interj
used to express a wish for somebody to have a pleasurable experience

Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

After many hours in many optometrists shops, I finally decided on a pair. The thing about glasses is just that, well, i hate them. So all pairs are going to look bad. I think I got ones I could live with at least. I would have sent this to flickr with the rest of the specs photos, but I used up my free montly bandwith by being a bit stupid. I refuse to pay for more bandwith when I am already paying for it here.

I have been so busy with work and my business. I am also planning a trip to see my family and a few friends back in the states next month, which I am looking forward to. It is so nice and warm and sunny out today, but I think I need to stay home and organise/houseclean. The busier you are the more laundry gets neglected :(

This ad is for one of the very new, shiny high rise development pods going up along Wandsworth's swath of lovely river side. At first I thought the large billboard image was slightly funny, trying to be hip with some obvious stock photo. But I pass that way a lot, and the more I looked at it, the more I saw it as the perfect image for what it is selling. It’s a dolled-up slut of a showgirl building taking a dump all over everyone else's river view. All the resident's get to enjoy the fresh breeze along the waterway while everyone else can't even jog along it. Grrr.

Its nice to have a steady job and yet not be here every day of the week. I get out of the house and see the same people and the same places, but its not a grind. I think that makes it more pleasurable. I can stop and look around, enjoy a deserved lunch out, even enjoy the hours spent working on a mindless task, the office banter, the instant coffee.

Last week I walked a bit further away from the office so I could have a nice view at lunch. I went to the EAT. chain coffee shop, and I was a little freaked out by the man behind the counter. He seemed very familiar to me and it took a second to realize he was the same guy that worked at EAT. on Canary Wharf back when I used to work out there. Either that or he has a twin brother. It kind of confused me for a second because it felt exactly the same—having a break at work, being served by the same guy—and yet the rest of my life now feels completely different.

I felt transported back to last year where I was in that cafe almost every day. I remembered looking forward to and dreading those breaks at the same time. I would be alone, eating my lunch at the odd hour of 10AM if I was on an early shift, staring at the video displays in Toni & Guy across the way, watching the sleepy masses of smartly dressed workers or bored shoppers trudge across the faux marble tiles. My life is so different now. I can take a break pretty much when I like. I can sit and watch the boats on the Thames, enjoy the fresh air and views of the City and St.Paul’s. Its amazing the little things we take for granted. I wonder about the guy working in the café. Is he better off? Did he get a promotion? Even if it was just a relocation, its surely better than working in the Wharf’s basement all day. I know I surely feel better off, not having to ride out there anymore.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

So after I got this loan, my agency managed to get me an interview for a long term temp position. And I got the job because its mostly an online company and I have bags of experience in that area. (I'm pretty much completed overqualified for the job, but its only temp.) I am really happy about this position because I love what they are about (health consultancy) and the people there all seem super nice and the location is awesome (easy to get to by tube, easy scooter parking, awesome lunch & coffee places). The job itself is a bit simplistic, but in a way that’s nice because I won't be draining my brain, I need it for other stuff! Besides its only 2-3 days a week. Oh, and even the pay is good.

Some say good things come in threes? Well while waiting for the third thing I got a flat on my scooter on my way to the first day of my new job. At least I broke down next to a tube station. I still got to work on time. (Way to go Northern Line!) And speaking of the underground, I saw a big billboard yesterday saying that Nat West was sponsoring free public transport in the city on New Year's Eve. This would be great except for the fact that workers are threatening to strike on that night. Oh well. At least cabbies will have something to celebrate.

Things I'm looking forward to on Christmas: Alien invasion in the new Dr. Who & baking gooey magic bars.

Got up late again this Sunday but still managed my bike ride. It was frosty and very cold this morning. We are back to winter temps. On a trail passed a man on a white horse in Putney Heath, had coffee at the usual place where people were wrapping gifts at the tables, came home along the river where I cycled past boat houses full of people dressed in tights and flip flops relaxing after a morning of rowing. Thankfully when I got home my toes were not too frozen (I can't imagine how those people in the flip flops fared.) Made some blueberry pancakes for lunch.

Yesterday I went for a run in the cold afternoon. Its so hard to get outside in the mornings because of the chill. I have to remind myself that last December I didn’t have the luxury of running at all, and I should take advantage of the crispy air. I actually prefer running in below zero temps than pretty much anything warmer than 60F. Running outside in the summer is all about carrying tons of fluids and trying not to pass out from the heat. The sun stings your eyes as does the tons of sunblock you need to rub into your skin. Running in the winter is about enjoying the fresh air in your lungs, the clear skies and the empty paths. People who run indoors on treadmills are really missing out. Personally I loathe running on a treadmill. I don’t know why but I must be the only person that runs slower on a treadmill than outside. I find it hard to relax, the movement doesn’t feel natural at all to me. I don't think a person's stride is exactly the same speed constantly, and unlike other machines you don't get much leeway to adjust, you have to keep going or get thrown off. When I'm at the gym every other machine is fair game, (even the damn the treadmill if I'm walking on an incline.) But as a runner I find it a bit embarrassing that I hate those stupid things. Thankfully I don't live in an extreme environment where it would be necessary. There isn't much weather that I won't run in. It's one of the pleasures of running, being outside in all kinds of conditions.

