My life: work, fun and then some...

Tuesday, February 28, 2006

New stuff

From Ikea, of course. Some furniture, some kitchen-ware, potpourri and... finally a wine rack. I am waiting for my order from tesco.com now, to put some bottles of good Californian wine on it!

I know I am still behind and I need to get back to all these weekend things (wine, moreish chicken curry, Brokeback Mountain etc.), but this is not going to happen today. I am shattered and I could really use some sleep.

This was a great weekend though. Special thanks to Someone Very Important, without whom this couldn't have been such a great time. xxx.

PS. I would also like to extend my thanks to Andrew for his feeback. Keep on kickin' my arse, I really appreciate that!

Monday, February 27, 2006

A quickie...

Yeah, it's going to be a quickie, as it's already almost 11pm and I have no idea how I am gonna arse myself to wake up early tomorrow, after a 3-day weekend (I took a day off today). Just a few quick points, which I'll get back to, later this week:

- chicken curry rules
- Californian zinfandels are great (whoo hoo, what a surprise...)
- Brokeback Mountain is a brilliant movie
- Queensway is where I want to live in a few months and that's where I *will* live in a few months (Covent Garden or Notting Hill are quite reasonable alternatives, but I am gonna fight for Queensway)

It was good to take a day off. I will try to elaborate on these above (and more) later this week. Stay tuned...

Friday, February 24, 2006

Friday (night) fever

So it's a Friday night in London. What does a person, who has been in the city for 7 weeks only do on a Friday night? Go out! Some people, like Jerry Seinfeld will probably never get why people go out (poor guy) but I am not Jerry Seinfeld (thanks god).

I've got enough fever today though. Every single part of my body hurts and I definitely don't feel like going out. I am officially sick. But it's not like I am gonna have a boring evening, no! My party buddies for today are: Miss Lemsip (very sour), her friend Aspirin (a big white guy), Ms Hot Tea, Mr Raspberry Syrup (never goes anywhere without Ms Hot Tea) and Mr Advil (a shy American guy, who hides in my bathroom most of the time). Music theme for this evening: sneezing and coughing. Dress-code - rather casual: warm socks, sweat-pants, a very warm jumper. Unfortunately my buddies are not too talkative, so we'll probably end up watching X-Files or some other crap, after a few attempts to have some chit-chat.

At the end of the day, it's not all bad. I will go to bed quite early, and that's what I really need to do tonight, as Someone Very Important is flying-in tomorrow morning and I have to get up quite early.

Everyone, who is out there having fun, getting pissed and doing crazy things - enjoy yourselves!

Sick as a dog...

Well, not exactly. But I've got ALL the classic symptomps of a cold - the coughs and sneezes and the sore throat. Plus red eyes and a headache. AMEN.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006

Ahh....

This is what HomeChoice management should do to themselves. They cut me off for 3 hours today. But, after a proper consumer-argument they won't charge me for last month. Not that I am paying for that anyway (thank you, my company), but it feels better...

Am I confused or what?

Can someone tell me where exactly in London we have clear skies?

Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Last weekend...

Oh boy, what a weekend. Where do I start? All right, on Friday late afternoon I took a train from Waterloo to Basingstoke to visit my friend, who lives there. He also had some guests from Poland, so together - 8 of us we had quite a nice party. First some drinks at home:

My friend's house in Basingstoke


Then off to a bar (believe it or not, but there is *some* nite life in Basingstoke):

Beers?


Loud music, friends, beers - what else do you need on a Friday evening? Here are some pictures...

Party time!


No idea why I took this pic...


I must have been quite hammered to take a photo of myself in a WC mirror...

On Saturday we woke up relatively *early* and decided to see all these famous things in London. Oh yeah, I've been here for over a month and last time I saw Big Ben was almost 10 years ago. Well, the plan was good, the execution, well, not so good... We finally arrived to Waterloo around 2pm, so didn't really have too much time to see a lot. But - here it is:

Yes, that's Big Ben


London Eye. Can someone tell me if it's worth taking the ride? (Seriously)


Trafalgar Square. It was cold and windy. The bird didn't mind.

