Ok, so I promised that I'd write a blog post explaining my being back in Edmonton almost a month sooner than planned. There really isn't much to explain, but here you go:
I was going stir crazy. Not having a job or much else to do was getting to me. I tried to go out every day, but there wasn't always something for me to do. Plus, if there was maintenance work being done at the train station near my house, it was a long walk to the next one, which was less than pleasant when carrying things like groceries, so I just went to the supermarket down the street instead of going out into civilization. There was no point in me getting a job a month before leaving for Christmas, so I just kind of sat around not doing much. It was boring and depressing. Coming back to Canada, where there are people I know and I have more mobility, thanks to cars, was the best thing for me to do for now, I think. My grumpiness was starting to make me difficult to get along with, and the last thing I wanted was to strain the relationships I had over there. Plus, my dog was at home, and I missed him.
I fully plan to go back in January and get a job. I'm not entirely certain what kind of job, but having something to do and a way to meet people (plus earning money) should make things much easier for me. I took only a little bit of my stuff home with me, since I have to go back to England with all the stuff my mom couldn't ship. I'm sad to be away from Peter for our five-year anniversary, but the date's not the important thing, so it'll be okay. He and Chris are both coming home for Christmas, so I'll get to see him then.
So, yeah, nobody died or got seriously sick or injured. I just came home for the sake of my own sanity, and I'll be going back in the new year. =)
11/27/2008
11/12/2008
Wednesday!
I have remarkably little to do right now. I've checked out the websites I regularly read, I've dealt with my e-mail for now, and World of Warcraft is having technical issues, so there's nothing much for me to do on the computer (except blog). I was going to go out and buy something for dinner tonight, maybe get a coffee, but then Peter called and said that he was going to pick something up on his way back from class, so there's no need to do that. And, besides, my outing yesterday was unpleasant enough that I don't particularly want to repeat it today.
It wasn't that bad, really, but there were a bunch of little things that I didn't like. For instance, despite having a lid on my coffee, some of it managed to jump out through the little sipping hole and burn my thumb. The clock in the kitchen died yesterday, so I was mistaken about what time it was when I left, and I wound up getting caught in rush hour "traffic" on the tube. Holborn station was so busy and full that they had to stop letting people in for a while (this is common during rush hour), so I had to stand outside in the cold with my heavy grocery bags in the middle of a very large crowd that was doing its best to contain itself to the sidewalk (i.e., it was very cramped). Also, there was a panhandler next to the ATM when I stopped to get cash before grocery shopping, and, despite being rather poor myself, I felt bad. He didn't bug me, though, so points for him. I can just see people rolling their eyes at me for my bleeding heart. ^_^
But, yeah, not doing that today would be a good thing. ^_^
Despite yesterday being actually a rather unpleasant day, today is looking to be rather nice. I slept in, which was nice, since I didn't get to sleep until about 5am last night. When I woke up, I noticed that I seem to have lost some weight lately, which is always nice. I have a very tasty glass of Coke Zero with ice on the table next to me (I figure diet pop isn't that bad of a weakness in terms of health and cost, so I'm allowing myself if ^_^). I suspect that Peter will be making dinner tonight, which, according to the system we've set up, means that he's also going to clean (I got annoyed at cleaning up his sometimes excessive messes, so we instituted a "clean up your own mess" rule). World of Warcraft should be back up and running within the next hour or so, which is nice because it was down all day yesterday. So, yeah, everything's more or less good on this side of the pond.
