Albert & Victoria job search lunchtime break

Phew.

Another mad day job hunting. Up at 7am, down to Coffee Society by 8am and the search began.

It's led me to Victoria Street, as I had a hair cut on Tottenham court road and then nipped to Victoria station and decided to get online and start phoning.

Got in touch with 4 new recruitment agencies, sent out 6 job applications, spoke to about 6 people and emailed a buddy here kinda semi-begging to see if there's anything workwise his company can offer - they do PC hardware stuff.

Got two calls to make this afternoon, one has me holding thumbs that I will actually be given the chance of an interview - I'm steeling myself for the worst.
The other is a brilliant temporary opportunity if I can just prove I'm the man for the job - 3 days a week, £100 a day for 2 months. That'll get me through December and Jan until the Web Design scene picks up again.

For the love of good beer, all this effort has to pay off at some point. Hauling myself out to search again today was just so much of a mission, I have to overcome a cloud of despondency each day and just get out and keep trying.

My actual mission today was to personally visit a few agencies in London city - I've been to a number of them down SW London over the weeks. I wrote down 3 potential candidates and decided to phone them first. Fired off a few CV's - got a response, if they like what they see in my CV, I'll pop over to meet them.

It seems that the agencies don't like to meet people off the street - that makes sense.

I've also learnt that you cannot rely on the big jobsites that all the rectruitment agencies use, to get your details to the right person in the agency. You absolutely have to follow it up the traditional way and not rely on all the automation that these job portals offer. I've learnt that the hard way, discovering that agencies that should've had my details never actually received them.

Live and learn I guess.

Oh yeah, another thing, the Brits do actually take lunch, so from 12.30 till around 2pm it's often hard to get hold of the right person. Many of them also seem to go down the pub for a bite and a beer - I think they are allowed to drink a pint at most. Good idea, I say !

I just nipped in here at 1.10pm and will be out just before 2pm after a slow pint of Directors, then it's another 2 or 3 hours job searching and the commutte back to Wimbledon for a break and an evening at The Swan following up on things.

The Albert is a great pub, as you can see from the photos I took this very afternoon.
I'm sitting next to the fruit machine - and look ! - a spare wall socket to powerup the laptop, not to mention free wireless ! - super. (although the free wireless was so slow, I hooked into BT Openzone instead)

You get to be good at this kinda thing, although I did get told of in the library yesterday for plugging the laptop in.

"Sorry sir, you cannot plug your laptop in here"
"Why ?"
"Because it's a fire hazard and someone may trip over it"
"Fire hazard ? I'm not going to bury the cable under the carpet and take a nap !"
"Sorry sir, we need to test any equipment before allowing it to be plugged in, this country has strict rules"
"Test ? Test ? - this is a British bought laptop, look at the plug - I'm not trying to draw 330v from a 210v circuit !"
"Sorry sir, you cannot -... " blah blah blah blah.

I said a terse "Thank you very much" and made a mental note to keep an eye out for this small minded drone. I fully intend to plug my laptop in again, if only to see how far I can push it. I will be a bit more sneaky next time. I'll bury the cable under the carpet ...

16 November 2005, 13:51pm, live from The Albert pub, Victoria Street, London.

side notes
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It's mad cold today, I need to buy some gloves. brrr. Warm in the pub though.

Jobs and Sods.

I'm really pissed off today. Once again, I find complete indifference on the job front.

The so called fantastic leads on Friday seem to just vanish after the weekend. I got 3 calls in the space of 2 hours last Friday all with excited agents with fantastic opportunities.

The best one was a perfect role for me, a freelance multimedia designer, specialising in email invites and similar areas for £160 a day. The client liked my CV and the job was to start either Monday or Tuesday - "we will let you know"
Monday arrives, I phone first thing. "Anthony is on leave today" - this was the guy who was dealing with me. Fantastic, absolutely fucking fantastic. Ok, no problem, I'll speak to his colleague. "Sorry, Paul is out at the moment"
I left 6 messages during the course of the day, eventually speaking to Paul, friendly enough "Yeah, we'll let you know"
Phone again today, Anthony is STILL on leave, spoke to Paul again "Looks like the client isn't interested in your CV"

Now wait a minute here ?
Firstly, the client was very interested in my CV and secondly I was prepared to start work Monday or Tuesday. What exactly is the problem with these bloody recruitment people ?

Evidentally, they are adept liars and change their tune when it suits them, one moment turning on the charm, the next trying to turn you away.

I applied for another 6 jobs today, then phoned an older lead about the possible freelance for £250 (the one I prepared a quote and a mockup for).
Now I sit here at 1:30pm wondering what the fuck to do. They have someone else they may go with, no doubt some dumb bastard willing to do the job for £50.

I went down the job centre to look for jobs, but there was nothing new from the last crop of leads I had.

The scary thing is that I've applied online to at least 150 jobs, my CV is out there at countless agencies, but I STILL haven't got an interview.
The agencies have everything wrapped up so tight, it's virtually impossible to find a job without going through them.

My job description also seems to confuse people, Web Designer. Everyone seems to assume your a programmer.
On most job sites, there is no "Web Designer" or "Web Design" category.

I really am starting to hate these agencies with a passion, you can no longer get an interview to sell yourself without being screened by these people first. Back in the old days, you would get a paper, circle 5 or 6 potential positions and actually get interviews. These days, your CV is processed, presumably to seperate the wheat from the chaff. The fact is, they pigeon hole people to such a huge degree, that you end up with a factory situation where people specialise in just one area.

There seems to be no diversity in job roles, or at least, this is the way the agencies seem to operate.

Once again, I find myself feeling extremely dejected and depressed, what the fuck do I have to do TO GET A FUCKING INTERVIEW !

It's not like I haven't tried, I must've spent upwards of £300 on phone calls and net access and have been going for long shots for weeks, or jobs that will require me to relocate elsewhere in the Thames Valley.

Now it's time for desperate measures, working ANYWHERE in the whole of the UK, so long as it is in my chosen profession. I don't want to do that, the idea of coming to London was to actually live and work here. It looks good on the CV and it's a fantastic city to live in. The thought of working in a depressing little town or big city through the winter doesn't appeal to me.

Perhaps I will write another CV aimed at bog standard data capture or desktop support roles to see me through until next year.

Round and Round we go ...

The Ten Bells

After a typical morning job searching and coming up short (I have good leads to follow up this afternoon), I decided to head for the libary and afterwards, to Liverpool Station and Spitalfields market.

I'd joined the Wimbledon Library on Saturday and rented a DVD, L4Yer Cake and took out the book at the same time. I returned the movie today and found to my amazement that they have free wireless access, even though I was told they didn't.
Sorted then, a place to spend a few hours this afternoon doing freelance and job hunting and a bit of blogging.

I got various trains to Liverpool Street Station and walked toward Spitalfields.

The market was mostly closed, so obviously it's best for a Friday or Saturday visit. Very interesting area and more food places than you can spin a plate at.
I will return on Saturday - looks like it could be good fun.

I sauntered down Artillery lane, a small sidestreet in a maze of small sidestreets, through the market and ended up by an old church.

Next to the church was a really rubbishy looking old pub, The Ten Bells, established around 1752. Inside, it looks like most of the furniture was established around the same time. What is clear, is that the fittings and bar are a good 130 years old. What saves it from being a complete dive is that it has no flashing fruit machines and large windows which let the sun stream in. Very relaxing.

