man who was hitching and giving him a lift to his house to help him avoid the heat and the long journey!
-night time trip into Evora with the boys for a friend's b'day party
-controlling my laughter at the age difference and the major language barriers between the kids at the party and me... had a blast anyway
-watching Hugo attempt the pseudo juggling tricks that the hippy girls were doing outside of the cathedral including the wiggling of the hips!
-staying out way too late

day 10
-recovery
-napping
-afternoon bbq
-donkey hair cuts!
-dinner under the stars

day 11
-loading up the car with Hugo to be dropped in Spain at his new job... lots of good byes
-stopping at a festa just on the border and having a beer... lots of lovely Spanish traditional dress and lots of pretty horses...
-noticing that the festa was in the middle of have a mass (and they were serving beer) now mass with booze.... that's a concept!
-honking and every car we passed, waving and laughing!
-did I mention how friendly the Spanish people are?
-lunch with Hugos new boss in a sandy (western looking ) village
-driving along side a massive motorcycle rally along the coast on the way to the airport
-quick check in and immediate boarding and off I was winging my way back to London town.

I'm still a glow from all the wonderful fun I had.

I will surely never forget it!

Thanks Siobhan and Annouk!

i'm back

I have a hundred stories to tell. My holiday has changed the way I look at a lot of things in life and what I want to achieve and where I want to live. I will eventually jot it all down... probably within the next few days... or maybe even today if I can manage.

My company is moving to South Kensington. This is a big shitter. I will have no recourse but to travel by tube to work... something that I have actively avoided for a long time. No matter really, I think some plans are falling into place... the fates are aligning.

I've had an amazing amount of time to think about things in the past few days and have come up with some pretty liberating thoughts... those will also follow in due course...

lets see...
sun glasses - check
sun screen - check
bug repellent - check
bikini - check
passport - check
flip flops - check
toothbrush - check
mobile phone - left at home phew

nothing else is really necessary is it? I'm off to Portugal / Spain...

see ya on the 12th

yea so...

as it goes the pay rise ends up with me making less money than before... (different tax bracket) cruel and unfair! Such is life! I can but laugh it off

bought a new bike over the weekend. it's purdy. Nice to be mobile again... it was/ is still mildly terrifying being on the wrong side of the road... All my road biking reflexes are backwards... At least after cycling for a while I'll gear myself up for one day driving on the 'other' side as I've learned to say... make the mistake of saying 'wrong' side of the road and you risk upsetting peeps. Cycled for 4 h yesterday with lots of stopping and decision making as to which trail to follow... The heath is no place for biking... there are a few trails marked for cyclists but it's predominantly marked with big 'no cycling signs'... didn't seem to stop other people so we scurried along the 'no cycle' paths heading all pedestrians... nothing wrong with that? I can't even begin to describe the discomfort that a new saddle brings to you the day after the first time you use it. OUCH!

The rest of my bonus is going towards a trip to Portugal... I'm very anxious to get out of here as I'm losing steam here at work by the minute... If I don't get out soon they may just be asking me to leave! Just kidding. I found a great flight for Wednesday but was told I can't go then... it was a BA flight too... I really was hoping to not have to fly with the masses (sporting their England jerseys, Reebok trainers, gold hoop earrings carrying portable cd players) alas I think I haven't much choice in the matter now. Ah well. Sio says the sea is already warm... Rain is forecast here for the next few days and apparently well into next week too... can't think of a better reason to jump ship now.

Ah yes... the move, yup looks like I'm moving again. Turns out that after 6 months on a lease we can leave with only a month's notice. The neighbour situation will never improve... when you live next to a sound studio there isn't anything you can do to avoid the noise and the land lords are unable to do anything either so we just decided to feck it and pack up and move someone better. Low and behold, the rental market has serious come down. There are tons of beautiful places in the area I want to live in for even less than we're paying right now... very exciting indeed. I hate moving but it will be nicer to live in a less 'ghetto tastic' neighbourhood and cut some time off of travelling to work.

back to the salt mines I suppose...

Sean...

quick! stop going to the gym and move to london!

oh yes...

it is indeed possible to can your entire afternoon downloading new music to your mini disc... not a good idea but very possible. Not that I would know... no, no of course I would never...

staff meeting/drinks after work tonight... we've got to go to say thanks for the raises and bonus' etc... such low social energies these days so don't' know how long I'll last.

*sings*

'cause there's beauty in the breakdown, so let go, let go, jump in cause it's so amasing, yea... it's alright cause there's beauty in the breakdown'.

dunno if it's just the culmination of things that have been brewing lately...

but i'm wondering if it's possible to be suffering from post traumatic stress / repetitive stress disorder of sorts brought on by our neighbours constant pounding music stemming from their 41h party they threw way back when in March just after they moved in. I think It's a strong possibility. I live in constant apprehension as to when they're going to start blasting their music... and if on the off chance the neighbours on the other side might just join in and crank their stereo at the same time... just for good measure... We suffered a lot of loud music this weekend. On Saturday, I called.... I complained ... they turned it off... but it was 4am... and to be quite honest it's clear that it's not acceptable to even be put in a position where I have to ring them in the middle of the night nor deal with his seedy innuendos about me being 'in bed' when I rang.... we've told the landlord.... they now say that there is nothing that they can do... they say it's hard to get rid of people once they've moved in... surly now that this is their 4th warning from the landlord... that has to count for something? I think my flatmates are getting sick of me getting so upset about it... but you know when something really sets you off it's hard to shake... Now I'm living in fear as I know they've been issued another warning and fear running into them on my way in... I know I shouldn't be so upset... I know it's my home but it's really irking me... and it's not like I'm being the inconsiderate neighbour...

4 day weekends are really great if:

*it stays warm throughout
*someone doesn't die
*you don't have a broken hot water heater for 4 days
*you don't eat too much cheese
*you don't live anywhere near a dj

now this...

is what I call quite good!

for all ye who don't know her... she be the bird who does the vocals on tons of Tricky's albums

I'm taking a bit of a break from all of this...

The comments are gone and I'm checking out for a bit for obvious reasons. It's not fun having your blog turned into a mud slinging arena.

