London Dan

Flickering flame, or dodgy downlighter?

2008-04-10T01:35:00.003+01:00

As I was heading to bed tonight (late, as usual) I looked out my window to see what looked like the glow of a fire flickering against a wall nearby. Whatever was causing the flicker was just out of my line of sight, but I came to the conclusion it was either a fire ravaging someone's living room, or a street lamp that was blinking beyond control.

I found myself left in a dilemma. I couldn't smell smoke, but I also couldn't be sure it wasn't a fire. So should I get dressed and investigate, hoping not to walk into any unsavoury situations or should I hope for the best and let someone else - who can actually see what's going on - deal with it if it was indeed something more serious than an ill-maintained lamp post?

I went with the latter for a few minutes, climbing into bed, but then, drawn to the window, and convincing myself (through my blocked up nose) that I was getting a whiff of smoke, I decided I had to get dressed and go outside to investigate.

Walking around the corner, I realised it was just a crappy light bulb after all, but I'm glad I did go out to check.

Pointless story for tonight, but a reminder that it's always best safe than sorry.

A shot in the dark

2008-04-03T20:00:00.000+01:00

On Tuesday night I was woken from a dozing state by a loud crashing noise. Not sure what it was, I wondered if it was perhaps a gunshot, or a palette of some sort falling down onto the ground. I went to my window but couldn't see anything, so went back to bed. Then not long after, a helicopter came and hovered almost overhead for about five minutes or so. I could see it in the sky, so I presumed that whatever happened, it was a little distance away.

I woke up the next morning to see a text message from my flatmate telling me that someone had been shot in the night, so I phoned him up to find out a little more information. Turned out that someone had been shot just around the corner from our flat, and police were out there investigating. Yikes. That's the closest I've been to gun crime in London... the next closest being the times I visited a friend of mine who at the time was living in Peckham, and the many stories she had of gunshots in the night.

I was feeling a little shocked yesterday that it could happen so close, and it really didn't help that I didn't know any details. Later in the day I got the Crime Stoppers flyer through the door that said a man was injured in a shooting (so I was relieved that he hadn't been killed) and that it was Operation Trident that were heading the investigation (meaning that it's black gun crime).

I'm feeling a little more comfortable again, but I've noticed that I'm more conscious of who's around me on the streets. I'm quite astonished that the incident hasn't even made it into the news though...

Pillow fight in London

2008-03-23T15:19:00.002Z

I got an invite from a friend the other day to join in with a pillow fighting flash mob in London on Saturday (which I later found out was just one part of an International Pillow Fight Day. We met up just off Trafalgar Square and headed down there to be ready for the hoards of other pillow fighters expected to unveil their pillows and start hitting each other with them. The time came and went and there was no signal to start, so we just headed down the steps and joined in with the others who had turned up.

After a few minutes we were a little disappointed, wondering where everyone else was, and thankfully discovered that most of the action was going on up in Leicester Square. I chickened out of the fighting there - there were just far too many people, and I wanted to take photos instead, some of which will end up on Flickr once I go through the 1Gb of photos I shot.

The event saw feathers flying all over the northern half of Leicester Square, confusing passers by, and even encouraging others to join in the fun. Not even hail stopped the fighting which must have lasted for about an hour in the end.

Pam Ann goes viral with BA

2007-10-04T18:58:00.000+01:00

Pam Ann went 'viral' today with a BA recruitment video.

It's good to see some new material, though I have to say it's not as good as the clips I've seen recently on YouTube. One of my favourites, per chance, just happens to be the clip showing different air hostess characters... the BA one being fantastic

"I'm Mona, your [something?] to Europe. I'm Mona, fack awf. Go on, fack awf. Fack awf. I said fack awf."

Hopefully I'll get to see Pam Ann live again when I am back in London... it's even better in real life!

How time flies...

2007-08-29T19:01:00.000+01:00

It's two months since my last post on here, and over four since my last post with more than 20 or so words in it. Ironic too that the last proper post was written whilst at home, taking a break, much like this one is.

So what have I been up to in the past 4 months that's kept me away from the blogging (on here at least)?