It also happens to be a pub most associated with Jack The Ripper. The name was changed in the 1970's from "The Ten Bells" to "The Jack The Ripper", but was fortunately changed back again in the 1980's

http://www.casebook.org/victorian_london/tenbells.html

Actually, come to think of it, this pub has really hit on bad times. None of the signage in the above link exists anymore and there's a host of flies buzzing around the interior. I'm not sure the pint is all that fresh either. Time to leave.

I snagged some great grub at a sandwich shop I'd noticed on my way into the Spitalfields area. A tiny family run place selling Baps and Ciabattas with a wide variety of fillings. There was a queue stetching out of the door and down the street, all of them office workers. I returned when it wasn't so busy and ordered a fantastic toasted ciabatta - big, healthy and cheap.

Always follow the locals to the food at lunchtime in the city - you'll soon see which places have the best grub for the lowest price.

Aside from that brief interlude, another Monday passes. I hate Mondays.

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side notes

Feeling despondent. One of my good job leads turned out flat, still waiting on the other one. I'll know about that tommorrow.

Monday is a terrible day for any sort of job activity, especially this close to December, but tommorrow will start hotting up again.

The library free wireless discovery is going to come in useful. I'd passed the library on a number of occassions and until recently, I thought the entire building was closed for renovations.

It turns out, you can enter a temporary library section on a side street - they had added new signage to point this out. Irritating, or I would've investigated weeks ago.

The Natural coffee shop free wireless is great, except for the noise levels. It gets seriously loud in that cafe - dogs, kids, machines, music. Fun if you don't need to concentrate, it's saving grace being the fact that it is a damn cool little spot - bright and cheerful. I do like children and dogs and machines, but not when they are howling at the same time as I'm working.

Silence beckons and the library is bliss.

London Walks, Bubble Cars Part 1 - the "I'm knackered" Blog.

London Walks, Bubble Cars Part 1 - the "I'm knackered" Blog.

I decided to go on one of the famous London Walks this afternoon, as it is clear that to truly get to know central London, you need a guide.

London Walks have been operating since the 60's and have a solid website with all the info you'll need, http://london.walks.com/

Today I did the "This is London - the Flash-Bang-Lightning Highlights Tour!"

£8.50 including a boat journey. A real bargain it turns out, as it was a really good day for walking.

The sun was shining on a crisp autumn day, blue skies and smiling people. Weather that puts wings on your boots.

I arrived a little early outside the meeting place, Tower Hill station, overlooking "Her Majesty's Palace and Fortress, The Tower of London"

How would I know exactly where the walk started ?
The website indicated that you will see a guide with a clutch of London Walks leaflets.

Ah, there she was, but no other customers ?
I did the usual "British" thing and sat on the sidelines to see if many people would arrive. It started with a trickle, so I quickly paid my £8.50 and suddenly a Flash Mob appeared - the Belgians had invaded !

Our guide handled this invasion with the confidence of experience. A great deal of change was bandied about followed by a quick headcount. I'm sure two people got away without paying and I'm sure the guide noticed this, but I suppose that's part and parcel of these types of immediate tours.

All told, there were 39 of us including our British guide, a fair amount of people to herd across busy intersections.

I was the only other Brit, so it made things interesting. We had Belgians, Dutch, Americans, a French Londoner (20 years standing) and a guy possibly from Poland who managed to smoke 10 cigarettes in two hours. He may have been from Belguim, but as he was permanently wreathed in smoke, it was hard to tell.

So what did we see that made anything different from any other walk ?

It was the small things which counted, seeing part of The Lord Mayors Parade from the boat right through to a van advertising a handyman company with bubbles billowing from it's undercarriage.

There's always so much happening in London, that at any given time, you seem to be involved on the outskirts of an event or slap bang in the middle of it.

I'll save the Meat 'n Potatoes of the walk for tommorrow, along with a host of boring tourist type photos. I'm tired and need to sit and reflect over a pint of Youngs Bitter.

12 November 2006

... I'll have to Blog part two tommorrow or Tuesday, been too busy today doing exotic things like laundry, freelance work and wasting time going to Chapel Street Market (I arrived as they were closing - clever cloggs)

Off to supper just now with friends - will be a nice change, been on my puff for the last 6 days. Yes, I'm trying to pepper my language wiv a bittova twang - blame it on L4yer Cake.

Here are two photos of that walk, nothing touristy just yet, London isn't exactly the most camera shy few miles of real estate..

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Side notes

The days are getting colder, this evening, by the time I leave Earlsfield to get back to Wimbledon, it will be around 6 degrees centigrade.

Although I'm still suprised when I see people in tshirts when it's only 11 degrees during the day, they are very much outnumbered now.

I went out this morning in a warm light sweater with long sleeve tshirt underneath and it was chilly. I went out later with my scarf and leather jacket, brrrrr.

It's not the same type of cold as a gauteng winter, which tends to cut through to the bone in those chilly winds. It's a more insiduous sneaky cold. If you were outside after 11pm for a few hours, it would freeze your nether regions off, however, no sane person is outside for long periods of time. Your constantly on and off buses, into shops, back home, in a coffee shop.

The day is still fine and brilliant for walking - it should stay great for day walks for another 6 weeks or more, or throughout winter if your brave and a bit daft.

Streets in Wimbledon came to a partial standstill today as a parade of the Worple Road army/navy/thingymebob scouts drummed their way down the road. Nothing that odd, unless you consider drummers accompanied by 4 xylophonists a tad irregular.

I had a bag of heavy just cleaned washing, so I hopped on the slowest bus ride I've had in a while, instead of walking and watched the band in front and the steadily growing traffic behind. It was all just a bit surreal.

Britain has an odd respect for pedestrian activities, especially where horses are involved.

A military band of any type has complete right of way (I suppose with council permission)
Horses can just clip clop onto a busy road and the traffic has to stop.
Cars will still stop at Zebra crossings, except Taxis, which like South Africa, have a law unto themselves. It's a more civilised set of rules, but perplexing nonetheless. Get in the way of a cabbie at your peril.

The sheer volume of traffic is nothing really new, except that it persists 24/7. Even joburg has quiet moments on a Sunday afternoon/evening. London doesn't.

The Borough Market Snapshots

I spent a few more hours at the market after my previous blog, such was the sheer enjoyment of life there. Good food, good people, good drink.

I hope you enjoy my quick photo shoot of food and the people selling it, with a few odds and sods thrown in for good measure.

If your in London for even a weekend, you owe it to yourself to spend a few hours here. It truly is a most remarkable experience.

From Wasteland to the Market - Live from The Globe

I'd been online looking for walks around London and happened across a walk which takes you around the Rotherthite area

I was planning to take a packed lunch out tommorrow and make a day of it.

Instead, I decided to go today, for want of anything better to do.

I got off at Canada Water and out of the station and found myself surrounded by shopping centres and tower blocks on a grim grey day.

Hmmm, not really what I was expecting.
I started walking in a direction that felt right, hoping to come across something interesting to look at other than Pizza Hut, BHS and ugly modern buildings.

After 20 minutes of this completely dull experience I decided to hop on a bus, which took me right back to Canada Walk station. I wasn't about to give up that quickly, so I jumped on any old bus that went around the entire area and on to London Bridge.

I more or less traced the same route that the walk would follow, except it didn't run near the Thames, so I found absolutely nothing of interest to make me jump of the bus. Rotherhithe central near the tunnel had potential, but nothing enticing enough.

I realised that to see what was on the walk, I would need to plan my journey more carefully, getting a map or two - I'll leave it for a sunny day.

