this weekend the weather has been beautiful. i get the feeling it was one last final taste of summer and blue skies before the heavens are shrouded in slate grey skies for the next 6 months. we shall have to do what the animals do and hibernate from what is about to come and awake again in the spring.
its ok i guess. it will mean i will have nothing to distract me at work and i will do all the overtime i can get, that is if i last in the job and it all turns out to be ok tomorrow, which will be my first day. its not like i will be able to go out anywhere nice on the weekends anyway when its cold and horrible and i will just have to keep reminding myself that i will be saving money to go to california again next year.
i have had a couple of months away from work and even before that when i was working i didn't do very much actual work and it wasn't tiring, so i have the capacity to work really hard and really long hours if need be. besides, its not like this job is it for me. ideally i will do it for at least 6 months and anything beyond that....well we will just have to see how it goes and what the market is like.
today i have really been missing los angeles and san diego and V.
i have mostly been listening to MGMT - kids
Sunday 28 September 2008
Wednesday 24 September 2008
final rush
got called about a couple more jobs that sound like they might be better than the one i accepted already, and i don't mean just financially either. the agents asked my availability and i said i was ready to rock'n'roll anytime. they seemed pretty confident that i would get called in for interview next week sometime but agents can be full of shit so we shall see how it goes. am supposed to start my new job next week so will have to try and sort something out if i need to take an hour out for an interview. the 'i have an exam booked' is always a good excuse to use.
a couple of years ago i turned down a job out of a sense of loyalty to the company i worked for at the time and i ended up regretting it about a month later. i promised myself that i would not make the same mistake again and if need be i will do whatever needs to be done and i really won't feel too bad walking out of a job for something better.
these 2 new jobs are both vmware roles and i know that i would not be getting put forward for these roles had i not spent over 2 grand of my own money on doing the course and exam. it pays to invest in yourself.
at least i have the job at the german bank in the bag and i can do it till the end of the year at least, and you never know, maybe i might get something better in the meantime.
a couple of years ago i turned down a job out of a sense of loyalty to the company i worked for at the time and i ended up regretting it about a month later. i promised myself that i would not make the same mistake again and if need be i will do whatever needs to be done and i really won't feel too bad walking out of a job for something better.
these 2 new jobs are both vmware roles and i know that i would not be getting put forward for these roles had i not spent over 2 grand of my own money on doing the course and exam. it pays to invest in yourself.
at least i have the job at the german bank in the bag and i can do it till the end of the year at least, and you never know, maybe i might get something better in the meantime.
new contract
its been 4 weeks to the day since i got back from the states and i got offered a contract today at a large german bank. ofcourse i accepted it, even though i have my reservations but everyone is worried how a new job may turn out, and thats no reason for me to turn it down. besides what with investment banks disappearing on a daily basis the last week or so, i think i did pretty well to get something so quickly considering just how bad things are in the financial industry these days. i even managed to get a nice pay rise out of them and so thats even better. i think my first day will be next monday but there is a chance that they might want me to start this thursday or friday. no bother, i told them i can start whenever but it does mean i will have to reschedule my exam which is next week.
UPDATE: as is always the case with these things i have just been put up for a better job, paying much more at another bank. i told the agent i would take it if offered. didn't tell him i had already landed a contract. we shall see how it goes, but you just need to play all the angles sometimes.
was a little apprehensive about it because in the interviews i had, no one asked me a single technical question. not one. they just looked at the other banks i had worked in and asked me what kind of stuff i had done, but they didn't test me on any of it. thats cool, we shall see how it goes. as always i am hopeful, and even if it does to turn out to be crappy, i will be paid very well and am sure i can stick it out for a few months and at least till the end of the year and it will make my bank account look a lot better and it will pay for another trip to california next year. it will also make a nice mix of banks on my resume having previously worked in a large japanese bank and then a large american bank. another good thing about it is that i will be working in the city of london again and i will not be in horrible, bland, boring, soulless docklands. it will be nice to be back in town again.
its still not quite my ideal job though. that is yet to come in the future.
i got an email from my friend who i went on the road trip across the states, you know the one...the guy that didn't want to go out for a drink in memphis, san diego, LA, santa fe, flagstaff, las vegas, washington ... . anyways he sent a mail around inviting a bunch of people out for drinks at a bar in central london. needless to say, i shall not be attending. i don't want to go for a drink in london. i have done that a million times before. i wanted to go out for a drink on sunset boulevard in LA or in las vegas. that would have been miles better.
today i have mostly been listening to , kings of leon - sex on fire. what a great song. this is what i was watching on tv last friday when you, V, were texting me.
take care flower
UPDATE: as is always the case with these things i have just been put up for a better job, paying much more at another bank. i told the agent i would take it if offered. didn't tell him i had already landed a contract. we shall see how it goes, but you just need to play all the angles sometimes.