I'll be back once the waters have settled... or pulled me under...

so...

while at the gym this morning I couldn't help but notice this one lady whom I'd seen last week... She's so terribly thin it's hard to explain... she's got a waist that is no more than 19' she's either got a medical problem or a severe eating disorder... She does really really long turns on the treadmill and stepper on the highest levels... She pumps large amounts of weights and pushes herself so hard. It's hard not to watch out of fascination. I know it's none of my business but man oh man... So today I'm sitting there in the gym and completing my work out... and there she is toiling away punishing her 6 stone torso (no exaggeration) and I make eye contact with her (un intentional of course) and I give the reflexive 'oh my god I've been caught staring/being rude) Then I started to think about things in a different way... I'm guessing most people in the gym look at her in disgust as they watch her destroy what's left of her tiny body... but then I thought wait a minute... If she is ill, then who is anyone to judge her? And if she's got a problem... maybe if people were nicer to her she might gain more confidence and maybe confront her problem... I felt a bigger person for working that out...

Then in the mirror I slipped back in to selfish mode and was convinced that she chose the mirror next to mine in the hair dryer room so she could look thinner than me (i.e.. if you want to look thinner hang around people fatter than you ideology) I didn't want to be the fatty! LOL... Okay so yea maybe she stood next to me because I smiled at her (refer to statement above) but I guess 'bitter me' can't always win in my attempt at logical inner dialogue. God i'm so terrible *evil grin*

Brighton this weekend was lovely. It was nice and relaxing... some of the highlights/lowlights were :

-drinking fabulous long island iced teas
-meeting some really nice friendly people (i.e.. the shop keeper whom we convinced to buy one of her own belts cause it was just too fabulous... and she was tiny and probably wouldn't sell it anyways!)
-strolling along the pier
-relaxing on the beach
-witnessing a totally drunk girl throw up on her table at 2pm sat. afternoon! (super gross! it was her b'day)
-great breakfasts at the b&b
-lounging near the pavilion (all good till a HUGE seagull decided to poop right square in the middle of Hazel's back.. EWWW!)
-realizing that both miss H and I sometimes despair about being 'thesbians' *more on that topic another day*

All in all a nice well need break!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY miss Hazel who turned the big 29 today! And consequently has given up smoking :0)

i'm soon to be off...

on a surprise mini holiday with miss h. she's taking me to Brighton this weekend (okay so it's not much of a surprise but you get the gist) I can't wait as I really need to get out of the city and just unwind for a bit. Dang I forgot my camera!

Just got back from having lunch in the pub down the road with Madame jo jo. She's looking well all suited and booted in her new shoreditch hair style! God I really can't stand the smell of smoke anymore... I sit here at my desk and the fumes are just trapped in every fibre of my clothing!

Sean informs me that he's got a lead on my black monochrome allstars in Ottawa... how exciting is that? oh, very very!

I've been to the gym 3 times this week in the morning

what a change... going early really gives me a new spark into being there...and I consequently always end up at work on time :) The only downfall to this is the horrible catty women that are there in the morning.... they are all so prissy and spend so much time in front of the mirrors pruning and prissing... I skipped the drying hair thing this morning to avoid them all... I've never seen so many creams, hair products and instruments, makeup and accessories in my life...

it was snowing this morning! goodness what is the world coming to? Just last week It was 18 degrees and warm...

Lisa sent me the cutest pictures of her baby today, she's getting so big so quickly!

well the sun is out now and the mountain of work that's due for tomorrow is still just that... a mountain.

I on the other hand am wanting to be a river.

one year ago...

to this day my daddy passed away... now I say daddy like a child so does my sister... He was almost always daddy but sometimes dad or father if we were really cross with him. It was quick and imprevue... It still hurts so much sometimes... Solace if found in finding light in life... this morning in my body pump class I gazed out the widow into the beautiful blue sky, and thought... man... if he's out there somewhere I hope he's having a good time.

I'm trying very hard not to cry while I write this... my co-workers already think me mad... but I know I have to jot this down in an effort to bring some sort of catharsis to this part of my life.

Anyone with a dad still here... give them a big hug or a call today... for me, please?

Love is in the air doo dah dum doo dah...

from some subtle rumbling over the Atlantic... me thinks me knows someone having a blogromance.... go get 'em tiger!

April pre-Easter holiday is by no surprise... cancelled due to lack of funding... *sighs* ah well there is plenty of work to do so no matter.

the sun has returned and is here to stay for the weekend. My friend Jacqueline is arriving from Vancouver Island on Sunday. Staying only a day on her way over to India. She's such a doll. I haven't seen her in over 5 years. It's so strange when you meet up with people who live so far away whom you used to be close to... sheer immense trans -Atlantic distance spanning all the way across Canada to the mouth of the Pacific to be exact.

it's Friday and thank god... too much drama this week has made me almost go insane...

however, on a more positive note I'm sporting my new hightop black (sadly not monchrome) trainers...with my black fishnets and long black skirt with sanscript print on the front... I'm well chuffed...

why are grape-nuts called that when there are absolutely no grapes involved? Has anyone else ever noticed that the raspberry on the front of the package is doing a physically impossible milk splash? I mean who could have possibly art directed that... it's totally unbelievable... and just who is that lowest denominator person they say will be enticed by this faux portrayal of this raspberry's descent on to the spoon full of grape nuts? God, I seriously must get a life.

Congratulations!!!!!!!!!

Miss H on landing a fab new job!

I'm so happy for you!

I simply didn't want to blog today

but like a child having a tantrum I am forcing myself to get over it and just write god damn it.

The grey day has cleared and brought sunshine to us last in the day. It's great that It's still light when I leave the gym at night. I was home just as the sky turned my favorite colour of deep dusk blue. I love it when night is falling.

Work has been mental, I'm getting a lot of work done but It's strenuous... Although I speak fluent French it's been a long time since I've used it so much at work. I'm training and organizing a French team in Paris including troubleshooting and task management..... it's a tall order in any language but it's good to feel like I'm using my brain. The only downfall is spending donkey's years adding in all the freaking accents into my correspondence alt 130, alt 133, alt 138... god every three seconds I have to pause to add in the freaking accents... at least when I write to my French friends I can omit all the accents and pleas laziness... ah well It's all good.

Sent KJ the picture of the Flamenco painting I bought her and she was just thrilled. I'm well chuffed about that!

