So tired. Worked yesterday and today. Yesterday I didn't get up early (again) to run, so instead on went on my lunch break cause the office has showers (and a wee little gym that I used today too). It was the first time I have ever ran that part of the Thames path. It was misting with rain, (or as they say here, "spitting") so I got completely soaked, but the views along the Southbank were great and the temperature was mild. I went from London Bridge to just past Westminster and back. Ran past all the touristy spots: the eye, Houses of Parliament, and Big Ben which looked picture perfect set against the grey skies and mist. I will have to do that again next week. Its even worth dodging the tourist traffic, although I suppose if it wasn’t raining there might have been more people about.
Nothing else exciting happening. Last week went on my usual long bike ride, this time a three-hour cruise along the Grand Canal path. I did most of the Paddington stretch and was surprised to find the canal being used quite a lot by barges. Most of these colourful boats were being piloted by hearty looking people in woolly hats. They also all seemed to have a large dog on board, watching the scenery as they floated slowly down the waterway. I was confounded by the stretch of the canal which went OVER a 6-lane motorway. Madness. (Its called the north circular aqueduct, and I didn’t take any photos, but he did). I took the train out to where I could get to the start of the path, and learned yet another hilarious silly British town name. The station announcement called the next train with stops at various locales, including "Old Haw," which in-and-of-itself is a bit silly. BUT. I heard it first before I read it on the platform info sign. Pronounced with an English accent it sounds exactly like "Old Whore." I had to go over and read the platform sign to see if I was hearing it right. I was a bit disappointed to find out it was only "Old Haw." Won't be going there anytime soon. Although who knows, I'm sure it’s a charming place.
Also, two days using a PC and I'm completely flummoxed by my mac keyboard. Keep doing the wrong shortcuts. grrr.
Posted by shannon at 10:45 PM | Permalink
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I guess my gym is doing well financially. Yesterday one of the corners was with blocked off and stacked with boxes and some new equipment. At a glance it looked possibly like Pilates Reformers machines, but I didn’t spend much time thinking about it. Today all the machines were assembled. There must have been at least 10 or 12 of them. The fitness staff was having some kind of training session, I only overheard a bit of it as I was stretching. Turns out the machines are something called a "Gravity Training System". According to their web site ours in the only gym in the country to have them. Upon reading their web site I am a bit dubious, since most of it goes on about the benefits to a clubs bottom line, doesn’t say anything about any health features of the product. But the more that I look at it it does look kinda fun. I'm sure they will be charging extra for the classes, or schedule them at peak times when I can't attend. Maybe I will fork out some cash for personal training just so I can have a go on one.
In other news if for some reason you forget to bring a clean pair of panties with you to the gym, and you have literally just sweat your butt off on the lifecycle? My advice would be to take your pants into the shower with you. Then wash them with some shampoo, throw them in the bathing suit wringer and dry them out with the hairdryer. All the while humming softly to yourself as if it was routine and you always clean your pants this way. That is, if such a thing should ever happen to you. It would never, ever happen to me! How embarrassing that would be, holding your underwear up in front of a hairdryer. No one would see you anyway because they are all changing in the private little cubicles.
Posted by shannon at 10:22 PM | Permalink
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This post is a bit long. If you want to know in detail what I do with my Sunday mornings (or in this case, most of my Sunday) read on.
Yesterday was fun, if a bit mad. I left the house for my usual Sunday leisurely bike ride planning on being out a few hours, and I ended up being out all day. I was hoping to see the sun as I haven't seen it in days, but I was out all during daylight hours and it never showed its face. (I have yet to see it today either). Instead I got rained on halfway through my journey.
The morning started out simple enough:
I get up early, as usual not as early as I would like, but since there is no sun to guide me it is hard to determine when to get up. I didn't take my lights because I just assumed it would get brighter out, and anyway I would be back before dark. The air isn't very cold, but the wind feels chilly making my eyes water. Thankfully the streets are empty so I'm not too worried about crashing due to my teary eyes.