After a few hours we were absolutely starving. China Town / Soho seemed to be a good idea. And indeed it was.

Craving for food in China Town / Soho


And here it is. Loads of food.


We were quite hungry, yeah...


Tired, but not hungry anymore we ended up in a local bar in Willesden Green. The original plan was to go dancing, but as my friends wanted to see more of London the next day, the idea of chilling out with a pint of beer (or 2) seemed right.

And off to a bar again!


Good deal, isn't it?

We started off Sunday with a truly British breakfast (no photo, sorry) - toasts, eggs, sausages, beans and coffee. It's good to have a place which serves all that and all you pay is 3 quid! We then took the Tube to Victoria and walked to see Buckingham Palace. See below:


It's amazing - not really much was going on there, but there were so many people in front of the Buckingham Palace! Why?

A few hours later, after I dragged my friends to Canary Wharf to show them that weird traffic lights installation we were back in the city and just about to see another part of historical London.


Tower Bridge


The Thames is lovely this time of the year, isn't it?


Tower of London

After that, we of course ended up in Camden Town, to of course re-charge in a bar.


Always busy Camden Town (I really like this place)


Drinks in Camden Town

For me that was the end of the trip, my friends wanted to go shopping before taking off to Poland on Monday, I went home to sleep.

Anyway, that was a fun weekend. And I finally got to see all that historical stuff (well, yeah, I saw it almost 10 years ago, but well). It's good to have friends coming over to your town for a weekend - you become a tourist for a day or two and have a chance to see all those things, that you probably never would.

Sunday, February 19, 2006

The weekend is over (not)...

It was a nice weekend, loads of fun. I am absolutely knackered and it's not over yet. I've agreed to something I shouldn't have and... Anyway, photos, stories and some general comments will be posted on Tuesday, as that's when this weekend will finally end :-(

Friday, February 17, 2006

Fridaaaay!

It's amost weekend, finally. And looks like this is going to be a *very* busy one. I'll party, I'll drink, I'll have loads of fun and I'll try to take pictures. See you on Sunday afternoon!

Thursday, February 16, 2006

A corpse in my closet?

Thursday evening usually means cleaning. I went through my closet (oh gosh, what a mess) and here is what I found out. I have:
- 26 trousers (mostly jeans)
- 5 dresses
- 3 skirts
- 42 short-sleeve vests / t-shirts
- 10 long-sleeve vests
- 5 sweatshirts
- 5 jumpers / pullovers
- 4 cardigans (spring jumpers)
- 4 sleeve-less jumpers / cardigans
- 13 shirts / blouses
- 7 pyjamas (barely used, I sleep in boxers most of the time)
- 7 jackets (including jeans, cordonay, leather and suit jackets)
- 3 coats (including 1 winter coat)
- 2 winter jackets (anoraks)
- 10 handbags (11 till 2 weeks ago, but some f*** thief stole one)
- 2 hats
- 1 woolly hat
- 8 scarves
- 7 pairs of gloves
- and only (!) 26 pairs of shoes (need to work on that one)

That was a very interesting exercise. Now, back to cleaning...

The eagle has landed

This photo has just made my day.

A member of Polish Winter Olympics Team

Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Victory for common sense

Okay, the eyes are still where they belong, but it was a stand-up fight. Luckily, I can rest assured, that common sense is still there and eventually it will win through, if you're persistent enough.

BTW, I was just checking some things in my calendar from 2005 and apparently, a year ago, almost at this time, I was in NYC, New Jersey (well, we got lost) and Philly. It was bloody cold (guess how many warm clothes I had, arriving from warm and sunny California), but nevertheless - nice. Well, have a look:

What can be nicer than the largest Macy's Store in the world? NYC. Outside for about 20 minutes, I was already freezing.