Sunday 14 September 2008
mundane
and now i am back to the mundane life in london. it rained almost everyday for 2 weeks when i got back from cali. it was such a downer.
i started looking for a new contract about a week ago but the job market is pretty slow out there in the kind of places i am looking for, like banks and other financial institutions. still, i am sure something will come up seeing as i did all those exams and i know more than most people who work in banks, having seen first hand over the last year in the 2 banks i worked at.
thats it really, nothing else really to report. i haven't spoken to my friend who i went on the trip with and its been 3 weeks since i got back. i might give it a few more weeks before even considering contacting him, but i really think i have had more than enough of him for this lifetime, besides he'll probably be eating if i do call. :-)
have been training after taking a month off from the gym whilst being away. its been 3 weeks and i have just got back to the condition i was in before i went away. have got the time these days to do an extra session or two in the week so i am determined to push on further and take it up a few levels over the next few weeks.
and that really is it. i have a couple of exams booked but i just can't motivate myself to study for them. i don't need to do them and i am not that interested in them. i only booked them because i was bored and i thought it might be something to do.
hopefully something comes through with regards to a job soon in the next few weeks. would be nice to know where i will be till the end of the year and what i will be doing but at the moment its all up in the air. not worried though. just keen to find out what will happen as i am getting a little bored at home. daydreaming a lot about california and stuff. that will keep me going for a while.
take care cali girl.
i started looking for a new contract about a week ago but the job market is pretty slow out there in the kind of places i am looking for, like banks and other financial institutions. still, i am sure something will come up seeing as i did all those exams and i know more than most people who work in banks, having seen first hand over the last year in the 2 banks i worked at.
thats it really, nothing else really to report. i haven't spoken to my friend who i went on the trip with and its been 3 weeks since i got back. i might give it a few more weeks before even considering contacting him, but i really think i have had more than enough of him for this lifetime, besides he'll probably be eating if i do call. :-)
have been training after taking a month off from the gym whilst being away. its been 3 weeks and i have just got back to the condition i was in before i went away. have got the time these days to do an extra session or two in the week so i am determined to push on further and take it up a few levels over the next few weeks.
and that really is it. i have a couple of exams booked but i just can't motivate myself to study for them. i don't need to do them and i am not that interested in them. i only booked them because i was bored and i thought it might be something to do.
hopefully something comes through with regards to a job soon in the next few weeks. would be nice to know where i will be till the end of the year and what i will be doing but at the moment its all up in the air. not worried though. just keen to find out what will happen as i am getting a little bored at home. daydreaming a lot about california and stuff. that will keep me going for a while.
take care cali girl.
Wednesday 10 September 2008
last day
we had one final day in LA and the next day i was sheduled to fly back to crappy london town. we didn't really have a plan for the final day and just went with the flow. i did a final bit of shopping and picked up a couple of things i needed to. we headed down to melrose and had lunch at the village idiot, which had a very london feel to it and could have been in shoreditch or clerkenwell instead of hollywood.
we then headed up towards the hollywood bowl as radiohead were playing and thought we would see if we could buy a ticket from a tout. when we got there the going rate was $600 for 2 tickets and to be honest, i don't like radiohead THAT much to drop 300 notes for a ticket. my friend did consider it as he likes them, after only becoming aware of them 18 months ago. i had seen nine inch nails on this trip already and so had seen a good concert already. i told my friend that he should get a ticket and see radiohead and that i would find a bar on sunset boulevard or melorose and wait for him there and meet him after the show. he thought about it for 2 seconds and as with the tijuana trip he decided not to do it. what a surprise.
around 9pm walked back through hollywood and on our way to the car i suggested we could go for a drink anyway somewhere on sunset or melrose, but my friend said he didn't feel like it and i figured i had spent 2 weeks with this no fun, unenthusiastic person and i decided to not try and convince him or press the point. besides i would have died of embaressment walking into the viper room with a guy in tight baby blue shorts and silly brown trainer/shoes. there are some weird freaky poeple in LA but he just looked ridiculous.