This is where luck came into the equation, I decided to just sit on the bus all the way to London Bridge and when we were in the area, look for something interesting.

I found it, big time.

The Borough Market !

Just to get a sense of perspective on all this :-

Borough Market has survived for 20 centuries, and remains a centre of food excellence. We are looking forward to another 2,000 years of trading!

Pretty damn amazing.

I'm sitting in The Globe having a pint after eating a delicious chicken wrap made from all organic produce and some freebies - cheese, olives, breads etc.

Once again I find the London I've dreamed about, those romantic notions where the local market is next to the church under the iron bridge. It exists and it certainly can't be found anywhere near Canada Water, although if I get the map out, I'm sure I'll find a more appealing side to Rotherhithe.

So, this is me coming to you live from The Globe pub at the market. I shall shortly brave the crowds and search for something for supper - yum !

I'll leave you with a few photos I took this very day, indeed.

Free wireless access here too ! - make a note for your future travels.

I think that I may try and find my way to The Mayflower after this - it can't be that far, can it ?

Blogging on the move - I could get used to this.

Another day job seeking. Pickles.

Got to the Cafe Natural fairly early and spent a good 4 hours there doing job searching and a bit of freelance for a client in South Africa.

So what did I do ?

Applied for 3 new jobs, 2 via the various job networks and one direct to client.
I've exhausted the various job site backlogs, so it's now on a day to day basis searching for whatever crops up.
Spent the rest of the time battling to get 2300 emails with 534k PDF files attached sent out via a web based mass mailer.

At 12.30pm, I walked down to the Job centre and spent an hour searching their database for anything IT related with a reasonable salary, yielding no more results from the leads I followed up last time. Went into Blue Arrow consulting, from there to Office Angels and finally into the Computer People office, where I had a long chat with two of the agents.

They looked at my CV and indicated that it's well written. They were a little suprised that I hadn't landed an interview yet, considering the amount of applications I've sent out, although one guy did reckon it's really slow at the moment for web work - no shit !

I also started looking at the type of bar jobs on offer - well, they are all crap, no matter what. I'm holding thumbs and ears that it doesn't come down to a bar job, although I may see if there's anything available at The Swan in the evenings - I'm there every evening there anyway, so I may as well use that time to earn money instead of spending it.

It's still too early to go back to the B&B, so after a £1.63 triple vegetarian sandwich (egg & cress, cheese & pickle, tuna & celery), I'm having a quick pint in The Alexandra while I follow up with all my various contacts - I have 5 numbers to call today just to say "So, hows it going ?"

Lets start ...

Jason :- Still waiting for client, this client has been asking questions about me, so it's still a very good lead. He's going to follow that up today.

Anthony :- The client no longer needs freelancer. This is fairly typical in the design industry, potential projects often are cancelled etc. - I know this from experience. Agent reckons "hang in there" and keep trying - yadda yadda.

Ben Jewitt :- Same spiel as the last 10 times. "I don't personally have anything, but I will let my colleauges know" - alrighty then, strike Ben off the list for good.

Cairon :- Not available right now

Ian :- Not available right now

... and there we have it, £1.80 in calls.

Back to the B&B just now to do a few hours on another freelance job & then it's up to The Swan to do the emailing and job searching all over again.

Exactly a month has gone by and I'm wondering where my luck has gone ?

I'm now holding out for my closest lead, which will require a relocation to Hampshire. Please God, just let them give me an interview and I'll sell myself without a problem.

*** update ***
I just fired off an email offering to work at a reduced rate to get "my foot in the door" - sounds a bit like "foot in my mouth", ah well, desperate times = desperate measures.

(I would make a terrible barman anyway)

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Side Notes

Sitting in the Alexandra in Wimbledon in a real locals pub. Lots of old farts, everyone with heavy Laaandan accents, innit.
Got a bloke that sounds exactly like Lou from Little Britain, keep expecting to hear Andy saw "I wan tha one"

Some of the banter in the pub :-

"You dan't wanna go in that sandwich place on Broadway mate, you can gerra sandwich for 99p mate. Just go dawn Tesco. You don't wanna get rubbish there, is that what you eat innit ?"
"Yeah, that'll make you fuckin' 'appy"
"Cut yer 'ed off, do the operation, put yer 'ed back"
"Want some chips ? fish 'n chips ? - we'll get yer some chips if yer want, £3, we can get um."
"Give my love to sainsburys then."

Killing Time Again waiting for a Cigar

Ambling aimlessley around Soho considering a pint and a hot meal. I decided on just a pint. Lunch starts at £6.50 in most pubs, which is just a bit too much to splash out on considering I still have supper to sort out as well as my daily two pints down The Swan following up on job leads.

It's been a rather fruitless day so far, no new leads on the job sites, so I spent the morning bugging people on the phone. Had a long chat with a recruitment agency guy, Anthony, who was away on Monday and Tuesday (moaned about this in the last blog) He sounds confident (don't they always) that he will find some freelance for me.

Last night I sent a "to the point" email to a company advertising for web designers directly with no agency involved, following it up this morning with another email and a phone call, they will decide over the next two days. Hope I didn't bungle my chances by being too eager (desperate ?)

If I fail to land a cushdey job, there's no shortage of shit jobs in London. Everywhere you go, there are job vacancy signs. Most of them are offering £5 an hour and below, which is really a last resort. If your lucky, you'll get a 40 hour week at £5 an hour, which amounts to a pathetic £200 before tax, probably around £170 in reality. That would mean shared accommodation at £70 a week, food for a week at around £40, transport for a week at £25, leaving a rather unappetising £35 for entertainment.

I will go that route if I have to, but £400 to £500 a week clear sounds a bit more appealing, which I should be able to get with some effort.

I have about 2 weeks left with my current financial situation before taking the plunge toward the lower reaches of the job and accommodation market.

I'm sitting in a totally non-descript pub, there being so many of them to choose from. I chose the wrong one from the aspect of wireless net access, this is a dead spot. The beer is reasonable - £2.60 for a pint of John Smiths which I'm savouring slowly. I think I shall lunch and dine on, hmmm, pita bread, humous, tomato and possibly cheese. That should set me back about £3 and will also see me through for breakfast tommorrow.

The method of my madness continues. A man cannot exist on bread alone, requiring beer to keep him sane. I have a can of cider at the B&B for later this evening and will probably have 2 pints of Youngs bitter at The Swan.

My daily expenditure will therefore be :-

2 x coffee = £3.60
1 x John Smiths = £2.60
Lunch & Dinner = £3.00
2 x Youngs Bitter = £4.42

TOTAL : £10.02

That is not bad going, however, some days have been worse. I'd say I've been averaging £15 a day on food and drink. If transport and accommodation are taken into account, we're talking around £40 a day. I've also made a number of purchases - an iron, a cheap CD walkman (mp3 capable), a lamp and of course the huge expenditure - the laptop I'm typing this on.

That alone set me back £700 but was absolutely essential.
If I really hit rock bottom and need to survive through till next year, the laptop will need to be sacrificed on the altar of need.

When I do get a good job, I intend to get completely legless in celebration and will most certainly splash out on a slap up feast, unless it's a bar job. If so, I'll "celebrate" with a sandwich and a pint.

Later I will post this for the sake of record keeping and will spend the evening searching for leads. I'm still working on a CV rewrite for data capture / help desk roles, but it is proving difficult to get right.

Tommorrow ?

Same routine, different day. Keep slogging on looking for work.

