Tuesday 22 September 2015

Tuesday

I spent yesterday in London, seeing a client and picking up some really interesting (and challenging) new work. It rained all day, everywhere was really busy, people walking slowly with umbrellas being a particular problem. I quite enjoyed being in London, although so much is changing. The area around Tottenham Court Road / Oxford street is rapidly evolving. Large buildings have vanished where the big HMV was, to be replaced by rather poor and ugly retail space that does nothing for anyone. I spent time in Foyles - I'm in two minds about the new store. It was interesting that all the 'niche' interest areas were packed with people, and you could wander from one bookshelf to the next finding something new and unexpected - but fiction was empty and impossible to navigate.

There was so many people in the British Museum and the National Portrait Gallery that I had to leave both as soon as I arrived.

My train ticket - after the reduction from my travel card, was about £17 - in all I spent about 4 hours on trains yesterday. When I got back to Hastings it cost me £9 for the 3 mins it takes to drive up the hill in a taxi. I was incandescent with rage.

My client (they are publishers) gave me a book about John Peel and his relationship with British Culture over 35 years, it's published next month - it's one of the most fantastic books I 've ever owned - I spent the entire journey home devouring it - a really brilliant book. I cannot recommend it enough.

Being away for a day - I totally bypassed the entire 'pig gate' episode until I arrived home. Much merriment aside. Pigs are intelligent, sentient animals - and really don't deserve this. Cameron, however, can  fuck off. He's played the 'nice guy' card too many times and taken the moral high ground to shut down debate - I hope he's suffering.

I have to help out with an event later so I'm going into work late. earlier I walked the dogs along Edmund road, and as I was cleaning up after the senile greyhound an old woman who looked a lot like Barbara Woodhouse came out of her house and gave me a load of abuse - apparently it's the 2nd time (in 8 years) she's seen my dog go to the toilet - and although both times (obviously) I cleared it up - that's not enough and I should 'drag it into the road'. There was an exchange. She won't be talking to me like that again.

I feel really tired today - it's the London thing. Having thousands of people around me is exhausting, and so many changes everywhere. We had a quick drink afterwards - it was £5.50 for a pint of lager and £3.00 for a class of coke. I had trouble getting past that.

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