.......and that was it for my trip across america. it was wicked and i feel really lucky to have had the possibility to do it and i enjoyed it immensely even though i was travelling with a miserable git who showed no interest in anything apart from graceland. it was still good that he came along because i got to split the cost of the trip and i also made him do most of the driving, so it wasn't all bad that he came along.
its just that you go on trips with your friends in the hope that not only will you have a great time seeing all these new and wonderful places but also you will have a good laugh on the way in the times when you are driving 4 hours across olklahoma and there isn't that much to see. you hope that your trip will be even better than just seeing cities and that they will add something to the journey. he didn't. i am pretty sure i annoyed him with my complete disregard for mealtimes and staying up late in the evenings watching the olympics and my childlike fascination with everything and wanting to explore and walking everywhere, but thats what i went for.
it was an awesome trip and i have memories that i will carry with me forever and i met a few really nice people as well and i also saw my best friend in phoenix who i hadn't seen for what felt like forever. who knows how the future turns out, but i have a suspicion that i will return to southern california next year. i just have a feeling in my bones.
i didn't hear this next song whilst i was in the states but i heard it on the radio or on a tv programme here in london a couple of days after i got back. it just sounds like america to me.
jesse malin & bruce springsteen - broken radio
we then headed up towards the hollywood bowl as radiohead were playing and thought we would see if we could buy a ticket from a tout. when we got there the going rate was $600 for 2 tickets and to be honest, i don't like radiohead THAT much to drop 300 notes for a ticket. my friend did consider it as he likes them, after only becoming aware of them 18 months ago. i had seen nine inch nails on this trip already and so had seen a good concert already. i told my friend that he should get a ticket and see radiohead and that i would find a bar on sunset boulevard or melorose and wait for him there and meet him after the show. he thought about it for 2 seconds and as with the tijuana trip he decided not to do it. what a surprise.
around 9pm walked back through hollywood and on our way to the car i suggested we could go for a drink anyway somewhere on sunset or melrose, but my friend said he didn't feel like it and i figured i had spent 2 weeks with this no fun, unenthusiastic person and i decided to not try and convince him or press the point. besides i would have died of embaressment walking into the viper room with a guy in tight baby blue shorts and silly brown trainer/shoes. there are some weird freaky poeple in LA but he just looked ridiculous.
.......and that was it for my trip across america. it was wicked and i feel really lucky to have had the possibility to do it and i enjoyed it immensely even though i was travelling with a miserable git who showed no interest in anything apart from graceland. it was still good that he came along because i got to split the cost of the trip and i also made him do most of the driving, so it wasn't all bad that he came along.
its just that you go on trips with your friends in the hope that not only will you have a great time seeing all these new and wonderful places but also you will have a good laugh on the way in the times when you are driving 4 hours across olklahoma and there isn't that much to see. you hope that your trip will be even better than just seeing cities and that they will add something to the journey. he didn't. i am pretty sure i annoyed him with my complete disregard for mealtimes and staying up late in the evenings watching the olympics and my childlike fascination with everything and wanting to explore and walking everywhere, but thats what i went for.
it was an awesome trip and i have memories that i will carry with me forever and i met a few really nice people as well and i also saw my best friend in phoenix who i hadn't seen for what felt like forever. who knows how the future turns out, but i have a suspicion that i will return to southern california next year. i just have a feeling in my bones.
i didn't hear this next song whilst i was in the states but i heard it on the radio or on a tv programme here in london a couple of days after i got back. it just sounds like america to me.
jesse malin & bruce springsteen - broken radio
Tuesday 9 September 2008
city of angels
reluctantly i bid farewell to the white sandy beaches and bikini clad girls of san diego and we headed up the freeway a couple of hours to LA. as we entered the greater LA area it was just a maza of freeways and we found ourselves hopping from one to another. we would have been completely lost with out GPS navigation. it really is a life saver and is absolutely essential to have on a trip like this.
we checked into our hotel which was near LAX and then drove into town to see if there was anything good to see. as per usual my friend had done no research and was absolutely clueless as to where we might go. i thought at first it was just laziness on his part, not doing any reading or research about the cities we were visting, but actually it was just that he was simply not interested.
had i not known about pacific beach in san diego, he would have spent all his time staying in a hotel on a freeway. had i not known about beale street in memphis he would have just gone to graceland and thought there was nothing else in memphis. the same could be said for the old town in santa fe, williamsburg new york, georgetown washington, flagstaff arizona, and now we were in LA, i suspect he would have just stayed by the airport and thought that the city was lame.
