I'M SO UTTERLY EXHAUSTED today I have that perpetual gritty feeling... you know when you've tired eyes... smoky eyes... etc ... (as the Optrex ad intones...) well that's the feeling in my head. A systemic grittiness of the soul that only sleep can balm... and yet I cannot seem to get enough of it. Every time I lay my head down I appear to sleep for about ten minutes (I know I've not slept for long as the same crap's on telly.)That is moving room. Not even house but room. It felt like a housemove. All the stress of a housemove. And I gutted my old room down to nothing at all... My big problem of clutter boils down to having moved enough stuff for a flat in Bristol that never happened into a single room in London... not clever...
Well I'm off now to cook value mushroom tortelloni, broccoli florets and posh cheese... might even spash out and obtain cod-in-parsley to garnish it... I have to go before this inner grit gets too gritty (wish I could have what people normally mean when they say "grit" ~ as in moral fibre type stuff. I could really do with some of that; but hey...)
And tomorrow (at long-promised last): Gledwood's Guide to London...
PS: Am I the only person in the world to get heartily annoyed by the increasingly current practice of queueing up in the supermarket (and not only is half the time queueing taken up waiting for the last person to pack up and leave but that's another issue) but getting stuck behind people who insist on paying for four or five items with plastic cards... despite being nearly a decade into the 21st century they are STILL far slower than cash, plus the customer behind has to do a big whistling-and-looking-at-the-ceiling display of not looking at the PIN as it gets ostentatiously tapped in ... all British cards use chip-and-pin instead of signature these days: they had too much trouble with people "kiting" stolen cards and nobody used to check signatures properly (did YOU ever get asked to re-sign? See what I mean~??)... yeah anyway QUEUES... STANDING IN LINE with NEEDLESS DELAY... TODAY! in the 21st century when Marvel Comics told us we would be hovering in and out of motherships in green bubblepods ... AARKH I HATE IT.
PS RUTH of the Gardening Blog "Me, My Life, My Garden" is temporarily back, though still "sans PC" as she says... new post: clickon her name...
20 comments:
That pasta looks good.
The past month seemed like no one could get enough sleep. I could wallow in dreamland forever if my dog didn't force me out of bed.
Doggie forces you out of bed? Yay, I took that literally for a sec there... o I see with weewee times etc., o man!
I think you've discovered the art of power naps or was it granny nap? *!*
Power naps... o yeah: I'd forgotten about them. It IS me btw I'd just signed out when your msg appeared...
how are you feeling - have you eaten?
If there is one thing in the world that is WORSE than looking for an apartment it is most certainly finding one and moving into it. For YEARS I was an expert at the ghetto move (by use of shopping carts etc). Now since things have changed and I am a weeee bit more responsible, I have the luxury of being able to hire movers and watch them bust themselves.
Re; check out lines....grrrrrr I HATE them. Over here there are these horrible mega shopping stops that provide the option of pit stop scanners that allow one to check themselves out. What I have noticed is that THEY NEVER WORK and as a result are more time consuming and a hellofalot more frustrating. I personally enjoy people in line ups that like to get their cart right up against you so that the wheels are scraping at your heels. Gawd grant me patience......
Looking forward to tomorrow's post. FYI I found your tip on referencing the Time Out magazine super helpful, it was just what I was looking for. Merci!
I'm sorry but I believe people paying cash takes longer... especially the little old biddies who want to give the exact change, paying practically all with coins!
Bimbimbie: feeling better, ta. still no sleep. hotel babylon came on ~ a series everyone loves to say is crap. which it is. but also EVER so watchable if you have an appetite for crap. which 95% of us do...
Eileen: it's only a guide to central London as is... I was going to add some "real" areas that are worth seeing if you want to
Vi: what annoys me about cash payers is when they KNOW they're going to do that and yet FAIL to get the bloody cash ready during the whole over-extended bleep-and-scan episode... THAT's annoying... don't you count up in the queue? I always do... also I like to add up the exact bill (sometimes) as a stupid mindgame in the isles. but not always. the only precision i do in change is if e.g. £8.09 I give £10.09 to get £2 change not £1.91 that is possibly EVEN MORE annoying ~ hahar!¬
I ate mushroom tortelloni for dinner and was exhausted afterwards because ate too much! Also always pay cash, usually with a fifty dollar bill. Heehee
Do they have "Self Service Checkout" in England?
