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Hey All,
After posting yesterday, I was tempted to do the food shopping I desperately needed to do. But it was so hot that I figured that by the time I got from Tescos to the Flat everything would have melted, exploded or gone rancid.
So I went back to the flat, did some reading and then decided to head out to IKEA to buy a desk.
Go to IKEA. It sounds so simple, doesn't it.
Nope. Going to IKEA was a mission and a half.
First I had to take the tube to Stratford and the Jubilee Line to London Bridge. The I had to buy a ticket to go to Croydon on the National Rail (ie Oyster wouldn't cut it).
All this in heat so intense that English Men were walking around without shirts on. I had stopped at Stratford to buy a black Castro style cap from one of the stalls at Stratford Market. It wound up coming in useful in keeping the sun out of my eyes.
The overland train took me to East Croyden. But a fatality resulting from a traffic accident somewhere in Croyden meant that Trams and Buses were all running super late. So what should have taken me about half an hour took about two hours ie getting from East Croydon to Ampere Way (the location of IKEA, and some other hugs super-megastores).
Eventually I got there, at about half five. Luckily for me IKEA is open til Midnight on weeknights.
I took a look around and was happy to find that basic desks cost half of what I expected. So I used the extra cash to buy a bookcase, a swivel chair and a desklamp.
All up it came to about £65. Fortunately the delivery costs only came to £30. I was tempted to buy a neato wrought iron bedframe thing, but I already have a bed. And it would be a hell of a job to get it into my room.
Getting back to London was easier. Take the Tram back to East Croydon, then the train to London Bridge. A friend from Australia is touring as the keyboardist in the Grates (mental note: tell Elea he was asking how she is). I dropped him an SMS and then met up with him in a quiet bar on Harrison Road in King's Cross.
It was cool talking to him. He does a bit of writing for TimeOff in Brisbane, and he used to write for Fasterlouder, so I picked his brains a bit. Plus we shot the shit about Brisbane vs London and bands and people we knew etc. Me and him usually argue online, but we were cool face to face.
At about half ten we left the bar and I headed back to Leytonstone. I have no idea what time it was when I got home, but I just collapsed into bed.
I woke up pretty early. Like I might have said before, the extended hours of daylight here in Summertime London makes it hard for your internal Sundial to figure out what the time is, so I keep waking up really really early.
Some breakfast, so barbells, some reading, a shower later and some more reading later, I headed out down to the net cafe to check my messages before going to the Job Centre to sign on (every second Tuesday).
While I was checking my messaged I discovered that my AFI article is now up. Yay! The link is here.
http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/features/4931/
I reckon it came out okay, all things considered.
My Impaled Nazarene review is up at this location:
http://www.finnish-metal.net/index.php?page=../concerts/impnaz/impnaz-london-23052006
But I digress.
Signing on was easy enough.
Next I went across the street to Tescos to do the food and necessities shopping I needed to do.
Bear in mind that I couldn't get too far away from home, because I was expecting a call from the IKEA delivery dudes to say they were bringing my stuff over.
Of course, what should have been a smooth journey home was full of little delays. Fortunately when the call came through to my mobile I was just about to get off at my stop. They arrived ten minutes later (in time for me to fridge everything that needed to be cold).
Two big guys lugging stuff up to my third-story maisonette later, I was the proud possessor of a couple articles of flat packed furniture, which I unpacked in my flat.
Unfortunately I discovered that I would need a flathead screwdriver, a philips head screwdriver and a clawhammer to put the desk together, so I headed down to the High Street with a view to going to the Homewares shop towards Stratford a bit...
Just in time to get caught in a tropical thunderstorm.. Figure that one out. I sheltered in the guitar shop between the bus stop and Homewares shop and looked at a couple of basses.
Finally the rain stopped.
Got the tools from Homewares and walked back down the High Road, passing a car stopped on the Kerb with some smoke coming from under the hood. Then a lot of smoke. Pouring out. That's when I realised there was fire under the car as well. And flames started coming out from under the bonnet. That's when I realised I should probably back up a little, in case it blew.
Bear in mind that this was happening about fifty feet from a police station and a fire station, so naturally it took about three to five minutes for both services to arrive and start spraying the damn thing with water. With that extinguished, I let it be.
I took a look in the kittens in the petshop and came down here. Tonight I put together a desk.
Desk = place I can work where I don't have to a) wipe pasta sauce off the table before I can start work and b) pack up all my stuff when I'm done.
Bookshelf just means somewhere where I can put all the books I've been reading, which are currently just sitting in rough stacks around my room.
And that is where I sign off.
Hooray!
Over and out.