anyways i told him to head towards melrose and we could see if there was anything interesting there and actually it turned out to be really good. lots of cool shops and restaurants and we got something to eat at a place called johnny rockets on melrose. the obesity epidemic you hear about in america is something not afflicting the cool cats in hollywood and it might be because the portions are normal sized and not the gargantuan portions we were served in texas and tenessee and which i had always failed to finish. i thought they served great food but my friend was distinctly unimpressed by the smaller portions and i also think that because we were on melrose surrounded by the beautiful young people of LA, he felt self conscious about ordering 2 meals like he had done in previous places and so i get the feeling he left the place hungry. i loved it and i also liked the outdoor seating where you can sit in the shade out of the sun and just watch the world go by. it was a lovely afternoon and it will be a memory of LA for me forever.
we then headed back to the car and did some touristy things like take pics of the hollywood sign and go to the hollywood walk of fame and we headed up to sunset boulevard past the viper room and a few other places. having been sunburnt to with in an inch of my life on the beach in san diego the previous day, i was quite glad when we headed back to the hotel in the evening and was looking forward to a soothing cold shower and an early night.
tomorrow was to be the last day of the trip for me.
we checked into our hotel which was near LAX and then drove into town to see if there was anything good to see. as per usual my friend had done no research and was absolutely clueless as to where we might go. i thought at first it was just laziness on his part, not doing any reading or research about the cities we were visting, but actually it was just that he was simply not interested.
had i not known about pacific beach in san diego, he would have spent all his time staying in a hotel on a freeway. had i not known about beale street in memphis he would have just gone to graceland and thought there was nothing else in memphis. the same could be said for the old town in santa fe, williamsburg new york, georgetown washington, flagstaff arizona, and now we were in LA, i suspect he would have just stayed by the airport and thought that the city was lame.
anyways i told him to head towards melrose and we could see if there was anything interesting there and actually it turned out to be really good. lots of cool shops and restaurants and we got something to eat at a place called johnny rockets on melrose. the obesity epidemic you hear about in america is something not afflicting the cool cats in hollywood and it might be because the portions are normal sized and not the gargantuan portions we were served in texas and tenessee and which i had always failed to finish. i thought they served great food but my friend was distinctly unimpressed by the smaller portions and i also think that because we were on melrose surrounded by the beautiful young people of LA, he felt self conscious about ordering 2 meals like he had done in previous places and so i get the feeling he left the place hungry. i loved it and i also liked the outdoor seating where you can sit in the shade out of the sun and just watch the world go by. it was a lovely afternoon and it will be a memory of LA for me forever.
we then headed back to the car and did some touristy things like take pics of the hollywood sign and go to the hollywood walk of fame and we headed up to sunset boulevard past the viper room and a few other places. having been sunburnt to with in an inch of my life on the beach in san diego the previous day, i was quite glad when we headed back to the hotel in the evening and was looking forward to a soothing cold shower and an early night.
tomorrow was to be the last day of the trip for me.
Monday 8 September 2008
more sdca
on the second day in SD we went to the mall as i needed to get some things as i was running out of clothes. i had deliberately bought not enough clothes as i needed to get some new stuff and it would be no point in packing a ton of stuff and then buying more clothes and having to take tons of luggage back to england.
in the mall i stumbled upon an arcade and it had a few classic games in there that i hadn't played in years like sega rall, daytona USA and time crisis, and each game was 50 cents. i had a couple of games on the sega rally but i had lost my mojo after not having played it in about 7 years, but i was confident that an hour or two of practice would get me back to where i had once been. its like riding a bike. you never lose it.
but my friend was waiting in the car park and i knew had moody he would be so i had to leave it after 15 minutes. we then headed to pacific beach and then in the evening went to cranes to get something to eat.
we also decided to stay in san diego the next day as well and then leave for LA the day after. it meant we would have had 3 days in san diego, which was longer than any other place we had stopped in. its just a really great town with nice people and a nice chilled southern california atmosphere.
my friend also said he wanted to go across the border to mexico and visit tijuana. great news for me as i would be able to ditch him for the day, and i told him he should go for it, and said he should drop me off at pacific beach, PB, in the morning and i would catch up with him when he got back from mexico.
