In The Secret Garden

I'm back from a long weekend in the Cambridgeshire countryside. Yes, I went to Secret Garden Party & it was absolutely awesome!

The trip there was a bit, errr, unplanned. I was supposed to get a lift from Jon's girlfriend on Friday, which was great as I had already taken Thursday to Monday off work which meant one more day of relaxing & getting ready. It also meant not paying £100 for a rental car that I couldn't really drive as my arm is still slightly dodgy. All was chilled & fine until I got a call around 4pm on Thursday asking if it would be ok if we drive down that evening... well, it was not really what I had had in mind, but it was her driving & who am I to argue. So I got my stuff ready & we left mine around 8.30pm. Then proceeded to get lost & got on the wrong motorway (why am I supposed to know that there's a M1 and a A1M???), subsequently arriving at the venue around 10.30pm. A LOT of faffing ensued while she got her stuff ready to meet the boys at the gate. I think we finally made it to our camp an hour later, where I had the pleasure to set up my tent in the dark (thank god my tent & I are good friends & I can quite easily set it up in most conditions). I didn't bother to head down to the festie once I was done & moved in around 2am, but decided to call it a night & postpone explorations until the morning.

The following days were filled with

* fish nibbling on my feet, which tickled a lot & left my feet a bit softer * witnessing a gorilla getting married to a banana * weird bunnies walking around & throwing shapes * a fantastic gig by Stereo:Type & Hybrid * the blimp on the lake burning on Saturday night with lots of fireworks & Chinese lanterns floating into the air * watching a dog fashion show * standing up for the British anthem & subsequently doing the birdie dance * watching mud wrestling at the Collo Silly Um * walking around lots * crossing the lake various times via a very wobbly bridge * being a total hippie * attending a raw food workshop * watching Shitfaced Shakespeare * trying on a Boe jumpsuit & it looked really good on me * eating very tasty vegan food * giving up on waiting for my camp mates who were the kings of faff * going on the ferris wheel at dawn * drinking tasty chai * & quite possibly a lot more that I don't quite remember...

Overall, a really good festival. The experience was slightly hampered by the trip home, which happened about half a day too late for my taste. I was kinda happy with the thought of going home Sunday night, as the festival calms down loads by then & there really wasn't anything new to do any more. My festival saturation was reached. But everybody else wanted to stay, so we did & I finally got home Monday 6pm, thanks to the extreme faffiness of my driver. I waited for half an hour by the car because she had to say goodbye to people she'd just met & of course all took much longer than it would have needed to. Next time I'm driving there myself again.

But despite of that, I had huge amounts of fun. The Friday night was spent with Stu & Robin, just wandering about. The Saturday night was spent watching The Gorillaz Soundsystem with a lovely stranger, who tagged along for the rest of the night with my camp.

I'm a bit under the weather right now, my stomach's gone somewhat wonky & I probably still need to catch up on quite a lot of sleep, but it was worth it.

See you in the garden...

A Totally Mixed Bag

There is an explanation for my silence...

So I met up with that guy from OKCupid on Thursday after my last post. Expect of some delays of the actual meeting (flights delayed & such), the evening was very enjoyable, we had lots to talk about but there was no spark. He took me to a lovely Japanese diner & to the Blues Bar. Very nice indeed. So all was well until he walked me to the bus. On the way there my foot got caught in a grate on the street, I tripped & fell. I hit the ground pretty hard, apparently it looked rather impressive, but didn't think much of my arm hurting afterwards. Got home, noticed that elbow was a bit swollen & stiff, but hey, it's bruised or possibly sprained. Spent the night in agony without much sleep, went to the doctor in the morning who sent me to A&E to get xrays. Turned out I fractured my elbow (radial head), only a tiny hairline fracture but enough to cause swelling & pain. Great, I thought, so I'm going to get one of those really cool coloured casts now, right?!

I didn't. All they did is give me a sling, told me to be careful & come back in a week. So I went home, called in sick, called my mum to get a little sympathy only to hear that she's broken her foot (which, obviously, scores you more cripple points), got recommendations for painkillers & subsequently stocked up on them, hung around for a bit watching TV & then went to bed at 8pm.

Woke up feeling a bit better, in less pain from the arm but still having a persistent toothache. Went to see a flat with Lynn & Kate which was quite, errrr, snug & well overpriced. Just because it's in Hammersmith doesn't mean you can charge way too much for it. Needless to say, our lower offer didn't get accepted.

The next offer got put down on a flat that was AWESOME but £300 over our budget. Despite the agents conviction that they would accept because we're great tenants, they didn't. Thanks for that.

Cue a week of almost non-stop flat hunting, arm in a sling & toothache. All not entirely pleasant. I went to the dentist again on Thursday morning, who confirmed my suspicion that the nerve in the tooth was quite irritated & most likely wouldn't calm back down on it's own. Thought he'd then get the instruments out to perform a root canal, only to get told that he can't do this & the specialist they have in the surgery is fully booked for the next 4 weeks, mainly due to the fact that he only comes in every 2nd week for a morning. My protests that I'm not willing to be on painkillers for that long only got me shrugged shoulders, so I took matters in my own hands & found myself an Endodontics specialist, who I've seen today & who will be performing a hopefully successful root canal on me on Thursday morning. It better works as I'm paying shitloads of money for it. After that I'll have to find someone capable of putting a decent crown/veneer on that tooth.

I got rid of that pesky sling on Friday after a visit to the doctor who told me to start using/moving the arm again. Hooray.

The flat hunting came to an end on Saturday when we put in an offer for a flat in Acton Town, a fall away from the tube station & above a dentist (irony?). It's got 2 tiny rooms & one big one, which I bagsied straight away. I need my space & the others were so keen on the flat that they said yes. It's got a massive lounge & kitchen, some very likely illegal outside space, bathroom & separate toilet. It's split level, which is lovely, but also on the main road which I really hope will be less noisy than what I've got now.

Personally, I would've gone on searching until the perfect flat comes along, but both Lynn & Kate thought THIS IS IT & who am I to argue. Anyway, the room's nice & big & I only pay £50 more than I'm paying now, have a bigger room & less travel time to work.

Oh, yes, work.

I had my end of probation chat today & they have decided to extend my probation by 6 weeks because a certain channel head who's a bit choleric had a fit because I made a mistake in a report (ok, twice which is not good, I know) & someone forwarded him an email that wasn't intended for him but for her & therefore worded a tiny bit more colloquial than it would have been if I'd know she'd just press forward. Anyway, that certain someone complained to my boss' boss' boss (very professional) & hence my probation period goes on for a bit longer. Not sure what to think of it. Yes, two mistakes in a row are VERY BAD INDEED (& careless), but I was having a pretty bad week which obviously doesn't count in that regard.

I've now got to step up my game a little & show them that I'm awesome & do all things right. Hmpf. They really should know by now, I've only been there for 7 months.

Interestingly enough, I'm getting a bonus. Go figure. It makes total sense. Really, it does.

So far, this month has been continously picking me up & then kicking me again. I'm entirely not impressed, but am hoping that once August comes along, all will be sunshine, fluffy clouds & fairies.

It better be.

(your idea of a fairy may vary)