Well, to summarise... I had a boyfriend for a little while (which didn't last too long unfortunately, as I'll come onto later); I went to the spring beer festival and came out to most of my friends from the local pub; I went on holiday with friends from home and came back in pain after a drunken night in Magaluf in which I slipped on the steps of BCM; I had a little op (unrelated to the fall) in which the anaesthetic really wasn't helping towards the end and I could have sworn I was going to faint; I had some time off work and was cared for by my boyfriend at the time; I finished the treatment I was having (unrelated to the op); I got a little addicted to Facebook; I came out to senior colleagues whilst drunk and told one of them I was wanting to move back to London (oops); I've been blogging about maps and stuff elsewhere; I travelled to the US and visited their capital and a couple of my friends there; I visited Manchester on the way back to catch up with a few friends; I talked to my supervisors about the possibility of moving back to London (I had the same pre-emptive stress as when I came out to my parents!); I tried out a German sauna for the first time since being there (I managed to get over my prudishness when convinced by a new swimming buddy); I told my co-workers about my plans to move back; ...and then travelled home for my birthday the next day. I think that's about it.

Ever since moving to Germany I've had a sort of desire to move back to London, but as I'm nearing two years over in the land of sausages, that feeling is growing ever stronger. Knowing that I wanted to move back so badly really wasn't helping me commit when I actually met a guy I liked, and was the main reason for me breaking it off (compounded by some other issues like my op and different - although admittedly more sensible - ideas about drinking).

That horrible feeling of breaking up with someone because I didn't know what was going to happen in the near future then gave me the kick in the ass I needed to put a little more effort into actually organising a move back, and sorting out the work side of things. Luckily the work side of things sound like they should work quite well, with me effectively becoming a freelancing remote worker doing effectively the same thing... but from London.

So, London Dan is moving back to London later in the year.

Little Britain - Daffyd Thomas an der Bar

2007-06-24T13:45:00.000+01:00

Fantastich. Little Britain auf Deutsch. It's not "Provincial Queen" but "Province Prinzessin" hehe.

When dreams know better

2007-04-14T22:21:00.000+01:00

The other night I'd gone to a friend's house to watch DVDs and came home early (i.e. not the last train) in the hope that I could have a good night's sleep and be bright-eyed for work the next day.

The night previous to that I had gone to bed at 9.30 in the same vain, and still didn't feel happy about getting up in the morning. But this time was weird, mostly because I remember the dream sequence that I was going through while in the process of waking up.

I remember queueing to pay for lunch in a restaurant - sort of like one we have at work, and with the same people serving - before going over to collect it. (For some reason, paying and collecting food were switched around.) As I was queueing for the food, I decided to leave the place for some reason, but as I got through the door, I came running back in to get the food that I'd paid for, not knowing why I'd run out.

That's the point that I woke up and realised that my alarm had been going off beside me for a minute or so, without waking me. I suspect it had alerted my subconscious brain (the running out of the door) but not enough to wake my body enough to be able to press snooze on my phone. Or at least not until my subconscious had collected the food.

Needless to say, I was grumpy when I finally got past the snoozing stage and had to crawl out of my bed.

I don't think I've ever had that in dreams before, when I can link events in the dream to things that actually happened at the same time in the real world. People talk of dreaming about alarms going off in their dreams instead of actually being woken by them, but I don't recall that ever happening to me.

I guess my body is telling me it wants rest. It's a good job then that I'm home for 5 days, and can give it all the rest it needs without worrying about work or anything. Yay!

Another one to add to the list...

2007-04-04T23:25:00.000+01:00

Some of my friends at home were strangely impressed when I told them years ago that I had a syndrome, and it was something to add to a certain strange reflex I have too.

This morning I was coming back from a doctor's appointment and was waiting in the s-bahn station to get the next train home when I noticed that someone was being stretchered off to an ambulance. Curious, I watched as she passed me on the stretcher. She didn't look injured so I thought to myself perhaps she had fainted or fallen over or something. And that is exactly when I started to feel faint myself, vision deteriorating into whiteness (I think the worst it has ever happened to me), a cold sweat coming on and feeling a little dizzy and disoriented.

"Uh-oh", I thought to myself, "I'm going to faint if I can't get some water/chocolate/somewhere to sit." Thankfully I've never actually fainted when this light-headedness (or presyncope as I learned in my research this evening) but today I think is the closest I've felt to it. Luckily the train came in just in time so I could get a seat. I found it interesting that I instinctively held one of my arms above my head and raised my feet up onto the seats opposite. The feelings started to fade and I noticed, as my vision started to come back a little more, that a guy was looking over at me, probably wondering why I looked as white as a ghost (or at least I presume that I did).

