Monthly Archives: July 2009

its a funny old world

Posted on July 31, 2009 by | 2 Comments

So this will be no surprise to those that I talk to often but I have been pondering resignation of job – in fact the conversations were getting a little tricky. So I was psyching myself up for a rather awkward conversation.

All anxiety and rehearsed sentences.

The next thing I know I am summoned to a Medical Directors office, a strange conversation ensures, he talks to my boss, I have another odd conversation and I am a woman with a new job starting on Monday. It is for the next 6 months, which actually suits me just fine. Still keeps doors and options open.

I really have no idea what I will be doing come Monday but am hopeful it will not involve too much excel, and more people contact.

So there you go. New job.

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delay

Posted on July 29, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Delays suck.

No one likes them.

And I had the complete misfortune to get stuck for 3 hours longer than I should of at Heathrow on Friday night. It is so deeply annoying in this day and age when airlines can not tell you of a delay, that is infact longer than your flight.

Maybe it is a conspiracy with the shops in the terminal – you pretty much have nothing better to do than browse. On Friday there were some women trapped in the terminal but achieving calm through retail therapy!

I honestly can’t understand how it is that they get away with the constant double standard. You are late – no mercy. They close the doors and leave you behind. They are late, nothing happens. You even have to wait for 2 hours before they give you £5. Five pounds in an airport buys you 1/2 a drink and a packet of chips. Outrageous!

I would be ever so grateful if someone could also explain to me why it is that if a delay due to weather has made all the morning, and early afternoon planes late – that they optimistically think that the evening planes will be on time. Couldn’t they just send you a text…. So you don’t go haring out there straight after work..battle and hurrumph with the security queues. But then this would actually be good customer service! Flying would become pleasant and not arduous.

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4th plinth

Posted on July 21, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Trafalgar square is one of the significant sites in London – Nelson’s Column, the National Gallery. On each of its corners is a plinth and on 3 there are the traditional statues. Men on horses. That kind of thing!

On the 4th though they do a cyclical, quatery something. There has been the pregnant lady (Alison Lapper Pregnant – I think was the official title) and now there is a new ‘artists’ every hour. Thanks to an art work entitled “One and Other” by Antony Gormley. And while I had such high expectations of seeing wonderful and dynamic things – each time I have wandered by there has been someone just standing there. Maybe taking photos of people going by, holding up signs you can barely read.  So while I have yet to love one of the installations on the 4th plinth – I do like the  concept…. I do hope though at some point I will wander through this magnificent square and see something that is more imaginative, interesting and memorable!

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not drowning…. its swimming

Posted on July 20, 2009 by | 2 Comments

I seem to be spending time with the ‘little people’ of late – which is forever funny and novel. A reminder that really life is meant to be fun and wondersome most of the time.

This weekends excursion was a trip to the pool on a Sunday morning. Now my little swimming buddy was looking super cool in his board shorts, when I met him, his brother and Dad at the bus stop bright and sparky on Sunday.

As an aside, people with Kids tell me 8.50 is not that early to be out and about, but when I woke, realised my alarm had not sounded and I had to be at the pool in 15 minutes – I was feeling a little like I was a cup of coffee short of a fully functioning brain.

None the less it was into the pool we went!

And we had a lovely time splashing and swimming. The term ‘swimming’I use in the broadest sense of the word ….. It has been a while since I have dipped into a pool with kids, and I had completely forgotten their ability to swim consistently below the level of the water, necessitating rather large gasping breaths, and definitely some inhaling of water. And plenty of ferocious kicking, accompanied with not very  much propulsion at all!

It was so funny to watch the delight gleaned from such massive exertion with no real outcome.

Kids I guess are learning new things all the time, they have absolutely no fear and throw their whole being into the effort of their activity. It really is such a shame that we grow up and become less confident in our ability to try. More critical of ourdelves and less confident to call all that splashing, and lack of propulsion swimming.

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habits

Posted on July 18, 2009 by | 1 Comment

So what is the worst habit you have?