I finally bit the bullet and got my new bus pass... I was avoiding buying a new pass as the hurt of my last one being nicked was too fresh... I got a really dodgy picture done in one of those booths after it was stolen... Today at lunch I had the bright idea of getting another one done that was less grim so that my pass would be cheery... I'm a dolt... I must have turned off my brain as without choosing an option I ended up in the booth with the instructions be dictated to me in Italian... being smug that I could understand I didn't re-adjust... The picture was taken and I waited outside the machine... Little did I realize... that my cockiness had also produced the pictures in the wrong format... I didn't get the four wallet sized ones... oh no... I got the 16 miniature ones in black and white... god knows what one would use them for. DAMN IT! so I had to resolve to use the dodgy ones I had in the first place... the ones where one eye is squinted and the other not... I look like I have a facial deformity... no really it's bad... the bad part is... that I really think I do have one eye that is bigger than the other! Am I the only person who didn't know this? Have my friends and family always known and just assumed that I did too and never mentioned it? This is a BIG question... not at all an important one but careful revision of old photos show striking evidence.... just when I thought I couldn't get any more self absorbed... I never cease to amaze myself.

the stray sunbeams...

certainly did leave their marks on a lot of people around the office. There are quite a few rosy faces and brown ones too. It was a lovely weekend. The kind that feels just long enough. Rare indeed, appreciated, oh yes!

Saturday pre-gym I picked up this groovy hand painted original canvas for KJ... almost like the one she fancied in the shop near Kings Cross when she was here. The painting is of a flamenco dancer in a traditional red dress. It's quite lovely although the frame is terrible... It was a veritable bargain at 15£ compared to the 650£ print that she wanted. I have once again redeemed my bargain shopping abilities. She will be so proud. Now she's just got to return to London to visit me to collect it!

Post gym I got a dodgy hair cut.... that turned my mood foul... whatever... I know I can never win in the hair dept. I'm far too picky... but anyone in their right mind who comes near me with a razor to thin my already uber thin locks is freaking mad. Then to add insult to injury she did the standard 'i'm a hairdresser and I'm going to give you a bouffon hair do' even after I directly asked her to flatten it out and that I never wear my hair like that and that I was visibly upset by it... grrr. Had a great chat with Jackie on the phone Saturday night. I'm so excited about her stopping in London for a day on her way to India. It's been over 5 years since I last saw her in person!

Sunday morning /afternoon miss H and I ventured off to the Zoo... The 12£ is extortionate but it was so lovely outside that we didn't mind... Small but nice... not too many animals at all, seemed over populated with birds... not really my thing but the monkeys were cute especially the tiny ones (God I'm such a dolt I can't even remember what they're called) Seeing them made it worth it. Regent's park is so nice... I can't imagine what it would be like to have enough money to buy a flat near there! wow. It's fun to dream sometimes.

It's a week before my holidays but I think I'm going to pass and not take them after all... as travel is terribly dear during Easter and I could get something really nice and within budget if I wait till may to take the time off.... I do need a break but could perhaps hold off another few weeks.

I think I'm going to save to buy a bike... there are so many lovely outdoor spaces in this city that would be amazing on a bike... especially Hampstead... and a lot of the overland trains let you bring your bikes on board so that's handy! Wouldn't hit the main roads... too scary... but who knows...

Sexy Beast was on tele last night. Ben Kingsley is amazing. He really should have won an award for his performance in that film.

trainer tragedy continues

all I want is black monochrome all stars... apparently unavailable in London... guess i'm going to just have to settle for the black and white pair. I've been through this all before, first with the black Velcro pumas... then with the black nike rifts... all so elusive... all discontinued or not available... It could be a lot worse *zips lips*

Had a nice Italian supper last night with Miss H. Dating is fun!

I'm probably not the only person in town excited by the fact that I get paid at midnight! woo woo. God love employers who pay you on the 28th and not the last day of the month.

Wrote the longest e-mail I've written in a long time to my friend Mark in Toronto. It's been just ages since I last spoke with him... If this entry is short it is simply because I've drained it all out in the email to him.

I need, a mirror for my room, film for my dad's camera that I've not used yet... fuse for my lamp... frame for my beautiful poster from Mark... all things I will do this weekend *god willing*

I think I've lost an inch off my belly from all my gymming and endless crunches with the medicine ball. Yea me! I can wear this skirt KJ and mum bought me a year ago... god it used to look simply awful! now all I need to do is maintain this physique until it comes back into style again! d'oh!

May everyone catch their very own ray of sunshine today.

les evenements du weekend (ou la manque de...)

I had a quiet weekend to myself. Marr the loud neighbours of course... I chatted with them on Friday night to try and find a level of music that we were both comfortable with but it's elusive. They like it loud and see that compromise involves us putting up with their music at all times at a level that is just barely tolerable. I Keep saying to myself that if it was my parents living in my flat that the noise would not be tolerated at all. Ah well, we'll see how the compromise goes but I am beginning to appreciate the values of silence.

Being in the flat all alone spawned a cleaning frenzy. I missed the beautiful day on Sunday it was 18 degrees! Ah well, Cleaning does strangely make me agoraphobic. I wonder why?

I had a terrible fright on Sunday while watching a news bulletin... A Finnish student wit the same name as Hazel's ex living in the same area of town was murdered on her way home at 18h last week. My heart stopped. I was going to faint... I rang up Hazel in a flurry and sputtered out what I had just seen on the news. After a few anxious minutes it was determined that it wasn't her as this girl who was murdered was only 23. The poor girl. Her mum was on the phone with her when it happened! Oh the terror. Such depressing news of late... On top of this war malarkey.

Any happy positive news would be greatly appreciated :)

As the saying goes...

Everything happens for a reason. I was finding it impossible to get home last night after leaving the gym. There were no busses. People were getting aggravated. I pulled away from the 38 bus stops and walked down Tottenham court road. I finally caught a 73 that took me as far as Kings Cross (it wasn't going any further?) There I stood. I had taken me double the time of my normal journey to get half way home. Ho hum, such is life. I stood and waited... Tap tap on my shoulder and who was it? The lovely miss Hannah. I hadn't seen her in ages! See sometimes bad journeys can take you to meeting good people.

