Wabbit

So, I went to the supermarket today, and noticed that they were selling rabbit in the meat aisle. Apparently it's bunny season. I thought, hey, why not, so brought home 300g of rabbit (about 1.5 lbs or so). Now I haven't the foggiest idea how to cook up rabbit, but, conveniently, this was already diced up into chunks, so I thought chunks means stir fry! Good God did it stink! I have this Jamaican spice thingie that says it's good on all meat, so I figured, hey, it's meat, so load it up (I wonder why I don't have a Michelin star?). Cooked some veggies to go with it. Finished cooking it and had a taste. Bleh! Quick, spaghetti sauce to the rescue! Safe to say, the bunnies of Great Britain will not be in any danger from me. Oh yeah, I also crunched down on a BB. I wonder if that's good luck or something? Fortunately, I still have all my teeth.

Anyway, I spent this weekend going from bike store to bike store, looking at bikes. What a pain in the behind that is. I've been to twelve stores so far and have yet to actually try a bike, though I'm going to a store tomorrow over lunch that, hopefully, has something that I want! I've had my current bike for 3 1/2 years. In that time I've broken three frames, and have replaced every single part on that bike (save for the cranks, the handlebars and the front derailleur) numerous times. The bike has just attracted bad luck. The latest thing to go wrong, and the final straw, came after I took my bike in b/c the back wheel was going all wonky. Turned out it had cracked in numerous places, which it shouldn't have done, given that it was less than a year old. So, the bike store said they would replace it under warranty. So far so good. However, the one they were supposed to get was back ordered until October, so they got something "just as good". Yeah. I pick up my bike, hoping to not be back there for a while (I am there very frequently), and two miles from the store, there is an almighty bang and my back tire blows right off the rim. Well, as it turns out, in red letters on the side of the rim, it says that the maximum pressure is 60psi. My tires are 120psi. Houston, we have a problem. I didn't read the rim when I left the bike store, as one assumes that they notice these sorts of things. That's it. It is time for a new bike - time to hit the fall sales and quit pouring money into this bike! They are going to be oh so pleased to see me again in the morning.

Last weekend, David and I went off to Brussels for the weekend, both to get out of London, and to see my friend Alex. We got up at the crap of dawn on Saturday (515) to get the train over there, and spent the next two days wandering about. Got back on the Sunday night. It was a nice time, and Brussels is actually a very interesting, and very beautiful city, but OMG I was so tired the whole thing seems a little bit like a blur, and I spent the entire time totally and completely lost. Ah, the stuff that memories are made of (or not, as it might be). And - the Sunday we were there was "car-free Sunday". In the entire city of Brussels (which is not a small city), the only motor powered vehicles allowed were busses, emergency vehicles, taxis and certain cars with permits. It was great! (Only happens once per year, apparently). I wish they would do that here, but my God, the police they would need to get that to work in London!

Pics tomorrow - it's too late now and I have to go make my lunch for tomorrow!

Yeah, I'm afraid it's autumn...

The trees have that sort of end of summer strained look - like they really aren't entirely sure what to do - perhaps they've stayed around at the party too long? It's getting noticeably darker every day (this happens very quickly at 52 degrees north), the nights are getting a bit nippy and the quality of light is changing. Winter light here is very, well, very high in contrast, as the sun is so low, and there seems to be a particular sun angle where this suddenly starts to happen - it no longer looks summery. This is just now starting to happen. It's easy to forget that while it never actually gets very cold here (as attested to by the numerous palms and eucalyptus), winter is, actually, pretty long - just about as long as Minnesota. David came downstairs a few minutes ago in his big fluffy bathrobe and socks and said it might be time to think about getting a better thermostat, as it's just about time to put the radiators on. Sigh. Funny thing - the work radiators, as with, it seems, most of the official buildings, are turned on on a particular date, regardless of the weather. The result of this is that there are many days where the radiators are on, the air conditioners are on and the windows are open. Now that's government efficiency for you!

David's birthday was on the 11th - we went for pub dinner, which was very nice. We all managed to entirely avoid all the 911 festivities. While I would agree that is good and proper to have some sort of memorial service, I find just about every single that has happened as a result of that awful day entirely revolting and didn't want any part in any official hoopla. Anyway - deep breath...

Not much else exciting. Gotta get my rear wheel re-trued - it's getting all wonky again - like so many other things having to do with my rear. ;-)



The view of London this evening...

