Thoughts.com Blogs - fun on eight wheels

View Blog

fun on eight wheels

As I blog, I ponder the intricacies of the global issue that stumps many of us: what do I have for lunch? This is coupled with the similarly taxing decision of what to make for dinner. When I also consider that I am at some point going to have to decide what to wear, it all becomes a little too much. This is just a small insight into the difficult and complicated job that I have discovered existing to be.

You know what, I love a long weekend. This long weekend just been was one of the better ones I’ve had (not to mention unexpectedly expensive) - even though I hadn’t made any plans for it. I messaged Christine on Saturday morning begging for social contact, and somehow I have ended up sunburnt and trawling the internet for a decent pair of rollerblades under £30.

Oh, god, my sandwich is falling apart. I wonder how much it would cost to employ a life assistant.

I really needed a mad crazy stupid weekend, too, as I felt like shit all of last week. I was anywhere between homesick, needlessly anxious, guilty about how much trouble Laura was having finding a new au pair, stressing about money, wondering whether I was being stupid to leave a stable job with no rent or food expenses in order to wander up to Edinburgh for no really good describable reason, and everything in between or beyond. Then I went out for dinner with Ambo on Friday night to a Vietnamese place in Camden, and was fairly well convinced that I was going to have a stroke, or a heart attack, or something similarly debilitating because I developed this really strange fuzzy feeling in my head and in odd places on my body and just generally felt like there was a good chance I would keel over into a fit.

Despite my third stack down the bus stairs in as many months, I didn’t choke on my tongue in the night and survived for Saturday morning, by which time all aforementioned fuzziness had subsided.

Has anyone tried those McVities jaffa cakes? (They’re the same amazing people who make Hobnobs...I am going to bring home about eighty packs of Hobnobs when I leave the UK) The jaffa cakes are really weird...the Levis have some for school lunches and I thought I best try one, just so I know what I’m giving Abbie and Jake, and I’m really not sure what to make of them...they are like a flat spongey thing with a layer of chocolate on one side and some orange goo in the middle. The pack claims they are “now even more orangey!” I remain unconvinced.

So anyway, I spent Saturday afternoon not doing much...in fact I just rode buses around Central London all afternoon, which is not as sad and lonely as it sounds. It is in fact a cheap and easy way to see much of London - certainly a lot more than you would ever see by traipsing around on the tube. (My disdain for the tube increases by the day) So it was pretty cool, I found Abbey Road, which is actually rather close to where I live. There were some people doing the crossing thing, holding up traffic...which I would have happily done myself, if only I had four friends on hand.

Sunday I met up with Christine, and we initially were going to have coffee, then go buy a hackey sack and be crazy hackey sackers in the park. In the end, it appears that London is not familiar with the concept of the hackey sack, being that we couldn’t find one ANYWHERE...even after spending about an hour in Hamley’s going around in circles (playing with toys...) In the end, all the signs of the universe pointed to the ultimate truth that we both must invest in a pair of roller blades. Which found us in sports stores, looking for super cheap roller blades. Incredibly, we found a pair for three pounds, which was highly unexpected. They had initially been £23, then marked down to £11, which I was going to happily pay. We took them to the register, where they scanned at three quid. It was unbelievable - the supervisor actually asked me if I had switched the boxes. It didn’t occur to me to be insulted until later on. Anyway, the incredulous clerk ended up giving them to me for three pounds, and Christine and I tootled on our merry way, with me wondering what fabulous karma I must have amassed in order to be able to buy rollerblades for £3.

So I was almightily pleased with myself, though it turns out that they are not so spectacular rollerblades (I know I shouldn’t be surprised), they were incredibly tough to use and after Christine bought a fabulous pair, I am suffering from severe gadget envy. The current plan of attack is to put the blades on ebay, and buy a decent pair with the profit. So kindly don’t mention this to anyone you know who is looking for rollerblades on ebay...However, it was an awesome day yesterday, even if I got sunburnt and my rollerblades nearly killed me. It must have been low 20s, I spent half of the day lounging around in Green Park with a book, trying to avoid watching ugly couples make out.

Speaking of couples, we all know that I hate the vast majority of them, yesterday I saw the funniest thing - two hand-holding couples encountering each other on a narrow footpath. Which couple would have to break their chain in order to make it past? Would they both have to? Would it all just end in a mass of tangled limbs? It was like a dance, watching them both trying to work out which way to go, and in the end one did have to break, allowing the victorious couple through while the broken pair had to rebuilt their shattered bond.

I actually really need to go have a shower...I started writing this straight after my run and am starting to stiffen up. Hope this has been a suitable update for you all.