the next day we drove to PB, and he told me he had changed his mind about mexico and was going to stay in san diego. shit!!!. i should have known he would have pussey'd out of going. he just liked the idea of going to mexico but when it came to doing it, he was too lazy or couldn't be bothered. it was kind of like our whole trip. i think he liked the idea of driving across america and although he did do it, he had no enthusiasm to see anything or do anything. knowing that i would not be going to tijuana, which i have reliably be informed by V, is a shit hole, i think he decided he couldn't be bothered. anyways, i told him i planned on staying at the beach most of the day and i did get rid of him for a couple of hours when he went to do his laundry and when he went to eat.
later in the eveing we went to mission beach and got something to eat and then went to get an ice cream. i had spoken to ice cream vendor the day before and he told me he was from port alegre in brazil. we immediately started talking about brazil and football and ronaldinho (ronaldinho is from port alegre as well).
my friend stood there bored senseless. i also commented that after only 6 months in the US, the ice cream vendor spoke very good english. he then asked my friend how long he had been speaking english, in a carbon copy of the valet guy earlier in our trip. i just burst out laughing and was almost rolling around on the floor, as my friend explained he was born in england and that unlike me, who spoke like he was in england, he was being more accomadating to the local americans by changing the way he spoke so he could be understood. whatever dude!. he was not amused by my bellowing laughter and not too pleased that the brazilian guy had also joined in laughing with me.
we all speak english, its just that i speak it in the way i have since i could talk whereas some people put on a ridiculous fake non-english, none american accent, in a silly attempt to fit in. i asked the brazilian guy what his friends in brazil would think of him if he went back after a few weeks or months of being away and he spoke portugese with an accent. he agreed that his friends would make fun of him and rightly so. my friend was not amused whilst we carried on laughing.
in the mall i stumbled upon an arcade and it had a few classic games in there that i hadn't played in years like sega rall, daytona USA and time crisis, and each game was 50 cents. i had a couple of games on the sega rally but i had lost my mojo after not having played it in about 7 years, but i was confident that an hour or two of practice would get me back to where i had once been. its like riding a bike. you never lose it.
but my friend was waiting in the car park and i knew had moody he would be so i had to leave it after 15 minutes. we then headed to pacific beach and then in the evening went to cranes to get something to eat.
we also decided to stay in san diego the next day as well and then leave for LA the day after. it meant we would have had 3 days in san diego, which was longer than any other place we had stopped in. its just a really great town with nice people and a nice chilled southern california atmosphere.
my friend also said he wanted to go across the border to mexico and visit tijuana. great news for me as i would be able to ditch him for the day, and i told him he should go for it, and said he should drop me off at pacific beach, PB, in the morning and i would catch up with him when he got back from mexico.
the next day we drove to PB, and he told me he had changed his mind about mexico and was going to stay in san diego. shit!!!. i should have known he would have pussey'd out of going. he just liked the idea of going to mexico but when it came to doing it, he was too lazy or couldn't be bothered. it was kind of like our whole trip. i think he liked the idea of driving across america and although he did do it, he had no enthusiasm to see anything or do anything. knowing that i would not be going to tijuana, which i have reliably be informed by V, is a shit hole, i think he decided he couldn't be bothered. anyways, i told him i planned on staying at the beach most of the day and i did get rid of him for a couple of hours when he went to do his laundry and when he went to eat.
later in the eveing we went to mission beach and got something to eat and then went to get an ice cream. i had spoken to ice cream vendor the day before and he told me he was from port alegre in brazil. we immediately started talking about brazil and football and ronaldinho (ronaldinho is from port alegre as well).
my friend stood there bored senseless. i also commented that after only 6 months in the US, the ice cream vendor spoke very good english. he then asked my friend how long he had been speaking english, in a carbon copy of the valet guy earlier in our trip. i just burst out laughing and was almost rolling around on the floor, as my friend explained he was born in england and that unlike me, who spoke like he was in england, he was being more accomadating to the local americans by changing the way he spoke so he could be understood. whatever dude!. he was not amused by my bellowing laughter and not too pleased that the brazilian guy had also joined in laughing with me.
we all speak english, its just that i speak it in the way i have since i could talk whereas some people put on a ridiculous fake non-english, none american accent, in a silly attempt to fit in. i asked the brazilian guy what his friends in brazil would think of him if he went back after a few weeks or months of being away and he spoke portugese with an accent. he agreed that his friends would make fun of him and rightly so. my friend was not amused whilst we carried on laughing.
