Okay, okay – so I haven’t updated people in a while to prove I’m still alive. Well, I’ve been meaning to – but I get to work, and it’s ridiculously busy. Then I get home, and I don’t have anything to say.
But – I’ll give it a go. Work – busy. Very busy, with all sorts of things I should really finish very soon – but can’t for various reasons.
Social life – not so busy. Had a good couple of weekends over the last two weekends though. Had Mike&Skye and Pen around for a roast lunch a few weekends back. That was all good – roast lamb, and lots of wine. Then the next night – I went to my chosen local – for what was supposed to be it’s last night open. Sunday night – they usually have a group of people who come in for a ‘jam’ – live music, generally irish-oriented. That kept going, and going – and then the doors were locked. My first shut-in in Britain – hurrah. Ended up with myself, the bar owner, and bar maid – at about 6am. Well – it might have been later, but the last thing I remember was me realising it was 6, and trying to convince them that I should go home, as I had work in a few hours – and them trying to convince me that I might as well call in sick at this stage. The next thing I remember was waking up at about noon -going into a panic, and rushing to work. Realising on the way that I’m still drunk (who’d have thought?) – and that I should really turn around and go home. But, alas – I seem to have locked myself out. Went to work, managed to not do anything stupid – but left early. I had work to do that night as well – so I didn’t feel that guilty. (Considering I’d worked a little on Saturday, and then ended up working until 1 & 2am over the next two nights – no guilt at all.) Got back home, via the pub (turns out it’s staying open after all) – discovering that I had my keys in my pocket the entire time. The same pocket I always put them. Very confusing.
And then – a week recovering. The recovery not being helped by the late nights doing work, of course.
And then the weekend again. A fairly quiet one this time. Peruvian for Saturday lunch, and a movie on Sunday. And back into the working week.
And then the weekend again. Toast NZ – a one day event which was billed as NZ food, wine, music, etc. And it tried – I guess. Ate some Burger Rings – which was pretty sweet. But all the main meals – pies, mussels, etc – were sourced locally, but being sold as ‘typical NZ food’. Plenty of NZ wine though. And some beer – Speights, Mac’s Gold, & Monteiths. And then – the music, including OpShop, and Supergroove – completed with Che Fu. This, of course, was what we’d been waiting for. But then it turns out the acoustics were absolutely crap, and it just sounded like a wall of sound. A pity.
Then – I returned to my local for a couple of beers on the way home. Ran into some english guy who not only had heard of Flying Nun – but could recite nearly all the bands/people involved. Very strange. He was a huge nerd though. All this occurred during another shut-in – after which I was the last to leave, letting the barman know that I’d work for free anytime he wanted – if it’d help the bar out. Not sure how seriously he took me, as I’d had a rather long day by that point.
Long enough to sleep in until 3pm on Sunday – before heading to a cafe/bar for some Bloody Marys and roast lamb. I think I saw some staff do a double-take when I walked in – I mustn’t have looked too healthy. A little more recovery time – and then down to the local for a quick one or two before an early night. Finally felt like I had become a regular – as one of the other regulars pulled a bottle out from behind the bar – and gave me a couple of shots of some terrible Lithuanian liquor. And – chatted with the old chap who usually sits and drinks in the park. I wasn’t up to another big night though – the shots made sure of that – and I returned home to get a decent amount of sleep to be productive(-ish) on Monday.
And so here we are. In what is threatening very much to become an English winter. We turned on the central heating in the flat yesterday. I foresee future updates starting with what temperature it was when I left the house this morning.