Swiss-LondonLad

Topic: Happy New Year

2008-01-06T23:30:00.000Z

"Christmas at Covent Garden"

To start the new year, some completely unnecessary facts about London... but there interesting anyway...(is that slightly contradictory?)

1. More than 300 languages are spoken in this lovely town
2. The first traffic lights in the world were installed near House of Commons in 1868
3. More than one third of Greater London are parks, woods, gardens or other nice green areas (it is in fact the greenest urban agglomeration on planet earth with more than 1 million inhabitants...)
4. The City of London is actually rather small: 2.6 km2 and 9200 residents (but over 360'000 "city workers". Myself, I'm a resident of the Borough of Southwark (Mayor: Bob Skelly, Population: 269'200 (31st largest "city" of the UK) of which 53% white British and 13.3% black African. I belong to the 9% other white...)
5. The shortest postal address is "1 London". It's the former residence of the Duke of Wellington.
6. Brixton Market was the first market in the UK with electricity. You find the market on (surprise, surprise) Electric Avenue.
7. Notting Hill Carnival is the second largest carnival in the world (after Rio of course).
8. A fragrance called "Madeleine" was introduced at St James Park, Euston and Piccadilly tube station in an effort to make the tube smell better on 23rd March 2001. It was taken out of action on 24th March 2001 as it was making people feel sick...
9. The peak hour for tube suicides is 11am. (No idea why...)

And for today's lyrics:

And have you seen the old man
Outside the seaman's mission
His memory is fading,
With those medal ribbons he wears
And in our winter city,
the rain cries a little pity
For one more forgotten hero
And a world that doesn't care

Streets of London - Ralph McTell

Topic: Discovering London - Part Three

2007-12-13T00:02:00.001Z

Welocme to Borough Market, London's premier foodie haunt. Located at the southern end of London Bridge, is the capital’s oldest market, - and probably the loudest from the hundreds of trains rumbling daily overhead into London Bridge station. Shoppers come from all over London and beyond to stroll round the market and buy organic meat, cheese, fruit, vegetables and patisserie from enthusiastic and knowledgeable stallholders.
And here lies the problem. Although it is in itself quite charming, don't get me wrong, I try to be as organic as possible (which basically – as a human being - I am anyway…) and I love quality food, houmous and (yes, here you get it…) good fresh bread as much as any decent human being - despite, poor old Jamie Oliver who has lost the battle against fast food as children preferred the spaghetti bolognese in cans more than his own hand made ones…) but misusing the word "organic" in front of each of these items leading to an inflationary effect on prices… well, ASDA here I come.

And second, as it is promoted primarily as a tourist destination (at least on Saturdays you hear every language except English) and therefore even boosts a German Wursttheke, it has exactly that: a lot of tourists. Switzerland has Morgarten and St. Jakob as battlefields. London has Oxford Circus on a Saturday afternoon and Borough Market. The place is quite terrifying; if you ever want to prepare for a ski season in Switzerland, here’s your training camp. Weapons of choice (and literally weapons of tourist mass destruction include backpacks the size you use for a Mount Everest expedition, umbrellas (the super size family version) and bodybuilder elbows. I went once. And to be honest – yepp – I will go again. It’s, despite the above horror stories, quite a nice place - and close to where I live. But there are plenty of other markets in this city…  

But Borough Market is under threat. Government finally gave the go-ahead to Network Rail to widen the railway viaducts into London Bridge to ease bottlenecks on commuter services after a 10 year planning battle. Modern times, here we come...
Local residents and businesses fear that the proposed works will destroy buildings in the Georgian and Victorian streets round the market and threaten the market itself. And if it goes ahead, this area of labyrinth style streets, small shops, bars and restaurants will, at best, be a building site for years.

But you get quite good spiced hot cider…

For today's lyrics - another battle (and in honor of a reunited band, that just recently gave their comeback at the Millenium Dome):

I hear the horses' thunder
Down in the valley blow,
I'm waiting for the angels of Avalon,
Waiting for the eastern glow.

