There Goes the Neighborhood...
I guess I live in a swankier 'hood than I thought...big flurry of paparazzi and newscasters hanging about yesterday, as Tony Blair has bought a house literally around the corner. According to the news reports, Paul Oakenfeld and William Orbit also live on Connaught Square, and Madonna lives a few blocks away (where? where??? I can't seem to get more detailed info!).
Had a very relaxing Saturday - headed down to Portobello Road market in Notting Hill - what an interesting bazaar! Definitely a place I'll head back to again - lots of print shops, jewelry, antiques (especially silver and pewter), clothing, as well as some authentic leather soccer and rugby balls of which I plan to buy one. Toward the end of the market is mostly veggie stands, and I picked up some veggies for dinner tonight. Even hit the famed Travel Book Shop from Notting Hill (the film). Certainly a place I'll head back...
I've been reading a funny travel book by what must be Britain's Bill Bryson, called "Round Ireland with a Fridge" by Tony Hawks. It's basically as the title states: man hitches around the circumference of Ireland toting a mini-fridge on a bet. Humourous! I'll have to head over there for a weekend, I think :)
Took the bus from Notting Hill up to Tottenham Ct. Road to shop for housewares, etc. Hit Oxford Street - again. That road really is like an ant farm.
I've been preferring the busses - have only taken the tube twice. I live right near Marble Arch, which seems to be a central enough bus intersection - and the busses tend to go more places directly than the tube. It sometimes takes a bit longer, but I can see where I'm going, it gets me closer to the actual destination, and I can sightsee a bit, which helps me get my bearings.
Anyway, am off tomorrow to Munich for this conference until Wed. morning. Tomorrow is the last day of the Oktoberfest, so I'll try to head down for a pint - seems something one should do and I believe it's walking distance from my hotel. Then boring conference Mon. and Tues., and fly back to Boston on Wed. (!) - unfortunately it will be straight down to the Cape and work folks, when I'll really be wanting to settle in at home for a bit. Might go visit the fam over the weekend, as mom had seemed really to be expecting that before I left. But, given that they haven't returned any of my calls and that I haven't spoken to any of them since I left - well, they're either all dead or just not that interested in how I'm doing, so maybe this means I'll get to Sheila and Erin's party after all. Humpfh.
I have five basic television channels. On 1 they are showing pool (billiards, snooker, whatever). On 2 its darts. Yep, a darts championship makes prime time broadcast television here. Instead I'm watching "Worst Jobs in Victorian England" So far, railroad digger, rat catcher, executioner, and saddle maker (which apparently involved a dog shit rub at some point). Yep. Oy.
I'm editing in here to add that I just saw two odd commercials - one with Kim Catrall getting porny over Tetley's Tea and another with Jennifer Aniston having some adventure with a Barclay card (some kind of bank). What they won't do in the states...why do they feel their "image" is more protected doing ads here? Odd...
Anyway, I'm not sure how well I'm doing the blogging thing...should it be more soul-baring?
So far, I've been doing very well - none of those "What the fuck am I doing here?" or "I wanna be at home. Now." moments. Everything is still a bit interesting and new and when I've had enough and become overstimulated and exhausted, I retreat to the homestead.
The flat is pretty good - it is sorely lacking a couch, although I've established a weak replacement for my chair, complete with ottoman. I got a playstation to play DVDs, although because the setup has to go through the VCR, all DVDs play in B&W. Odd. Need a newer TV, but want to buy used - I'm not into investing a lot here. Will also try to figure out a sofa situation - the pouffe just isn't good enough.
The biggest household challenge involved a stopped up sink. Now, they don't have Liquid Plummer here and the hardware store I walked into recommended Sulfuric Acid (no kidding!) - this was not only unsuccessful, but right dangerous as well - when I opened the bottle (wearing rubber gloves), fumes actually visibly wafted. It's some tough stuff and difficult to handle - and, yep, didn't really do much on the clog and I had to manually bail the sink into the tub to get the diluted acid out. The next day, I found a Safeway and the much more household safe Mr. Muscle, which has done an okay job (probably needs another go, but it's much better than before).
Again, not soul-searching, but it did consume way more of my life than I'd have preferred, so - there you have it!
Anyway, see you all soon!
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