It's been a fairly hectic last few months, thankfully seeing myself finally working and earning in the nick of time.
The downside is a fair bit of loneliness in the evenings, which will get me down a bit until I get my own pad and can start really socialising in terms of things like hiking clubs, or art classes and other after work activities.
Tonight is going to be the biggest party weekend of the office xmas party season by all accounts, so I'll be sure to be away from the madness on the streets before 10pm.
Xmas will see me at "unrelated family", that should be fun, but ...
I'm going to do my silent personal boycott of New Years again, I really can't stand it. Everything after 1998/99 in Edinburgh has been rotten.
Don't get me wrong, I'm all up for a good party, but not one borne out of the desperation of "We have to do something"
All good parties flow naturally and are not forced.
The idea of drinking yourself stupid and feeling crap for the first two days of a New Year is really rather stupid.
Enough of that, I'm moving and am really apprehensive about it, it will require another step out of my "shell" into a shared household living with more complete strangers.
It's a house in Wimbledon that is pretty much going it's seperate ways at the end of Jan, so it's a temporary shared situation. I'm taking over from a South African who is returning to Cape Town.
There are four other people there, three are all friends from the Cape, one a Spanish girl.
I met up with Randal last night - a really good fellow, in IT and studying web development. He's also a bouncer in his spare time. His friends staying there are a couple. I saw them briefly.
I will be moving into a completely new dynamic of a single shared bathroom and kitchen and will just have to find my space and socialise. I've never had a problem with that in the past, it's just the lead up to something like this always scares me a bit - but if truth be told, it scares everyone a little. Unchartered territory.
The real thing about this is the price - £70 a week and no deposit required.
The place is clean and is definately not a raving party house.
The same night I saw the place, I went to see another in the area and it was a typical youngsters commune scenario with all the baggage that goes along with it - fantastic if your in your twenties and doing it for the first time.
The place was crusty - cans and bottles all over, the housemates in the lounge eating totally crap food, as communes are like to do - chips and pizza washed down with lager. Every nook and cranny was filled with various items of clothing, furniture, rubbish and general brik brak - a house full of working party animals. Nice enough people, but I could see myself 10 to 15 years ago and knew I couldn't go back to this type of life.
So, on Wednesday I take a step sideways and that should coincide with my first earnings in the UK for 18 years - no idea what the hell the amount is going to be. That depends on the tax man.
I'm really tired and sore. I've had neck ache for two weeks due to stress and carrying stuff around all over the place. No idea how much weight I've lost, because I still have a beer belly, but from the front I'm noticably thinner and the double chin is fading - I should bloody well think so, 10 weeks of walking all over the show has to have some effect on the old weight.
I've had two colds, a runny tummy, but otherwise am "chipper" more than down - always a good thing.
That's the key to a balanced life - to remain upbeat and happy as much as possible, as there's nothing worse than continued whinging.
For instance, last night the bus decided not to pitch up in Odiham, which they often seem to do. My initial reaction was to curse, because the walk to Hook is 40 minutes, in the dark, around several incredibly busy highway intersections.
So, I made a game of it to see how fast I could get there, even taking into account the rather humourous fact that I'd decided to wear thin socks with new hiking boots. Great plan mat !
The first part is easy - pavements and street lights - but then you enter the danger zone. Being a bit of a prepared sort of bloke, I had a torch with me and disguised myself as a bicycle. Lucky I had that torch, as I was dressed in black from tip to toe - not a chevron encrusted jacket to be seen.
At some points I couldn't actually see the ground in front of my feet and managed to step into all but one muddy puddle, which I considered a good achievement. At least I didn't step in all of them.
It's exhilarating walking on a narrow road with huge 18 wheeler trucks thundering past.
... don't stare into the headlights ..
I made it to the station just as the 5.31pm train to Waterloo was pulling out, on the other side of the tracks.
Ah well, into the safety of suburbia and the incredible normality of Tescos until the next train.
Today is Saturday and I'm feeling good, off to meet another person at the house I'm moving into to discuss costs, then to pick up my post at friends and into the city - Yeah ! (been weeks since I've been there)
Going to snag myself some tasty cheese and bread from the market and wonder around for a bit. Take a few silly videos with my gadget phone, then back to do some work for a possible job position.
And the stinking Bishop ?
That's just some cheese I saw in the Deli in the "historic town of Odiham" where I'm working.
I thought it would make for a more interesting title.
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