Nick Jordan

Last Saturday Juliet and I headed over to my flat with the intention of making two or three trips back to her place with some of my stuff. We arrived in decent time but, as she drove up onto the neighbours’ parking spot temporarily to let someone else out, there was a loud bang and the left rear tyre deflated rapidly. So, being wimps, we phoned the AA and got on with packing some things while we waited.

A couple of hours later the tyre was sorted out but the spare needed some air so we jumped in the car and drove to the nearest garage. Which had no air, the machine being out of order. And the same for the next place we tried. On our way to the third garage, and getting further from my flat all the time, we spotted a tyre place and called in. Luckily they were able to sell us a new spare and inflate all the other tyres so, that done, we headed for home again.

By the time we’d got the car loaded up and driven back to Juliet’s, that was pretty much it for the day. Then, of course, it started snowing. By Sunday morning there was a thick enough covering that we clearly weren’t going to get any more moving done, so we resigned ourselves to our situation and did some sorting out of our new lounge before heading to the pub for a couple of evening drinks.

Not an unpleasant weekend, for the most part, but not what we had planned. It’s left us rather behind schedule with the move but hopefully we’ll get everything done on time.

Life is changing rapidly at the moment. After Juliet and I announced our engagement on New Year’s Eve, her parents very kindly offered to turn part of their home into a flat for us, in order to help me save up some money. After a little thought I accepted, so now the process of figuring out what to keep and what to give away/throw away has begun. On top of this, we’re organising two engagement parties, one for close family and one for our friends.

As a result of all this, I feel more optimistic about the future than I have for a very long time. Life’s been pretty hard over the last few years but this last year and a bit with Juliet and now planning our future together has really made a difference. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

On New Year’s Eve Juliet and I announced our engagement. I’m pleased to report that our families have been really great and we’re both extremely happy. We’ve already started planning the wedding, even though it probably won’t happen until sometime next year. In the meantime we’ll be trying to save some money and generally sort our life together out.

This year promises to be hard work but great fun! I’m feeling more optimistic about life than I have in a very long time.

Last night Juliet and I attended Bad Film Club at the Jewish Museum in Camden Town. It had been a little while since I’d been to BFC, the last one being I Know Who Killed Me at the Barbican a couple of years ago. After grabbing a bite to eat we headed to the museum, even though it was rather early, so that we could have a good look around. We found the staff to be very friendly and the museum itself was well laid out and very interesting. I was particularly fascinated by the large trade union banner on display, one of only two Jewish union banners left in the country, apparently. I’d very much like to go back for a proper look at some point in the future. We even managed to have a quick look around the gift shop, which was at about the usual museum shop level, containing some interesting-looking books but otherwise a load of tat. They didn’t quite have “I *heart* my Jew” t-shirts, but it wasn’t far off.

When the time for the film approached we made our way to the auditorium where there was wine on offer. There were some extremely nice paintings on the wall, mostly of life around Brick Lane, any of which I’d be very happy to have on my wall. After a brief introduction, the film, Carry On Girls started. The commentary from the hosts was a little lacking, I felt, but the film wasn’t their usual kind of choice, so I think they can be forgiven. They still made a pretty good job of keeping us entertained through what is a truly terrible movie. I won’t bother to describe it – suffice to say that if you’re familiar with the genre you’ll know exactly what we got. I’ll definitely be going back to BFC again, especially as their next London showing will be Anacondas. Need I say more?

At the weekend Juliet and I decided to go and have a poke around at the London Tattoo Convention in Wapping. My friend Mark had let me know that he was going to be there and I was looking forward to meeting up with him. Unfortunately, thanks to the dreadful user interface in the car’s sat-nav, we were led way off course and had to spend hours struggling through heavy traffic. This meant that we didn’t get to see Mark.

On arrival, we discovered that the only cash machines were in the venue and we couldn’t use our debit cards to pay the rather steep £30 entrance fee, so we popped to a nearby garage to get some cash and have a quick and much-needed burger for lunch. Once we were in, we had a good wander around but, to be honest, weren’t all that impressed. Much more entertaining was sitting down with a drink and doing some serious people-watching.

The journey home was very slow, again thanks to very heavy traffic. At least we were able to break it up with a quick stop at the services to pick up some food and some milk.

On Sunday we had a nice long lie in before cycling into Rickmansworth for a spot of lunch. We decided to take the dog out for a walk in the woods, and were very glad we did. Not only was it delightful out, but we came across three alpacas, which were recovering from dog attacks. We spent quite a bit of time leaning on the fence watching them, while the dog just stood and looked faintly bored.

The evening was spent relaxing in front of the TV, which is a pretty good way to end a weekend, if you ask me.

At the weekend Juliet and I had a wander down to Walthamstow Marsh. I took the camera with me so that I could practice some photography and, although the results were a bit hit-and-miss, I did manage to get some shots that I liked.

