Welcome to Lun-dun

Well, here we are. After seeing in the new year in Nottingham and catching up with a few mates there, we're finally 'down South' to begin our new adventure. Our transport down her was our new £925 '96 Astra, a dark purple 'P' reg beast, with 5dr's and central locking... the essential requirements. Why? I'm too lazy now to get out of my drivers seat to fold it forward and let people in the back. People forgetting to lock their doors (not naming any names) means central locking is crucial too. The drive down from Skegness in the new 'mo-beel' was going great until we got to London and had to stop at traffic lights. Dip the clutch... and... nothing, the engine cut out. Great. From then on, every stop resulted in the same thing. We knew it needed a new exhaust sensor, which we've now got fitted thanks to Steve, so fingers crossed it's all good from now on. Does bare feet on oak laminate flooring count as touching wood?

The purple warrior (suggested names on a postcard please) was only the beginning of my 2006 troubles. My first night in the new flat was a sleepless one, with my chest suddenly deciding to fill with some ghost-busters-esque slime, which made breathing and consequently sleeping bloody difficult. 2 days, no sleep and 2 midnight trips to A & E later, I'm cleared of having anything more than than a bad chest infection. This is good news, especially seeing the doctors '?Pneumonia + recent return from Thailand' comment on my assessment card. I was beginning to think I shouldn't have eaten all that Thai chicken after all! The inhaler they gave me on the second visit has done a great job of replacing the 'nebulizer' (cool name) that brought my panic, asthma attack-like breathing fits under control. I can truly sympathise with those with asthma now, as it's a bloody scary feeling when you can't get your breath. 3 days without sleeping a wink drives you to the brink of insanity too! By the 3rd night I was pulling my hair out and driving myself silly. Thank god I'm finally on the recovery side of the ordeal though (think I'll find some proper wood this time).

So you're reading this new 2006 blog entry. Which means that I'm back on the net. Even as a self-confessed computer nerd, I didn't realise how much I'd miss not having access to all the wonderful information and communication tools it offers. Looking for a second had car, checking out the broandband net deals, the latest mobile phone deals, train times, banking, recipe's, car maintenance, looking for jobs, are all things I've needed to hold off on until I got to my brothers to take over his computer! But now I'm back online in London....wa ha ha ha.....

So London then. The capital. The big one. Haven't seen much of it yet admittedly. In fact I know the flat inside out and that's about it. There's a 24hr Tesco about 3 miles away, with an IKEA a bit further on. Oh yeah, the hospitals about 3 miles away too. The flat itself is a small, tidy (very) affair, 10 minutes walk to the tube station, which I assume will be the way of getting to work (when I get around to it).

TV... is great! I've must say I've really missed the comedy and sense of humour of the brits, dry, rude, crude and witty, it's just... different. Radio is good too, Radio 1 is back on in the car, with the usual voices bringing good cheer to counter-balance the grey skies and crowded roads. Footbal, oh yeah, good to have football back. Had a great ill weekend watching the FA cup 3rd round games. On my single excursion to IKEA I caught a glimpse of a local Powerleague ground, so it'll be 5-a-side for me again soon.

Organic food. What's all that about? Well, it seems everyone has gone organic mad since we left, and supermarkets here are devoting 'heaps' of space to organic foods, which are much better than traditional evil chmemical foods, but are also about 20% more expensive... funny that. It also seems that stores have gone over the top with their names, so a fresh chicken is now labelled 'Free Range, corn fed, stress free, killed nicely chicken'... well nearly.

Rights that's enough waffle at the moment. Better start looking for a job before I forget what work is.