It seems perhaps I have a blood/injection/injury phobia. I'm not a fan of injections, and they do cause me occasional problems with lightheadedness afterwards, though I have successfully watched the whole process a few times without problem. I think it's the injury phobia that is worst for me, as I noted the other week.

Fat lot of good I'm going to be if ever I have to put my first aid training to use.

Something I've not done for a while

2007-04-01T22:17:00.000+01:00

I did something today that I've not done for a while... I started tidying my room.

Anyone who has seen my room here, or pretty much anywhere I've lived (some have been much worse than others) will know that I like to keep my room in a state of (sort of organised) chaos. I usually know where things are to be found, and can find them if necessary, but today I came across something I'd lost. That was the token I bought when I first moved here that gave me ten sessions of swimming.

I had used a few of the sessions before giving up, but now that I'm starting to get back into the swing of it, I wonder if it will still be valid? It had been well over a year that the token had been in my wallet, and then on my floor with a pile of coins. Keine ahnung ob es expired ist oder nicht.

Tidying is not the only thing I did today that I haven't done for quite some time. In fact I think the tidying was inspired by the other. I went on the first coffee date I've been on in ages, ending up in the cinema watching Meet the Robinsons after what was quite a refreshing day (including the shower that threatened to soak us as we were sitting outside a cafe enjoying the lovely weather).

Porpoise Spit / Muriel's Wedding on Water

2007-03-29T22:38:00.000+01:00

Swimming tonight there was a guy that reminded me of David Van Arkle (Daniel LaPaine), the swimmer from Muriel's Wedding. I didn't think too much more about it until towards the end of my swim (1.125km), when the closing tune for the aquarobics was Abba's I do, I do, I do, I do, the song used at the wedding in the movie. How random.

ps, I wonder when I'll write a post that doesn't get put into the Cute Lads category? Hmm.

The music that motivates

2007-03-24T15:32:00.000Z

I went swimming after work on Thursday and was just going for a bit of a lazy swim as I hadn't had much to eat that day and didn't feel like I had much energy, but once I got into the pool I just kept going.

It was warmbadtag - where they heat the pool up beyond normal levels for one day a week - and so I was quite happy just enjoying the warmth (after all the wet, slushy, snow we've had recently). There were a load of old (and slightly large) ladies in the pool, most swimming slowly and chatting, which caused occasional problems when I wanted to pass them whilst also trying to avoid the annoying guy that kept getting far too close going the opposite way. Despite that, I was keeping up with the one length a minute target that MQ challenged me to (and has since passed that goal himself I believe). At some point a cute guy* fell into the pool (I don't know why he couldn't climb in like everyone else) and I started to get distracted a little, slowing down as I approached the 30 length mark.

Then, the aquarobics (is that what it's called?) lesson started in the adjoining pool. With cheesy music starting to blast out of the speakers I couldn't help but feel a little more motivated. Music such as 99 Luftballoons (99 Red Balloons), Country Roads, It's Raining Men and lots of others kept me going until I'd done 60 lengths in just under an hour. That's about 1.5 kilometers (give or take the times I had to stop short of the end due to ladies chatting, or dancing along to the music in the next pool) which I'm quite impressed with. Although an hour to swim that does sound like quite a long time, considering how much more quickly I could walk it. Hmm.

* he didn't actually swim very much, kept disappearing off to the showers, and I'm sure kept looking over. I should have said hello... is it ok to say hello to random people in pools? :)

Phwoar

2007-03-17T23:51:00.000Z

Straight to the treat

2007-03-16T19:48:00.000Z

I had intended to go swimming after work yesterday but completely forgot to take my swimming kit to work with me. D'oh. I remembered it today, but have been feeling pretty tired all day so wasn't sure if I was up to it or not.

By the time I'd left work I had convinced myself to do it but then chickened out as I was riding past on the U-Bahn - "ah, I can go on Sunday," I thought to myself. I was more interested in getting some spinach pizza and taking it home for a nice quiet evening in (spinach pizza being something I associate with swimming now because of its regular appearance after my pool visits in London whilst studying there).