I see people delivering the papers: some by bike, others by shopping cart (ah the charms of urban life). There is a stillness in the air that only happens early on Sundays. As I pass near the waterfront developments I look up at three high cranes hovering above me ahead. It seems as if they are swaying in the breeze, yet I know they are completely still. When I get to Putney Embankment I pass the large Thai Restaurant on the corner. A man dressed in black from head to toe is whacking large blocks of ice with a shovel out on the pavement. The blocks are in the early stages of two ice sculptures, perhaps shaped as fish or mermaids. The man looks like a Ninja pretending to be a sculptor, kind of like John Belushi's samurai on SNL.
When I get to the café I have a coffee and waste an hour reading the Observer.
I don’t know why, but I find that I need these pointless, aimless rides on Sundays. It relaxes my body and energizes my brain for the week ahead. Its like a brain wash, rolling along muddy paths just looking at the scenery. If I miss my weekly ride I'm not as happy until I get to do it again. I take a photo of my bike, the little invention that gives me the opportunity to escape for a few hours once a week.
My beloved relaxation machine
I resolve to go a new route this time from here. Instead of going to Richmond I will go over Kew Bridge and follow a bike path that goes along some kind of waterway, looks like a creek from the map. The sky is still dark but its not raining. I peddle around the Stag (Budweiser) Brewery. It is a huge hulking low slung factory, and from somewhere inside it belches loudly as I pass. The building makes me imagine Laverne and Shirley working in there. It is a stark contrast to the other brewery I passed earlier: Ram's (Young's) Brewery in Wandsworth. That place has a bit of history to it. It’s the oldest site in Britain on which beer has been brewed continuously, since 1581. It takes up one small block in the town centre and it is a fraction of the size of the sprawling Bud plant. I pass a cute Young's pub as I rejoin the river path. There are still rowers on the river and I go by pink and orange stone cottages before crossing Kew Bridge and into new territory.
I make a wrong turn and end up on a dead end industrial estate, with rotting warehouses and piles of tyres before I find the path. Turns out the path going along the Grand Union Canal, one of Britain's historic canal routes, which runs 137 miles to Birmingham! It even has side routes to other towns. It is part of the longest single canal in Britain.
Another day at the office, another chance to stare at the bright orange thingy pooping out front?
After passing a few ugly corporate buildings complete with ugly corporate art, I feel like I'm in another world. Although very close to the motorway at times, the path along the canal is very quiet and green. Completely paved too, which is great when you're on a bike. As I got farther along I kept encountering locks, at one point where the path got steep there must have been 10 in a row. It was all very quaint and picturesque so of course I started snapping pictures and spent way too much time there. Once I get going I'm afraid I get a bit obsessive with the snapping. I'm not used to the new camera settings either, so I spent some time playing around with some of those. The new camera is a joy to hold and use. Looking through a view finder instead of at a LCD screen feels much more natural. There is also a very satisfying click as the shudder releases (although why they also add an electronic sound to verify this is beyond me).
Gallows Bridge
When I get to the top of a hill at a lock called the "Norwood Top Lock", I stop because its where my map ends. Also I was hungry, so I take out a little snack and think about the journey back as it starts to drizzle. By the time I'm done eating my little slice of cake (Nigella's dense chocolate loaf cake, btw, yum!) it's raining much harder. Well, so much for taking more photos. I decide to go back along the path and then through Syon park to Richmond where I can take the train most of the way home. That was a mistake. Never rely on the train unless you check ahead of time! I rode and rode getting wetter and wetter. It wasn't too cold, which was good. By the time I got to Richmond almost 45 minutes later I was cold, tired and hungry. I stopped at a café and had some scrambled eggs on toast while I put my mittens and hat and jacket on the radiator to dry out. Tested out my camera more, hence the egg photo.
Lunch!
I left there thinking I could get the train, so I stopped into a few shops looking at shoes and handbags. As I got to the station I saw a large run-down looking bus parked outside. Bad news. I walked up to one of the Southwest Railway staff and asked if they were running a replacement service to Waterloo (my direction). He took one look at my bike and said, yeah, but you can't take THAT on THERE (titling his head at the bus). Such friendly service! Thanks Southwest!