UPDATE

Just got a follow-up call while writing all this gibberish from Jason at CV screen about a potential position in West Sussex. The client had a few more questions about me, such as whether I've had eccommerce experience and if I'm willing to relocate - yes on both counts. They are offering £26000 PA - not bad. That would be around £1700 a month after tax.

Where-abouts in West Sussex I have no clue yet as the name and address of the employer has not been revealed. To be honest, right now, I'd relocate to Brixton or White City if it meant a solid job. Best get my interview Monkey Suit ironed, as I'm just so close now and hope to be smoking that cigar soon.

============

Side notes.

I'm loving London. I'm alone most of the time, but that doesn't detract from the sheer enjoyment of this city. Even the lack of a job doesn't dampen the spirits that much. I walked here past Trafalgar Square again, witnessed a hilarious verbal battle between a bus driver and an incredibly rude passenger, ambled up into Soho and browsed some book shops getting lost in a maze of streets and people.

It amazes me how little it takes to raise my spirits. Just a simple call from a recruitment agency to update me on a job application and I'm smiling again. My sheer persistence is starting to bear fruit.

The only thing I miss about Joburg right now are family and friends. That's it. I don't miss anything else at all. I'd sooner have a crap bar job in London than a lucrative web job in Joburg. It's been a month and I have no real desire to leave.
Even in my deepest depressions of which there have been a few, I never touch on the idea of returning.

I think I really have had enough of the Joburg paranoia. The thought of worrying about being attacked just driving into my house, or hijacked on the road, or being involved in a shoot-out makes me realise that no matter what my situation here is, I'm better off from a mental point of view. For all of Londons mad rush and noise, I'm more at ease than I have been for years.

Yes, London is a dangerous place. I can be mugged here too, or be blown up in a terrorist attack, or beaten up late at night by drunken yobs. The difference is the frequency and rarity of crime not to mention the sheer diversity of life. The gap between the haves and have-nots is far more blurred. The racial overtones are also more diverse, there being so many races, cultures, languages, ideologies, creeds and points of view.

We will see what transpires. All I know at this moment in time, is that this is an adventure for me personally that will have a profound impact on the rest of my life.

Caution is with the winds and I need to pee...

Birmingham Revisited

I'm on the train back to London, once again crammed into a seat with my trusty laptop and a fair bit more luggage than I arrived with. (An awesome knee length soft leather jacket, a Nike day pack, a set of great portable speakers for my laptop, a mini kettle, a cafeteria and a packed lunch.) - Nice to see ya, to see ya nice ! (Thanks Mom !)

It was a very relaxing weekend, with an evening out in Henley-in-Arden for a curry at Arden, arguably the best curry I've ever had. Apparently it's the best Curry place in the Midlands.

Mom and I headed into Birmingham on Sunday and passed through Tysley on the train, a place where I spent a few months on various training courses back in the late 90's
I remember the place always smelling like stale damp dishrags, however, there was just a whiff of diesel and smog so my memories remained in the background.

Birmingham is a completely revitalised place. From the late 60's to the late 90's it really was the brunt of so many jokes, some rather unpleasant. Once a powerhouse of industry, sporting more canals than Venice, Birmingham hit a slump in the 60's which wasn't helped by a spree of rebuilding. Wonderful buildings were torn down and replaced by tower blocks and concrete and a road system so unfriendly to pedestrians shopping became a chore. Prior to the 60's Birmingham was a bustling city and a pleasure to visit. I think something must've been put in the city councils drinking water at the time, because the things they built could only have been designed and approved by raving loonies.

The new millenium has seen Birmingham rise from a mire of concrete and roads into a fantastic city of culture and a brilliant place to shop. In the centre, all roads have been closed to traffic and paved over, leaving tree lined boulevards and a cafe society. The canals have been opened up and renovated and you can walk for miles along their banks, stopping for a bite to eat or a pint.

The change is so dramatic and so heart lifting it has made Birmingham one of Britains major shopping destinations and once again, a proud European city.
As a Brummie, it certainly makes me glad that my city is no longer the brunt of jokes, but rather a great place to visit.

At the centre of it all, is the famous Bullring next to St. Martins church. It has been a bustling market place since the 1200's, however, the 60's obsession with concrete turned it into an ugly place. Only the people made it worth visiting, as brummies are a cheerful lot for the most part. The Bull Ring is now a shining example of how modern architecture can blend with old. The bronze statue of the Bull at the centre of the Bullring is a powerful symbol of the cities new found direction. It was recently vandalised, but such is the love of this symbol, the people of Birmingham paid to have it repaired and nobody will damage it again, such was the public outcry. Of course, this being Birmingham, people are more than welcome to let their kids clamber all over it and have photos taken.

Birmingham sports art galleries, theatres, restaurants, an aquarium and the best shopping experience in the Midlands.

The fact that it has an Apple shop really puts the shopping experience into perspective - a spare £2000 would've come in very handy, those 30" flat screens really are something to drool over.

If your based in London for a reasonable amount of time, Birmingham is a must visit. Considering it is only two and a half hours from Marylebone London on Chiltern rail, it's possible to visit for the day. It will also give new visitors to England a different perspective on British life and culture beyond what London has to offer.
Head out on the first train from Marylebone (£25 return) and you should be in Birmingham by 11am. Enough time to take in the shopping, a stroll down the canal banks and a long lunch before a very relaxing train journey back - there are only a few stops along the route.

November 7 2005 11am

Met up with Mom at the Stratford station and went for a quick coffee in the centre of town. Moms gone off shopping for an hour while I amble around. Good call, I'm not the most patient of shoppers, having a typical blokes attitude toward browsing - love the electronics goods, don't mind the clothes, run screaming from the supermarket.

This is good source matter for another Blog, outlining the various pros and cons of shopping with women. As far as I can see, the best pro is when they say "We'll meet over there in an hour"

I ambled directly to the Dirty Duck, a pub off the main drag that usually sees more locals than tourists. Go down to the roundabout down by WHSmiths, take a right and then straight for 3 minutes past the theatre and you'll find it, fantastic pub.

As I sit here, the coal fire is burning and there's locals enjoying lunch over a drink and a chat.

It would be great to share a pint with my brother right now, but I'm getting used to these solo pub sessions. So long as I have a book, newspaper or laptop handy, I'm happy.

A pint of Flowers Bitter is the order of the day, it's been over a year since I last tasted this most excellent brew. They serve bitter here at the proper temperature. In other words, not chilled. In London they tend to chill the bitter too much which spoils the flavour in my opinion.

Stratford-upon-avon hasn't changed at all, it's a bit like coming home. When I was younger, I used to sneer at the American tourists taking photos of mcdonalds. I didn't see any today unfortunately. It would've been good to take a photo of an American taking a photo of mcdonalds in Stratford. A sneer or two in passing would of course be neccessary, or even a good English kick in the goolies. "Take a photo of that, uncultured clot."

"Gee look honey, they have a macdonalds right here in stratforde, I just have to gedda shot a this for the guys back home."

Damn heathens !

As anyone with taste and culture knows, it's the Dirty Duck you want to spend an hour at, not the bloody macdonalds.

Although there is a lot to see in Stratford, you really need a car to visit all the surrounding areas too. These areas are steeped in history and ... historical pubs !

Just think, as you sup on an ale in a thousand year old pub, you can let your mind wander back over the centuries thinking about all the other people who have sat at the same spot supping on an ale and, er, well I don't really know where I'm going with this, so I'll stop now.

