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Not far from where I live I was walking towards a bus stop and noticed several youths hanging about. As I approached one of them turned to me, ‘Can you get me some fags?’ What a rude little s£&t. What’s the best thing to say to such a teenager? I just kept on walking. Seeing as I couldn’t manage to get tickets to any events at the Olympic Park but wanted to see inside the Olympic Stadium, I was excited to secure tickets to yesterday’s ‘Evening of Athletics and Entertainment’ to open the London 2012 Olympic Stadium. Apparently there were 40,000 people in attendance, half the actual capacity of the stadium. As well as being an opening event for the stadium, the evening must have been a trial run on a ‘smaller’ scale than the actual Olympics.
Arriving early before an event is going to be crucial. For the most part, everything was organised exceptionally well. First was quite a long walk to security. I’ve never seen so many X-ray security machines in all my life. The operation there makes Heathrow airport’s security areas look absolutely tiny by comparison. Everything went smoothly but after walking through security and up to the actual stadium we were greeted with massive queues and it wasn’t very clear where to go. It was somewhere in the region of a 30-60 minute wait to get into the stadium. It was worth the wait though, as inside the stadium is incredible and there was a lively excited atmosphere. The evening itself is divided into two parts. The first part, which was already well underway by the time I got into the stadium, was various athletic events in different university teams took part. Even though I’m not a massive athletics fan, I found it strangely compelling. With multiple events going on at the same time, there’s always something to watch. The second part of the evening consisted of several competitions between celebrities and sportsmen and women. Unfortunately, the audio system didn’t seem that clear sitting high up in the stadium and I couldn’t hear the names clearly (perhaps it was the presenters’ mic setup as opposed to the main speaker system that was the problem). I suspect that watching on TV would have been more interesting but from inside the stadium it has to be said that it wasn’t all that good. Just as I considered leaving little early, a huge number of balloons under an cover was brought out. After the band stopped playing, the lights went out, a spotlight was put on the balloons and they were released into the sky with all sorts strobe lights adding to the excitement. Surprisingly, getting out wasn’t as horrific as I suspected and neither will the trains. I have my doubts if that will be the case during the actual Olympics but fingers crossed.
From the new Westfield shopping centre in Stratford in East London you can get a decent view of the Olympic stadium. Can you see the ‘Erotic Gherkin’ in the distance? Heard of the term rooftopping before? I hadn’t but came across this incredible, if vertigo inducing photo and accompanying write up. Apparently it’s famous but it’s the first time I’ve seen it. One thing’s for sure, my own photography will likely stay much closer to ground level. Are you one of those paranoid people who keep thinking about hygiene and don’t particularly like to hold onto the bars on trains? Personally, I am. I’m not sure if that was the reason but the lady next to me on the train this morning didn’t hold onto anything for about 10-15 minutes! I’m not talking about a train so packed that you don’t actually need to balance, either. During this time she did sudoku and after that proceeded to roll a cigarette! Unless something goes horribly wrong within the 30 day refund period Tsohost will be my web host for the next while. I’d found some positive reviews but was initially wary due to their extremely cheap prices (which start from £14.99/year!), but then I found out that several friends of mine have been using Tsohost for a few years and have been very happy. That settled it. So far the service has been outstanding, with replies to technical queries typically being within 10-15 minutes or so. I may be being cynical but it will be interesting to see if this continues past the 30 day money back period. My friends tell me that responses are quick even late at night which is a great sign. I’ll update this post after some more time passes with Tsohost. For now, this has been the best web hosting experience I’ve ever had. No, I’m not just saying that for a referral. Here’s my Tsohost referral link. Looking to change hosts as bluehost is £80/year which is quite a lot of money. Having said that, looking at UK hosts, some of the packages are similar in price. Expenses, expenses… The Royal Mail is increasing the price of stamps by 30% from 46p to 60p from 30 April, and second-class stamps rising by 39% from 36p to 50p. I rarely use stamps but with such a massive price hike I’ve bought some anyway. Wonder if everywhere will run out like the petrol fiasco? Leaving work this evening it was pelting down with rain. For some reason, the only day I needed it, my brolly wasn’t in my bag. I waited a few minutes before running towards the station. As I was meeting someone I couldn’t afford to keep standing there for too long. Five minutes later and the lashing rain had all but stopped! Thankfully, I’d preempted the horrors that would have awaited me on the Central Line that was experiencing severe delays by checking the TFL website – I can’t get on that line at the best of times. But arriving at another station there are a lot of people. The station was closed due to the Circle and Hammersmith & City Lines being suspended! Many people were voicing the swear words going through my own head. I decided not to bother with any more public transport and walked to Liverpool St. It was still drizzling but not enough to get you really wet. It turned out to be a great walk along back roads and even main roads that I was unfamiliar with. Later on I got an overground train which is something I rarely do. It was actually really relaxing and the view of the City back-lit by the sunset really was something to behold. |
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