The Battle of Evermore - Led Zeppelin

Topic: News of the week - Morons...

2007-11-20T23:40:00.000Z

Well, it's seems, being gay sometimes has it's advantages... at least you don't have children and therefore do not apply for Child Benefits...

Private details of EVERY family in Britain 'lost' by taxman in major security blunder

Seeing is believing...otherwise it's difficult to believe... Have fun watching THIS... (It may take a while loading, but it's worth it...)

The Chancellor was rocked by a new crisis this evening over the loss of confidential bank details of virtually every family in Britain.

Alistair Darling had to make an emergency statement to the Commons revealing that records of 7.2 million bank accounts of all parents or guardians who claim child benefits had gone missing. MPs gasped when he revealed that the names, addresses, bank numbers and National Insurance numbers of all those affected had been on two computer discs which had been lost.
A total of 25 million people's names are on the discs, potentially leaving them all at risk of identity fraud.

Some comments I found:

"Another disater brought to you - the taxpaying public - by New Labour, the Masters of Disaster, the unchallenged champions of Unforeseen Consequence and the Great Lie. A party in a brewery springs to mind."

"Why do I bother shredding bank statements etc. when these clowns give the information away in bulk."

Topic: Discovering London - Part Two

2007-11-11T21:15:00.001Z

This Time: Alexandra Palace - Harringey N22 7AY London

Built in 1873 as the "People's Palace", burnt down 16 days later and reopened in 1875. It is today used for venues of all sorts. But instead of great blabla, just some poetic moments in my blog. And if you read my blog properly (which - no doubt - you definitively do...) you remember parts of it:

The Pooters walked to Watney Lodge 
One Sunday morning hot and still 
Where public footpaths used to dodge 
Round elms and oaks to Muswell Hill.

That burning buttercuppy day
 The local dogs were curled in sleep, 
The writhing trunks of flowery May
 Were polished by the sides of sheep.

And only footsteps in a lane 
And birdsong broke the silence round 
And chuffs of the Great Northern train
 For Alexandra Palace bound

The Watney Lodge I seem to see 
Is gabled gothic hard and red, 
With here a monkey puzzle tree 
And there a round geranium bed.

Each mansion, each new-planted pine, 
Each short and ostentatious drive 
Meant Morning Prayer and beef and wine 
And Queen Victoria alive.

John Betjeman - Diary of a Nobody

Palace with a view...

And for today's lyrics:
So, anyway
There I was
Just sitting on your porch
Drinking in
The sweetest decline
The sweetest decline
Sober mind

Beth Orton - Sweetest Decline

Topic: Addicted

2007-10-25T23:51:00.000+01:00

From Wikipedia (the "if you need to know something don't look further"-website):

"An addiction is a recurring compulsion by an individual to engage in some specific activity, despite harmful consequences to the individuals health, mental state or social life. The term is often reserved for drug addictions but it is sometimes applied to other compulsions, such as problem gambling, compulsive overeating, and hyperreligiosity ."

In my case, it's coffee. At least Monday to Friday during working hours. And I'm so addicted, that I even drink this horrible brew on the left, that calls itself coffee. It's actually a disgrace and it should be forbidden to use that name. But hey! The "I brew something that should be coffee but never ever tastes like it"-machine in our office produces this chemical substance for free and four or five Starbucks coffees are definitively a greater harm to my bank account than this brew to my health.

Isn't it amazing? Today was the first flight of the Airbus 380, the biggest passenger jet ever. Humans can produce amazing things. Unfortunately that doesn't count for coffee machines...

For today's lyrics:

So give me coffee and TV
Peacefully
I've seen so much, I'm going blind
And I'm brain-dead virtually

Coffee and TV - Blur

Topic: OiOiOi Lads...what was that???