Certainly one of my longest standing habits is biting my nails – not pretty, but completely unconcious. I don’t bit them till they bleed or anything. But equally they don’t make it to the top of my fingers. So I have been doing some research and am full of wonderful facts; nail biting has a fancy medical title…onychophagia, 40% of teenagers bite their nails and unsuprising it is related to stress.

So last night I had a go at using the bitter nail vanish stuff . I woke a lot overnight, as it turns out I must even bit my nails when I am asleep. I had honestly the worst taste in my mouth! Or I have returned  to a childhood habit of sucking my fingers! Yikes!

So one day down, nails intact. I guess more of that nasty bitter stuff tonight!

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london living

Posted on July 18, 2009 by | Leave a comment

City living takes a bit of getting use to. Even after a number of years it still suprises me the number of people that come and go through this city in any one day. It is  honestly amazing.

You can become so busy that you lurch and dash from work, to friends, to Sainsbury’s, down to the post office, quick jog, out to theatre, bounce off to a gallery. And this is not to say that I have a particularly outrageous social life – it just seems that life in a big city is busy. So when it comes to sorting out your diary you also have to book a free day! Crazy I know.

I suspect the sceanrio is not unique to me, we all seem to be so busy that there is not often time to think or just stop and look.

So today I am taking a break.

I have watched the sweetest little duckings in St James’ Park diving. Strangely they look awfully like platypus’s when under water – tiny little brown fluffy things. Stopped and watched the buskers in Covent Garden and heard the band play in the rotunda.

In the patches of sun that do appear – London is a lovely place to be. When you take time out to watch it go by.

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family found

Posted on July 14, 2009 by | 2 Comments

Family is an odd thing really – just about every cliche is true when it comes to them. You can’t choose them, you often don’t like them, but anyone who says a bad world about them has you to reckon with. Well today I had the most extraordinary experience.

I had the opportunity to speak with a lost family member. It was great! He is my Mums first cousin, he lives 50minutes out of London, he has a son who is 18. It is all rather cool. I am excited about meeting them, but I am sorry my Mum isn’t in the UK to come along, after all it was Mum that found the number on the ever pervasive internet! I am not sure when they last saw each other must be between 10 or 20 years ago….

I have no memory of having ever met him but I do remember his Dad. A tall man, silver hair.

The hope is that we will meet in early August. What a wonderful thing to look forward to!

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day to day

Posted on July 14, 2009 by | Leave a comment

There are a number of things that demostrate that you have been living in c ity for a bit: the ability to find your way round without that trusty map, a notion of where the best coffee can be found, which  newspaper suits you and where to get your haircut.

But along with the positive things that make you feel at home. There are all those things that drive you wild!

The completely insane tourists who try to get on the Victoria Line at 8am, the ones that stop in the middle of the footpath to consult a map, the fact that there is no sunshine when there should be. It is funny how the everyday annoyance start to arrive, and day to day life begins.

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better with kids?

Posted on July 12, 2009 by | 2 Comments

There are some things it seems that are just more fun with kids; there are obvious things, like play grounds, beaches and somehow science museums.  I know also there is a long list of places were kids are a complete disaster – as a general rule pretty much anything that requires extreme silence or sitting. However, I have another to add to the list of things that is better with kids.

I had the great pleasure of heading to see the Lion King last friday with 2 other ‘grown ups’ and their very charming children. It was so lovely to see the amazement on faces as giant elephants walked down the aisle, or giggles as the hyena clunked itself on the head. Just so very cool and made the show so much more enjoyable.

So while I am not going to dash out and have a child, I may be borrowing a couple so that I can justify more disney style events!

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patience

Posted on July 7, 2009 by | Leave a comment

Patience is not one of my things, but at the moment everything is requiring extreme patience, so not even normal levels of patience of a normally patient person would be reasonable.

There is the constant waiting for a possible, maybe, if the glass is half full job situation. And then what if this, what if that means x, y and q. Then if that, then m,n,p is possible.

ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

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