J
After posting yesterday, I was tempted to do the food shopping I desperately needed to do. But it was so hot that I figured that by the time I got from Tescos to the Flat everything would have melted, exploded or gone rancid.
So I went back to the flat, did some reading and then decided to head out to IKEA to buy a desk.
Go to IKEA. It sounds so simple, doesn't it.
Nope. Going to IKEA was a mission and a half.
First I had to take the tube to Stratford and the Jubilee Line to London Bridge. The I had to buy a ticket to go to Croydon on the National Rail (ie Oyster wouldn't cut it).
All this in heat so intense that English Men were walking around without shirts on. I had stopped at Stratford to buy a black Castro style cap from one of the stalls at Stratford Market. It wound up coming in useful in keeping the sun out of my eyes.
The overland train took me to East Croyden. But a fatality resulting from a traffic accident somewhere in Croyden meant that Trams and Buses were all running super late. So what should have taken me about half an hour took about two hours ie getting from East Croydon to Ampere Way (the location of IKEA, and some other hugs super-megastores).
Eventually I got there, at about half five. Luckily for me IKEA is open til Midnight on weeknights.
I took a look around and was happy to find that basic desks cost half of what I expected. So I used the extra cash to buy a bookcase, a swivel chair and a desklamp.
All up it came to about £65. Fortunately the delivery costs only came to £30. I was tempted to buy a neato wrought iron bedframe thing, but I already have a bed. And it would be a hell of a job to get it into my room.
Getting back to London was easier. Take the Tram back to East Croydon, then the train to London Bridge. A friend from Australia is touring as the keyboardist in the Grates (mental note: tell Elea he was asking how she is). I dropped him an SMS and then met up with him in a quiet bar on Harrison Road in King's Cross.
It was cool talking to him. He does a bit of writing for TimeOff in Brisbane, and he used to write for Fasterlouder, so I picked his brains a bit. Plus we shot the shit about Brisbane vs London and bands and people we knew etc. Me and him usually argue online, but we were cool face to face.
At about half ten we left the bar and I headed back to Leytonstone. I have no idea what time it was when I got home, but I just collapsed into bed.
I woke up pretty early. Like I might have said before, the extended hours of daylight here in Summertime London makes it hard for your internal Sundial to figure out what the time is, so I keep waking up really really early.
Some breakfast, so barbells, some reading, a shower later and some more reading later, I headed out down to the net cafe to check my messages before going to the Job Centre to sign on (every second Tuesday).
While I was checking my messaged I discovered that my AFI article is now up. Yay! The link is here.
http://www.fasterlouder.com.au/features/4931/
I reckon it came out okay, all things considered.
My Impaled Nazarene review is up at this location:
http://www.finnish-metal.net/index.php?page=../concerts/impnaz/impnaz-london-23052006
But I digress.
Signing on was easy enough.
Next I went across the street to Tescos to do the food and necessities shopping I needed to do.
Bear in mind that I couldn't get too far away from home, because I was expecting a call from the IKEA delivery dudes to say they were bringing my stuff over.
Of course, what should have been a smooth journey home was full of little delays. Fortunately when the call came through to my mobile I was just about to get off at my stop. They arrived ten minutes later (in time for me to fridge everything that needed to be cold).
Two big guys lugging stuff up to my third-story maisonette later, I was the proud possessor of a couple articles of flat packed furniture, which I unpacked in my flat.
Unfortunately I discovered that I would need a flathead screwdriver, a philips head screwdriver and a clawhammer to put the desk together, so I headed down to the High Street with a view to going to the Homewares shop towards Stratford a bit...
Just in time to get caught in a tropical thunderstorm.. Figure that one out. I sheltered in the guitar shop between the bus stop and Homewares shop and looked at a couple of basses.
Finally the rain stopped.
Got the tools from Homewares and walked back down the High Road, passing a car stopped on the Kerb with some smoke coming from under the hood. Then a lot of smoke. Pouring out. That's when I realised there was fire under the car as well. And flames started coming out from under the bonnet. That's when I realised I should probably back up a little, in case it blew.
Bear in mind that this was happening about fifty feet from a police station and a fire station, so naturally it took about three to five minutes for both services to arrive and start spraying the damn thing with water. With that extinguished, I let it be.
I took a look in the kittens in the petshop and came down here. Tonight I put together a desk.
Desk = place I can work where I don't have to a) wipe pasta sauce off the table before I can start work and b) pack up all my stuff when I'm done.
Bookshelf just means somewhere where I can put all the books I've been reading, which are currently just sitting in rough stacks around my room.
And that is where I sign off.
Hooray!
Over and out.
J
posted by the.exile at 4:57 pm
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