Dolly Rocks

Thirty years ago, in the back seat of the carpool car, on the way to third grade, I first heard "9 to 5". I had absolutely no idea what the song was about (in the same way that I thought "Let's get Physical" was about PE class). Not too sure why that song stuck so much, but it's always been one of my absolute favorite songs. I used to wake David up with the song in the morning (as loud as I could play it, of course), and, over the years, I've pretty much never heard a Dolly Parton song I didn't like. Last year, David and went to Dollywood, which, I have to say, was fabulous.

So, Thursday night we all finally went to a Dolly concert - my first ever. In fact, it was only the second concert of any sort I've ever been to. That woman - 65 years old - really knows how to put on a show. Not only can she get out there and belt it out, but my God, is there an instrument she can't play? Piano, dulcimer, harp, saxaphone, recorder, harmonica, guitar and banjo. We sat way up in the nosebleed section of the O2 Arena (the former Millenium Dome) - not even the cheap section either - $135 each, approximately, and we shared binoculars (though there were very large screens to watch as well). Anyway - yeah - I very much recommend a Dolly concert.

The funny thing is here, where there isn't really any sort of cowboy culture, I had no idea what to expect in the audience. I was not disappointed by the number of gay men - lots and lots and lots of them. It was mostly middle aged, slightly frumpy women though. Lots of married couples, lots of oldies. Not so many kids. And wow - talk about a good place to play "Spot the Ethnic Minority" - you've never seen such a bunch of white folks gathered in such a multi-ethnic city! Oh yeah - lots of pink and white fluffy cowboy hats, a few people in full-on Dolly outfits, and one guy in bad Dolly drag, singing "Jolene" in the Tube stop. It was fantastic.



Even lusher - it's amazing what spreading a bunch of chicken shit on flowers will do!



The view from Box Hill, about 25 miles south of London.



The O2 - where we saw Dolly.



Development along the Thames.



Yes, really - Dolly Parton is down there in all that light. I'm sure her aura overwhelmed my lens... ;-)



A bit of the Dolly crowd, after the concert...

Sunday Sunday!

So, Robin and David are blobbed out in front of the TV, watching French rugby. Now, I can understand watching rugby from purely aesthetic purposes - any sport where beefy men run around and grab each other's heinies is just fine with me (though, to be honest, I have no ideas about the rules, save for having to pass backwards, which is why they run while looking backwards, which I would find very difficult). Anyway though, Robin is actually cheering them on, getting involved in the sport. Eh? Was ist das feigned heterosexuality? I'm shocked and appalled, and not sure such filth should be allowed in this house.

Anyway, it's grey and shitty out today, which has inspired a lot of lethargy and inaction.

BTW, the French announcer keeps saying 'touche', which I find very funny.

So, I didn't get the job - 'lack of experience' - which is kind of funny, given that I thought the whole point of this job was to offer someone experience. I think it may have more to do with me arguing with members of this person's team, way back when he had a different role, but I can never prove that. So yeah, I'm disappointed and upset, but I've been working on a plan to really increase my GIS skills over the next short while, which I think might be more in my interest.

Went for a nice 61 mile bike ride yesterday - big loop. I find few things as therapeutic as a nice bike ride. Neither David nor Robin really understand that, which is fine - I'm more than happy to be out peddling my ass around on my own. (Hmm).

Funny things I've seen in the past two days:

1. Kid riding his bike through heavy London traffic while sitting backwards on the seat. (That is both very clver and very stupid - I certainly couldn't do it though).
2. Guy yesterday, clad in white lycra (eek!), roped onto two car tires, which he was pulling up a hill behind him. Either I was witnessing some sort of fun new religious rite, or he's a cross country skier. Note to self not to do that though.

Right - I've had enough 'touche' for the moment - think it's time to go shower and get on with my day. Yippy skippy!

Put on my purple suede shoes?

Well, I had my interview today. I managed not to pee on anyone’s shoes or shout loud obscenities, so I suppose that’s pretty good. Local government interviews are always long. First there was an hour long ‘technical test’, which was mostly about how much I could regurgitate from PRINCE2 or ITIL, with a few random techie questions thrown in just for fun. I was then given a presentation topic and an hour to prepare. Topic was about project managing an IT systems change in the Environmental Health department. I got to write stuff up on large pieces of paper with permanent markers. After an hour of doing that in a small, poorly ventilated room, I’m very surprised I had any brain cells left. Finally – presentation and fifty minutes of being grilled by two people. At least it wasn’t a panel interview, nor did the process take the entire day like the last time I did this. Apparently, it’s between me and one other person – I think we are both probably about equally qualified to do it, so we’ll see. Should know tomorrow. And despite my generally grumpy comments yesterday about not being interested, I am actually interested – I like studying processes behind things, and think I could probably apply that to an organization, as well as the natural environment. Plus, it would be an experience.