Oh, and, just in case any of you were waiting for a description of the Robin Williams talk show thing, I didn't go. I felt too crappy. Oh, well. I'm sure there will be other opportunities to do interesting things. Yay, optimism! ^_^
It wasn't that bad, really, but there were a bunch of little things that I didn't like. For instance, despite having a lid on my coffee, some of it managed to jump out through the little sipping hole and burn my thumb. The clock in the kitchen died yesterday, so I was mistaken about what time it was when I left, and I wound up getting caught in rush hour "traffic" on the tube. Holborn station was so busy and full that they had to stop letting people in for a while (this is common during rush hour), so I had to stand outside in the cold with my heavy grocery bags in the middle of a very large crowd that was doing its best to contain itself to the sidewalk (i.e., it was very cramped). Also, there was a panhandler next to the ATM when I stopped to get cash before grocery shopping, and, despite being rather poor myself, I felt bad. He didn't bug me, though, so points for him. I can just see people rolling their eyes at me for my bleeding heart. ^_^
But, yeah, not doing that today would be a good thing. ^_^
Despite yesterday being actually a rather unpleasant day, today is looking to be rather nice. I slept in, which was nice, since I didn't get to sleep until about 5am last night. When I woke up, I noticed that I seem to have lost some weight lately, which is always nice. I have a very tasty glass of Coke Zero with ice on the table next to me (I figure diet pop isn't that bad of a weakness in terms of health and cost, so I'm allowing myself if ^_^). I suspect that Peter will be making dinner tonight, which, according to the system we've set up, means that he's also going to clean (I got annoyed at cleaning up his sometimes excessive messes, so we instituted a "clean up your own mess" rule). World of Warcraft should be back up and running within the next hour or so, which is nice because it was down all day yesterday. So, yeah, everything's more or less good on this side of the pond.
Oh, and, just in case any of you were waiting for a description of the Robin Williams talk show thing, I didn't go. I felt too crappy. Oh, well. I'm sure there will be other opportunities to do interesting things. Yay, optimism! ^_^
11/10/2008
Tea and Its Various Associations
Hello, fine people! Life in London continues to be a mixture of interesting, mundane and bizarre things. Or, well, something like that. Peter is currently talking to himself, wondering where Old Man Barlowe went. If you don't know what that means, then don't talk to him when he's wondering about it--all you'll get is a very ditracted half explanation with at least five seconds of silence in between each spoken word. It's kind of amusing, but kind of not...
I broke a plate cleaning up after dinner tonight. We have a broom, so we were able to sweep up all the shards and dust and whatnot, but we don't have a dustpan or vaccuum or anything like that. So I picked up the tiny little shards and dust with scotch tape. I thought it was a rather resourceful idea. :-)
On Saturday, Chris and I went to meet with a couple of his friends in town. They had 2 for 1 coupons for an IMAX movie at the science museum, so we went and saw a film about the international space station. It was narrated by Tom Cruise, and, despite being half price, not that interesting. Peter, who stayed home to work on a paper, had seen it before and absolutely loved it, but that's because he has a weird affection for the Russian space program, as well as space exploration in general. Afterwards, we went to Harrod's and wandered through the food halls. That place is crazy. In a good way. It has many wonderful foods, but I still couldn't find Orange Pekoe tea. *sigh* Oh, well. It's not like we actually own a kettle or anything.
This reminds me of two things. The first thing is that I had tea last night because I had extra boiled water from making Jell-o! It was a different brand, but it was still very tasty. Also, it didn't come in a powder, but intstead in gelatinous cubes, like very dense Jell-o. I took a nibble of the corner to see what it tasted like; it was slippery and not worth eating straight. ^_^ But, yeah, strawberry Jell-o for desert last night made me happy. :-D
The second thing is the escapades my mother has been having trying to ship the stuff that didn't fit in my suitcases. Long story short, she's not going to be shipping anything. Instead, I'm going to bring two more or less empty suitcases home with me at Christmas and bring my stuff to England that way. But, yeah, at first, when I left, all of my stuff was in boxes with packing peanuts and all that jazz. My mom went to ship it and discovered that she needed a copy of my passport main page and of my visa, as well as itemized lists of what was being shipped with values of everything. Cue my search for a scanner. A few weeks later, I *finally* manage to find one, and I send my the scans to my mom. My mom then spends an hour at the UPS store talking to them. In addition to all the stuff my mom got together (she even repacked my stuff so that there were fewer boxes), they needed a form for me to fill out and fax back. That was more or less ignored, though, since the shipping would cost $530. Even if she only shipped a quarter of what she was planning on, it would have cost hundreds of dollars. So, yeah, no shipping.