I'm a local today and have a sense of "my people"
Sounds like total bollox, I know, but there you go.
Most likely I'll step out the door and some young local scalliwag will gob on my boot and say "fook you yer bloody saff fafrican."
This is unlikely in Stratford, but not impossible.

If you expected a potted history of Stratford from this Blog, my apologies. Of course, should I manage to consume 3 pints of flowers in an hour, I'll be potted.

As it is, I'm half way through my first one with 20 minutes to go before meeting Mom and heading off to Henly-in-Arden.

We're going out for Indian tonight, think I'll do the completely obvious British thing and have a Chicken Tikkia Masala - sorted !

Following these Blogs of mine, you will possibly have noticed a common theme here. In my defence, pub culture is about the most important aspect of life in Britain. Even if you don't drink, to really get a feel for the country you most definately need to spend a great deal of time in pubs, if only to get out of the rain !

5th November, 12.55pm

Trains and laptops

Modern British trains seem to have been designed to prevent easy laptop use.
I'm typing this with the laptop jutting into my stomach and the screen hard up against the seat in front, not the most comfortable. I should've got one of the "seats facing seats" spots instead.

The world outside the train windows is sucked along backwards to strains from X&Y. Grey skies, green land, distant cows and sheep dotted hills. Hedgerows and Pylons, Forests and highways, villages and towns. This is England.

I'm on the 8.54 from Marylebone to Stratford-upon-avon to meet Mom.
It's been a while since I saw her - a few weeks back briefly at Heathrow when she was on her way to Portugal. Before that it had been almost a year.

My journey plan outlined in the last blog worked flawlessley, although not without some luck.

I left the B&B at 7.30, grabbed a bus to Wimbledon Station and got the 7.45 to Waterloo. The journey only took 15 minutes. It took 3 minutes at a steady pace to get down to the Jubilee line via a series of escalators and this is where fortune smiled.

An announcement that the Jubilee line was experiencing severe delays just as a train was about to pull away from the platform. I hopped onboard with seconds to spare and got to Baker Street at 8:13, hopped off and walked literally 100m to a waiting Bakerloo train which got me to Marylebone at 8.20 with 34 minutes to spare.

I'm still amazed at the public transport in this country a month after arriving. I am certain that at some point I will curse it as I'm left stranded somewhere in the cold at an ungodly hour.

I'm looking forward to seeing Stratford-upon-avon again, it's been a while since I was last there. I'm very familiar with the place, having lived in the area for a year back in the late 80's

Hopefully the rain won't start pouring till later - we're in for a wet weekend and the temperature has normalised from it's previous record breaking temperatures. The sun is still shining through the clouds and the scenery from the train is soft and pleasant.

Time to relax for a few days and forget about the world of jobs and accommodation in London...

***********************
5th November, 10.07am somewhere between London and Stratford-upon-avon.
***********************

... The journey back 7th November ...

Uneventful until Waterloo, with train delays. About the only highlight were The Smiths lyrics :-

"I'd like to drop my trousers to the Queen, every sensible child will know what this means"
That made me laugh a bit loud on the tube, although I've heard it so many times before. Classic.

Beware the timetable/map junky !

Yep, that's me. Or at least, it could become me if I don't hold onto sanity.

I've caught myself carefully planning a journey again, which is normal enough, if it wasn't for the fact how I'm mulling over several different routes to shave a few minutes and a few stops of the journey.

I need to get to Stratford-on-Avon and as I have a 6 zone Oyster card, I can get a discount on Chiltern Railway Co. from Marlybone. That's not the part that needs to be planned.

From Wimbledon, on the district line, I can catch a tube to Edgware road and walk to Marylebone, or catch the Bakerloo line one stop. It's a no brainer and is the route that TLF (http://journeyplanner.tfl.gov.uk) recommends.

However, the journey on the District Line to Edgware can be 35 minutes and a stop-start pain in the neck and ass.

I can hop on National Rail (overland) to Waterloo, which takes 20 minutes and get on the Jubilee line to Baker Street and onto the Bakerloo line to Marylebone.

Lets work it out, the first option is 14 stations in total and around 45 minutes,
The second option is 10 stations in total and about the same time - 45 minutes.

I think the clincher here is obviously the fact that 10 stations is better than 14.

See what I mean ? - I'm a hopeless case, a complete anorak !

The worst thing is, I'm starting to get a tube maps view of London which is dangerous, as the map is largely irrelevant to the actual routes. If there's tube closures or delays on the tube, I'm in a right pickle.

4th November 2005

By bb_matt at 04/11/2005 - 23:07 | Online diary | bb_matt's blog | 219 reads

I do the same and it worries me ,,,,,,

Often when I have to travel somewhere I agonize over the different options, and I often wonder why. I can't justify it in any way. I'm not generally bothered about cost, and not usually in a hurry, but I always seem to want to find the most effective route. I guess a pyschologist would make something of this. (Scary?)

I often do the same when I have to go on a long car trip, working out the timings and getting very pissed off if I can't stick to my calculated average speed. I don't even have a fancy car with on board computers and so on, in fact I'm a total technophobe.

Apart from the fact that this probably means I'm an anally retentive twat ... any other ideas!

By Tafelberg at Sun, 06/11/2005 - 15:55 | login or register to post comments

Other stuff

Got a total of 3 good job leads today, 2 of which are incredibly promising.

I also spent 2 hours doing laundry, 3 hours on trains and 2 hours at Heathrow - don't know why, but I'm pretty knackered.

I was going to go to a bonfire thingy near Wimbledon Park station and was pacing outside Sainsburys near the Wimbledon station deciding whether to get back to the B&B and up to The Swan to do business (emailing/job followups/journey planning) or to go to the bonfire night.

Duty called. I had to get the emails from the job leads I got and follow up on them. Just getting from Wimbledon to the B&B to fetch the laptop and go up to the pub took 40 minutes.

Yep, it's where time goes in London, as I found out in a previous Blog - you can spend a huge portion of each day travelling. Easily 4 hours.

I had passed by Wimbledon Park stop earlier, the station just before Wimbledon. I could see the bonfire and fireworks going off as well as a bunch of typical small scale carnival type rides and phoned to see if the people I had planned to meet were there yet. If they had been, I certainly would've hopped of the train, but most the people weren't even back from work at that time (around 7.10pm) and were planning to go about 8.30pm.

Too tired, early start tommorrow, responsibility calls.

Lucky I did decide to go to the pub instead, as the email I was hoping for, confirming a strong possiblity of a job in Surrey, was in my inbox. I fired off a reply indicating I'm very keen. Another job confirmation was also waiting, not requiring a reply, but confirming my CV was with the client. That one requires relocating to West Sussex.

We'll see what transpires, for now, I'm relaxing for the weekend and going to see Mom.

As for the email newsletter for an SA client I was supposed to do - oops - will have to try and get it done Monday !

Daown the pub, innit, lookin' for work.

Daown the pub, innit, lookin' for work.

Got any jobs ?

Sitting in The Swan emailing / phoning after a job search session at the Job Centre.

Been an interesting day and will continue to be interesting from a job & accommodation seeking point of view.

Spent the morning at Natural in Wimbledon Village working on the quotation for the freelance job. Phoned a lady called Julie who is offering a room for £90 a week in Colliers Wood and then had a quick 11.30am interview at the Job Centre to tell them how my job seeking is going.

To be honest, the Job Centre and I both know that I don't really need to sign in, but I'm covering all my bases. If things do go pear shaped it's always good to know there may be some sort of financial cushion.