We chat chat chatted and caught up on the goings on her life over the past couple of months... her continual job search and such. Then she told me a story that shook me to the core. A co-worker of her's just went through and unimaginable tragedy. It's coming close to the time when my dad passed away last year so I'm particularly sensitive to stories that involve death. This one could not be worse. It involved an unexpected divorce of a couple who were together for over 25 years with 2 children in their 20's one of them being Hannah's friend. The mother had and affair and left the father. The father had a nervous breakdown and killed himself and his wife. I shook with horror when she told me. I can't imagine what her poor friend is going through... all this is compounded by the fact that it was a 'normal' upper middle class family. Such things don't discriminate as most people think they do. It doesn't make it any more palatable. It's a tragedy and no doubtable the beginnings of an unimaginably difficult re-build of life for H's friend and the other child that are left behind. Heavy stuff. Provides some harsh perspective to when people say their lives are tough.

am I ?

the only one mildly alarmed at this site It was mentioned by those lovely folks at popbitch over in farringdon. Is it for real? God, who would have thought that the American beef people would be targeting young girls trying to steer them clear from the terrible evils of vegetarianism? Why is this only female oriented? Why? God, this is clearly one site that I will never understand. Oh wait, it's American... *runs away*

as no doubt most people whom blog will be mentioning the fact that it's beautiful and warm here today in London. I'm wearing my denim jacket and was surprisingly too warm! I shall run and play today at lunch... I will I will... I've only been saying that all week so far.

My hair is growing like weeds. Don't think the recent lapse of any new imagery is an oversight... At times like hair growing times... a lady needs some privacy. It's dire let me tell you!

Finished my good book this morning. I almost cried on the bus... that would have been tragic. Now go, go and read it

Circus school

I've been reading Faustus' blog for quite some time now and keeping abreast of his cheerleading adventures. My curiosity was peaked the other day when I read that he was doing tumbling classes. Last night I was speaking to my flatmate about the fun she had learning trapeze....

This morning I found this site I am very excited. What a great place what a fun thing to do! Oh oh I can hardly contain myself. I know I'm no longer a spring chicken but I just adored doing gymnastics when I was younger.

As my mum and sister can attest, I spent literally hundreds of hours on the front lawn practising front and back flips and trying to master the ever elusive ariel cartwheel. I did in the end, what fun! I do believe I am still able to do all these flips that I once could, though I know they evoke great deals of pain from angry muscles that have been neglected over the passing years. But hey... I'll always remember my next door neighbours whom are approx 10 years younger than me, coming over to our house and knocking on the front door... asking if I could come outside and do an ariel for them. I was 21 at the time. I laughed heartily then preformed one. It hurt, oh yes did it ever... once completed, I reminded them that when they reached 21 I would ring their doorbell and demand that they perform a similar trick... and then and only then would they appreciate just how hard it was for me to pull off. Can I still do it at 27? probably. I think I'll save my pennies and go to circus school in hoxton. They also do corporate things too... how fun would that be? Erm... boss, can we take the team to circus school?

today...

I've chosen a white mug with blue vertical stripes. In it is my morning cup of tea, one scoop of sugar, short of builders tea.

I had a nice b'day. The people at work bought me chocolate cake... met Hazel for a pint after work... the girls made me a lovely supper at home. My mum rang too to wish me well. Very nice indeed!

Turns out that KJ didn't just get bumped to business class on her flight back home, she got bumped again to 1st class and scored herself one of those snazzy sleepers! She said she felt like pretty woman. She also reports that it does make all the difference and that she feels no jet lag at all. I'm so pleased for her, what a treat. She so deserved a boost like that!

I've booked a holiday for the week before Easter. Strangely no one here booked it off. I'm taking 4 work days but end up with 10 days off straight! I'm not sure what's on the cards yet somewhere warm hopefully!

I'm reading a very brilliant book right now. The type of book that really moulds well with some issues and questions I have in my life right now. A simply brilliant author. She makes me want to seriously take up the craft of writing. The book is called 'unless' and it's by Carol Shields. I'm only half way through, but it's the type of read that has you anxious to get out of bed in the morning so that you can read more. Perhaps the fact that it's a Canadian author and that she writes in English and French and that it's based near my home town, adds to it's charm....

It's my second day now as a twenty seven year old... I wonder what new tricks I will learn today?

so yea, it's official...

I made it to 27. I had a wonderful breakfast in bed c/o miss H, opened the fab presents brought to me by my mum and seestor. It's sunny and lovely out and Tasha my co-worker just launched a bag of mini eggs for my b'day to much on throughout the day!

It did take me 2 times to fire up my ol' PC this morning but I'm okay with that as perhaps it's aging like me and needs that tiny bit more time to get going in the morning.

I had a nice weekend with my sister and saw her off at the Paddington on Sunday morning. Lucky thing got an upgrade to business class! On our day out on Saturday I got pick pocketed at kings cross and they nicked my bus pass. That will teach me not to buy a monthly pass. I could get it replace but the 10£ charge that would go along with it would make my refund come in at approximately 1£. Wooo weee wyclef! Well on an up note, at least they didn't get my wallet.

Trekked down to Dearbhla's party yesterday afternoon for her St. Patrick's day party. The Irish sure know how to celebrate, they also know how to prepare for a night of drunkenness. Dearbhla prepared a feast of lovely potatoes products from mash, to chips to tatoes crisps and potatoes soup! It was very yummy and works wonders for preventing a hangover. She was the hostess with the mostess!

Sad to be back at work and Kaffin back in ccccold Canadia... but a visit is a visit and I knew that she had to leave at some point. I am very fortunate to have a great sis like her and a super fab mum that sent her over to me to play.

Oh yea, and Mark, the final episode ever of cold feet aired last night and holy moly was it ever sad! I shan't spoil it for you but man o man...

ode to all things crunchy

there is nothing in the world like all things crunchy: baguettes, crisps, nuts, pieces of toast, popcorn... you can see where I'm going here. I've isolated my adoration for all that is crunchy.

on a completely different note... this week as mentioned in my last posting is just flying by. Managed to squeeze and afternoon off to spend with my sister yesterday... we did the prescribed shopping that sisters do... Bought KJ this really cool necklace from her favourite shop. It's white and has a tiny battery at the back and it glows softly. Very neat! Didn't find anything to tickle my fancy... makes me feel kind of good as I'm skint and would be so sad if I saw a million things I wanted.

T minus 2 days till my birthday. I can't believe I'm going to be 27! That just sounds so old... 30 sounds younger... I know it's mad but I just can't explain. I think it's too late to do the 27 things to do before you're 27... don't even have a list... suggestions anyone?

Sally got her visa yesterday and is thrilled that she isn't going to be deported, good thing really! Hazel is still job hunting away like a trooper, she's just returned from an interview with an agency that has her in line for some really good positions. Things are looking up for the job searching peeps.