D'oh again for going straight for the treat when I've not even done the swimming to deserve it. I wonder if I'll drag myself out of bed in time on Sunday (after St Patrick's Day) to get to the pool. Fingers crossed!

Clocks creeping forwards?

2007-03-15T19:15:00.000Z

I was a little more confused than normal when my clock radio switched itself on to wake me up. I have it set to go off at 7.30, and then also have my phone set to start making a racket at the same time. The radio is set two minutes fast to help wake me before the shock of the real alarm. It also helps me leave the door on time as I always seem to be running about 2 minutes late in the mornings. (Does that logic make sense? It does to a half awake Dan!)

But this morning there was more of a wait until my phone went off. Something didn't feel quite right, and as I am still trying to wake my brain up by that point in the morning I couldn't figure out what was different to the normal routine. It clicked after a while that my radio and phone were out of their normal sync, so I checked on my computer to see what time she told me it was (Hedwig is always keeping her clock spot on from the internet). It seemed the radio was to blame. I presumed it had just gained a little time and I hadn't noticed it gradually creeping into the future.

It got more confusing as I left the bathroom and realised the radio alarm clock in there (that is normally also 2 minutes fast) was now running 5 minutes fast as well.

What is going on? Are the radio alarm clocks aware that the US has moved their clocks forward an hour early this year, and trying to catch up before Europe changes in a week or so? Was there some sort of electrical surge that speeded everything up? Was there an alien invasion of some sort (perhaps they came to set the time on the clocks to some Prime Number)? Or did one of my flatmates simply change them both for some reason? Who knows. I should probably ask my flatmates before presuming it was an alien invasion though, right?

It reminds me of the scene in Amélie where she does all sorts of things to Colignon the greengrocer's apartment (including altering the clock) to send him round the bend.

Feeling faint in first aid training

2007-03-14T22:18:00.000Z

There's something about blood, broken bones and the like that I've always had a problem with. When I was in high school I would feel queasy occasionally as certain subjects were brought up in biology - on at least one occasion I had to leave the room and get myself together outside the door before joining the class again.

Today was first aid training at work and I wasn't expecting any trouble sitting there and taking it all in, but when the trainer was talking about potential accident scenarios I started to feel myself going into a cold sweat and feeling a little light headed. I think it was the one about a broken limb with the bone poking through the skin that really did me in. I was so close to walking out but didn't want to face the embarassment of it so I stayed a little longer, trying to take my mind off that bone poking through.

At least if I'd gone completely faint I'd have been in good hands, but luckily it didn't get that far as I'd started to feel a little more normal after about 10 or 15 minutes of suffering. Phew.

The gayest place names I've heard of

2007-03-07T19:58:00.000Z

Whilst walking past a map at work the other day I couldn't help but be distracted.

Without really looking I had spotted the word Gay somewhere, somehow, in the middle of a map of Russia. It's not a word I see often at work, but for some reason this place name jumped out at me. It turns out Gay is a city in the Udmurtiya region of Russia, though there appear to be a number of other places going by the same name in Russia.

Curious, I wondered if it was just a foreign thing to call places Gay. It turns out there are a few amusing names in the United States as well, the following being some of my favourites:

Gay - settlements in North Carolina, Georgia, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Michigan, Idaho, and I bet none of them have a gay bar

Gay Run - a stream in Ohio, or a bit of camp exercise

Gay Creek - a stream in Alabama, or the noises your body makes after a Gay Run

Gay Lan - a place in Georgia, or the basis of a gay online gaming party

Gay Spring - a spring in Tennessee, or that little leap up into the air when Cher starts playing

Gay Hollow - a valley in Texas, a erm, well, let's not go there

Gay Farms - a place in Virginia, or where gay animals are raised

Gay Mountain - a mountain in Virginia, or where Brokeback was filmed

Gay Island - an island in Maine, or like Lesbos or Mykonos but not quite so warm

Gay Airport - an airport in Atwater, Portage, Ohio (though I can't find many references to it, so I suspect they changed the name), or the place to begin your travels to all these other cool places

And last but definitely not least:

Gay Lemon Park - a park in Mississippi

It'd be fun to do a road trip to each of these places and get a cheesy photo at the entrance to each of them.

