All antipodeans become insomniacs when they first arrive in London. For most, it gets better after a few days when their jet-lag subsides. But not for me. I couldn’t sleep for a whole other reason. I would rather sleep outside than spend another night on the bony sack of nails our incompetent landlord had the […]
Read more "Life Lesson #27 – One Man’s Trash…"Yesterday I got the bargain of the century. Our room is sorely lacking furniture, and everything is so expensive that I’ve been putting my stuff on the floor beside my bed every night rather than pay £20 for a set of dusty plastic drawers from the variety store to use as a bedside table. I […]
Read more "Life Lesson #26 – Don’t Take Furniture on the Tube"I woke up this morning covered in bites. There are at least 20, all over my body. They’re bigger and itchier than mozzie bites… the closest thing I can compare it to is 20 bee-stings. I’ve had chicken pox before, and I’m pretty sure they’re just bites because I don’t feel unwell. So, I’m just incredibly […]
Read more "Life Lesson #25 – Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite"Today, at 3:00am, I snuck through three locked doors into an enormous dorm in a Spanish hostel without checking in, picked an empty bed, and slept there. It all started when we forgot to check which gate our Ryanair flight to Madrid was leaving from. At most airports you’d be fine, but at Stansted they […]
Read more "Life Lesson #24 – Life is Like a Box of Dominos"Today I learned that Mayday is more than just a maritime distress signal. Turns out it’s quite important to the Swedes, they hold enormous public parades, and it’s a bonafide holiday so they even close half the city down for it. Including the museums, art galleries and markets. No prizes for guessing what we were […]
Read more "Life Lesson #23 – Mayday, May Day"Did you see me on the telly today? I’m sure you must have… I was standing right here: …in front of these people: …near this guy: …just behind this big brick thing: Didn’t see me? That’s a shame. We had an excellent view through that little gap in the archway you can see in the photo […]
Read more "Life Lesson #22 – Sometimes a Glimpse is Enough"Today I learned that Alzheimer’s can come on early. At the Lakes, most people stay in Windermere. We didn’t, we stayed in Barrow. It’s about as exciting as the name sounds (nearly as good as Palmerston North!), and well over an hour away from Windermere. Which basically means staying there cost us two and a […]
Read more "Life Lesson #21 – Not an Asset to the Abbey"