On Saturday night we went out to a club in Romford. It was a pretty easy journey there as we were able to take the train, but the trip back in the wee small hours of the morning was not so much fun, involving as it did two night buses, a couple of longish waits in the cold and then a walk home from Walthamstow Central station in heavy rain.

As a result of being out so late on Saturday, we had a good long lie-in on Sunday, getting up at about 1pm. As is normal for me, though, I was awake at about 7:30am and was unable to go back to sleep, so by the late afternoon I was really struggling. This was a bit of a shame as we were out again and had to come back earlier than was ideal. On the plus side, I did get a nice rest and a good night’s sleep and so I’m pretty much back to normal.

Juliet is away at the moment in Nashville for an Alison Krauss concert, which leaves me at a very rare loose end this Saturday. I’m not entirely sure what I’m going to do with myself, apart from having a very long lie in. I suspect that some DVDs may get watched and music listened to. There’s always my book, too.  Possibly some housework may get done if I get really bored.

On Sunday, assuming that Hurricane Irene doesn’t bugger things up completely, I’ll be meeting Juliet at the airport and accompanying her home, where I shall look after her while she gets over her jet lag. This will, I suspect, spill over into Bank Holiday Monday. We just might walk the dog or maybe do a spot of cycling, but probably nothing too energetic.

So, that’s the plan for the weekend. It’ll be lovely to get some rest – I’m feeling increasingly in need of some R&R, so I suspect it won’t be all that long before I take a week or so off work and give myself over to some serious laying about.

Yesterday evening Juliet and I were due to meet some friends in the pub but, even after stopping for a meal, we were still rather early so we decided to go for a walk. We soon founds ourselves down by the Thames, a little way west of London Bridge, and found some steps leading down to the water. The tide was a fair way out, so there was a large strip of exposed ‘beach’, which we took a wander along.

As well as a large quantity of pottery there were an incredible number of animal bones. I have no way of knowing how old they were, but I can only assume that they weren’t terribly recent, jusging by the colour and the way they were broken up. I have to say that it was quite fascinating, and I’m very tempted to sign up for a day’s organised beachcombing sometime.

Today I went into a Computer Exchange shop in order to sell some games I haven’t played in a very long time and probably won’t want to play again. Foolishly, I assumed that I’d simply be able to hand them over and take the cash, but apparently it’s more complicated than that. Before I can sell them anything, I have to open an account and before I can open an account I have to provide two forms of identification, one of which must include a photo. So, I have to try again tomorrow, taking my passport and a recent utility bill with me. All for (probably) less than ten quid’s worth of games.

I was (and am) strongly opposed to the idea of ID cards, but I have to confess that even I thought, albeit momentarily, that it would have been handy in this particular situation to have had one. Then I came to my senses and remembered just how deeply flawed the whole idea is and gave myself a mental slap for being so stupid. It does go to show, though, how easy it is to persuade the general public of the usefulness of such a system.

On Saturday Juliet and I, accompanied by her mother, went to the Living Crafts fair at Hatfield House. We were pretty hungry when we arrived so we headed straight for the food area, where Juliet’s mum bought us each a pork baguette, which was delicious. Afterwards, we had a good wander around the stalls, picking up some really lovely sausages and cheese, among other items. We also really enjoyed looking at the goats and the barn owl that were present, and chatting to the guy on a stall that sold products made from dog hair (yes, really!). All-in-all, a good day out.

Having discussed the matter at the weekend, Juliet and I have decided to live together. This will necessitate both of us moving as my studio flat, while great in many respects, just isn’t big enough for two and she’s currently living with her parents. I’m not particularly tied to Walthamstow and as long as I can get to work reasonably easily I really don’t mind too much where I live. Essentially, the whole of the Greater London area is fine.

I’ve had a look at properties online and it looks very much as though we’ll be able to get a decent one or two bedroom flat within our budget, which would be great. Living in a studio is all very well but it’s not ideal when you have guests. Our other requirements are quite modest: somewhere to park, a reasonably safe area, ideally not ground floor and ideally with access to green space.

There’s no desperate rush to find somewhere either, as we can both stay where we are pretty much indefinitely. This gives us the opportunity to look for somewhere that we really like, without having any pressure on us.

Am I happy about all this? I’m ecstatic.

I’m currently off work with a pretty nasty cold. Not the end of the world, I know, but it still feels very unpleasant. It started coming on on Sunday night and by Monday morning I felt ghastly. So, all this week so far I’ve been kicking around my flat reading, watching films and feeling like crap.

I’ve also been feeling pretty guilty about not being at work. I know that it’s stupid to go in when you don’t feel up to it and I really, really hate people who drag themselves in when they’re contagious and spread their nasty diseases to everybody else, and yet I can’t help but feel bad for not being there. I like my job and I like the people I work with, and I feel bad for letting them down.

When I worked in jobs I hated many moons ago, I felt much less bad about it when I was ill. I put my feet up and read my books with a clear conscience. These days I’m fortunate enough to have a job that makes me feel crappy for not being there. I should feel good about that and I guess I do.