san diego
after a couple of nights in vegas we headed west to what would be our final state on the trip, california. initially the plan was to spend around 5 days in LA and maybe just go to san diego for a day trip, but instead we decided to head straight to san diego and stay the night there. my friend V, is always going on about how nice it is and i also spoke to someone in a bar in memphis and they were from SD and said it was a great place as well.
we got there around 5PM and because we made the plan at the last minute, we had no idea where to stay. my friend was driving and just picked somewhere from the GPS. unfortunately it looked like it was quite far from the beach and when i suggested we head in further into town my friend got a little moody. it had been about 3 hours since his last meal so it was to be expected for him to be like that. we switched drivers and i took the wheel and we and headed further into town and found a decent hotel in the old town which was just a 10 minute drive to the beach.
we then headed down to mission beach because V had told me that cranes was a good place to for a drink and to get something to eat. she was not wrong. the place was wicked and it was right on the ocean front. there isn't even a road between you and the sand and sea. just a footpath and then beach.
after dinner we headed down along the footpath walking towards pacific beach. we also decided that we would stay in san diego the following day as well and then head to LA the day after, maybe....
Sunday 7 September 2008
vegas baby
after travelling through the joshua tree national park, the mojave desert and across the hoover dam, we arrived in vegas around 7PM. i had never been to vegas before so was a little excited to see it and i was not dissapointed. the hotels on the strip are very big and very shiny and some are just silly but still interesting. after checking in to where we would be staying for a couple of nights, the mock-egyptian luxor hotel and casino, we headed out and walked along the strip occasionally popping into a random casino just to see how kitsch they were. that was it for the rest of the evening really.
the next day we headed out to some of the outlet malls in vegas and we spent most of the afternoon there picking up bargains. it really is a great place to shop and if you are not too fussy, there are lots of bargains to be had. its much better than new york for shopping which seems overpriced in comparison. as the evening drew in, we headed back to our hotel and then got something to eat at the buffet at the luxor. after that i suggested to my friend that we should go out and maybe go to a bar or something but he said he was going to stay in. he was just no fun at all.
he had been to vegas a couple of times before and by the sound of it, on his previous 2 visits, he had gone out and spent a couple of thousand dollars in a day on lap dances and hookers. maybe he thought thats what i meant when i said we should go out in vegas, but thats not what i had in mind at all. he didn't want to go to bars because he didn't want to get shitfaced and now he didn't want to go out in vegas because i suspect he didn't want to do the whole, "get a lapdance, get a hooker, drop a couple of grand" thing. very childish indeed and rather silly not being able to go out and able to enjoy a couple of drinks in a bar and maybe talk to a member of the opposite sex with out wondering if, or how much she charges for a blowjob. grow up dude.
i headed out on my own and just went into a couple of casino's and up and down the strip. i also saw the fountains at the bellagio which were spectacular and i went back to the hotel a couple of hours later. vegas is a nice place but its the kind of place you would spend a weekend at, rather than go on holiday and stay there for a week.
whislt driving to vegas we had been listening to the radio. there was an r'n'b, rap, pop station that played a song i really liked. that day i had mostly been listening to lil' wayne - lollipop
the next day we headed out to some of the outlet malls in vegas and we spent most of the afternoon there picking up bargains. it really is a great place to shop and if you are not too fussy, there are lots of bargains to be had. its much better than new york for shopping which seems overpriced in comparison. as the evening drew in, we headed back to our hotel and then got something to eat at the buffet at the luxor. after that i suggested to my friend that we should go out and maybe go to a bar or something but he said he was going to stay in. he was just no fun at all.
he had been to vegas a couple of times before and by the sound of it, on his previous 2 visits, he had gone out and spent a couple of thousand dollars in a day on lap dances and hookers. maybe he thought thats what i meant when i said we should go out in vegas, but thats not what i had in mind at all. he didn't want to go to bars because he didn't want to get shitfaced and now he didn't want to go out in vegas because i suspect he didn't want to do the whole, "get a lapdance, get a hooker, drop a couple of grand" thing. very childish indeed and rather silly not being able to go out and able to enjoy a couple of drinks in a bar and maybe talk to a member of the opposite sex with out wondering if, or how much she charges for a blowjob. grow up dude.
i headed out on my own and just went into a couple of casino's and up and down the strip. i also saw the fountains at the bellagio which were spectacular and i went back to the hotel a couple of hours later. vegas is a nice place but its the kind of place you would spend a weekend at, rather than go on holiday and stay there for a week.