I actually had a new version last night of my barefoot dream (usually involving running around in a city with no shoes, and trying to get somewhere entirely random on public transport). Last night someone offered me a pair of purply/brown, suede Nikes (don’t question – it’s my dream). I asked them if they were actually running shoes, and they said that yes, they were. I decided that I would accept them, even though they looked odd, as I could see how they would get me to where I was going. Maybe that was prophetic? I suppose I’ll see!

I'm pretty sure summer happened on Thursday, about 6:45pm

Yeah, so, it's the last day of August and it's grey and yicky out. Apparently, the UK just had the coldest summer in 18 years, after the warmest spring since the dawn of time. I read a Guardian article recently that said that people would take a lot more notice of climate change if it were called "global weirding" rather than "global warming", people would take a lot more notice. Unless Jesus got involved, in which case the conversation would drop to the intellectual level of puppies, but that's another story.

Anyway.

Much hand wringing has occurred since the riots. There are still some windows boarded up here and there, and the occasional burned out building, but does it really feel like anything profound has changed? No, not really. For about a week there was a lot more police presence (though it never felt overbearing, as I imagine it would in the USA), and we saw things like Welsh police around here "Heddlu", I think they are called. They throw sheep at you if you misbehave or something.

Robin just walked up and said he would like me to say that he just got invited to an "exclusive" sex club. I've never gotten invited to an exclusive sex club. I'm terribly jealous now and hope that he gets crabs. Big hairy ones.

So yeah, police - I suppose there are some more of them about, but it really does almost feel like nothing happened, which, in a way, kind of reinforces the general feeling that the riots, while they may have, at their origin, been about something, were really, mostly, just about getting stuff. Not much different than mugging at the street corner really. An opportunity was had. Interestingly, Hackney made a real effort to clean things up, very quickly. Walworth Road, down closer to where we live, not so much. Still lots of boarded up windows. There was one area, outside of London, where the riots were described as causing "£10 million in improvements". Kind of amusing. One other things that I found interesting, and that was actually reported fairly well, is that while the initial impression of rioters, in London, was that they were predominantly black, this changed as they moved outside, as they moved north. The northern riots were mostly white, which is, not so surprisingly, very much a reflection of the ethnic makeup of the lower classes in these areas.

Right - so, tomorrow I have an interview for the business analyst position, which would initially be for six months. Truth be told, I'm not all that hugely thrilled about the whole thing, mostly because I really couldn't give a rat crap about business processes or project management, but it would pay a lot more and would give me more time to look for something I really wanted. What I really want is to climb volcanoes or model climate or do something that involves science, and not bureaucracy and people and local governmental bullshit, but I think I kind of missed that bus.

Funny enough, I finally, after all these years, came up with a degree idea that actually has to do with geography and local governmental bullshit - did I mention this before? Can't remember and I'm too lazy to check. Anyway, it has occurred to me that it would be really interesting to look at how the overly bureaucratic and now-focussed culture of local government is reflected in the built environment in this country (as local government is, generally speaking, responsible for planning decisions). I ran this idea past work, as they do sometimes pay for degrees and as I think it is kind of theoretically important and unexplored, and as if to prove my point, they said no, because they don't see any way it can directly relate to my job. Yeah. I need out of local government, but I'm just not sure how. That is the current plan. Somehow.

Oh, funny story - I went to a friend's moving-out party the other night. I show up in shorts and t-shirt on my bike, and discover that the part is very "A-Gay" (fashionable and pretty). So - already feeling a little bit like a dork. Then this white cat wanders into the flat. My friend had never seen the cat before, and, this being a room full of gay men, no one seemed to know what to do with this wandering pussy. So, being the hero, I walked over to the cat, bent over and scooped it up. Surprisingly, the cat was fine about being picked up. My shorts, however, were not. The button, which was on its last legs anyway, gave up, popped off, and flew across the room, and my shorts nearly ended up around my ankles. Yeah - definitely looking really cool. Fortunately, my shorts, being A&F, had an internal draw-string. Still though, if the ground could have opened up and swallowed me...

House - the house is looking even more houselike. We're finally replacing the god-awful bare bulbs the previous owners left hanging from the ceiling. We got a dining table and some really cool green chairs. And the back yard actually looks not bad. We had a bbq on Sunday - big success - first time we trashed the kitchen! Yay!