My mum is the best! Having my sister here for the week is the best present ever!

this week is just flying by

-kj arrived sunday!!!!!!!!!!1
-party next door lasted 41h and almost made me and everyone in my house mentally unstable. Incessant pounding bass for that long is enough to make the most sound person go mental. No sleep is freaking terrible. Cops can't do anything as they've no authority and the political body that did... is bankrupt in my counsel. God help us... landlord says they get evicted on their next offence... I think this is the beginning of a nightmare.
-went to spittalfields and then drank pints outside the vibe bar on Sunday aft in the sun
-sleep for hazel Sarah and kj at 7pm Sunday... slept right through till Monday morning
-kj's been shopping up a storm but seems to have lost her shop o' holic mojo (we think it's because she has so much time and isn't rushed like usual)
-work is mental i'm so swamped but we're all getting lots done. Just hoping i squeeze a few hours off so I can at least spend a few daylight hours with my sister while she's here. It's criminal that she's only here for a week and I can't even get a day off with her!
-my birthday is approaching quickly. I don't' think anything is on the cards this year however.... Dearbhla's invited me to her st. paddy's day party at her's on Sunday!!!!!!! Monday birthdays are no fun! Dearbhla's party should be a blast!
-KJ is off getting her hair done and this fancy salon... I hope she's having fun.
-life is proving very stressful and challenging.
-is it time for a holiday yet?
-off to the Alphabet bar this evening with the lovely miss Dearbhla and Kaffin. Not been there before so shall report if it's worth the time...

I officially need re-programming...

my lexicon has been brainwash to produce nonsense marketing speak. I just hung up from a call with a co-worker but before I did I managed to pull this one out of the had "hmm well if it's just a corporate opinion on the alignment of the banner then we're going to fight them on it as we're in charge of look... so i'm going to get this stirred back round the pot again and see if we can't win this battle."

I need serious help.

Have I a customer service curse upon me?

lately I've been questioning weather my stars are ill-aligned or if it's just a case of me over re-acting, or if I'm just down right unlucky... In the past 3 months I've
had a flurry of annoying customer service problems that have left me exhausted.

1- aeoroplan not issuing my points for my purchases and flights taken (and offering no solution...ie. their fuck up= my loss)
2- my gym fucking up my direct debit and only me noticing (now how often do you have to beg your gym to let you pay them)
3- my visitor's tax refund being rejected as my future shop receipt came up in my deceased father's name (I wrote them back telling them that I swear that it was I and not him purchasing goods in January at the future shop... Now they tell me it takes 6-8 weeks to process and then another 2 weeks for a refund to be issued if they deem you deserve one doubt it)
4- our continual leaky pipes in the flat ( the landlord will not return our calls unless harassed daily... it's taken 3 repairs in the past 3 weeks to fix one problem.. and no re-plastering of our ceiling as promised by them post the first leek)
5- my dental claim going missing in action (It's taken more than a month for my claim to be processed... can't wait to see what comes of that one)
6- my personal loan application being rejected via e-mail with promise of written clarification as to why I was turned down... has never arrived (I know it's probably because I've not lived here for 3 years yet but still... some sort of explanation would be appreciated!!!)
7- my recruitment company completely ignoring an e-mail I sent to two of their staff members inquiring about a position they had posted that sounded perfect ( I mean like a simple nahh it's not right for you would have sufficed)

Could it be that everything I touch gets sent to customer service hell or am I just trying too hard and expecting too much?

Some one sedate me please!

I woke up this morning...

but just before I did I remember dreaming about scraping out the insides of a large pumpkin... I could recall the smell and the sticky feeling... very odd. I really wonder what it could mean?

The weekend was nice a restful. Miss Hazel finally had a well needed haircut and is looking tres dapper! We went for drinks Saturday night with Sally and her friend who was visiting from Dublin. Good fun. The wooziness is finally subsiding and I'm going to make an attempt to return to the gym this evening... I just hope I don't spill off the treadmill in some terrible re-lapse.

I'm convinced that the Aero plan division of Air Canada is pure evil. They have the WORST customer service humanly possible. They try and charge you for everything and are very inaccurate with their crediting system. In the past 3 months I've flown with them and one of their star alliance partners... made purchases at the future shop from them (when I was home in January) and not one of those transactions have been credited to my account. The best part is, that they aren't in the least bit helpful! They tell you that you must contact the shop within 30 days if there are any air miles not credited... if it's after that, then too damn bad. And if you have a flight for which they have not credited you, you must provide them with your boarding cards for the flight in order to be credited. Like as if I keep my boarding cards FFS! How it's the consumer's fault that their system doesn't work properly, is totally beyond me... I lobby a boycott from aero plan! They stink.

the troubles with porn...

can be sometimes highly amusing...while tossing about solutions today as how to address the problem we're having with our content management system and scheduling... we came to the conclusion to keep the soft porn ads up all weekend long... My contact who had then just avoided having to get up at god's hour and pull down the banners wrote to me... with the most classic line ever....

'Fantastic. We all win...I can sleep in, commercial make more money and Dutch children get to see animated legs ;-)'

god, that was funny!

kaffin is coming!

what a perfect b'day treat! my mum is sending me the best present ever! My seestor cometh! She arrives on the 9th at 7am and stays till mid day on the 16th! I've got her booked in at the hair salon already! I doubt I'll be able to get any time off as my boss is on holidays that week but may be able to swindle some time to spend with her. Wonder if I can get her a one week membership to my gym for her while she's here!? Oooh I'm so excited!

The sofas have arrived and look fab! On of them arrived without the little silver legs so we're now waiting as they ship them to me here at work straight from the factory. The flat is finally looking more like a loft and less like a student flop!

The head is still spinning but the lovely nurse at the soho clinic re-assured me that it was probably just a viral ear infection. If I'm not better by tomorrow she told me to go back and see her and there would be a doctor on call whom could prescribe me something less zonking than the motion sickness tablets she told me to take last night. Jessus did they ever knock me out! In the mean time I'm slowly adjusting to life without balance... yea, that's me the drunk looking girl wobbling her way down the street.

The rain approacheth for the weekend and I'm scraping around to find something to cheer up my lovely hazel who is still trekking away like a champ on her relentless job search. She has a few more interviews booked for next week so hopefuly she'll land something soon. Anyone who knows anyone who wants a really great HR person/recruiter here in London please let me know as we would be so so grateful and offer a big shower of kisses to anyone who helps out this job hunt!

Can I just mention how badly Sean is kicking my ass at this blogging regularly thing? Dang!

blog is on a mini break

I've got a bit of a wobble/spins due to inner ear troubles... the world is kind of like a bad acid trip from back when I was 16. I thought I could manage work today but I think I was over estimating the need for balance... bus travel is very not condusive to this condition.

