Belly of the Beast

Sometimes the most random questions enter my mind while walking around London. As I stood at Oxford Circus tube stop tonight I couldn’t help but wonder, how much money does this city spend on lighting the beautiful buildings every night? I’m not saying its not worth it- the antique crown molding and pillar silhouettes are indeed worth the penny, not to mention I thoroughly enjoy it when forced to take a night bus home after a long evening out (much more scenic), but I was just wondering? Any ideas?

I find it’s the little things in London I enjoy. One would be my walk to work, which is a series of small passageways and winding roads that is so random a GPS would probably lead a stranger into a wall. On a good rainy morning the smell of fresh bread pipes out of the bakeries-ah, its incredible. (Incredible how much of it is going to my waste line-yikes!) I also find myself admiring the brick building across from my office that has blue trim. How would I distract myself from endless Excel spread sheets without that building? Most importantly, the fact that my oatmeal packets say “Hot Stuff” always makes me smile- it’s as if the Quaker oatmeal man knows me... haha, only in England!

Jaime just walked into our flat, and exclaimed, “It’s so hot in here! I feel like I’m in the belly of a beast!” We just got our heat turned on this week and haven’t quite figured it out. I constantly fear the dining room chair is going to burst into flames any moment from being next to the central unit. I suppose I could move it- but where would be the fun story in that?! Luckily we haven’t had too many escapades in our flat.

We live in the basement of a traditional London flat building in the northwestern part of the city- it’s a nice residential area. The kind of place that puts fresh flowers on the lamp posts outside. Of course, they cram 60 of us in a building that would normally be occupied by 30 people- but hey, at least we still get the flowers! :) Some of the other flats have not been as fortunate as us and have had some fatalities. It’s not pure schadenfreude…sometimes its revolutionary. Prime example was the neighbor who some how lit her toast on fire one morning. The smoke was bellowing out and we couldn’t get the alarm off. The next week we all had new toasters, with timers. I just had a toasted bagel tonight, and thanks to her misfortune, my bagel not only fit in the slots but was toasted to absolute perfection. With sorrow comes progress my friends- and it tasted good!

Not much to report tonight, I’m just having a relaxing evening. Come to think of it, overall it has been a relaxing day. There have been several stories of course, but I will fill you in on a later day. Yup, I’m signing off- you all take care!