Category Archives: Uncategorized

sunday

Sundays come with such a bitter sweet edge that develops over the course of the day. I don’t think it is just me.

The mornings are lovely. You have had over 24 hours to do as you please, to see friends, to read the newspaper and sip coffee. As the day goes on you get ever closer to this very time that I am tapping out this blog.

Outside is black, dinner has been had and you start to think about the week ahead. The list of meetings that will consume, the tasks that aren’t fun but need to get done and all those other things that will suddenly become important.

It is not inspiring.

new flat

Every morning I get up and I am the only person in my little flat. It is quite gorgeous, heavenly even.

I can put my pajamas on at 5 if I fancy, the whole fridge is mine, I can sleep with the door open. The only cup in the sink is mine, and the pair of knickers that lies forgotten in the washing machine can only be mine.

All of these things are quite crazy sounding to people who are use to their own space – or at least shared with husbands, lovers or children. But is complete bliss.

baby

I am one of those lucky people who has friends who have been around and part of me for many years. They have been there when I have moaned, laughed, loved, been beaten by life, succeeded, and I hope, with any luck, I have done the same for them.

I have one girl friend, we went school together, and we have known each other for nearly 3 decades. And today she started a whole new and amazing adventure.

After much waiting and what sounds like a rather hellish number of hours. A brand new person arrived in the world. I am sad I can’t pop round and met this new person and to see my friend in her new role. 14 hours on a plane is not really round the corner.

However, I am so happy and so pleased for her and for her lovely husband. Congratulations!

LA moments

A man in a white Cadillac convertable listerning to Brittany Spears,

a non-fat-half heat-tall-small foam cap (so very LA story),

27 degrees Celsius in winter,

teeny-tiny dogs in every colour and size, with sparkly collars and

enjoying healthful, flavourful meals (hmmmm creative? Putting their mark on the English Language in the 2000′s) are just a few of the favourite LA moments in the last week.

LA is one of the stragest cities in the world. There is no consistency in the surrounds – ubiquitous low flat ugly houses sit next to strip malls, next to a lovely white 50′s flat block, dry dirt tracks lead up to views of snow capped moutains and the Hollywood sign, homeless next to Diamonds. It is generally unappealing. That being said everytime I visit my friends here I have an absolutely “awesome” time, and it is quite possibly that when you stay with locals – you learn not to judge this city by its cover.

As once you stop doing this you can just laugh, smile or drop your draw at the LA moments that occur around you!

A new category

Yep I am ‘Living in London’ officially now.

I am heading into my third night in my new flat. It is  just around the corner from Parliament Square, a skip-and-jump from the Thames, not far from St James Park. Excellent position!

It is so exciting to have slept for 3 nights in a row in a big, comfy double bed. Which is right next door to my little bathroom. A little tiled space which is ALL mine also. I feel a million miles from my room plus sink in Queens.

Yippee!

cookies

One of the things that I have loved over the past year is hearing everyone’s home grown cliches. Over a cup of tea on Sunday morning I heard one of the best yet. Essentially, it is that you must eat one cookie at a time. I have decided that it is in fact very wise advice. I feel like I have been running around, most of the time just in my head, trying to solve problems and answer questions.

Where to live? Where to work? Where are my clean clothes? When will this be over? Where is my mobile?

You get the idea.

Busy getting no where!

However, if I stop and try and eat only one cookie at a time – life becomes more manageable. Or at least that is the plan….. and we all no what happens to the best laid plans.

devils advocate

I have been talking to loads of people at the moment. Some chats have been serious about jobs and what to do next, some have been cheerful banter in coffee shops. All of these have been lovely, interesting, sometimes challenging but never frustrating to the point that makes me want to wring the individuals neck…… well with a few exceptions….

Occasionally you bump into someone who takes great pleasure in being the ‘devils advocate‘.  Now, I am not adverse to a challenging conversation, nor am I worried if someone is clearly decided in their views. But what drives me bonkers is someone who will not let it go. They poke and poke and poke. Offering nothing to the conversation or the dialogue of their own. I had one such conversation the other day. It was horrible, unpleasant and actually really boring. I learn’t nothing about another’s view on a topic familiar to me. I left the conversation annoyed and in need of a big drink!

It would seem to me that it is important to be challenged on your views. However, I think that there is a warning for those that constantly take the position of devil’s advocate, that they themselves will never actually contribute their opinion or view to another.

Not as much spring in the chicken

Now I am often found to be in complete and absolute denial of this, but in the last 24 hours I have experienced two events, both of which have rammed home the terrible and horrible truth…..

I am no longer a spring chicken. No longer full to the brim with the vim and vigour of youth, well not without a little bit of a warm up!
The first event happened as I combed my hair yesterday morning………. through bleary just getting up in the morning sight.. I spied this odd colour in my part – it was not a pleasing blonde hair, nor any other colour for that matter that would cause pleasure. To my complete shock I had a white hair – not even a grey one… a white one. I am pleased to report I was incredibly practical about the situation – I did not panic – I got a firm grip on the offending hair and pulled it out! Well what else can you do?

The second was much more painful in all sense of the word. On and off I get a bit of a back pain. It has actually been worse in the last 6 months. I think exaggerated by running and being bent over a computer for unhealthy proportions of time. So the story goes….On Sunday arvo I had a lovely run out to Granchester, through the meadow and along the cam…. just gorgeous. However, by mid day the next day I was moving like a lumbering crazy women, odd walking pattern, hand firmly welded to my lower back. All was in spasm. Not to be relieved by any stretching…. I must have looked like I was in a lot of pain or ever so slightly deranged because as I dragged myself into tesco to grab any and all pain relieving medication…. the homeless guy, sitting on the footpath asked me if I was okay and as I left he noted that it looked like I was having as bad a day as him!

Bloody hell…….

The lesson – stop running, start swimming & make a hairdressing appointment!

Infestation or a brief invasion

Now I am not sure how to write this with much delicacy but the population of Cambridge has been through two big changes in the last two weeks. The first is the infestation of high school aged people – my college looks like an American High School – in one corner the geeks, in the other the cool kids, the other the sporty kids – it is lucky there are lots of corners! As there seem to be 100s of cliques.

However this week we had another invasion. Although this one slightly more pleasing! A break from the floppy haired and intellectual lecturer types which this year with a few exceptions have not filled my world with joy!

It would seem that one of the worlds largest consultancies is holding a development week in Cambridge. And that means because of the demographics of this industry there are suddenly loads of men in there thirties getting around Cambridge in what appears to be a casual uniform. That is more than 70% are wearing jeans, brown boots and shirts of the check or striped variety – so they are easy to spot. They also come with blackberry’s and mobile phones of every persuasion – again a novel sight in Cambridge.

So while it seems like a bit of shock when you see them arrive on mass on a Tuesday they have kindly provided me with a visual break!

Networking

One of the most memorable definitions or play on words I have heard of late is that Network = not working.

I would like to challenge this……it is bloody hard work, requires great skill and dexterity of communication! Plus an obvious love of coffee…. I had one day last week with “3 coffees” planned – by the end I was definitely a little on edge!

The MBA does try and help you with developing this skill but the networking events always feel like a feeding frenzy. As one poor consultant is surrounded by highly ambitious, driven individuals asking often inane and I suspect not very original questions. It is not a pretty sight. I have also heard rumours that some of the less scrupulous have competitions about the number of MBA student business cards they can collect. Not very nice…

Anyway, I am trying to network at the moment, playing along with the idea that the majority of positions are not advertised. hmmmmm…. then I guess the next one will be the interview…… will it never end!!