I grumpily decided I needed a latte to help me make it home and went into the Starbucks across the road. Their toilet was broken and since I really needed to go I decided to skip the coffee, hit the head in the train station and just ride on. I rode back, the rain not stopping, the wind not letting up. I wasn't that tired but considering I had been mostly riding or walking around since 8:30am (it was now 3pm) I really just wanted to stretch my legs out on a nice sofa. I went slower than usual the last leg of the journey, worried about cars hitting me, as it was now getting dark. I did stop at another Starbucks closer to home and got a tiny latte as a reward and also to get out of the rain for a few minutes. When I got home it was 4PM.
I drew a hot bath and thawed myself out. Ahhhhh. Completely reborn. Ready to explore again next week. Now I have a buncha photos to edit.
Posted by shannon at 03:45 PM | Permalink
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This morning I planned on getting up super early to go running before work, but when the alarm went off it still felt like the middle of the night, so I skipped it for an extra hour of sleep. Was so worried about getting there on time forgot to bring my made-the-night-before lunch with me. Spent all day typing and clicking, checking and rechecking. Changed into my cozy bike pants and rode home. Even though it was cold, dark and raining when I got home, I went for my run after I walked the dogs. (Hey, it was cold, dark and raining in the morning anyway.) I forgot what it felt like to sit on my ass all day in front of a computer screen, and the run felt really nice.
Won't have any time to go to the gym tomorrow since I have to work all day and my membership is only during non-peak hours. Don't really mind because yesterday it was packed with tons of people I've never seen before. I tried once to upgrade to a full time membership, but I learned that my gym is really quite busy during peak times and I don't enjoy it. If I was ever going to shell out more cash it would have to be for a posh place with less members. As it is I feel like I am going to a small place because I usually only see the same five people when I'm there.
Need to get going on my samples. I am really stressing over the logo. After trying to get someone else's help I decided just to do it all myself but its not really my thing. My goal for the end of the week is to have some samples I can bring around starting next week. Don't have to work next week so it is the best time. Baking and label making. woo.
Posted by shannon at 10:10 PM | Permalink
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Didn't go out for new years eve again, just stayed in sipping Veuve Clicquot Yellow Label and watching Jool's Hootenanny. That is some damn fine champagne. Not too many fireworks going off in the neighbourhood. When I took the dogs out early in the evening I did see plenty of people wandering the streets drinking beer or alchy-pops. It still bothers me for some reason, people drinking on the street. Really I could care less, but when you are raised with a law being a certain way it can really get jammed into some deep place in your brain. Like I am thinking, sheesh! at least put it in a paper bag for heavens sake.
Even though I don't celebrate Christmas, it kind of feels like it a bit. It turned out that the temp agency didn’t overpay me like I thought, but rather they were giving me my tax refund. (Taxes are different here, most people don't have to file them, it gets done automatically.) So after I paid off my Visa bill I rang it up again by getting a super rad digital SLR camera. It was on a rebate deal so I had to get it before the end of the year. Hopefully now I can take daylight outdoor shots and not have a burnt-out sky. Yay filters! I also got a new winter coat. Its a super long white down coat from Uniqlo, very cheap (only 9,990 yen! Sorry, they only had that coat on the Japanese site). Cheap meaning its not good quality down, but it was the longest coat I could find that was thicker than 2 millimetres. The coat will be good for when I am riding around on the scooter, cause it covers the tops of my legs. And I love white in winter. Everything is so dark and dreary, you need some kind of a lift. Yeah, white will get dirty but whatever, that’s what dry cleaning is for. Also I would be surprised if this coat lasted more than 2 seasons.
Made up a batch of Misha treats yesterday and did a few test shots with the new toy. I think the aspect ratio is slightly wider than my old camera.
hearts for my sweetie.
Blurry snap of Misha in her natural environment, her easy chair.
According to the Chinese calendar, the new year starts on the second new moon after the winter solstice, which would be 29 January this year. And 2006 is the year of the Dog! Yes, this is the right time for starting my business.
My only New Years resolution is to listen to more of the Asian Network and rent some DVDS from the local Blockbuster in Tooting. I am diggin the Bollywood tunes.
Posted by shannon at 07:32 PM | Permalink
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