IMGP7867 by mattbuck4950, on Flickr

On a couple of occasions recently I’ve arrived at a London Overground station on time, only to find that my train arrived early and, much worse, left early and I’ve missed it. This is, as far as I’m concerned, even more frustrating than the trains running late.

Surely, if a train arrives at a station early for some reason the driver should be made to wait at the station until the scheduled departure time, so that those of us who arrive just in the nick of time aren’t made to wait on a cold, windy platform for the next one.

Most years I try to avoid making resolutions, since I know I’d just end up breaking them. This year, however, I’m going to make an exception. So, here they are:

• Be more sociable
• Leave my comfort zone regularly
• Find a regular activity that gets me out at least once a week

I think you’ll agree that these are modest aims, but at least that means I stand some sort of chance of achieving them. We shall see.

For a little while now I’ve been trying to find a good place to go at lunchtime to have a coffee and read. Today’s candidate is the Camden Coffee House. The website looked promising but I have to say that I’m somewhat disappointed. It’s so small that there’s nowhere to sit at a table and I’m forced to type this while sitting on a very uncomfortable bar stool.

I have a full-length coat, so somewhere to hang it would have been appreciated. The staff seemed friendly enough but they told me to take a seat and they’d bring my drink over to me, which they then failed to do.

The drink itself was fine, but it’s quite hard to ruin a hot chocolate. Maybe I should come back and try a tea or coffee. So far, though, I don’t think this is the place for me.

Update 14/12/10: I went back today and was much better pleased. The new coat rack was in place and very useful, my coffee was brought to my table and I was generally much more comfortable and happy.

This morning a parcel arrived from my friend Tam, who lives across the pond. We have a standing joke about me being a duck-billed platypus (don’t ask), so I wasn’t too surprised to find that the box contained a number of platypus-related items – a plush platypus, a Perry the Platypus Xmas ornament, a CD containing music from Perry the Platypus and a card.

Apart from being deeply grateful for the gifts, it really helped to lift my mood to receive them. Thanks, Tam.

For the past few days I’ve been off work with some kind of ‘fluey thing – sore throat, cough, headache but not snotty, thank goodness. It’s a real pain, especially as I’ve had a fair amount of time off sick recently. I’m sure they’re starting to get a bit pissed off with me back at the office. On the other hand, it would be foolish of me to haul myself in when I’m feeling this lousy. I did that on Mondayband it only made me feel worse.

On the plus side, I’ve had the opportunity, in amongst bouts of coughing my lungs up, to catch up on my reading and to watch some good films. Not to mention the joy that is BBC Radio 4, which has kept me amused, entertained and informed throughout this period of illness.

With a bit of luck I’ll manage to recover sufficiently over the weekend to get back to work on Monday. No doubt there’ll be a huge backlog of email to wade through.

I’m currently just over half way through a week off work. I decided that it would be a good idea to take a break because I’m quite tired, I needed to use up some of my holiday allocation and it was my birthday yesterday.

So, what have I been doing? For the most part, not a lot. I’ve watched quite a bit of TV, done a fair bit of reading and played some Scrabble. So far it’s been exactly what I needed. Relaxing and simple.

My mother very kindly sent me some money for my birthday, so I spent some of it on something I’ve wanted for quite some time – a crossbow. Only a small one, but I reckon I shall still have some fun with it.

Hopefully, when I return to work on Monday I shall be able to throw myself back into the fray with gusto. That’s the plan, anyway.

Some years ago I was at Paddington station, waiting for my mother, who was visiting for the weekend. Hanging around by the ticket barriers I became aware of a young girl nearby who was having a conversation on her mobile phone with her boyfriend amidst great sobbing. Being a naturally curious person and having nothing else to do, I listened.

It soon became clear that she had planned to spend the weekend with her boyfriend but had arrived late and missed her train. She’d asked if she could use her ticket to travel later and had been told that this wasn’t possible and she didn’t have the money to buy another ticket. Her distress was so overwhelming, her devastation at this turn of events so utter, that my heart went out to her.

I found myself wishing that I could help. If I’d had the money I’d have happily bought her a ticket, but unfortunately I had nothing. I was therefore forced to watch her trudge miserably home, her weekend utterly ruined.

I’ve thought of her many times since then, and wondered whether she found a way to get to wherever it was that her boyfriend lived. I find myself hoping that things worked out for her. Sometime I’d like another chance to help someone in similar circumstances.

I’ve been using Google Latitude for some time now, and have built up quite a bit of history. I’ve been having a play with the Location History Dashboard, which is quite scary. It’s correctly guessed which location is home and which is work and can tell me how much time I spend in both places, but it also shows me which of my friends I’ve visited and when, and can also show me a little animation on a map, showing my movements over any period of time.

I like it but it’s somewhat freaky. Of course, the real crux of the thing is to figure out something useful to do with this information. I keep thinking that there must be something but what exactly that is eludes me. Any suggestions?