While I was at the Job Centre I did a detailed search for jobs on their terminals.

These things are nifty - touchscreen job search interface which also has a built in printer. If you find a job that suits you, hit print and an oversized ATM type printout zips out of a slot.

I found five potential leads in 20 minutes, which I'm following up now.

My meeting with Julie about the room in Colliers Wood is only at 6pm tonight, but I like to get familiar with places, so I decided to nip down there from the Job center to find out exactly where it was.

There's method in this seeming waste of time. Another person is viewing the room at 6.15pm so I've booked to see it at 6pm and will have cash in hand if it is a good deal. The last thing I want is to be narking about in the dark trying to find the place. I needed to firstly find out exactly where the place is and secondly, how long it takes to get there. You snooze, you lose.

I'd already drawn up a quick map to Colliers Wood this morning. From the Job Centre, I got the 93 bus to South Wimbledon Tube, then one stop north to Colliers Wood only to find that the number 200 from Wimbledon goes within 2 minutes of the place. It looked ok from the outside and now I know I have to leave my B&B at around 4.30pm to catch the 200 bus from Ridgway near The Swan. I don't mind getting there a bit early. Get there too late and the place will be taken.

I have a bit of a wild hope that it has a ensuite bathroom. The reason for that is that the photos Julie emailed of the bedroom and the bathroom shows two doors in the bedroom. One of the doors could easily be a cupboard, but you never know. It would be a serious luck if it did have an ensuite bathroom.

They have broadband which is a major plus.

So, it all depends what vibe I get from the people - they have cats, a young son and the outside of their house looked neat and tidy. Hmmm, perhaps they won't like the cut of my jib !

My "mental map" of SW18/19 is starting to fall into place now, but London still remains a vast unknown punctuated with a few spots here and there which I've been to.
Think I'll try to plot out exactly how long a walk would be from The Swan, Ridgway to Colliers Wood, after I know if I'm taking the room of course. I already know the 200 bus links this fine pub to Colliers Wood and I noticed there isn't many nice looking pubs in the Colliers Wood area. I personally think the walk, down side streets, would be quicker than the bus. Will have to see !

I like The Swan, it's the most comfortable friendly pub I've visited to date and has become my local. It's never too busy, never empty, has a big non-smoking area, good food and an established feel. It has everything a good pub should have.
Even if I end up living in North London, it's a pub I'll visit every few weeks regardless.

Anyway, back to work - have to revise my quotation for that freelance job after receiving a slightly different sitemap from the prospective client.

Oh yeah, I also have to go see a man about a bag at 7.30 this evening, all in a days work.

Noise pollution

I thought I may have got used to the noise volumes of general British town and city life, I guess I was wrong to a degree.

This morning, at the Natural cafe again (free wireless access is why I go) I had to seriously concentrate on fixing an internet script for a client newsletter bulk email shot.

This is where an ipod would've come in very handy, to drown out the noise with music.

Coffee shops are generally noisy places, however, the Natural is incredibly noisy at the best of times.

Coffee grinders that sound like Jet planes, staff that really whack things around, young babies howling and the other day, a barking dog which was rather amusing.

It was one of those moments when you wonder what the dog sees that you don't. An old couple pop into the coffee shop each day with their two irish terriers. They are usually friendly well behaved dogs. The other day some old bloke set the one dog barking like crazy, the noise was unbelievably loud. The couple were reasonably embarrassed, but the bloke rushed out double time without saying anything, looking a bit worried. Makes you wonder what the dogs could detect. Maybe they didn't like his coat. Perhaps the guy just hates dogs.

Back to noise. I've always had a bit of a problem with sudden sharp loud noises and other random sounds. Someones laugh can grate on me - a specific type of laugh. Usually, hearing laughter makes me want to laugh too.

Even the tone of someones voice at certain times can grate against my ear.

I think most of us suffer from the "nails scraping on blackboard" effect. There's a range of sounds which give me a similar feeling. Take the sound of pouring tea. I hate that sound unless it's me actually pouring the tea. Wierd.

Perhaps there is some bizarre incident from early childhood I've associated with it.
I also cannot stand the sound of a plate or saucer spinning to a stop on a hard surface. Its like a potential energy sound, the potential that any moment the plate will shatter. Drives me crazy.

As far as babies and young children go, I can easily handle a good 80% of wailing and crying, but there's that 20% of children who are premium grade howlers. The type of howl that makes polite parents pick them up and take them outside. (to the relief of everyone around)

I can sit through most noise if I don't have to concentrate to hard, but today really was trying my patience and I eventually gave myself a headache from trying to ignore the constant barrage of bangs, grinds and howls.

I eventually got part the way to solving my script problem and got the hell out of there to the peace and quiet of my B&B room, where I've been for a few hours working on a freelance pitch. I've got some peaceful tunes playing and have managed to do a reasonable website mockup. I would never have got it done with all that noise surrounding me.

A need portable music player, but I'll have to go the retro Dreaded Outsider route in the interum, I think, or maybe a generation ahead - a portable CD player.

Progress ? - Tea in Finchley

I had to get something done today, anything constructive. All this hanging around and looking for a good design job is wearing me down after 3 weeks.

I'd fired off an email from a lead on the gumtree.com website - it was a company looking for a small website for £100. I replied in a direct way saying that for a mere £100 they were not going to get anything creative. I sent a link to a small site I'd done for around £450 (direct conversion from rands)

That was a week back, I got a reply yesterday and jumped all over it, arranging a meeting today at 2pm.

This is where the time goes in London - travelling. I hopped on National rail to Earlsfield at 11.50am and hopped off at Finchley Central at 1.30pm, the journey back would take as long. Over 3 hours travelling in total. I'm getting used to it. A magazine or a discarded paper on the seat in front, or even like today, a quick preperation on the laptop for the meeting.

I've perfected the sneaky coffee table hijack "on the fly", which involves choosing a table that hasn't been cleared yet so it looks like you've just had a coffee, hauling out the laptop and doing some business without ordering anything. Don't get me wrong, I'm no skinflint beggar. I have a coffee every morning, but how much coffee can a person drink at £1.80 a cup ?

I'd rather save that toward the evening pint or three.

The meeting was great. It's a Tea company specialising in 100% organic brands, trying to make an impact on the market dominated by the tea giants, such as PG Tips, with the organic angle.
It was just like freelancing back at home and the job was something I can so easily do, I sold myself well.

Now it's the quote and a quick mockup. The price has to be low, there's more work to come from this client, so I have to be careful with the bait. I'll go in at £240 for a 4 section small site with about 15 pages, most of them similar to each other.

£240 - hmm, it's low. If I exclude travel and meetings the job will take 20 hours. Still, bar staff make under £200 for 40 hours work.
Unfortunately, it also sets a precedent for future costings. Swings and Roundabouts. Go too high, don't get the job. It's not like I have rich pickings to choose from right now.

Still need permanent employment soon however, I came here to further my career and the best way to do that is through an employer. Had another long chat with an agent today, very positive, very proactive. My afternoon phoning sessions are gathering pace. You have to let these agents know your there and sell yourself, otherwise your CV vanishes, no matter how well written.

I was direct with this call too, indicating that I know I'm an easy sale for the agency so long as I'm given interviews.

Yes, boring blog entry, but I need to record these types of things too for a potential short story at some point in the future.

Common City - 27 October 2005

Time turns too quickly sometimes in this city. Had to head over to Wandsworth area to pick up my bank card from the Sorting Office near Kimber Avenue - long tedious story.