We've now an internet connection at home so perhaps I can blog from the sick bed...

The new sofas arrive tomorrow....

Hazel scored 2 more job interviews on top of the one she has tomorrow... Sally landed a job that she wanted and starts tomorrow... things are looking up for empolyment searchers!

*wobbles away*

I blame coldplay (posted yesterday but blogger was ill)

and the bad mozzarella and sun dried tomato cibatta I had for lunch yesterday. I felt so awful... I even went straight to be when I got home and was asleep by half nine!

It's absolutely freezing today, beautiful and sunny but dang cold! Where is summer? Probably the same place our sofas are... lost in space... I'm thinking that the possible 14 day delivery thing is more like a definite 14 day delivery.

My gym nightmare continues I sent them off a letter letting them just how bad it is that they messed up my direct debit and I wound up having to pay for 3 months all at once and made to feel like a criminal... In recompense they're giving me a month free... fair play I guess but it doesn't help the devastation on my bank balance of 200£ coming out of your account all at once... sometimes I wish I could just let things like this slide... but then everyone and anyone would just come along and take my money... Is this what other people do? Just sigh and mutter when things like this happen?

It's Wednesday again already. The week is flying by...

i should be working

i worked so dang hard yesterday that post gym i came home, ate a lovely supper and then passed out much to the chagrin of miss H.

perhaps listening to coldplay isn't helping my mood and the fact that our electricity bill came in at 450£ yesterday... regardless of what anyone says... you can't get ahead in London. unless you're uber rich... there is so little chance. Money is truly starting to be my albatross. I hate it. I'm so sick of it. The more disillusioned you feel the more you just want to pack it all in... then when you realize you can't it's even more depressing... and oh yea, don't forget about that student loan. I know that my values lie not in owning a big screen TV or the latest video game or mobile phone. I enjoy shopping but only rarely buy anything over 40£... I guess I need a holiday... however that too... costs. *hides under quilt*

I like my life, I like my routine, I am fortunate to have had the chance to get an education, move to a different country, have someone who loves me, have a great family... all those things are not at all forgotten... I just think sometimes the world is cruel and unpredictable... As my mum always says in her pessimistic wisdom... 98% of life is hard and unfair the remain 2% is amazing... Expect the 98, and rejoice when the 2% pays a visit. Is this why people turn to religion?

so it's kind of official

on this day of the little fat naked guy with the quiver full of arrows. It's looking up. Miss Hazel had a job interview this morning. And! We bought 2 sofas! Yes folks the impossible is possible today. We are to be the proud owners of two ghetto tastic sofas from the ever so exclusive Argos! Don't be fooled Argos is the new Habitat. Single handedly my flatmates and I will turn Dalston into the new Notting Hill mark my word. Change is a coming!

Okay back in the real world.

Had the funniest experience while getting a manicure on Wednesday at lunch. Highlights included....

* hearing all about the lady who was doing my nail's plans for valentine's day (taking her bf to the spearmint rhino )
* hearing about the other staff member impending labour... and life and relationship with said father of child to be...
* freaking the manicurist out by guessing her second name accurately... come of folks, she was a Sarah... most of us Sarah's are Sarah Elizabeth's

Last night I caught up with the lovely dearbhla and had a great night chit chatting about life and important thinks like fashion and footwear. We quickly left the 'dog house' this pub that's way too smoky in a cavernous basement type of set up... The people were too loud and obnoxious and the smoke was terrible... God what an intolerant non smoker I am! We moved on through the freezing temperatures and ended up at cafe med on dean st. It was so nice and warm (freezing cold loo) but nice, spacious, warm, good menu, good food, good prices! I highly recommend it! Met up with Hazel and her friend Dez and then swiftly shuffled off home!

Just in... Miss H just scored a second interview for monday! *claps hands*

URGENT!

for all you peeps going to the massive anti-war demonstration on Saturday here in London or elsewhere... Please see my friend Dom's artistic contribution that you can take with you on the march....

It's an exercise in social geometrics people. Listen and listen loud.

http://www.fotoplus.org


as Always, Dom, you're brilliant... Please give credit to my friend

Anyone having job leads in Amsterdam (graphic designer type stuff) please feel free to also contact Dom as he's a lookin!

Maybe it's just the February blah's...

but I feel like my blog is slowly turning into a big whinny-fest.

for the second day in a row having left home at half eight it took me till ten to arrive here at work. Not fun. I guess I'm resolved to turn up here at 9am like I have always... if I don't' get on the bus by eight I'm not here till ten, get on it before eight and I arrive here at quarter to nine. There is no justice. Bring on the congestion charge, bring it on!... Get everyone off my god damn road so my bus can go! -end rant-

I'm meeting my cousin who is coming up from Sussex this Saturday for lunch. I'm getting a little concerned as the big anti war march is going to be kicking off around noon and I know the city will just be flooded with people! Wonder what part of town would be go to go to? She's arriving at Charring Cross... any suggestions would be appreciated.

On that note... if anyone wishes to bless me with the winning lotto numbers for tonight's draw, please feel free to do so in my comments feature below.

If I'm not blogging tomorrow, you know I've won... go on, I dare you!

I wrote a big post this morning and it's vanished.

If it had of published... you would have read about:

*working late on friday night
*going on hazel's office party on a boat on the Thames... and enjoying watching her face light up with joy as she pointed out all her 'babies' that she's hired.
*launching the site we've been working on for a month now...
*my new red kitten heeled pointy shoes that I bought for 19£ in Dalston (which is btw the new 'bond st')

too bad it was wiped.

with all the fuss and jingle...

going on at work one finds it harder than usual to blog.

On my way home from the gym last night I noticed just how light it is here in London in the evening. I know of the evils of light pollution and such but it's NEVER dark here... City living is strange that way, especially in such a huge city. I've written about this before ,but some nights the sky is a beautiful orange colour kind of the colour it would be if you poured orange fanta into my mum's old smoky glass tumblers.

Heard from Hannah today, she is off on the hunt for a new job. With Hazel and Sally also on the hunt, I can but hope that good things do indeed come in threes.

I've not mentioned it yet but today marks 3 full weeks of 'happy non smoker Sarah' *said with sarcasm* I've done really well but it's not at all been easy. I can hardly imagine how hard it is for people whom smoke shed loads... I never did smoke much but obviously enough to make it hard to stop. I didn't even really make that much of a conscious decision to quit... I was ill and had a cough so I didn't smoke and just left it at that. Giving up sucks. I miss it.... but i'm sure I'll live a longer life now for having given up... great! If I gain a stone I'll go freaking nuts. So I've been toiling away at de gym with Luke's mantra in my head 'you get back what you put in' so I push myself harder and harder... who needs a personal trainer.... simple fear of inevitable weight gain is motivation enough... at least I hope it is....

