new gear

Yesterday was a fun day. Bill surprised me on Saturday by buying a motorcycle! He got his full motorcycle licence a few weeks ago, so I knew he wanted a real bike. A new cycle means a few things. One, is that I can start driving bill's C-1 if I want to. (First I need a lesson and a provisional cycle licence, which means I will be riding around London with a big red "L" on my bike. No, the "L" doesn?t stand for "Loser", although it certainly feels that way, it stands for "Learner"). Another thing is that it means I can ride around as a passenger. Although the C-1 has passenger space, Bill couldn't drive with one until he got his full licence. And also I think I would feel like a real dork riding on the back of that thing, since its not like a regular scooter.

bill on his new ride

So, yesterday we went to a bike shop and I got a bike helmet. It felt a bit strange, I never ever saw myself as being the kind of person who would need a motorcycle helmet, even if it was just to ride as a passenger. Then, after purchasing the only legal protection needed, I jumped on the back of his bike and we took off into central London. It was a bit scary at first but it was so much fun! Leaning into turns (of which there are plenty of, I think the English prefer roundabouts to actual right angles), actually being able to see the sights at street-level (usually on the bus I sit up top, which gives you a great view, but it?s a bit detached from the street), hanging on to bill for dear life when he pushes it up to 50, all thrilling! Its weird the person London is turning me into. I'm glad that we have a form of transportation that makes it possible for us to go places together at least. We just need to work on something so that we can take the dog along too.

me and bill (and his new phone, which I used for these photos) on the bike. We look like a bunch of astronauts with our silver helmets.

We went downtown (am I right in calling it that? I know technically its "central London", but old habits die hard) to get new eye glasses. And I couldn't make up my mind, so I ended up getting two pair. Which one do you like best? Bill said that one pair made me look like the old lady in the Farside cartoons. Bah!

I can see again! yay!

these?

or these?

I still haven't heard if I got a second interview for that job I was talking about last week. I won't know for another few days. This weekend was really slow trying to sell mobiles. The holidays were bad for business I guess.

This nice American woman who walks her greyhound in the park every morning is moving away. I am kind of sad because she seemed really cool and I wish I had gotten to know her better. I guess I just figured she would always be around. I also saw a sign that said they were trying to close down the children's zoo. I don't know how I feel about that. I know I will miss the monkeys.