whislt driving to vegas we had been listening to the radio. there was an r'n'b, rap, pop station that played a song i really liked. that day i had mostly been listening to lil' wayne - lollipop
Friday 5 September 2008
what not to wear
we then drove on towards vegas. it was my turn to drive and we hit the road around 1.30PM from phoenix. since being in phoenix my friend had added another annoying habit on top of the food obsession and the drinking of 2 litres of water every 3 hours. he now complained constantly about how hot it was. i can understand how 100 degree heat for months on end could become a problem and an annoyance, i genuinely do, but for people from london who have to endure months of darkness and life under slate grey skies, its a little annoying to complain about the heat after literally a couple of hours in phoenix.
because of the heat he had also started wearing shorts and a t-shirt. not proper knee length khaki/brown/grey/black shorts with big pockets that look a little stylish in a young, hip and trendy way, but baby blue adidas running shorts that were a little too short and high up on the thigh and a little too tight. he then topped this off with a bright red t-shirt that again was a little too fitted and tight, and which would have accentuated a muscular physique if there was one underneath it, but instead it accentuated his rotund belly. he then finished off this ensemble with shitty trainers weren't even trainers but were a type of shoe hikers would wear, or people that were going to climb mountains would use, and he wore these in the absense of socks which is one of my pet hates. no socks dude, thats just wrong and there is no excuse for that. if you saw him you would be wondering why a fat guy in light blue shorts that were too small, was wearing brown loafers with no socks on. it looked fucking funny and i regret not taking a picture in hindsight.
initially i felt really embaressed because i thought people would think we were a couple of queers what with his too short, shorts in baby blue, but actually there are a couple of gay guys at my gym and the gay folk have a little more style than that and i trusted that people would think, those fellas ain't queer because that fella can't pick out clothes and colours and to save his life!.
i figured he was fine to dress like a hobo whilst we were spending most of our time in a car in arizona, but i hoped he would dress a little better when we got to LA where all the cool cats hung out on melrose and in hollywood. i would be wrong, but i just didn't know it at the time.
i am no fashionista but i do make a little effort and don't just throw anything on in the dark. in the 110 degree heat of arizona i wore my full length, low waist, straight cut, dark blue jeans with a dark blue and white fitted polo shirt and a pair of nike air max 95's, which go with anything. collars and long trousers always. it would need to go beyond 120 degrees for me to consider short trousers. we are from england and we are made of stern stuff.
because of the heat he had also started wearing shorts and a t-shirt. not proper knee length khaki/brown/grey/black shorts with big pockets that look a little stylish in a young, hip and trendy way, but baby blue adidas running shorts that were a little too short and high up on the thigh and a little too tight. he then topped this off with a bright red t-shirt that again was a little too fitted and tight, and which would have accentuated a muscular physique if there was one underneath it, but instead it accentuated his rotund belly. he then finished off this ensemble with shitty trainers weren't even trainers but were a type of shoe hikers would wear, or people that were going to climb mountains would use, and he wore these in the absense of socks which is one of my pet hates. no socks dude, thats just wrong and there is no excuse for that. if you saw him you would be wondering why a fat guy in light blue shorts that were too small, was wearing brown loafers with no socks on. it looked fucking funny and i regret not taking a picture in hindsight.
initially i felt really embaressed because i thought people would think we were a couple of queers what with his too short, shorts in baby blue, but actually there are a couple of gay guys at my gym and the gay folk have a little more style than that and i trusted that people would think, those fellas ain't queer because that fella can't pick out clothes and colours and to save his life!.
i figured he was fine to dress like a hobo whilst we were spending most of our time in a car in arizona, but i hoped he would dress a little better when we got to LA where all the cool cats hung out on melrose and in hollywood. i would be wrong, but i just didn't know it at the time.
i am no fashionista but i do make a little effort and don't just throw anything on in the dark. in the 110 degree heat of arizona i wore my full length, low waist, straight cut, dark blue jeans with a dark blue and white fitted polo shirt and a pair of nike air max 95's, which go with anything. collars and long trousers always. it would need to go beyond 120 degrees for me to consider short trousers. we are from england and we are made of stern stuff.
