Oh, Sister Broadband ....

OK, not exactly how Mick and the boys sang it, but it's how I feel. It's been awhile since I posted, mainly because I haven't had any internet connectivity at home. I'm not terribly comfortable doing a lot of personal stuff in the office, and it took BT a month to connect my home broadband.

During that interim, coming home at night consisted of turning on the stereo and reading for a while before gong to bed. Yes, it was lonely, and I really got caught up on my sleep! Also went through a lot of books.

But I felt totally disconnected from the world. I still don't have a TV (will blog about TV in the UK later). I could walk down to Starbucks and get online, but who wants coffee at night?

Anyway, yesterday BT connected my DSL line and I'm a rockin! Don't think I've hardly left the PC since :)

Will try to catch up on the blog this week, but, to quote Jack (Nicholson) "I'm baaack!"

I met the Wharf Rat

So one of the great things about London is it's a truly huge city. Those of us who've spent most of our lives in NC or even the south really don't know what a big city is. For those of you who've lived around NYC, Chicago or a few others, you do.

Truly big cities are so diverse, that people watching becomes one of the better passtimes.

I got off the train the other day and was stopping in to an irish pub for a pint before I went home (yes, I'm adapting to the local culture!). I was having a conversation with the bartender when this guy comes in, dancing to the Celtic music, pays for a pint, flirts with a table of women, orders a burger, pays for it, then leaves, before his burger comes up.

My first thought was, this wasn't his first pint of the day. But then i thought about how happy the guy seemed overall, though he had the appearance of someone who'd had a really hard life, and Wharf rat came to mind.

Half of my life
I spent doin' time for
some other fucker's crime
Other half found me stumbling around
drunk on burgundy wine

Weekend update from Diana's Visit

Yahoo! Diana came for a visit this weekend. She came in on Friday morning and left today. Short, but much needed.

After some issues connecting at the airport and train station on Friday, she got to the house and immediately started rearranging everything I'd done. At least I expected it :)

We had a great time though. Spent lots of time walking around Richmond, the town we live in here. Did those mundane things together like grocery shopping and such. The, Saturday afternoon we went into the center of London. we were shopping for 1 item, but we also had a really nice Italian dinner and walked through Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square, the theater district.

I'll be coming back to NC later this month for a few days. Then Cassidy pays a visit for spring break. I told her she'll be the only kid at State that comes back with a paler complexion than she left with :)

james