The reason tea reminded me of this is because my mom was going to ship me a box of Red Rose (Orange Pekoe) tea, but now I don't get any until Christmas. :-(
However, on the bright side of things, tomorrow, I am going to a taping of a talk show where the guest is Robin Williams. Chris puts his name in draws for tickets to television show tapings, and he "won" four tickets to this, so he invited Peter and I to come along with him. I've never seen Robin Williams without editing before, so it should be fun. :-) I wonder if they do an audience warm-up thing like some talk shows do. Those kind of rub me the wrong way. Oh, well. It'll be a new experience, regardless. I shall inform you all of it at a later date. :-)
I broke a plate cleaning up after dinner tonight. We have a broom, so we were able to sweep up all the shards and dust and whatnot, but we don't have a dustpan or vaccuum or anything like that. So I picked up the tiny little shards and dust with scotch tape. I thought it was a rather resourceful idea. :-)
On Saturday, Chris and I went to meet with a couple of his friends in town. They had 2 for 1 coupons for an IMAX movie at the science museum, so we went and saw a film about the international space station. It was narrated by Tom Cruise, and, despite being half price, not that interesting. Peter, who stayed home to work on a paper, had seen it before and absolutely loved it, but that's because he has a weird affection for the Russian space program, as well as space exploration in general. Afterwards, we went to Harrod's and wandered through the food halls. That place is crazy. In a good way. It has many wonderful foods, but I still couldn't find Orange Pekoe tea. *sigh* Oh, well. It's not like we actually own a kettle or anything.
This reminds me of two things. The first thing is that I had tea last night because I had extra boiled water from making Jell-o! It was a different brand, but it was still very tasty. Also, it didn't come in a powder, but intstead in gelatinous cubes, like very dense Jell-o. I took a nibble of the corner to see what it tasted like; it was slippery and not worth eating straight. ^_^ But, yeah, strawberry Jell-o for desert last night made me happy. :-D
The second thing is the escapades my mother has been having trying to ship the stuff that didn't fit in my suitcases. Long story short, she's not going to be shipping anything. Instead, I'm going to bring two more or less empty suitcases home with me at Christmas and bring my stuff to England that way. But, yeah, at first, when I left, all of my stuff was in boxes with packing peanuts and all that jazz. My mom went to ship it and discovered that she needed a copy of my passport main page and of my visa, as well as itemized lists of what was being shipped with values of everything. Cue my search for a scanner. A few weeks later, I *finally* manage to find one, and I send my the scans to my mom. My mom then spends an hour at the UPS store talking to them. In addition to all the stuff my mom got together (she even repacked my stuff so that there were fewer boxes), they needed a form for me to fill out and fax back. That was more or less ignored, though, since the shipping would cost $530. Even if she only shipped a quarter of what she was planning on, it would have cost hundreds of dollars. So, yeah, no shipping.
The reason tea reminded me of this is because my mom was going to ship me a box of Red Rose (Orange Pekoe) tea, but now I don't get any until Christmas. :-(
However, on the bright side of things, tomorrow, I am going to a taping of a talk show where the guest is Robin Williams. Chris puts his name in draws for tickets to television show tapings, and he "won" four tickets to this, so he invited Peter and I to come along with him. I've never seen Robin Williams without editing before, so it should be fun. :-) I wonder if they do an audience warm-up thing like some talk shows do. Those kind of rub me the wrong way. Oh, well. It'll be a new experience, regardless. I shall inform you all of it at a later date. :-)
11/04/2008
Post 410
Peter's cooking dinner (I'm not even sure what, exactly), and it smells delicious. Mmmm... shallots, garlic and butter in a frying pan. =) I think ground beef in some form, as well as bell peppers, will be added. I'm hungry. ^_^
Not much going on lately. Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past two years, you know that today is the US preseidential election. I want it to be over, one way or the other. Peter's going to an all-night party at the LSE to watch the results come in. It starts at 11pm, and he has a presentation to give in one of his classes at 10am the next day. I hope he's not hungover for that. =p
I was poking around in stores (excuse me, shops) today to see if I could find a knee-length coat that I liked for cheap. I found one that may have fit the bill for 25 pounds, but I decided not to buy it. I basically want a coat that I can wear over my long cardigan--it looks weird to wear it with either of my "normal"-length coats. I was at Primark while shopping, and I considered buying imitation Uggs for 6 pounds, but that store is crazy busy, and I didn't feel like standing in line to pay for shoes. I could have spent more money to make the wait feel more "worth it," but that didn't seem terribly smart to me (though they did have these cute pants for 6 pounds, and I would have bought a gloves/scarf set for 3 pounds).