V
the next part of our journey was to be las vegas but before that i had planned to take a detour to see my best friend, vanessa. it was to be the single best hour of the whole trip and the time we spent talking went by in the blink of an eye. after being on the road with my so called 'friend' it was lovely to meet up with someone who was a real, true genuine friend and not merely someone i just happen to know and worked with a few years ago but with whom i had little common in and to be honest didn't really like now that i had spent more than a few hours with.
we met in pheonix arizona in a nice part of town on south mills avenue. it was blazing hot and i know V doesn't like it but to us sun starved nothern europeans it was a beautiful day. we sat at the bar in a place called chillis and just talked and talked. because of the limited time we had i wish i had said something more important or interesting than just telling silly stories and making fun of my friend but will just have to save it for next time. it was just lovely to see her.
thank you for saving me and giving me someone else to talk to. thank you for giving me something to look forward to on the trip whilst my friend seemed completely uninterested in everything. meeting up with you was worth doing the whole trip. lots of people don't have friends like us and they are poorer for it.
we met in pheonix arizona in a nice part of town on south mills avenue. it was blazing hot and i know V doesn't like it but to us sun starved nothern europeans it was a beautiful day. we sat at the bar in a place called chillis and just talked and talked. because of the limited time we had i wish i had said something more important or interesting than just telling silly stories and making fun of my friend but will just have to save it for next time. it was just lovely to see her.
thank you for saving me and giving me someone else to talk to. thank you for giving me something to look forward to on the trip whilst my friend seemed completely uninterested in everything. meeting up with you was worth doing the whole trip. lots of people don't have friends like us and they are poorer for it.
grand canyon
this was going to be an important part of the trip for me. i had 2 very important appointments in arizona, the grand canyon and vanessa. we drove around 5 hours or so from santa fe and got to flagstaff mid afternoon. it was a surprisingly cool and damp day in arizona and not what i expected at all in terms of climate.
we found a place to stay and then i suggested we head to the grand canyon for sun down as it would look really cool as the day drew to a close. my friend somewhat unenthusiastically came along.
it was about an hour and a half drive to the grand canyon national park and it was initially not what i expected at all. i expected dusty red and orange desert and blazing heat with nothing around for miles. instead we found ourselves in a heavily wooded area with lots of trees and bushes and the whole place was pretty lush with vegatation. i kind of figured we might be at the crappy end of the park and were miles from the canyon, and then as we walked down a little path it just appeared from between the trees and it was breathtakingly magnificent.
i walked along the trail and took lots and lots of pictures. i then walked about another 100 metres and took more pictures, while all the while my friend tagged along behind me seemingly unimpressed and uninterested in the splendour of one of the natural wonders of the world. as i went to walk a little further my friend clearly annoyed and bored with my taking pictures all the time asked for the car keys and said he was going to sit in the car and wait for me in the parking lot. eh?????. i was a little stunned. its the grand canyon dude. how can you get bored after 10 minutes of seeing the grand canyon???. i can almost understand not wanting to see the lincoln memeorial when we were in washington but i couldn't understand how he could not be interested in this. i threw him the keys and carried on along the trail in awe of the sight before me and as the sun set in the distance teh canyon changed colours from yellow/brown, to red/orange and then an almost blue/purple colour. its was awesome and something i can keep in my head and revisit.
we found a place to stay and then i suggested we head to the grand canyon for sun down as it would look really cool as the day drew to a close. my friend somewhat unenthusiastically came along.
it was about an hour and a half drive to the grand canyon national park and it was initially not what i expected at all. i expected dusty red and orange desert and blazing heat with nothing around for miles. instead we found ourselves in a heavily wooded area with lots of trees and bushes and the whole place was pretty lush with vegatation. i kind of figured we might be at the crappy end of the park and were miles from the canyon, and then as we walked down a little path it just appeared from between the trees and it was breathtakingly magnificent.
i walked along the trail and took lots and lots of pictures. i then walked about another 100 metres and took more pictures, while all the while my friend tagged along behind me seemingly unimpressed and uninterested in the splendour of one of the natural wonders of the world. as i went to walk a little further my friend clearly annoyed and bored with my taking pictures all the time asked for the car keys and said he was going to sit in the car and wait for me in the parking lot. eh?????. i was a little stunned. its the grand canyon dude. how can you get bored after 10 minutes of seeing the grand canyon???. i can almost understand not wanting to see the lincoln memeorial when we were in washington but i couldn't understand how he could not be interested in this. i threw him the keys and carried on along the trail in awe of the sight before me and as the sun set in the distance teh canyon changed colours from yellow/brown, to red/orange and then an almost blue/purple colour. its was awesome and something i can keep in my head and revisit.
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