Crazy runner in Minsk. I usally opt for some more appropriate winter gear in the snow, but the snow won't stop me just like it didn't stop this dude. (Photo from AP/Yahoo news last year that I just had to save.)

Speaking of constant stride, recently I seem to be hitting the same mile at exactly the same speed consistently. Does that mean within that mile I am running at the same pace? Probably not, its just an average worked out over that distance. I have been using it as a way to measure my relaxed pace. I am very pleased that I have increased by speed considerably without any extra effort by working on my form. I can now comfortably run 9-minute miles at what feels like an easy pace. That is a whole minute a mile improvement! Although I am not following it to the letter, the Pose Method of running has taught me a lot. Its funny because when I began running over 16 years ago, I was probably running more efficiently than after reading about and adjusting my form over the years to fit various theories from different runners. I used to do things like concentrate on my arm swing (which is stupid, pumping your arms doesn’t make you go any faster. I'm sure it gets your heart rate up though.) posture (you don't want to be straight up and down, you want to be leaning forward,) or footfalls (do not land on your heel and roll through). I'm nowhere near having perfect Pose Method form, but just having a different perspective on running has really improved my speed. I found the whole Pose thing a bit cult-ish at first, but its hard to argue with the time improvements I have experienced. I wonder how fast I could go if I really got serious. Can't really think about that right now though, I'm just trying to concentrate on getting back into shape. Speed can wait.

The issue is appearance. If I am going to be approach Café owners in parks I don't want to look all muddy. But I do want to look like a dog owner, like someone who takes good care of her dogs and this means muddy walks. If you want to appear countrified and hearty in this country, you wear wellies: big, tall, ugly, rubber boots. To me they look cold and clammy, and also not very supportive for long walks. I see people wearing them all the time though, so they must know something I don't. Looking online I could compromise and be all urban by getting a pair of "funky" pattered boots. I quite like the animal print ones, or the plain pink. Perhaps a good insole could make them wearable for long walks.

Animal Print Wellies.

A more sane approach would be to go for comfort with the ultra-modern Muck Wellingtons. They have what appears to be more supportive features as well as warmth, although the central feature is that they are made of neoprene. Synthetic materials and my feet are not a good combination. If my toes get too warm they start to sweat. Sweat in cold weather = brrrr. Not good. Maybe I just need to find a decent pair of leather boots or some work boots? I dunno, what kind of boots would I sell the most dog biscuits in?? Its not like I can afford any boots at the moment. Problem solved!

I had my third driving lesson with Effie of BSM yesterday. It is a bit humbling to be having driving lessons at my age, after 20 years of driving. But if I want to get a British licence I need to pass the driving test, so I need training in doing things the way I should in order to pass the test. Things like not crossing your hands when turning the steering wheel and using the hand brake when you are stopped at a light. Also, riding a scooter for over two years puts you into some weird habits that aren't consistent with car driving. (Like not realising that your car takes up a bit more space on the road than a bike.) Driving around in a tiny Vauxhall for two hours with a big sign on the top that says "Learner Driver" with a big red "L" isn't my idea of fun. I did notice another learner driver from a different school motoring around in a Mini. Man did I feel jealous. Perhaps riding around in a cool car would somehow take a bit of the sting out of the learner car stigma. Still have a few lessons to go before my test, which is scheduled for Jan 10. Wish me luck! Also, got my loan application in today, have a meeting about it on Monday... fingers crossed for that too.

Got an email from my yoga instructor/studio informing me this week will be last classes before Christmas break. It seems everything slows down this time of year. I haven't been to that particular teacher's class in quite a while, guess it will be quite a while longer! It is a husband and wife team, and I really like the guy's style of teaching, but not his wife's. I hate it when I would go there and she would be subbing for him, so I just stopped going. They started doing semi-private instruction, which I really wanted to do but I just can't afford it. I know I should just do yoga on my own, but I find it very difficult. I have been doing it for years but not ever with any kind of regularity. Its so hard for me to find instructors I like too. Damn I'm picky.

Sunday I stayed inside in the morning and went for a bike ride in the early afternoon. Instead of going along the river this time I headed up hill directly west to Wimbledon. Even though it was late in the day the air was still chilly and the ground was thick with fog. It created an eerie effect along the paths in Putney heath and Wimbledon common. I haven't explored the paths there as much. I will definitely go back there again next week. I have a tendency to be drawn towards the waterfront and that blinds me to some of the other great wilderness places in London. Even though I was fairly close to a major roadway, I felt as if I were in some vast woods.

I tried to capture the shafts of light highlighting the fog through the trees

Today I am trying to concentrate on my business loan application and working out the web site. I spent all morning chatting and playing with various web sites instead of working. At least I got in a run before breakfast.