I decided to forgo the usual journey to that area - National rail from Wimbledon station to Earlsfield, bus down Garrat Lane. instead, I picked up the 156 from Alexandra street near the railway station. The 156 crisscrosses through the various Merton areas and into Wandsworth. Along the way, it was fairly easy to pick up where the train went and spot a few roads I knew the name of, but from the other side of them.

Ended up in Southfields and soon found Garrat Lane. I decided not to bother getting buses down it, after viewing a map and walked for a mile or so down to Kimber Avenue where the sorting office was, stupidly walking an extra mile because I didn't keep my eyes open.

By the time I'd collected my bank card and got back to Wimbledon, it was already 2.20, so I spent some time at the B&B preparing for prospective interviews, collating the work I've done into easily accessible categories on my laptop, then it was time for a walk - a walk on the Common.

It's a 15 minute walk to the outskirts and from there it sprawls across the landscape.

I found myself standing alone in a forest and wondering.

--------------

So this is London ?
In the middle of nowhere along a leafy path in a forest ?
Not a person to be seen for hundreds of yards and no sign of civilisation, except for the distant hum of traffic.

From the crowded tubes and buses, to the houses in their endless rows with their endless floors and the endless hustle bustle of people and the manic city center activity, where to escape ?

To the Common we go, to the green belt.

In South West London, from the burrough of Merton and beyond, one Common where a person can escape is amongst the most famous, Wimbledon Common. Most people of my generation and older will always associate it with The Wombles, but of course there's a much richer history behind it, which I won't go into right now.

A 20 minute brisk walk from Wimbledon station will get you to the outer edges and from here, the pathways go every which way. From large open areas surrounded by terraced housing right into the thick of things, fields and woods where a person can be alone with their thoughts, walking the dogs, taking a jog, riding horses or just ambling.

This is what balances great river cities and sets them apart from those that eventually fail. Expanses of open ground, green belt areas in the midst of suburbia. In a modern world and a modern city, the presence of these areas is like a gift, a healing force.

Even if a city dweller does not visit green belt areas, they are always aware that they can do so should they have the desire.

I'm a firm believer in the power of walking through nature to settle the mind. I think that any therapy in the world should include getting out into nature as a prerequisite to healing, no matter what the ailment. Whether it be depression, addiction, grief or just city burnout, a long walk in always worthwhile.

I now know I can escape from the crowds at any time and pretty much in any weather, save a blizzard or heavy snowdrift. I may require a stout pair of wellington boots and a warm coat.

A wonderful aspect about Wimbledon Common, which I'm sure is reflected in green belt areas elsewhere in Greater London, is the placement of benches. You can find a bench right along a broad path, or tucked away just inside the undergrowth by a small pond, always positioned so they blend into the environment around.

You find people sitting in the middle of nowhere, as if in their own lounge, reading a book and sipping on a drink. How completely liberating in such a civilised way.

This is the Common Life and damn fine it is too !

Now all I need to do is rent a few dogs for the day to take for a walk and I'll fit right in or take up jogging ? - Hmmm, think I'll stick to ambling for a while. Horse Riding ? - Tally No

Being British

Do I feel British again yet ?
Hmmm, can't say. I haven't really figured out what it means these days.

Last week I was sitting in a coffee shop in central London listening to three old biddies going on about foreigners, as they do (it's either that or the war)
They seemed oblivious to the fact that they were probably outnumbered 3 to 1 by the same foreigners they were dissing.

"oooh, they're so rude"
"and they don't know our way of life, dear"
"ooooh no, he looks a bit polish or sumfink, there's lot of them comin' ere lately"
"yeah, they just don't know how to beeave themselfs"
"Anyway luv, I'm on a bit of a diet dontcha know" (while eating a bacon sandwitch)
"oh yeah dear, me too, I cut daown on the chips innit"

... and so on.

Then we have the gaffers - a likeable lot, hanging out in coffee shops, reading papers, swapping jokes, wheeling and dealing - lots of plumbers, electricians, builders. The ones in the coffee shops, the gaffers, are basically your foremen. Nice life, but you can see they've done their time doing hard graft. Salt of the earth for the most part. Usually highly philisophical about life.

The bus drivers are a wonder, almost all of them are irritable bastards. Can't say I blame them considering the traffic, but they really can be truly dickheadish.
Take the one today, when my Oyster card wouldn't swipe.

"No good swiping it more than once mate, that won't do nuffink"

I felt like saying "so what the fuck am I supposed to do, smart arse - it didn't bloody work !"

Instead I smiled inanely and carried on swiping until it did actually "do sumfink", innit !

Then there was the plonker who said "stop pressing the bloody buzzer, or I'll stop the bus now"

Fair enough - the "next stop" buzzer had been pressed more than once.
In fact, it had been pressed a total of two times.

Go figure - must be a shit job.
I pressed the buzzer about 20 times just before jumping off the bus, in a kind of morse code for "fuck you, tosser"

That's another thing, British anger is dealt out in different ways - it's not an immediate emotional outburst, but rather heavy sarcasm or a bit of "cutting off" - god forbid you accidentally catch the back of someones foot with yours on the tube, you'll get that terrible shirty body language that transmits to everyone around "who does this pratt think he is, treading on the back of my foot - bloody tourists !"
Then if they can, they'll cut off your path if your in a hurry, purposefully walking in front of you.

You live and learn - I've learnt to temper my natural stride to different situations and no longer accidentally tread on the back of peoples feet, not that it happened much, but it did happen. You go from shuffling, to bounding, to strolling, to power walking all in the space of 5 minutes - duck, dive, dodge, brollies up, brollies down, of the edge of the pavement, weave and wind.

When you get good at it, you can do all that while reading a newspaper, eating a sandwich and checking your mobile messages.

Then you get the backpack wielding newbie that seems to manage to get their pack in the way of everything and everyone, standing on the right of the escalator diligently, but not quite figuring out what to do to get the backpack from away from the left. Lift it up in front of you mate, or get it to a resting place real soon. Yes, they can often be British.

And the bankers, or rather, the stripey shirt brigade ?
They're ok, just keep out of their way because they are ALWAYS in a hurry. The younger ones bound up the escalators, the older ones seem to melt out of sight after getting of the tube (very odd that), they are all incredibly adept at the public transport game, often jumping onto trains at the last minute, but never looking ruffled or annoyed. Cold and calculated. I've learnt a lot from them, but can't keep up - they move too fast. I tend to follow in their wake for a while when it's really crowded - they seem to know how to weave really well.

Being British is a futile passtime in London, it just doesn't work.
On any given day, your sharing the bus with someone from Poland, the tube with French students, the coffee shop with Americans and get served by Aussies, Saffas and Canadians in the pub. Then there's the language barrier that presents itself when your talking to a newly arrived Pakistani in a newspaper shop - always fun, always fascinating, usually frustrating.

"How much ?"
"bin blun splingi fwibble"
"Excuse me ?"
"Sorry very much how I help you ?"
"Do you have a dictionary ?"
"aaah, spingle foobwad nigglit pickle"
"I'll take 5 please"
"Thanking you and have a good day !"

A good day indeed, yes, well, today really wasn't that good.

Frustrating day again

I'm getting so tired of this now, how the fuck do you even get a bloody interview in this city ?

Spent the entire morning applying for jobs online, then decided to come into the city to walk around, nipped into The Stone near London Bridge for a quick pint and get a call, more than likely about a potential job - but it breaks up and dies as I'm going outside to get a better signal.