Wii strains

2007-03-02T21:06:00.000Z

Last night was game night* and I got a chance to play on a Nintendo Wii gaming console for my first time. I was curious to see people playing on it but I wasn't so keen to try it out for myself, partly because it sounded too sporty for me and partly because everyone else would get to watch me probably looking like a fool jumping around in front of the television.

I've not had a games console of my own since the days of Sonic the Hedgehog on my old Sega Mega Drive and seldom played on one either. I've never really had a desire to spend money on one, especially because I've never really been good at playing the games (something to do with coordination probably, or lack thereof). Having played on the Wii though, I have a strange desire to get one for myself (I'd need a TV as well though). It was so much fun playing Wii Sports tennis, and even after two games I was feeling like it was giving me a good workout, so it must be good exercise too.

Little did I know that I'd wake up this morning with an inability to push myself up out of bed without feeling like I've strained my whole right arm in ways I haven't for a long time (perhaps since I last played tennis... 10 years ago?). I've been aching all day, and still am now. Swimming after work (30 lengths in 30.5 minutes) helped me a little bit I think but breaststroke wasn't exactly the most comfortable to perform with Wii strains in my tennis arm/shoulder.

* try asking straight colleagues if they're going to game night, and look at the confusion on their face, presumably as they wonder why you're asking if they're going to gay night

40 lengths in 41 minutes

2007-02-24T18:07:00.000Z

I managed to drag myself to the Schwimmbad again today - I thought I ought to go considering it had been 2 weeks since I last went, and I was intending to start going once a week to lose a bit of the bauch*.

MQ had challenged me to try and do 40 lengths in 40 minutes. Last time I only had 25 minutes but still managed to do 25 lengths. This time I was running a little slower (I kept getting distracted by the guy swimming in the lane - yes, they had a lane this time - next to me) and did 40 in about 41 minutes. Still not too bad, and I should definitely try to do it more often.

I know I'm going to be aching after that though. It doesn't help either that my neck is already a tad stiff from being in a car on the way to work yesterday morning that some fool just decided to drive straight into the back of.

* I hope people don't get too confused when I throw in random German words... please put your hand up if you want me to start putting the English versions in too :)

Happy Valentine's Day

2007-02-14T19:34:00.000Z

It's Valentine's Day and once again I'm not actually spending it with someone. Hmph.

I started the morning off by reading through these Tips for coping with loneliness on Valentine's Day and it helped put a positive spin on things, so I've not even thought about it for much of the day. After lunch I got a cute Garfield e-card through from a friend of mine back in London, which was very sweet of him.

Anyway, here's a Valentine's kiss on the cheek for anyone who wants one. Mwah.

25 times in 25 minutes

2007-02-12T22:13:00.001Z

Whilst chatting to MQ on Friday night, drinking a bottle of wine, I admitted to him that I'd given up doing any exercise and somehow he managed to convince me to go swimming the next day. Partially due to his recent post about getting lanes installed in his local swimming pool I was keen to remind myself of just how crazy swimming without lanes can actually be.

He'd suggested I go in the morning and do 40 lengths in 40 minutes, but after polishing off most of a bottle of wine (minus a glass that my flatmate had as we were eating dinner) I wasn't feeling up to getting up early on Saturday the morning. Actually, I rarely do feel like getting up early in the mornings, and it's not always because I'm hung over, I often just need that extra bit of rest. It's tiring being lazy, don't you know.

So I was planning to go on Saturday afternoon after helping a friend out with his computer. That took much longer than expected, so we spent much of the afternoon lazing around infront of the television watching Voyager (disclaimer: I may be a geek but I'm not a Trekkie, though I did find it sort of amusing) whilst waiting for the computer to finish doing its stuff. The pool had long since closed by the time I was ready to leave. I had good intentions at least.

Not wanting the good intentions to slip away again, I managed to drag myself up to the pool on Sunday, despite missing my stop on the train (and having to get off at the next one, get a train back to the junction before which I was meant to alight, and then jump on the next one that was actually going the right way) and getting to the reception of the pool as the receptionist was closing the windows. "Argh", I thought to myself. "I've just made it all the way here only to miss the opening times by 30 seconds." But the lady let me buy a token and go on in for the last 40 minutes.