Apparently that's Mexico's national car or something... ;-)



Robin smoking a ciggie in the rain. How butch.



Our front hedge reminds me of "The Thing", with its little whip tendrils all over...



A field of poppies.



View from the North Downs.



It's a purple tree!



My bday - milk in champagne flutes. How fabulous! (And yes, Robin does actually occasionally wear a shirt...)



The Shard - ever higher, ever uglier!



Justin...



Justin and Luke



Yeah, that's not tacky at all!



David launches Sputnik in the kitchen...



Our new front light.



Sputnik again, or the stair light.



A very helpful street sign!



Back yard - looking lush!



Marigolds in place of ivy...



Rainbow on Thames

London Burning

Oh what a mess. We are witnessing the underclass rebellion, and what do they want? Hoodies and big screen TVs! Things seem a bit quieter in London tonight - possibly because there are 16000 police on the streets (instead of 6000 last night), as well as groups of vigilantes, just waiting for a fight. Funny thing is, in central London, you could be almost forgiven for thinking that there was nothing going on. There are still mobs of tourists roving about, the shows are still on, nothing seems amiss. Not so true if you head out of the center just a bit. The list of areas hit in London reads pretty much like a list of London's black neighborhoods. We were evacuated from work yesterday at about 430 because hooded youth (mostly black) had already started throwing bricks at the already assembled riot cops (mostly white). The official story is that it all started with a stop and search, when the kid refused, but that's bullshit. Stores were closing up at lunchtime because everyone knew something was going to kick off, and there were already riot cops in front of Town Hall. All the little shits needed was an excuse to start throwing things. And they threw, and they looted, and they burned. I didn't go into work today, and those that did were told to leave about 12, because more trouble was expected. To Hackney's credit though, there was an army of people out this morning with brooms - mostly, and I hate to point this out, white. Anyway, there have been riots all over the city, the nearest about a mile from where we live. There were about 30 youths chased into the local train station last night, and a group of hooded, gloved (black) young men congregating outside our house late last night, off to, I would imagine, not a piano recital. It's really been quite terrifying, and we all made sure to be home and inside tonight before dark. They looted the main shopping street heading north from here last night, and there were several huge fires started overnight around the city. Most of the violence has been against businesses, but there have been a number of houses broken into, diners in restaurants attacked, cyclists attacked, pretty much anyone in the wrong area at the wrong time attacked. Tonight the worst of it seems to have shifted out of London - kind of expected, since all the cops in the country are here. Interestingly, in London, for the most part, they targeted the shopping streets in shitty areas (because they were nearby and convenient, I suppose). Tonight, in the other cities, they are targeting the city center shopping areas, with all the big department stores. The police have said they may start using rubber bullets (which they have never done in England, though it is a regular occurrence in Northern Ireland). They have, at the moment, ruled out water cannons, tear gas or the army, but those are all under discussion. What I find really shocking about this is not so much that it has happened - the UK has a mean underclass, many of whom have never worked, and families who have been on welfare for generations. What is shocking to me is how sudden and widespread it has become - but then, I suppose that is part of the power of social media. They were just waiting for an excuse, and the police shooting in Tottenham was what they wanted. I wonder why it was that one, rather than any one of a number of other police fuckups? I really wonder what is going to be the outcome of this? I suppose the US has been having all the flashmobs lately, and Paris had huge riots a number of years ago. This country doesn't have a curfew, but that is one of the options they are discussing at the moment. I do think it's going to lead to some pretty overly agressive policing in the future (Northern Ireland?), as well as really piss poor race relations for a while, and I think it's going to finally end Britain's experiment in multiculturalism (which has been fizzling lately anyway). Unlike the US or Europe or pretty much anywhere else, the UK, I suppose because it is divided up into various little internal countries that dislike each other, has never been really big on pushing what it is to be British - insisting instead on a multicultural mosaic where everything is as good as everything else. The result of that is that it's a tiny little crowded country with many groups of people that have absolutely dipshit to do with each other, and no overriding sense of cohesiveness. That and the fact that you could get lifetime welfare and a place to live simply by being able to breathe independently and pop out babies has left the country with a pretty astounding number of people who do absolutely nothing except hang out. Hackney is one of the worst places for that - I think something like 30% of the housing is owned by the council, and it ain't nice. Anyway, the vast majority of London remains here and in one piece, but OMG I've never experienced anything like what's been going on here the last few days! Our cleaner (yes, we have a cleaner), who is from Albania, said the last time she saw anything like this was in 1997 in Albania, and Der Spiegel just ran an article comparing London with Mogadishu. Fab.