London on my mind – October 8-18

I know you’ve missed me. You can admit it. There’s nothing to be ashamed about.
The truth is I haven’t really had anything to write about on this trip. Oh, I had a nice weekend, and I got out and did things, but the trip as a whole hasn’t been all that exciting. It doesn’t help that I don’t really want to be on this trip in the first place.

The plane ride over was ok. In some ways it was more exciting than the first time, but in other ways less. I had to take a connecting flight out of New York, and our plane just barely made it in time for me to get over to my flight to London. I made it. My luggage didn’t. It’s a good thing I brought a carry on with a full change of clothes. I walked through first class on my way to business class, and that was an eye opener. First class looks NICE!!! I have a hard time even describing it. I think the seats actually unfold so that the passengers are laying down rather than just having a nice recline. I’d love to take a trip that way. I finally saw Fantastic 4 on the way over. It was an adequate movie, but nothing special. Certainly not as good as Spiderman and actually not as good as Hulk either. Then I watched the tail end of Batman Begins. The food was nothing special, but I think that’s just the way airline food is. I guess they really can’t have a full-sized, made-to-order kitchen on a plane. It just wouldn’t be cost effective.

I’m staying in the same hotel I spent the weekend in when I was in the UK in August. It’s not the worst hotel I’ve stayed in. It’s better than the one in York, although the York is a Marriott 5-star while I think this one is 4-star. Something like that. The best one over here so far was the one in Leeds, but I’m a little far out to be staying in Leeds this time. Breakfast at the hotel is a little better. They have ommelettes and frittatas, which taste pretty good. They also have that nasty English sausage though. I’ve decided to steer clear of any place that serves "traditional english food." It’s just not worth it.

Speaking of food, I’ve had some hit and miss luck. I’ve been to some places that served some very bland food. I went to a steak chain on Leicester Square that was just about the most boring steak I’ve ever tasted. On the other hand, I’ve been to a couple of French places that were amazingly good. There’s a much better selection in London than there was in York.

Now, on to actual work. The office out here is far, far away from the city. It takes us an hour to get here in the morning and an hour to get back. We don’t leave until 6:00 anyway, so a big chunk of time is eaten away by travel. Top that off with the slow service at restaurants and most of the evening is time I’ll never get back before I can do anything interesting. That being said, the office is pretty nice. They tell me that this place used to be a nut house, and it’s definitely got that feel to it in some places. It’s a bit of a maze too. What’s really weird is that it’s set in a residential neighborhood. Nut-house-turned-office-building in the suburbs mixing with the soccer (football) moms and playgrounds. We see a whole bunch of kids in uniform walking to school each morning, and they all seem to be coming out of this neighborhood. The work is fine. It’s nothing I haven’t done before, and therefore nothing special really. I’m just trying to get through it without getting too bored with it. I’m failing, by the way. I think by time I get toward the end of something I just get bored with it. I’ve noticed it in other aspects of my life. If I’m playing a video game, I may have spent hours and hours trying to finish, but when it gets to the end I just lose interest. Sad really.

The weekend was nice. I don’t even remember what I did Friday, but that’s not because I was too drunk to remember. I must have taken the tube to Picadilly Circus, but I just don’t really remember doing it. It doesn’t matter anyway because Saturday was the real day. I went down to Leicester Square that morning and bought myself tickets to see Les Miserables and the Producers. I’ve wanted to see Les Mis for 10 years. It never comes to Dallas. I’ve only been to New York once, and I don’t even know if it was playing there. Where else can I go to see it? It was amazing, and it completely lived up to my expectations. I highly recommend it if you ever find yourself somewhere it’s playing. The Producers was also very good. Very funny in some places. I did have this very faint hope that Mel Brooks and Matthew Broderick would decide to sneak in for one night only and play the leads, but that was just wishful thinking. The leads were still very good, although I think the accountant one had a somewhat weak voice. I swear there was a song where the notes were just out of his range, so he was a little on the flat side. Still, they were up there doing their thing, so who am I to complain.