Holidays: Now Illustrated! (hopefully...)

Well, it’s actually snowing today, which is new and different, as yesterday there was rain and previously only melty sunshine, so this is definitely a Positive Development.

If this works, it will be a great leap forward, but here goes…

View from the kitchen window yesterday:

(that’s rain, by the way)

Same this morning:

Cool, yes?

Frustratingly, however, there’s no internet access from my computer, so I’ll have to post this when I get home. This, I regret to say, probably bodes ill, as I’m sure to just keep adding stuff to what will become a Leviathan of a post by the end of the fortnight. Conversely, have nobly managed not to start until the first Friday (good grief, it’s Friday already?), so will really only be a week.

Feel v. sorry for all those people in London, just after they’d managed to win the Olympic bid, someone insists on trying to blow them up. Really in most appalling taste. Further, clearly the terrorists are pretty dim; if you wanted to cause maximum damage to the population and public transport of London [which obviously you don’t, or I wouldn’t be friends with you, and why would you be reading this? If we didn’t like each other in the first place, surely my tangential and inconsequential rambling would be insufferable), would you wait until after 9 am to detonate? Quel idiots. They’d’ve done much more damage at 8:40–ish, while everyone was still rushing to work.

In point of fact, anyone who could find their arse with an atlas ought to be able to take out more than 50 people with 4 bombs in peak-hour London Public transport. V. hard to take such people seriously, no wonder they’re reduced to trying to blow people up, rather than actually make a political move the proper way, they probably can’t spell ‘political’. Really, this is not the way to gain the world’s respect.

On the other hand, obviously is terribly sad that all these people were hurt, and inasmuch as what is written here matters at all, sympathy, support, etc is extended.

Particularly upsetting is the fact that Camden was damaged. If those markets are gone, or hurt in any way, I shall deal very sternly indeed with any terrorists I come across, I love those markets. They’re like Glebe Markets to the max, all sorts of cool stuff, including a shop called “The Fairy Gothmother”. How cool is that?

In fact, I say we should all go to London soon, and visit. Maybe put flowers on the underground or something.

My teeth are getting crooked, I think, possibly because of as yet un-erupted [erupted, ew, what an uncomfortable sounding word] wisdom teeth. This irritates me, very much do not wish to be a 20-year-old with braces. How awful.

Also, still unable to wrestle my timetable into submission, as enrolment variations page refuses to load at the incredibly expensive internet café thing.

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Is very exciting, went out to dinner tonight, and when we returned, the fire alarm went off (not immediately, you understand, but a few minutes later: it wasn’t because we’d returned). Although this is of itself unexciting, the fire brigade came and everything, and they even extended their ultra-long ladder to get up to the balcony of the apartment whose alarm it apparently was. I’ve never seen this done in real life before, so I can tick that off the list, I suppose.

Didn’t get a picture of the ladder thing, and tried to take a picture of the truck in the snow, but what with the dark night-time-ness and the flash, it’s basically a picture of the reflectors on the truck, but here it is, anyway:



Relievingly/disappointingly we didn’t get evacuated to stand outside in the –3 degree midnight while flames billowed out of windows or anything. Apparently was a false alarm. Mildly frustrating, as we’d packed little bags to take with us if so. Mine had my laptop and mobile and notebook and teddy bear equivalent (I got that Bunny on the day I was born, and v. much love it, would be terrible if it was burnt). Also a packet of American Jelly Beans to cheer up the hypothetical disconsolate and cold crowd. (I do like those Jelly Beans, the ones that say “Jelly Belly” on them. Bt not the chocolate pudding flavoured ones, ew). Strange, actually, in a room you’re on holiday in, none of your irreplaceable stuff seems to be there. You look into drawers and think “well, I do like that jumper, but it’s not really irreplaceable per se, is it? I can’t take everything, so therefore I’ll take none of this.”

But then we had to unpack them again anyway, so there you go.

Now, though, I definitely know the answer to those hypothetical questions. Quite useful to have been asked so many times, didn’t need to think about it too much.