In my new flat and online

Since my last post I have spent the majority of my spare time dealing with incompetents and liars (conveyance lawyers, estate agents, sales people and technical support people). However, it has now all come together and I am now sitting in my new flat with a working Internet connection and it has only taken four months!

There have been some classics in this time:

• the technical support person who did not know why he was asking me to delete all of my cookies
• the lawyer who did nothing and ignored all phone calls and emails untill I uttered the magic words of "British Law Society"
• the salesman who did not realise untill half an hour before being due to turn up that his company does not deliver to London

Ya gott’a love the Elephant

Currently there are two police officers in the living room getting a statement from one of my housemates, who has just been shot in a drive by!

Although I wouldn't class an air gun pellet to the arse as life threatening, it was a drive-by none the less.

What a charming place this is to live ;)

I may very well have the worst timing ever

I've just bought flat #2!
- its in zone 2 (great)
- its very very cheap given the above (great)
- its a "super" studio (super!)
- its in a deprived area so there's no stamp duty (great)
- it needs a lot of work done to it (doh!)
- it's two minutes walk from Narni's flat ([insert your own personal opinion here])


But, given that interest rates will probably go up tomorrow:
--> cost of borrowing up
--> affordability of housing down
--> house prices down?

In the long run it will all work out..... I hope!

Yet another reason dislike W

Reason 512: Government donations to charity as a percentage of GDP....Big up to the Swedes though!

Gumball 3000

The Gumball 3000 starts today..... I wish I had a spare £28,000 lying around so that I could enter!

I got really excited yesterday when I saw a Bugatti Veron followed by a Ferrari Enzo stuck in traffic on Old Kent Road. Much to my surprise I had difficulty taking my eyes off the Enzo, even though I think the Veron is by far the better car.

My housemates all think that I'm a hopeless petrol head for getting excited about seeing a car.

The Easter Egg Run

I went up to sunny Newcastle on Easter weekend for my Mum's birthday and a bit of a blast on the bike.

At one point on the trip I miss-read my speedo. I initially thought it read 145 mph, but after I saw a police car in the distance I checked again and it said 70. Its always good to double check ;)

This was my first proper trip in my new gimp outfit. Leathers offer good protection if you fall off, but you can feel your balls freeze when the temperature drops bellow 15c and you "boil in the bag" when its above 20c. I think I'll patent an air conditioning unit you can wear on a belt!

Life is like a game of Frogger

Sometimes a minor event can sum up a place so well. Yesterday on my commute to work, there were two grown men fighting in the street in the style of 5 year olds (a lot of pushing and shouting, but nothing that looked painful). A few things struck me about this, but the one which summed up London so perfectly, was the fact that nobody cared!

To a true Londoner, life must be like a game of Frogger. Some obstacles move and some are stationary. But as long as you get by all of them, without getting hurt in the shortest possible time, you would consider it to be a good day!

OK, I know that sounds really harsh but being like that is, to some extent, needed in a big city. Plus, if it was a proper fight, rather than two grown up kids having a tantrum, I'm sure that people (including myself) would have broken stride to help out in some way or another.