There were no lanes marked out, as expected, though I still kept up with MQ's target of 1 length a minute, even if I could only do 25 of them before leaving the pool to beat the rush 5 minutes before everyone else.

Non, je ne regrette rien

2007-02-09T19:56:00.000Z

I've had a real craving for French music recently. I found some great French pop music a while back (and may have blogged about it at the time, I don't remember) from In-grid who actually turns out to be Italian, but sings in French.

I'm not entirely sure what caused my recent desire for French music, but when you listen to the like of Édith Piaf's Non, je ne regrette rien, perhaps you'll understand. It's just such a beautiful tune, and powerful at the same time.

I do feel strangely guilty for not listening to more German musik though. Can anyone recommend any knowing what my tastes are?

Auch ein kuss?

2007-02-05T20:24:00.000Z

Friday was an attempt at work to get people to leave their cars at home and travel in using public transport. Partly, it was to relieve the earth of even a tiny slice of extra carbon emissions, but it was also a good excuse to get a group of people to go for a drink after work.

My intention was to go out for one and then leave to go to the post office (to pick up an Amazon package, after they couldn't get the first one to me) but as anyone who's read this blog for more than a few posts, you'll probably realise that's one of the things I find it very difficult to stick to. (Oh, the whole excercise thing has been another one of those things of late as well). I got to the first venue after most of the other people had already got there and been through a drink or two, and I had one or two before we headed off to the next stop, where I figured I may have time for one more before jumping onto the train and going into town. By that point though, I realised my other reason for not going out (hoping to meet up with someone on the Saturday night) had fallen through, so it was only the parcel stopping me from having a few more drinks with the guys from work. And I knew I could go for the parcel on the Saturday, even if hungover*.

So, some drinks there, some in a 'dive bar' (as one of the guys called his local), a trendy bar and a strip club (don't ask) later, we'd decided to go out to a club in town. We stayed there for what must have been quite a while, and I lost my colleagues a number of times (not intentionally, but everyone sort of went off and did their own thing and then bumped into each other every now and then). This was the first time I'd experienced the have-your-drinks-card-stamped-and-pay-on-the-way-out scheme, and I wasn't quite sure what to make of it. What would have happened if I'd have lost my card, and not had anything to show them on the way out? Who knows. It also meant that I had no idea what I was spending on drinks.

I wondered at one point if it was only drinks that were available through the card. After getting a drink, I looked at the bartender, und auch ein kuss? I asked with a cheeky grin. He didn't hear what I said - or perhaps just wasn't expecting it - and so I repeated. He told me no and so I moved swiftly away from the bar. Hehe.

Later on I was had a photo taken with random people (first one to find that photo on the net gets a prize), talked with more random people (mostly in English I seem to remember) and towards the end was chatting with some guy. I don't remember how we got onto the subject, but I think I asked him if he was gay, he told me no, but he had wondered what it was like inside one of the gay clubs here. He got my number and so I'm half expecting a random call from a random straight guy I don't remember much about, wanting to go to a gay club.

I don't know what time I stayed there 'til, but I remember it felt quite empty in there by the end, so I headed off home and got a kebab (the second of the evening) to keep me entertained until I got back. The guys at work inform me I was the last one standing, but then I think I was also the youngest by at least 15 years.

* That turned out to be a longer experience than I was wanting. I hadn't had a shower or anything, and looked like I'd just crawled out of bed hungover (I had, afterall) and so I must have scared the poor post lady a little. She kept grinning at me, especially when I thought she'd finished and went to grab the parcel. Noch nicht! .. or something, came the cry. Apparently she had to get another letter for me (a credit card, also from Amazon as they promise it'll save me 20EUR on my first purchase. If only it wasn't cheaper to buy from the British Amazon and have it shipped over. Well, shipped from their depot in Germany). She spent another 5 minutes trying to put all of my passport information into the system, looking confused about where I was from and asking me something, in a quiet voice, a number of times. Turned out she wanted to know where the passport was issued. But it was getting confusing because I didn't really understand what she was asking, and it's the same place as where I was born. Erm, anyway, back up to the main thread of the post.

In the waiting room

2007-01-29T21:16:00.000Z

I spent the first part of my morning today sitting in a waiting room full of people at least twice my age. I'd been in there once before as well, just before Christmas, after waiting about 2 months from my doctor's referral to get my first appointment.