Times Square. But where is the *ball*? Oh, right, it's already February...

Officer, I swear to God, I always hang about with 2 handbags. They're both mine, I promise!

Central Park. The famous ice rink. (Central Park covers a larger area than the principality of Monaco).

This car is mine. REALLY.

Manhattan. A breath-taking (or gob-smacking) view from the Empire State Building. Legend has it that the island of Manhattan was purchased for $24 in trinkets from the Indians.

I wouldn't recommend walking or driving there. Not exactly the safest thing to do. Projects, Bronx.

Um yeah, it eventually started snowing. Philadelphia.

Philly, not Gotham City. Other than that, Philadelphia is a very charming town.



Anyway, that was last year. This year I am probably going to Canary Wharf (exciting, ain't it?) to take more picture of those weird traffic lights. Not exactly the same thing as NYC, but hey, so much cheaper!

Driving me mad

I don't hate people. I don't accept violence. But somebody has just pissed me off so badly, that I want to rip off this person's eyes and enjoy that person's great astonishment about the fact, that the eyes are gone.

Tuesday, February 14, 2006

Out and about

Ahh, another lovely day. Work has been crazy recently and my social life is quite close to turning into a complete disaster. Not there yet, and there're still weekends, luckily.

I went to Job Centre Plus today. Gosh, what an experience. I was hoping to end the "welcome-to-the-UK-paper-work-nitemare" today, but no, they won't make it that easy. Although I am pretty much done with everything (and I am not counting the long process of getting back my stuff after I was robbed 1.5 weeks ago), it appears, that I'll have to wait 4 up to 8 weeks for my National Security Number. How lovely, isn't it?

Anyway, have a look at some pics I took today. Those were taken with a mobile-camera, so please forgive the quality. Here they come:

Camden Town. One of the best places in London, full of pubs, bars, weirdos from Germany (no pun, but I really saw some both today and a week ago, when I was there with a friend) and old bags trying to sell you some kitschy stuff.

Camden Town. 2:30pm. Don't those people work?? Or maybe they are all having an appointment at Job Centre Plus today?

Camden Town Tube Station. Blimey, some blue skies!

London is very busy underground. On the way home, King's Cross Station (I think).

"Please mind the gap! Please mind the gap between the train and the platform!" Jubilee train proudly entering the platform.

Melrose Ave. Home sweet home. (The white one, on the right).

So, a very nice trip to Camden Town, I have to admit. Surprise of the day - a mate from Job Center Plus with a very British name Muhammad Al-Something saying "You've been in the US for too long. It's called a mobile, not a cell, dear" (after I used the word "cell"). I absolutely agree with Muhammad, but it just seemed funny to hear it from a bloke who a) isn't British (a very strong accent), b) wants to be British so much, that he feels obliged to correct those, who are not.

Anyway, back to work. I might post another note later today, if I feel like. Or I might as well not. Oh, and btw - TheLondonGuy - thanks for the map, it really is cool!

The spring is comming!

Or not...

Monday, February 13, 2006

Working from home

There is a plethora of advantages of working from home. You can sleep-in a bit, take a walk during the day (oh, wait, this doesn't apply, it rains too often in this city, but well), you can wear a jumper and sweat-pants, you don't have to worry about your make-up, the company pays your bills and so on. There is quite a few downsides though. It's 10pm and I have just finished my work day. Kinda sucks. It also must have something to do with the fact that my HQ office is based in California, so they get to work (and start "wanting things") at 5pm UK time.

Oh, crap. My neighbours are listening to some really cool (not) music now. It's a real phenomenon in the whole music history (I mean it), it's called Disco Polo and it's really, really rubbish. It's a bummer that one doesn't get to choose their neighbours... For heaven's sake, turn it off, please!!! Thanks a million...

Anyway, the overall working-from-home-experience is quite good, I am not complaining. To my great surprise - I can actually arse myself to work (well, my comp plan helps a lot here) and I am not getting a cabin fever. I can't wait for the weekend to begin, though ;-)

A bill...

