Time to get fit again

One thing I've noticed about London is that it's about as easy to stay fit and healthy as it is to find a parking space. The situation of having fast, convenient public transport from anywhere to everywhere mean that few people consider walking places. This same mass transportation system, combined with the lack of parking spaces, congestion charging and traffic mean that no-one drives anywhere - and consequently everyone drinks far more regularly than in out the country. Lunchtime drinks, after work drinks, let's go somewhere different and go to the pub - it all adds up. Plus, the temptation in this hard working, hard drinking environment to eat convenience foods which are none too healthy. And I haven't even mentioned the pollution.

All of this has led me to gain weight at an alarming rate since arriving in London, and despite trying to keep up a reasonable diet (lots of fruit) I feel under a general malaise. I quit smoking properly a couple weeks back - so far so good, in spite of the temptation when drunk - but this doesn't seem to have much effect.

So my latest plan is to get properly fit. I did become reasonably fit last year when I lost all my weight originally, but this kinda slipped over Christmas and never returned. So I'm aiming to run twice a week (with a view to entering some 10k races in the summer) and possibly swim once or twice a week too. The gym doesn't tempt me though - I hate those places.

So there we go. I don't plan on turning Living the dream into some sort of boring fitness related blog, but I'm sure I'll mention this again if only to update you on my progress. For reference, I've done a couple of 10k runs so far, with pitiful results - not much short of an hour, although it turns out the route was more like 11.5k according to multimap.

In other news, a quick phone call home confirms that Morrisons will clean a tie for 75p - not quite the 50p bargain claimed, but some way short of the £1.80 it was compared to. More on that story later. Also, I went to see Ambrose's band, Action and Action, last night - excellent, as were the band they ultimately supported, the Grabass Charlestons from Gainesville, FL. High Wycombe doesn't know how lucky it is to have such a great music scene.

London update

I've been resisting writing about this owing to my embarrasment, but this morning I'm hungover so everything seems like a massive joke at the moment. Last Friday, I finished the job I was doing at lunchtime, and so the client kindly offered to take me out for lunch. The place I was working was a TV company, and little did I realise exactly what "lunch" in TV-world means. Essentially, we arrived at a nice pub-restaurant at around 12.30pm, and didn't leave until around 3.30pm. In the meantime, the Finance Director, a Scottish gentleman who says "f***" every other word, browbeat me into drinking five or six large glasses of wine (by large, I mean a third of a bottle; by five or six, I mean I don't remember!) I staggered back to the office via the tube, where my manager (who knows the client well) generally pointed and laughed at me, although I managed not to make a complete fool of myself. Yet. I then went out to the pub around the corner (traditional on a Friday evening) - I haven't been here long so I figured I should socialise and try to get to know some people I work with. Good plan, and don't think I made too much of an ar*e of myself other than dropping a full pint of beer on the floor (oops!).

The real embarrassing part (which no-one at work knows about) was getting home. Around 9.30pm I decided I really was too drunk, and would have to go home. So I left the pub and walked to Tottenham Court Road tube, which is just along the road. I got on a north-bound train, which would take me on my normal route to Highgate, from where I take a bus to my neighborhood. The train was pretty empty, so I had no problem finding a seat. Next thing I remember is waking up at around 1.30am to hear the words "This station is Balham". What?!?! Balham is SOUTH of where I had started! It turns out I'd gone all the way to the northern end of the line, then all the way to the southern end and then back northwards to Balham. In a panic, I jumped off the train, only to realise it was actually going where I wanted to go, and it was also the last train.

So I left the station, and went about trying to get a bus. Buses in south London are generally a mystery to me, and as I'd never been to (or even through) Balham before it took some doing. I resolved to go to Trafalgar Square (every bus goes there, doesn't it?) and try and find the right one. After several hours of wandering around, I eventually got on the right bus and arrived back at home at around 4.30am. What a nightmare!

This week I avoided a repeat of this incident by not going drinking at lunchtime! I did however go (at last minute notice) to a rather nice dinner in Covent Garden which involved lots of free drink. I made sure to stand up on the train home to minimise the risk of falling asleep, and arrived home safely after a normal-length journey. I did, however, wake up this morning to find I'd slept on my house keys. Ouch!

Muswell Hill

I moved Sunday, from the green and pleasant land of Somerset to the sprawling metropolis that is London. I'm renting a room in Muswell Hill, just around the corner from Ambrose and Chris. My flat mates, who I found through a houseshare website, are biochemistry researchers at UCL and both seem nice.

The change in lifestyle has been stark, and so far I like it. Whereas previously, I used to drive an hour through infuriating traffic to get to work, now I take a bus and the tube which takes quite a bit less time and is a lot less stressful. The job is busy but actually less stressed than in my last office - although I expect it to get more fraught at times.

So there it is. In just seven days my lifestyle has changed dramatically, and yet I don't really feel as if much is different. Of course I don't see my family every day, but there are new distractions to counter that. Give it one more year, though, and I may well be in Florida. Now there's a thought!

To keep up the theme of publishing my listening habits, I've been enjoying The Only Children this week - Josh Berwanger's project post-Anniversary. Nothing like the Anniversary, despite containing half that band's members - it's basically country rock - but very good nonetheless. You're probably all about to disagree violently so I'll stop there!

Last night out

So I had my last night out in Taunton yesterday. In a way, the best and the worst of the place was pretty much summed up by the experience.

On the one hand, the photo opposite (which wouldn't look out of place on the kitchenstairs weblog) is a hilarious, if disingenuous, parody of Somerset's lack of cosmopolitan credentials - beer labelled as cocktails. Note the artwork behind, imploring the drinker to "be careful who you smile at". Good advice in Taunton at the best of times.

On the other hand, there was Club Aura. Following a good few drinks in Sturms Sports Bar, where Super League was being shown on the big screen, we ventured along the road to the club. As it happened, Seb Fontaine was appearing that night, so we accidentally got the benefit of hearing a world class dance DJ. In Taunton? Surely not, I hear you cry. Stranger things have happened. In fact, it was a really good night all round. The reputation of Taunton (and market towns in general) for being full of cider drinking yobs fighting over the same three ugly women was blown apart by the atmosphere and attitude of the place. Admittedly, a very ugly woman did point and laugh at me, but I tend to get that wherever I go these days.

So yes, I will miss Taunton. My friends and family most of all, but also the fact that it's not such a bad place and there are good times to be had. We did witness one minor altercation outside a kebab shop, but other than that there was no fighting and no cider was consumed! Of course I'm excited about London and the opportunities it will bring, but at the end of the day, home is still home.