On that occasion, the place was full and I must have been the youngest person in there. This time there were fewer people, but the age difference was just as pronounced.

One thing I hate about doctor's waiting rooms is the way that they always place the chairs so they face each other, maybe to make it more personable (either that, or to use the space most effectively). Sitting there waiting, I've no idea where to look, as I contemplate the appointment - wondering if I'll understand enough German to make sure I know what's going on, if the doctor will speak any English, or if I'll give the right answers to the right questions, etc.).

Normally, whilst waiting, I attempt to read the posters on the wall and occasionally stare down at my feet for long periods. I don't want to look around at people and start thinking about what they're all there for. It actually probably wouldn't be too difficult to guess, but that's precisely the reason I don't want to give it a moments thought.

As I was putting my iPod away in my jacket pocket, I heard my name called and popped my head around the corner to see a confused nurse wondering where I was. Sitting there waiting for the doc, I was perusing my medical records trying to understand what they all meant. Then he came in and spoke really fast in German. Oh, crap. I've no idea what he just said after the Guten Morgen part. Looking confused and apologetic, I managed to get out a Tut mir leid aber Ich sprech nur ein bisschen Deutsch. Phew, he spoken English, and after I told him where I was from he started talking about a famous German TT rider. I must admit I wasn't paying too much attention by that point, so I've no idea what the guy's name was.

Anyway. For each visit to a doctor here you have to pay a 10EUR admin fee if you haven't already paid that quarter. Only having a 20EUR note, I gave it to the receptionist and was told she'd find some change in a bit. As I was leaving, I went to collect my appointment card (I have to go back once a month for five more months) and question where my change had gone to after I didn't get it back with my health insurance card. I don't think she trusted me fully, she had a quizzing look on her face and told me that it should have been with the card that the other nurse gave back to me. Short for a reply, I stood there watching as she hesitated a bit, counted through the mornings takings and eventually gave me some change. I've no idea where the first lot of change disappeared to, but at least I didn't pay twice for a fee that I don't really get the purpose of.

Thanks for trying, Amazon

2007-01-29T11:53:00.000Z

I've been waiting for a book to be delivered from Amazon for a little while now, and just as I heard the postman at the door, I clicked over to look in my email, coincidentally, only to find this:

Greetings from Amazon.co.uk.

A delivery from the above referenced order has been returned to our fulfilment centre because of failed delivery attempts

As this package was undeliverable, we have returned the item(s) to our inventory and will issue you with a full refund for the order, including delivery. This should go through within the next few days and you will receive an e-mail confirmation once the refund has been processed. If, however, a replacement order was sent at no charge because the package was presumed lost, a refund will not be issued.

For your reference, the delivery address we have on file for the returned order is:

Dan Surname
Somestr. 123
Stuttgart
Baden-Wuerttemberg
12345
Germany
(with details changed, obviously)

We ask that you verify that the correct delivery address is listed for each open order you may have. We want to make sure you receive all orders. You may view your order status online by clicking on the "Your Account" link at the top right of any page on our Web site.

If you would still like to receive these items, we would encourage you to return to our Web site and place a new order. Please note that we are unable to re-deliver packages that are returned as undeliverable.

Thank you for shopping at Amazon.co.uk. We appreciate your business and hope you will continue to enjoy our service.

--------------------------
Customer Service
Amazon.co.uk
And you're done * or I would be, if you'd delivered
http://www.amazon.co.uk/
--------------------------

They had my full address and still for some reason the book got returned. How annoying! I wonder if the postman here didn't try delivering it because of the snow?

Snow at last

2007-01-23T22:23:00.000Z

Today saw the first of the proper snow arriving in die Nähe von hier.

It was still probably only about a centimeter in depth at most when I came home today, but apparently it could build up (it certainly feels cold enough, and the thermometer on my door insists it's freezing it's little buttons off). I'm dreading walking around in either my chucks or other trainers as nothing I own seems to have any grip whatsoever!

If the snow is only starting now, I wonder how long it will last? Will global warming cut it short and just give us a sugar coating, or will Winter push back into Spring? To be honest, I thought Spring had already arrived with the mild weather we've been having here of late.

(can you tell I'm British? ...a whole blog post about the weather)