from transport for london

injury2

injury2
Originally uploaded by wonderwomanyank.

what happens when you try and fix the odomoter while cycling

a different kind of dictionary

cocktail-party syndrome A condition in which every new building in a particular area is designed to be more noticeable than its neighbours, with the result that the architecture becomes increasingly and tiresomely loud – as at a cocktail party where the volume of chatter increases until no one can be heard unless they shout. See also martini development. urbanwords.info

morning after

big house dinner party. i ate too much (was trying to cook) and could pass for mildly pregnant this morning. won't be hungry today at least. note to self- whipping double cream makes it thick, but if you keep whipping, you get butter. which is not good for desserts.

this afternoon

i've just had one of those late afternoon moments where i stopped to look around the office, paused and smiled. my directors are laughing in the corner, all us drone slaves are staring at computer screens in the light spilling in off the Thames. it is that time between the hubub of lunch and the anticipation of leaving. the quiet of the late afternoon.

i am being asked to think carefully about my career for the next few years, and perhaps i will need to make some hard choices, and demand more from both me and my employer. to consider my options and my goals.

but this afternoon i am simply content to put in a focused day's work, proud of my recent - still draft - reports, and relaxed among my friendly co-workers.

and a little procrastination

shadows

despite the london summer, which i am determined to enjoy ...
i have these premonitions of my nieces asking me what was life LIKE these days.
oh, average, i would explain, with air conditioned work and late drunken nights.
yes i read the news about israel/lebannon, about java's tidal wave, about seols riots, about america's idiocy and corruption on access to broadband.

yes i know. no i do not act. on any of this. doing so would not impact my job, doing so would not impact my friends/ships............ yet.. powerless, i feel.

coolio

neel!
Originally uploaded by wonderwomanyank.

wed. 19 july.

its hot. its humid. it will rain tomorrow.

lebannon is being bombed and attacked. hizbolla is not the best of martyrs, but israel is looking such a demon. how much is a life worth these days?

london summers

i'm relaxing in my huge living room, windows open. my skin feels warm and brown, and my muscles are sore.
waterskiied most of yesterday afternoon, after a detour (and some getting lost) through windsor great park. sunburned evening drinks with rishab. morning conversations about lebanon over coffee with flatmates. then tennis games and tanning in holland park this afternoon. my arms have this smell that only comes with sunburn.
skin cancer, my mother woud say, but i'm already resigned to dying from that, and it's impossible for me to be dita von teese AND cycle. (my glove tan is remarkably strong).

things that make me really sad

It's like Baghdad is no longer one city, it's a dozen different smaller cities each infected with its own form of violence. And while I always thought Baghdad was one of the more marvelous cities in the world, I'm finding it very difficult this moment to see any beauty in a city stained with the blood of T. and so many other innocents…

feel like I've given the traditional words of condolences a thousand times these last few months, "Baqiya ib hayatkum… Akhir il ahzan…" or "May this be the last of your sorrows." Except they are empty words because even as we say them, we know that in today's Iraq any sorrow- no matter how great- will not be the last. (baghdad burning)

the UK government decides where to build airports on asummptions like this

Our latest published forecasts suggest that by 2030 if sufficient capacity were provided, demand could have risen to between 400 million and 600 million – in other words, these forecasts predict that demand will be between two and three times what it is today. This would imply an average of two return trips a year for each UK resident by 2030, compared to an average of just under one return trip each today.

The long-term real GDP growth assumption for the UK used in calculating forecasts was 2.25 per cent per annum. World GDP was projected at higher rates in less developed and newly industrialised countries (such as China and Eastern Europe) than in OECD countries.

There were a number of assumptions underlying the input one per cent decrease in air fares per annum between 2000 and 2030. Aviation fuel prices were assumed to stabilise at $25 per barrel in real terms in year 2000 prices; no major changes were assumed in aircraft technology which might result in reduced operating costs or changes in regional jet use which might reduce air fares; and it was assumed that the market would be increasingly competitive and deregulated. (Air Transport White Paper, Uk, 2003)

by the way...new flatmates.

ed (old flatmate) - blog. (closed) dating site. job.
veg(new flatmate) - oil journo for the buisness mag. recent article. (real name richard orange)
gillian - no links yet. canadian, degree in human rights, gets postcards from around the world.

hmmm...i dont agree with any of the answers

I am: 3% Republican.

"You're a complete liberal, utterly without a trace of Republicanism. Your strength is as the strength of ten because your heart is pure. (You hope.)"

Are You A Republican?

i have rescinded my nomad badge

I'm sitting at a clean kitchen table, next to a large sash window, with the sun reflecting off the trees and buildings opposite to light my work. it is 8.45 in the evening.
every door and window in my house open, the summer evening air wafting through.
there's a glass pims at my wrist, bowls of fruit on the table, and parsley growing on our windowsill. i will go for a jog later.

my travel plans for the next 6 months? not much...
july - london. work 5 days a week. weekends spent sunbathing in holland park, cycling in the north downs, or water-skiing at thorpe park lake just outside heathrow. ( rishab's staying for a bit now).
august - london. work 5 days a week. weekends as above. one bank holiday on the 24th. (possibe scotland trip)
september - 6th to 17th: DFW or Reno, Nevada. parents, uncles, and grandmothers. a week of jet skiis on the lake, and hiking in the sierra nevadas. brother visits from spain weekedn of 24th. university enrollment (part time) starts 25th.
october - london. tuesdays at UCL, mon, wed-fri at work.
november - a lot of time in solihull, near birmingham. for work
december - ditto.

whoooo

broadband! wireless!
now...where's that list of all the people i need to get in touch with, and all the research i need to do online....

but first, i'm off to bed, to read a bit and listen to the rain in the trees.
i've been watching the neighbourhood fox cubs grow up, and yesterday they were out again, still playing around, but now they're large enough to be mistaken for dogs instead of cats.
i wonder where they live, and if they like the rain.

on dial up

Last monday,  I got stopped by a bored police team at the bottom of high
street ken about 11.30pm.  They were in a white rental van (some sort
of disguise).  I had been slowing down and yeilding to peds/cars but
essentially jumping every red light all evening.

"how many red lights do you think you've jumped"
"quite a few" (sheepish smile)
"we've been following you all the way from knightsbridge....we're quite
impressed by the way- we've had trouble keeping up, but we thought we'd
stop you and warn you to be more careful"
"I'm normally good..but it's 11.30 on a Monday night...and I've been
yeilding"
"we're more worried about a car not seeing you - you're all in black
and
wearing headphones, so you wouldn't hear it..."
"oh,  I'll remember to wear white next time..."

Then we got interupped by drunk aussie who was shouting racist comments
and they forgot about me.



-----Original Message----

without wireless

or broadband....

means my computer lies neglected on the desk, and my correspondence lingers in the dust.

i woke up today to loud thunder and the sound of rain approaching over the rooftops. i checked to make sure my sheets were inside the window, smiled, and waited for the temperature to drop. i did not have to wait long.