2 posts tagged “flatmates”
Moved in to our new place yesterday.
Here is a view of our street from our room:
I would show you the actual room but it's kinda crummy and empty at the moment. It shouldn't be empty. For that I have the transport strike to blame.
Like all cheapskates, I was planning to furnish my entire life with items from ikea.
But the bus that goes to that particular far-flung corner of London has been canceled for today only. Typical.
So we got drunk at a pub called The Angelic instead. And I heart it real bad. I am so going there tomorrow when our internet runs out... Which it will because we are currently stealing it from the neighbours who are moving out tomorrow.
As you may imagine, this will put a crimp in the posting for a while. Sorry Karl, Donna and parents (who deserve applause for losing her fear that blogs are somehow complicated and will steal their identity and credit card).
In housekeeping matters, the job hunt is going well. Although, like every other part of British culture, there are a preposterous amount of unnecessary 'procedures' to go through. The latest is I have to go to Surrey for an aptitude test.
That's right. The biggest B2B publisher in Europe's idea of a 'first interview' is a one hour train ride and then a numeracy/literacy test. Nothing at all to do with my skills or the job in question. I just have to sit a test because it's "procedure".
The recruitment agent asked if this was going to be a problem. I almost said 'yes' because I am ideologically opposed to 'aptitude' tests (they're extremely racist -especially when used in the first round to "knock out" a bunch of applicants) but he just sounds so eager to place me in this job. He apologised for the "procedure" but said the job at the end would be worth it.
And right now, he's the boss.
Oh, and we have finally met everyone who lives in the house -we even went out to our new 'local' (The Crown) last night and ended up staying until last drinks.
One of the things I am clearly going to enjoy is the pub culture. With houses being so small and the days being so dark for much of the year, it's completely normal and non-alcoholic to use a pub as your de facto living room. Most of them have books and board games.
Now, I just need to befriend the owner of The Crown and convince him/her to get wireless and I will never leave. The maths stacks up. Twenty quid a month for access leads to thousands of pounds of increased sales (from me alone) per day.
Like all cheapskates, I was planning to furnish my entire life with items from ikea.
But the bus that goes to that particular far-flung corner of London has been canceled for today only. Typical.
So we got drunk at a pub called The Angelic instead. And I heart it real bad. I am so going there tomorrow when our internet runs out... Which it will because we are currently stealing it from the neighbours who are moving out tomorrow.
As you may imagine, this will put a crimp in the posting for a while. Sorry Karl, Donna and parents (who deserve applause for losing her fear that blogs are somehow complicated and will steal their identity and credit card).
In housekeeping matters, the job hunt is going well. Although, like every other part of British culture, there are a preposterous amount of unnecessary 'procedures' to go through. The latest is I have to go to Surrey for an aptitude test.
That's right. The biggest B2B publisher in Europe's idea of a 'first interview' is a one hour train ride and then a numeracy/literacy test. Nothing at all to do with my skills or the job in question. I just have to sit a test because it's "procedure".
The recruitment agent asked if this was going to be a problem. I almost said 'yes' because I am ideologically opposed to 'aptitude' tests (they're extremely racist -especially when used in the first round to "knock out" a bunch of applicants) but he just sounds so eager to place me in this job. He apologised for the "procedure" but said the job at the end would be worth it.
And right now, he's the boss.
Oh, and we have finally met everyone who lives in the house -we even went out to our new 'local' (The Crown) last night and ended up staying until last drinks.
One of the things I am clearly going to enjoy is the pub culture. With houses being so small and the days being so dark for much of the year, it's completely normal and non-alcoholic to use a pub as your de facto living room. Most of them have books and board games.
Now, I just need to befriend the owner of The Crown and convince him/her to get wireless and I will never leave. The maths stacks up. Twenty quid a month for access leads to thousands of pounds of increased sales (from me alone) per day.
So it was James's birthday yesterday.
To celebrate, HSBC decided to do the job they were supposed to do two weeks ago and send him out a pin for our UK bank card.
This pin was the last thing we needed to get our first one of these:
I can't get mine yet because HSBC hasn't found the time to send me a card... But they haven found time to print my name on several hundred pages in cheque books and giro books -neither of which we will likely ever use.
Anyway, it doesn't matter. It was James's birthday and he got an iphone. Which he managed to find uses for in every conversation at last night's party at Abbie and Tan's place.
Seriously. Every conversation. There was some wikipedia action, a bit of facebook, google maps, you name it.
Nerd. Happy, happy nerd.
Note that it was also good to catch up with Shashma (friend from high school) after spending my first two weeks in London successfully avoiding her. In fact, I can say it was really shit catching up with Shashma because she told me last night she never reads blogs and is scared of them like a whiny little girl.
We're catching up with some prospective flatmates at a pub that could be my new local this afternoon. The weather is rubbish for it... Hopefully that doesn't sway the judges opinion of us because I really want this house. It's on a street that looks like the sort of place Captain Cook would have lived. (Even though he wasn't from London -he was born in Yorkshire but is best known in Whityby. Now who's the nerd?)
I'm too scared to look for more flats today because I am afraid it might jinx these 'potential flatmate' drinks. The process of securing a room in a share house is difficult and stressful, with multiple stages and events -like Miss America but for ugly people.
The other reason not to is that it's carnival today. If we find a place they may want us to come look at it... During the biggest street carnival in Europe. Pfff. Pass.
However, I will look for jobs. You never know.
Anyway, it doesn't matter. It was James's birthday and he got an iphone. Which he managed to find uses for in every conversation at last night's party at Abbie and Tan's place.
Seriously. Every conversation. There was some wikipedia action, a bit of facebook, google maps, you name it.
Nerd. Happy, happy nerd.
Note that it was also good to catch up with Shashma (friend from high school) after spending my first two weeks in London successfully avoiding her. In fact, I can say it was really shit catching up with Shashma because she told me last night she never reads blogs and is scared of them like a whiny little girl.
We're catching up with some prospective flatmates at a pub that could be my new local this afternoon. The weather is rubbish for it... Hopefully that doesn't sway the judges opinion of us because I really want this house. It's on a street that looks like the sort of place Captain Cook would have lived. (Even though he wasn't from London -he was born in Yorkshire but is best known in Whityby. Now who's the nerd?)
I'm too scared to look for more flats today because I am afraid it might jinx these 'potential flatmate' drinks. The process of securing a room in a share house is difficult and stressful, with multiple stages and events -like Miss America but for ugly people.
The other reason not to is that it's carnival today. If we find a place they may want us to come look at it... During the biggest street carnival in Europe. Pfff. Pass.
However, I will look for jobs. You never know.