Then the persn just doesn't phone back and worse still, under call register it's listed as (no number), of which there are a LOT here in London (I suspect it's via VOIP or something)

So that pretty much sums up the agencies - obviously there's a bloke sitting with a pile of CV's, he calls, gives you one chance, then - next - and your forgotten about immediately.

Not even the chance to call the number back, because there wasn't one in call register. DAMN IT.

FUCK IT FUCK IT FUCK IT, I'M NOT HAVING A GOOD MONDAY.

A potential job lead lost because T-Mobile IS A TOTALLY SHIT NETWORK.

erm, ok, I think you get the picture - not good, not good at all.

Didn't help much that Canary Wharf was totally uninspiring, I suppose that's what you get when you visit a bunch of bankers. Perhaps it was the muggy day, but I had no inspiration to explore Docklands much more than a cursory walk around Canary Wharf. Perhaps on a sunny day.

Ended up walking around the London Bridge area, down Cannon Street which has a fantastic view down into the St. Pauls area of the city. If you blank out the traffic a bit, you could imagine the street and view looking very similar one or even two hundred years ago. Now this was more my style, after the ultra modern and souless Canary Wharf.

I also just had the best Cornish I've ever eaten, from a barrow just outside London Bridge station - "West Cornwall Pasty" - got a small one for £1.50 - should've got a large, it was so good.

Still, not enough to cheer me up much - that phone call would have been though !
Ahh well, down the pint, get onto the street and see if I can pick up my email somewhere - hopefully that broken phone call has been followed up with an email. .... 10 minutes later - no it hasn't ...

FUCK !

(Posted outside Starbucks Cannon Street station Monday 31st October 15:03pm , without buying coffee - fuck um, if they want to boot me out, they can)

Duke of York and a WC

All roads lead to Victoria Station, or at least, a fair whack of them do.

What the heck I'm doing in The Duke of York pub across the road from the station is beyond me. I just found myself here.

The clocks went back an hour at midnight and I think that muddled my head and made me get on the train here just for the hell of it. What else am I'm going to do on a Sunday ?

Actually, I lie. I am here for a reason of sorts, killing time before going to see a wildlife artist with a website mockup - it's a freebie, but he has lots of artist connections who require websites. Could be some beer money in it, plus get my name out there.

Victoria as a temporary destination is a little odd, considering I could just hop on the train and go one stop from Wimbledon to Earlsfield, but I just had to get out of the B&B after spending the morning working on web design.

The coffee shops in Wimbledon were also all completely packed at 10am this morning, not a seat to be had in any of them, so I figured I'd go to Victoria and get online here.

I spent the last two hours inside the pub and coffee shop in the station itself, as I know it has a reliable BT Openzone connection, however, I was in need of a nice cold cider and the thought of drinking it in a crappy modern venue didn't appeal to me.

So, I decided to visit the Duke of York, the closest decent pub. Very poor wireless signal from here, so I can't get online. No big deal, I'll write all this crap instead.

From here, I'll go meet up with the artist. A quick jump to Vauxhall down the Victoria line and onto the national rail to Earlsfield is all it will take.

Two weeks back, I would've got the district line to Embankment and then the Northern Line to Waterloo and then hopped on national rail to Earlsfield which would've taken 15 minutes longer.

At least I think so, I haven't tried this route yet ...

Applied for two jobs this morning, one as a Senior Web Designer, £35k per annum and one as IT support in a net cafe, £16k per annum - it's a sign of my growing desperation.

Sitting in The Swan last night, I noticed Bar Staff are required, I hope it doesn't come down to that, but such is life.

The choice between IT support and cleaning toilets is not a difficult decision to make, but then, neither is having a roof over your head, or not, or failing to make it in London and returning to Joburg with your tail between your legs.

... Some time later ...

Got a call saying pop around at 5pm from the artist and it was only 2pm, so I took an amble from the pub in a random direction and found myself at Westminster Cathedral. That's the odd thing about London after a few weeks, you tend to just stumble on things, like Westminster Cathedral, or at least I do.
Sure, you can plan your day trip and head in a specified direction. That's fun too, but often, just wondering randomly is more rewarding, unexpected things happen.

Westminster Cathedral (WC for short - er, or maybe not) is rather a suprise from the outside. It's very subtle but not what you would possibly expect.
Inside is more - hmmm - traditional.

I managed to break the rules of visiting, taking random photographs and texting, not that I expected the boys in blue to storm in and haul me off. (Blair hasn't quite got that far yet)

It reminded me how ignorant I am about religion, never having been a part of it in my formative years, so I missed out on all the dogma, thank God.

I soon tired of taking sneaky photos and decided to head back to Wimbo (I'm not sure if anyone else calls Wimbledon this, but I do - not publically yet, I'll introduce it slowly)

I was rather chuffed at my level of train experience (punny matt, really punny) and managed to get from Victoria to Wimbledon in 25 minutes - my method indicated earlier worked perfectly. To go down the District line all the way takes 40 minutes, or longer, because often you need to get to Earls Court for better train frequency (you then pick up the district from Edgware too)

Hmmm, I think I should steer clear of rainware shops for a while and curb my fascination with rail time tables and maps ...

So, back in The Swan again. It's feeling like home here, but always good to try new pubs - tried two new ones today on my travels. The artist was well chuffed with the website mockup, so it's been an good day. A quick pint at The Puzzle in Earlsfield before hopping on the train and to here.

What tommorrow will bring is anyones guess (a job please God, a job, I promise to visit WC, give my confession and light a candle)
(Hey wait, no, not job - I didn't mean it that way !)

Back in Black - the Tate Modern

Back in Black - the Tate Modern

Unsure of exactly where to take myself today, I decided to go to the Tate Modern, which happened to be across the Blackfriars bridge, the area I was at during the week.

I'm back at The Blackfriar pub with another pint of Hobgoblin Ale (I shall only have one this time) - you really have to visit a good friendly pub more than once to get its true feeling, I'm sitting in the other side of the pub, the more ornate side.

The Tate was interesting, if a little dissapointing due to several areas being closed. I made the most of it and visited the 5th floor which had some of the more obvious modern artists on display, such as Picasso, Mondrian & Warhol, as well as a host of others whom only those who have an interest in or have studied modern art would be aware of.

My favourite work was by the artist Giuseppe Penone (Tree of 12 Metres). He had taken huge wooden beams and "discovered" the tree within by carefully carving away around the knots in the wood, revealing branches and the trunk from a tree ring inside the beam. Absolutely incredible and had far more impact on me than the majority of the art works, with the exception of the Russian Propaganda posters, which were just incredible. I can see so much of todays graphic style being influenced by these powerful works of graphic art, indeed, even graphic novels seem to have taken notes from these works.

Unfortunately, taking photographs was not allowed, although I'm sure I could've sneaked a shot or two of those trees.

After spending 2 hours wondering around the gallery, I needed to get outside, so I took a walk across the millenium bridge. Not very inspiring, as far as bridges go. I prefer the older more solid looking structures to this young upstart.

St Paul's Cathedral is still being renovated, due for completion on it's 300th anniversary in 2008, so parts of the outside facade as seen from the millenium bridge are covered with scaffolding which in turn is covered with a rendering of the building underneath. This is far better than having to see ugly scaffolding, a unique idea that is found in most modern cities.

I decided I'd walked enough to deserve a pint, so I took a slow stroll back to Blackfriars busy intersection and subways and popped up at the pub again - nice one !

I'll do St. Pauls another day - you need to take these things in slowly to appreciate them.