Notes to Myself

Night Shifts

For the first time I'm on night shifts this week. The good points about this are that I'll be working from home and that during the day I won't have to go into the office.

My schedule is varied between first line and second line, meaning I should get sleep some nights and next to no sleep on other nights.

If I know the phone could ring at any minute I'm the type of person who probably won't drop off to sleep. I think I'll stay up whilst on first line - try to read a book or play on my XBox or something.

Marathon News

The Marathon News magazine arrived on my door mat today. It contains a tempting application form for the London Marathon 2008.

Presumably the magazine is sent to all previous applicants, or failed applicants at least. It's almost like they want me to run for charity or something.

Daily Potter

Today I sat amongst the usual business folk on the Tube, heading into the city. Some were reading the Metro, but quite a few were reading the Financial Times. I suddenly felt self-aware whilst rummaging in my bag for Harry Potter's latest adventure.

Not five minutes later I noticed that the woman in front of me had folded up her broadsheet and was also now reading, yep, The Deathly Hallows. That's right, it's an adult book accessible to children.

Manchester

Hogwart's Express

My images of leaving London by train were that of the Hogwart's Express chugging out of Kings Cross station. These fairy tale thoughts were quickly quashed and I was brought back to reality by a bit of a nightmare journey.

First of all, a member of my party failed to turn up on time and we had to jump onto the train without her at the last minute. Then we were hit by huge delays caused by the torrential rains which had flooded parts of the track near Rugby. Our 'express service' didn't really live up to its name.

A group of noisy gay men opposite from us didn't help the four hour journey go any faster. One guy kept on going on about the night he had planned upon his arrival in Manchester. 'Why are they meeting me at the station? Oh, I have to go and do my hair!' He then rain off to the toilet. 'I need to have a shower first. What if I pull tonight?' On and on, he went. When talking to his friends he insisted on tacking on 'girl' at the end of his sentences.

Our 'Train Operator Lucy', as she referred to herself, apologised profusely for the delays. Just before arriving in Manchester she apologised one last time, thanked us for travelling by Virgin Trains and announced that we were, 'Bang on two hours late.'

Graduation

I rarely leave London unless I'm travelling long-haul but this trip was for my sister's graduation. Congratulations, sis!

Compared to my graduation, the ceremony was short and sweet. The atmosphere was also pretty relaxed with people shouting and cheering when their loved ones were called onto the stage. Of course, our family was proud of my sister and the usual photo extravaganza followed.

Manchester City

Mancester city centre was packed full of shops and has a wide variety of buildings, old and new. The things I recall particularly well are the market stalls featuring a range of hand-crafted goods, a mini jazz festival and an uncountable number of shoe shops!

For shopping, Manchester seemed really good and not overly crowded, at least compared to London, though that may have been in part due to the poor weather.

Death Hallows

After seeing Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix at the cinema, I felt like an excited child in anticipation of the upcoming release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

I'd pre-ordered a copy with Amazon with an order I made last month, thinking it would probably sell out, but I regretted it yesterday when I saw the new book in practically every shop I passed. Oh the temptation...

I've noticed quite a few people reading, presumably reviewing, book 6 during the past week. Actually, that's my plan too as I don't really remember what happened.

Enjoy the new book, all you Harry Potter fans!

> www.amazon.co.uk - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
> www.amazon.com - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Failed Deposit

Having withdrawn too much cash last week I set off to the bank to deposit it back into my account. I don't like leaving money lying around my house and certainly don't like carrying too much cash around. On an average day I don't have any more than £30 in cash on me.

Just before reaching the bank I popped into Blacks the self-proclaimed 'Outdoor Specialists' shop. Their sales stickers had always failed to entice me, especially when reading the small print on the posters. They often read 10% off today if you spend over £100. It was more out of curiosity than the sales that prompted me to go inside.

Downstairs I came across a selection of winter jackets and found the last size S in a stylish jacket by The North Face. It's not often I find a jacket I like and which fits properly, not to mention one which is half-price, so I snapped it up!

It's satisfying when you impulse buy and it's a good impulse buy. Of course, there are also those purchases you regret, but all I can say is check the returns policy first.