Miss Duffy wrote from down and under today to report that she is to appear in a new documentary featuring ex pats living in Oz. She's working for the people they are filming... She's distributing flyers and such at clubs at night. Leave it to miss D to do something exotic. I'm happy she's having such a blast on her world travels! The documentary airs in April here in the UK...

wooo wee wyclef!

my wisdom tooth sure is a hurtin... it started coming in like 2 years ago and then for some reason stopped... now it feels like it's decided to grow in a bit more and dang does it ever kill. Knowing my luck it's just a whopper of a cavity. Now, I'm not at all scared of needles or any other common dentistry thing... I'm terrified of having that frozen mouth feeling. It's worse than anything else I can describe... The last filling I had I asked them to do it without freezing as I would rather the pain than that terrible numb feeling. The lady dentist was a star and agreed to do the filling minus the freeze. It was simple, hardly hurt at all, it was just about two or three seconds of a really cold feeling then it was over. Why they insist on freezing? for the money of course... half the cost of the procedure is the freezing! My consultation with my dentist is on Thursday at noon... here's to hoping for the best.

Our new housemate has arrived and hopefully will settle in nicely...

New massive attack CD out on the 10th... mixed reviews but I'm sure I'll be tempted into getting it...

it drives me absolutely mental...

when feck heads on the bus insist with sitting with their legs akimbo! It's always men and i hate them for doing it. It gives me such London transport rage when I sit next to an offender. What makes them think that just because they have a cock they deserve more room than anyone else? What else bother's me you ask? Well, that mad woman on the bus on Wednesday night who verbally assulted me for 15mins cause she thought I had 'tutted' as in 'tsk tsk' (for cdn peeps) I hadn't even said a word... freak. She screamed at me about how much of a pathetic low life loser I was... Hmmm. I just love the mad people I meet on the buses here.

Hazel is happily departing her tyrant of a work place. In less than a month now she'll be free to work for a more deserving and less horrible place than she is now. I curse those mean people who employ her now...

We're off to dinner tonight with Dan and Sal... Japanese is on the menu. We're going to that place I went with Dearbhla one night... that is of course if Sally's flight arrives on time... London is still reeling from the 3mm of snow that fell yesterday. Can you believe some people spent over 12h stuck on the M11 yesterday... OVERNIGHT in the dark with no food or toilet! WTF!?!?!?!

I hate it...

when she picks at her fruit while she eats it. It's all about breaking off chunks of it and eating it that way... not the normal way. She wont engage in the banana, no no, she's got to break pieces of if off and masticate every tiny little piece of it. It drives me mad. Just bite the damn thing! I think the way people eat banana's can say a lot about them... now i'm not talking Freud... it's just interesting. Life is always interesting in when you look at in under a microscope. So yea, the her I speak of eating the banana, is me, and i'm strange... I just can't help but eat them that way...

We are soon to have a new flatmate. Rent will be much lower, life a little easier. I'm pretty happy about it :)

Plans are a brewing for out holidays in June... Off to Malaga to bake my translucent coloured skin... I greatly fear that I will never come back.

Heard from my friend James today, his son is getting so big I cant' believe it. God it was just yesterday when I held him in my arms! Geesh I was only 18 then, hardly believe that.

Tis the season for job hunting, Sean's mission is looking quite promising. I hope he follows through with the gimmick thing and impresses that lady who's hiring... She seems to be freely contacting him which is a positive sign. He's so charming, how could she resist?

Welcome to my seestor's blog!

it's Friday

and it doesn't really feel like it. it's beautiful and sunny. We hazy is a wee bit sick so she's home in the nest recovering. Guess my cold combined with her co-worker's colds finally got the better of her :( I'm still laden with cough it's mad... unfortunately I don't have a doctor in the country and by the time I get one, and get an apt. then I'll be better... lets hope so...

I've been really enjoying reading the book Todd bought for me for xmas... It makes my morning bus journeys much more enjoyable... Thanks again Todd!

Kaffin is off to the arc hotel in ottawa, this weekend with her new beau. I'm so excited for her, I've always wanted to stay there... mind you, you won't catch me back in ottawa in the middle of their -40 snap... nuh aahh.

I found a link for speed dating here in the UK i'm going to send off Dearbhla and Helena as they said they would love to do it for a laugh! They even have special nights for specific interest groups, religions and occupations! LOL!

I shall report back if I can convince them to go!

sporting...

miss hazel's fabulous new boots yesterday sure made my tootsies hurt... i'm cursed... wearing heels one size too big and trainers one size too small. I swear I picked up the larger size but the clerk rang in the smaller one at the till. I'll never learn

out last night with the fwbl crew. What a laugh they are. Dearbhla is apparently suffering greatly today. Hope her wee stumble didn't leave her with too many bruises.

work is super busy finally!

It's Wednesday already. I can't believe it. Cough is almost gone so it's time to hit the gym again... hello, gym I'm Sarah... and yes I had toberlone for breakfast.

very sad to see kimmy go... didn't manage to catch her on the phone before she left :( best get busy and start importing newsfeeds... *runs away*

The peak of the weekend...

was lying around sat.night after watching the cheezy movie French Kiss. We watched the funniest programs ever. It was on Channel 4 and it was called Comedy Lab. It features numerous hilarious skits, taking the piss out of Shoreditch and the people who live there. For those of you who don't know, it's a part of town not too far from where I live, which is trendy and such... prime target for this type of program! One description of the episode (found here) that we saw was

'The first of Channel 4's latest Comedy Lab experiments provided a guide to becoming a Shoreditch Twat, one of those ultra-trendy scruffs who spent four quid on a beer and apparently know the most stylish ways to vomit.
Most helpful were the tips from a style guru who burst into a loft apartment to sort out the owner who was still, shockingly, attached to last week's tastes. Out went luxury food. In came "ironic trash" – white bread and own-label baked beans. Out went Zero 7 and The Strokes from the CD collection, replaced by Xpress 2, Ms Dynamite and Brown Love. "I guarantee that none of your dinner party guests will have heard this yet." And out, too, went Juliet, the man's girlfriend of three years, replaced by "shirtlifter chic" in the shape of smouldering Frank.'