That is where you sack it yourself and save. (No ugly hooker jokes, please!)
This is a pretty good innovation, but never underestimate the ability of an idiot to overcome progress.
A couple things go wrong: There are usually four checkout computers, and people don't know whether to form two lines or one.
One would seem logical to me.
There is this computer voice that sounds like the computer that fell in love with Captain Kirk on Star Trek that tells you what to do.
Sometimes she is really nice--but she can adopt this bitchy tone: E.g., "PLEASE put the last item BACK in the bag!"
And when she says, "Please take your receipt and your change...thank you for shopping Kroger!" she has this slight tone of, "Please get your crap and get out of here!"
I mean, I guess my expectations are a little high--it would be nice if every once in a while, she would say, "After you put your stuff in the trunk, come back through the 'Employee's Only' door and I will give you one righteous hummer!"
Then there are people who can't find the SKU to ring up their shit--like it is some puzzle off of "Where's Waldo?" or something...then they put there freakin' Swanson's frozen broccoli in the plastic sack like it is their blazer from Her Majesty's Coldstream Regiment of Foot Guards or something and they can't put a crease in the freakin' broccoli box.
I especially hate when the female robot voice says, "Do YOU qualify for a Senior Citizen Discount?"
That is especially hurtful...
I spent a lot of money on Nivea Under-Eye Treatment for Men and I am not under any delusion it is working, but a little tact would be appreciated.
What is looming over me like Death in an Ingmar Bergman movie is the fact that in less than ten years, I WILL qualify for a Senior Citizen Discount.
yeah! bring on the green bubble pods!
You've moved then? How's the room and how was the pasta?
Anon: pasta has that weird soporific effect... most odd...
ZenWizz: in some areas (but nowhere in London that I know of) we get a thing where self-scanning lets you tot up your own bill... then you pay yourself without ever passing a member of staff... every now and then they randomly check so shoplifters must protest "I DID scan those really expensive bottles of wine and whiskey..."(!!)
Lettuce: green bubblepods: if only! imagine the cost-savings on fuel...
Akelamalu: new room cluttered with semi-packing semi-UNpacking... old room has about one black bag worth of detrius left over I'm about to clear right now!
I grew up with the Mammas and the Papas. . . the music brings back memories!
I could never sleep the way that kitten is sleeping. Don't think I haven't tried.
Loved the bright happy videos!
Mmmm... pasta anything is yummy. I made perogies with sauteed onions the other day. Delish.
Seems we do spend alot of time in lines. I was going to do a blog one day about all the minutes ticking away while we're waiting, at the bank, at the grocery, etc. I actually looked up info. on how much time we spend in lines but forget the specifics now.
I slept terrible last night... last couple nights actually. Change of weather? I haven't moved so that's not it.
I hate supermarkets. I feel like they treat us like cattle, herding us in, they treat us like idiots putting all the long date stuff at the hardest to reach corner of the shelf cos they think we are a bit dim. They belittle us with tempting treats at the check out so we keep spending til the very last minute...
I've started shopping at our local village stores again... you know the ones, where you go to one shop and get your meat...another to get your veg.... yes I know it's not 'all under one roof' but I feel like I am in charge!
Phew! That little rant was a long time coming! :o)
Hope you get some sleep soon!
Tea&Crumpet: they are the best American 60s pop and I'd say the Beatles were best of all (more classic hits) I think I prefer the Mamas & Papas sound tho...
DCB: I've ended up sleeping like that. Felt like a roast chicken must when being deprived of its drumsticks...
Crystal: what on earth are perogies!?? Weather suddenly better here. Far more like springtime...
Daffy: yeah it's meant to be way better on the old carbon footprint doing that. I feel annoyed queueing up to HAND OVER MONEY and yet being treated like THEY'RE doing ME a favour! Also why on earth wait for people to continue packing. They used to have a separator so 2 people could pack at once. Why not widen the till-end and bring that back? (grrr! etc...)
Yes, it does look good. Moving is always stressful! Everybody pays cash here so the queues move quite quickly.
Welshcakes: all cash buyers in Sicily? Is that Mafia or the fact that only the relatively rich own properties..??
MFiler: yeah man loads of excess shit is GONE now ~ YEAH!!!!
Barb: SPAM! thanx but no thanx darlin
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