Tuesdays are less fun for me than other days because World of Warcraft is down from 1pm to 7pm for maintenance. This would be 6am to 12pm in Edmonton, but, alas, time differences make things less convenient over here. That's actually what got me to decide to update my blog, was that I had nothing to do for a while before dinner because WoW is still down. ^_^
I can smell the red wine Peter's added to our dinner. He's bought a fair amount of alcohol lately, but it's been cheap. Three little bottles of wine for 10 pounds, and 8 big cans of Strongbow for 4 pounds. That's even cheaper than the 67 pence cans of beer that I've seen littered around here on Sundays. >.<
Speaking of people being stupidly celebratory, Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night is soon, and people have been letting off fireworks in anticipation. They're loud and annoying and have startled the hell out of me when I've been outside and able to hear their full impact. The dogs in the neighborhood don't like them, either.
I have "official" dates for when I'll be in Canada over Christmas. Peter and I arrive at about 2pm on the 20th of December. Peter hopes to leave on the 8th of January, and I hope to leave on the 15th. The departure dates aren't set in stone, since Air Canada no longer does an Edmonton-London direct flight ever day, but only 3 days a week now, I believe, but that's more or less when we'll be around. Peter has to get back in time for term to start on the 12th, but I want to spend a bit more time at home, so I'm leaving later. Yay for being unemployed! ^_^ It gives you so much more flexibility with your schedule.
Okay, I'm now paying more attention to the smell of dinner than to writing this blog entry, so I'm going to stop writing and go poke my nose into the kitchen. Mmm... =)
Not much going on lately. Unless you've been hiding under a rock for the past two years, you know that today is the US preseidential election. I want it to be over, one way or the other. Peter's going to an all-night party at the LSE to watch the results come in. It starts at 11pm, and he has a presentation to give in one of his classes at 10am the next day. I hope he's not hungover for that. =p
I was poking around in stores (excuse me, shops) today to see if I could find a knee-length coat that I liked for cheap. I found one that may have fit the bill for 25 pounds, but I decided not to buy it. I basically want a coat that I can wear over my long cardigan--it looks weird to wear it with either of my "normal"-length coats. I was at Primark while shopping, and I considered buying imitation Uggs for 6 pounds, but that store is crazy busy, and I didn't feel like standing in line to pay for shoes. I could have spent more money to make the wait feel more "worth it," but that didn't seem terribly smart to me (though they did have these cute pants for 6 pounds, and I would have bought a gloves/scarf set for 3 pounds).
Tuesdays are less fun for me than other days because World of Warcraft is down from 1pm to 7pm for maintenance. This would be 6am to 12pm in Edmonton, but, alas, time differences make things less convenient over here. That's actually what got me to decide to update my blog, was that I had nothing to do for a while before dinner because WoW is still down. ^_^
I can smell the red wine Peter's added to our dinner. He's bought a fair amount of alcohol lately, but it's been cheap. Three little bottles of wine for 10 pounds, and 8 big cans of Strongbow for 4 pounds. That's even cheaper than the 67 pence cans of beer that I've seen littered around here on Sundays. >.<
Speaking of people being stupidly celebratory, Guy Fawkes Day/Bonfire Night is soon, and people have been letting off fireworks in anticipation. They're loud and annoying and have startled the hell out of me when I've been outside and able to hear their full impact. The dogs in the neighborhood don't like them, either.
I have "official" dates for when I'll be in Canada over Christmas. Peter and I arrive at about 2pm on the 20th of December. Peter hopes to leave on the 8th of January, and I hope to leave on the 15th. The departure dates aren't set in stone, since Air Canada no longer does an Edmonton-London direct flight ever day, but only 3 days a week now, I believe, but that's more or less when we'll be around. Peter has to get back in time for term to start on the 12th, but I want to spend a bit more time at home, so I'm leaving later. Yay for being unemployed! ^_^ It gives you so much more flexibility with your schedule.
Okay, I'm now paying more attention to the smell of dinner than to writing this blog entry, so I'm going to stop writing and go poke my nose into the kitchen. Mmm... =)
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