What this reviewer failed to mention is the hilarious part where a guy was looking for that ever elusive date to go clubbing with... He finds this back street brothel where he has 3 sorts of ladies to chose from... One being the ultra trendy chick with the shoreditch retro 80's hair and clothes... who's requests for the date include a gram of coke and a taxi home at the end of the night. The second being an estate girl, pram face and all, sporting the latest track suit and agreeing to go on a date as long as he promised to pick 'her up some chips on 'e way home... God it was so funny. For some reason I can't remember what the third woman was like but whatever.... Words hardly do it justice. Good work channel 4, made staying in Sat. night bearable.

it's Saturday

and i'm making a very rare blog entry... why? Because I'm at work you see! It's getting to crunch time for the launch of one of our new portals and we're running around like santy's elves and xmas eve. I kind of enjoy the rush of when a project is about to be completed. Don't like losing the weekend over it, but ho hum.

I think I'm finally starting to get over this killer cold that has plagued me since I returned from sub zero Toronto temperature on Tuesday morning. I have cough that makes people on the bus get up and sit further away from me for fear of contracting it!

We went to see Tori Amos last night in Hammersmith... Holy moly is it far away from where we live or what? I guess it's beamingly obvious that I spend all my time in the north/east part of London... apart from when i'm at work which constitutes as the west end but I don't see it that way...Anyhoo... the concert venue was nice and small and it turned out to be a sit down concert which was kind of odd but good for me since I'm not 100% well right now. The show was sadly flat and the stage decor and the lighting effects were something to be likened to a child's school play. I couldn't believe it! She a brilliant musician and the guys she plays with are fab as well but it just didn't do it for me. She played new and old but still it was flat. Ah well. The concert wasn't a total loss as miss H and I marvelled as this woman in the row over from us was crying and singing along feigning what could only be described as an emotional breakdown. Her poor boyfriend sat and cowered, in disbelief of his gf's madness. The highlight was the two young girls in front of us holding hands and jumping up and down holding up their mobile so their friend at home could hear. It was so sweet to see them so excited. That made the night worthwhile.

sentence only uttered by my female boss...

'okay i'm going to go troll some porn'

followed by office laughter... then

'ooh look I found something great! Tom can you translate 'hot girls want you now' into Dutch?'

... a tag line suggested by no one other than... me. God it's funny here sometimes. I love that the inclusion of porn as a revenue generator can cause such frolic in a normally quiet office.

Friday has been a bit manic here for me after having left my mobile at home and thus standing up Kim for our lunch date that was incidentally double booked and then cut short by a last minute conference call request popping into my inbox... quick drink with my favourite dearbhla after work and then over to the lovely Hannah's for supper. Note to self... buy wine...god it almost sounds like I have a life...

Off to Toronto tomorrow for my Grandmother's 75th b'day. The whole gang will be there... lets just hope I manage to stay conscious.

Talks with my mother to convince her to go into the bed and breakfast business with me were cut short when I informed her that her duties would include:
laying in the sun
reading books
and oh yea... financing it

I have no idea why she's not up for it?

*laughs evilly*

Terhi asks me...

what are you going to come up with today... Dunno really. I've actually been busy this morning and have had work to doo... Most inconvient as it's infringing on my blog reading time. *gurlge*

The sun is beautiful and bright meaning it's dang cold. I was watching one of my favourite programs last night it's called no going back. It's on channel 4 and I LOVE it!

This is the one I watched last night:

TUSCANY - Wednesday 8 January 9pm.
Richard Turnbull, Sarah Fraser and their son Gregory have swapped their house in Leeds for a 15 acre olive farm in Tuscany. The plan is to be self-sufficient, make their own olive oil, and convert their barn into holiday accommodation.

One day it will be me on that program... let me tell you... mind you, unlike the folks last night... I would NEED a loo and a hot shower!

Anyone got a nice B&B for sale? I've got a tenner with your name on it!
*laughs but really cries*

the white fluffy stuff

is sure causing a lot of commotion and joy around the office today. The snow that is falling in London today is big, is white and is fluffy... Good packing snow to all us more seasoned snow connoisseurs... but packing snow is no good on no base... alas people are still managing to collect handfuls of the stuff and launch snowballs at one and other. I wish I could share their fervour! I guess I've had too much in my life to be excited by the sight of it... AH well it happens like once every three years here in London so it's not that bad.

I'm burning time from all angles here again at work... I really hope that Mr. Sean lands a job here in the UK, I would be the happiest kitty in the world!

I am the queen of mini disc creation

yea,

whatever.

ode to chucking it all in

I've been battling with the overwhelming urge to just chuck it all in and explain to my boss that I am sooooooo unbusy and that I feel soooo useless. but I think I'm going to fight that for a bit...

she knows and if they didn't want me they would have chucked me out by now... kind of does your head in after a while... the chimes of that awful word 'career' start to ring in the back of my mind and the paranoia feeling that I've taken a job waaaay below my abilities in some aspects and beyond in others nags me... what the hell am I doing here? Why can't I save any money and just chuck this all in and buy a nice little bed and breakfast and have my mum and grandparents move to the place and help me run it... guess they would first have to come to terms with my gayness... do you think the bribe of a life in the sun at a lovely bed and breakfast by the sea could bribe them into just accepting that part of my life? God, imagine if I could do that, sounds like I could solve all life's problems in one go! *runs off to sell soul to buy a bed and breakfast by the sea*

so

here I sit making little sandwiches of sorts with my bag of peanuts and raisins... half peanut on bottom, raisin in the middle and other half peanut on top... I think I will soon need to be committed.

work is slowly trickling in.

it's a deluge going on at home as things between peeps in the flat are boiling over. I do not want to be in the middle. I'm shutting down. I just can not cope. I don't want to feel this way. I want to live in peace. I am simply dreading going home tonight.

There was a terrible commotion on this bus I was on this morning... not sure what it was but it involved the bus being crowded and the driver shutting the door too quickly and what I can only imagine someone getting something caught in the door while the driver abruptly pulled away... there was shouting and screaming and fierce angry words launched from people to the driver and visa versa. My mind froze, my ears started ringing... I felt as if my whole body was just shutting down. It was only 1 minute down the road until we got to my stop. The doors opened and I floated onto the concrete. I was in shock. I just couldn't handle what had just happened. Ears ringing body still numb I arrived at work... to the impending flat spat.

Here I sit. still numb... hoping the little nuts and raisins settle my nerves...

hello new year... this is me.