Though I'm extremely pleased with my new jacket, it does seem ironic that I ended up spending more money than I'd set off to deposit at the bank in the first place!

Fragrant Lead

A guy at work sent me a link to fantastic Japanese product, brain boosting fragrant pencil lead. Ok, so maybe it's just a novelty product, but I like it all the same.

According to the blog article, fragrant lead isn't a new idea. This new version from Pentel features 'nanocapsules' and is meant to last a lot longer than previous products.

I must pick some up when I visit Japan later in the year, just to smell what it's like.

By the looks of things there are lots of Japanese blogs talking about this, so I'll leave it here.

Global Cities

Just the other day I went to the Tate Modern, initially to check out the Dali exhibition. I say initially because as soon as I walked through the doors, another exhibition, Global Cities, caught my eye. The fact that it was free also drew me in!

The Global Cities exhibition is really remarkable and really gets you thinking. It does bamboozle you with facts and figures, but the many photographics, videos and other visual exhibits are fascinating.

From various angles, the exhibition examines ten cities: Cairo, Istanbul, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai, São Paulo, Shanghai and Tokyo. The rate of population growth and development shown are in some cases staggering. One of the key questions posed is, 'Can design improve cities.'

If you are in the area, pop in and see the exhibition. It's free, after all.

07/07/07

Well, how lucky was your day? Mine was decidely average.
(・_・?)

Brutal Power

Somebody in the queue for Centre Court resale tickets yesterday mentioned that Serena Williams was struggling with an injury. Was Daniela Hantuchova, who'd been so impressive on Court 13 on Friday, going to take avantage and move into the next round?

It was then that the rain started to fall. With no tennis to watch, the people who didn't go in search of refreshments joined the queue and it snaked back as far as I could see. I'd timed it just right.

After about 45 minutes the rain had stopped and I'd got my hands on ticket for row K, near to the front and overlooking the court from behind! Could my luck get any better?

A massive guy turned up and sat down a couple of rows in front blocking a quarter of the court. Agh!! It looked like it might not matter as I felt drops of rain falling and within a minute Centre Court was hiding under cover again.

Incredibly, the rain stopped 20 minutes later and while the dark grey sky lingered, play finally resumed.

Mind Games & Power Play

Daniela Hantuchova came out strong and wrapped up the second set tie-break with three straight points to level the match. Serena, wearing her strange leggings/skirt combination, started off gingerly. She didn't bother running for the ball after being pulled wide and everybody wondered whether she had given up hope.

As it turned out, she seemed to move fine in the points when she decided to run. Her main tactic, however, seemed to hit each and every ball with brute force. To give her credit, she was thumping the ball and consistently getting it into play.

However, Hantuchova seemed unnerved or out-phsyched and kept netting the ball or hitting the ball wide, even though many returns were coming straight back at her. In general it was her footwork that was poor during points, despite the cute bouncing on her tip-toes routine between points.

It was dissapointing to see such a brutal and ugly set of tennis. There were about two or three quality rallies in the whole set. The most exciting thing to happen was Serena throwing a tantrum at missing a ball and smashing her racket into the ground. In any case, you have to congratulate Serena's win.

No Smoking

The England smoking ban has taken effect as of 6:00 this morning. As of today people will no longer be able to smoke in enclosed public places.

As a non-smoker, this is great news as far as I'm concerned. I hate going into smoky pubs and bars and I'm sure that many others feel the same way.

On the other hand, smokers may not be so happy. Last night many people went last to enjoy their last chance to smoke in pubs.

Gourmet Burger

On numerous occasions I've walked past various brances of the Gourmet Burger Kitchen. I didn't like the idea of paying through my nose for a burger when I could go to a nice restaurant and get a healthier meal for a similar price.

Yesterday, though, I fancied trying something new and being a bit adventurous (or not!), I walked in.

My cheese burger was £6.65 and a small bowl of chips cost £2.45. I felt like my mum when I refused to order water it was so expensive at £2 for a small bottle!

The burger itself was gorgeous, very tasty indeed.