Posts Tagged london
When in London…
Posted by sketchy bill in Social Commentary on September 19th, 2008
Here are my top ten most non-pretentious tips for new players in London.
1. Forget your sunglasses.
2. Be prepared clothing wise for Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter… all in the one day.
3. If you see a tiny drop of rain and you are in a crowded area, run. Otherwise, prepare for a thousand umbrellas to burst open in your face, ready to stab you with their pointy eye level spikes, regardless as to whether such slight precipitation would cause the holder to get even slightly wet.
4. Not everything is half price, it only looks that way (damn that currency conversion).
5. Postcodes have letters in them, and may even give a clue to your whereabouts.
6. There are more Pret a Manger sandwich shops than all the grains of sand on all the beaches in Britain.
7. People are as polite as the stereotype suggests.
8. The Dragon’s Den is the best thing on telly (aside from Top Gear).
9. An OysterCard is not as dirty as it sounds, but is in fact very practical.
10. Proudly wearing a “Mind the Gap” t-shirt is perfectly acceptable behaviour.
A Bitter Fluff
Posted by sketchy bill in Social Commentary on June 19th, 2008
There are many benefits to travelling to the other side of the world, not least of which is that you can potentially skip an entire Winter, which I am happily doing as we speak. I haven’t had a tan like this since I was a kid in Newcastle, where burning oneself to a crisp each summer was totally acceptable behaviour.
However, an unexpected drawback has surfaced in the form of Hayfever x 2. Anyone who works, lives or walks though Canberra’s Civic in Spring will have cursed those trees that drop the seed balls which break up into a fluffy like substance, ripe for breathing in on a windy day. I often wondered who the hell thought it was a good idea to plant those trees. Imagine my shock and horror as I swallowed some fluff yesterday from the same species of tree. In our current temporary abode in Bloomsbury, London the parks are full of them – as are the gutters full of their cough inducing fluff. Ah well, nothing like a reminder of home to alleviate the home sickness.
Tree Nerds may be interested to know that the tree in question is called “London Plane” (Platanus
-
random funny picture
Put your hands up for Detroit!
Posted by sketchy bill in Social Commentary on February 8th, 2009
If anyone had have told me a couple of months ago that tonight I would be writing this entry from a hotel room in Detroit, I would have said “Wait, you can predict the future now?”
I say that because recently I landed a job with a global company at an office in London. Given the current odds of landing a job in London at all at the moment, that was pleasant surprise number one. Pleasant surprise number two of course was being flown to Detroit for meetings and greetings at the US head office.
I guess what I am trying to say is that leaving one’s vocational comfort zone, whether leaving voluntarily or getting pushed can land you in the most surprising of situations. Plus this is also an opportunity to apologise to all those I have neglected to keep in contact with over the last hectic couple of months.
Pleasant surprise number three has to be the fact that the week before I arrived, the temperatures dropped to an unseasonably cold -25 Degrees Celsius, before returning to a more moderate average of -3 degrees. I love this city!
detroit, london, work
No Comments