I received a bill from BT today. 158 quid. So happy I don't have to pay for it :P

Sleepless...

Somehow I can't sleep. And who is your best mate when you suffer from *insomnia*? Of course:

Yummy. It's not Guinness, but they don't sell Guinness on tesco.com. Oh well...

I've been thinking a bit. About life. How it's changed. I had a nice life back in Warsaw, cool job (though it's all relative), friends, things... and one day I just decided to leave it all and go to the US. Was the US worth giving everything up in Poland? I am unsure. Was California worth it? Oh yeah, definitely. Best time of my life so far. Something's changed though. I can't imagine myself living in Poland again. Somehow I got used to the fact that I don't really have a real *home* and frankly - it feels fine. I don't know what it is, but I am thinking it's a matter of *challenge*. Things seem somehow easy in Poland (yeah, I know I deserve at least a spank for saying that, but well), whilst living in a foreign country is and always will be a challenge. It's not only about the language (after a while, even if English is my second-language, you start thinking in English, dreaming in English etc). It's not even about the culture (I mean - come on - we're not talking about Japan or even anything close to that). I am guessing it's just the overall experience. Learning new things, having small successes and big failures (oh yeah, big ones!), experiencing *new* stuff. Okay, I know, it sounds like some rubbish-talk, but I am not sure how to put it.

The point is that I don't really miss Poland. Fine, I do get excited every time before I go to Poland, I count days, but then it appears that I don't really know what to talk about with my best friends (you know those embarrassing moments of silence, when 2 people don't really know what to say? And they go like "Yeah, so I've been working like hell recently, my job is killing me, but I other than that I am fine, yeah I am fine. How have you been? - Oh, great, wanna see some photos from my last trip? No? Oh, it's okay, no worries. Let's have some more wine"). It also appears that everything irritates me. Literally everything. Snow (the unemployment rate in Poland is somewhere around 20% and there is really nobody to take care of it??). Lack of snow (why isn't it snowing?? It's Xmas, it should be snowing!!). Happy people (why are they so happy? It's a grey country and there is really nothing to be happy about!). Upset people (for heaven's sake, can't you just smile a bit? Why are you so depressed!). The list is long. And it absolutely doesn't make sense, I know. As soon as I arrive to Poland I want to go back. And a while after I leave Poland I want to go there again. Vicious circle.

Anyway. I have just finished my beer (didn't take too long, lol), it's almost midnight and I think getting some sleep would be fair. I have finally put in writing something that's been bothering me for quite a while now, so at least that's something.

Sunday, February 12, 2006

Ugh, how do I start a blog?

So, I've been thinking about doing that for quite a while, somehow I could never arse myself to start a blog. Even though there have been many things going on in my life over last 2 years. Anyway, we'll see how it works, I am quite unsure if I manage to keep on posting. Bleh...

So... I am in London now. Arrived over 1 month ago. From sunny California (and, erm, not so sunny San Francisco). Enjoying it? Oh yeah, London is a cool town and I am just starting to discover it. And believe me, London is full of surprises. Like this for instance:




When I saw it last night I actually thought it was some huge Xmas tree. Suprisingly it didn't cross my mind, that it's been almost 2 months since Xmas. The Brits are rather creative, I have to admit...

Anyway. I hate Sundays. And this Sunday was really awful. Rain, rain and rain. I think I have to get used to that, after all it's London, so what should I be expecting? One good thing about today - I finally bought a huge map of London and it's already hanging on my wall. Thoughts? Oh yeah, the tube map is so bloody misleading. Take Maida Vale for instance. According to the tube map it's south west from Willesden Green (where I live). In fact it's south east. Does that make ANY sense? I guess there is one learning from it - I should start trusting buses, as apparently it might be faster to get to many places by bus...

It's getting quite late, so I should probably be going to bed soon. Another busy week at work starts tomorrow... And I miss San Fran...