2007-10-22T00:14:00.000+01:00

WellWell, that was not the perfect weekend for the English folks here... Everyone here - The BBC, ITV, The Sun, The Mirror, the upper class daily paper The Times and so on - hoped and thought on Friday, that this weekend there will be complete victory. And probably the breweries hoped it most as they counted on at least 30 Million Pints being sold... Well...uhmmm... it has rather been a complete disaster...

"Still more majestic shalt thou rise,
More dreadful, from each foreign stroke:
As the loud blast that tears the skies,
Serves but to root thy native oak.

Rule, Britannia, Britannia rules the waves; Britons never, never, never will be slaves."

James Thomson (1700 - 1748)

For today's lyrics (as a small piece of comfort):

I see, you need a trial of fire - a coward would wisely walk away
Help them, help us buy your time - Hideouts get discovered
I think you’ll find, everybody loves a loser
So you’ll be fine, you won’t be lonely long

Morcheeba - Everybody Loves A Loser

Topic: News of the week

2007-10-16T20:48:00.000+01:00

The BBC-News of the week:

Two visitors to the Tate Modern have fallen into the hole which forms the centrepiece of the new installation in the Turbine Hall. Colombian artist Salcedo said the work - on display to the public until April next year - symbolised racial hatred and division in society. "I always try to relate my work to tragedy," she said.

I think that this art does not only symbolise division in society, but also the division into the 99.9% intelligent people and the 0.1% stupid enough to fall into an artificial crack. To be honest - for me - tooo much beer is the only explanation...

Salcedo added: "It represents borders, the experience of immigrants, the experience of segregation, the experience of racial hatred."

Well, for the two that fell into it, it was definitively an experience... the expression " he/she was so embarrassed that he/she wished the ground would open up and swallow him/her" gets a completely new meaning...

Oh and by the way - next headline - the car in which the jury of the Diana trial travelled around Paris ironically CRASHED...!!!! In front of the Ritz Hotel... If this is not British humour at its best, what is it then...

And for the lyrics of the week:

I'm falling down
And fifteen thousand people scream
They were all begging for your dreams
I'm falling down

Muse - Falling Down

Topic: World famous - Part Three

2007-10-08T23:37:00.000+01:00

Nothing to do with London, but in remembrance to my favourite team at the World Cup, which unfortunately has been sent home. Now I just hope, that England kicks, crushes and humiliates the French in the semi-final...

New Zealand rugby team - All Blacks
Uploaded by Neocrisis62

Topic: World famous - Part Two

2007-10-08T22:23:00.000+01:00

Greenwich Mean Time was adopted across the island of Great Britain by the Railway Clearing House in 1847, and by almost all railway companies by the following year - HA, again my beloved railways, which set the pace... In 1880, GMT was legally adopted throughout the island of Great Britain. Switzerland followed introduced GMT (+1) in 1894... Not so sure, if this would still be the case today...
And it's not only time, that starts and ends here. What would we climbers, mountaineers, hickers, GPS users, travelers, politicians and diplomats do without the good old East-West stuff. The good old USA, which at that time were still somehow diplomatic and really cared about the world ticking the same, called the "International Meridian Conference" in 1884, where it was decided "That the Conference proposes to the Governments here represented the adoption of the meridian passing through the centre of the transit instrument at the Observatory of Greenwich as the initial meridian for longitude." Abstaining from voting was (surprise, surprise...) FRANCE! Their maps still showed for a long time the zero meridian going through Paris... Well, Santo Domingo said "No" - not that this would be important... Et voila: www.from0to180degreesandback.co m
Oh and back to time. Did you know that UT1 is the principal form of Universal Time. UT1 is the same everywhere on Earth, and is proportional to the true rotation angle of the Earth with respect to a fixed frame of reference. The ratio of UT1 to mean sidereal time is defined to be 0.997269566329084 − 5.8684×10−11T + 5.9×10−15T², where T is the number of Julian centuries of 36525 days each that have elapsed since JD 2451545.0 (J2000). I didn't. And to be honest, i really don't care anyway...

and this is me, on 52° 28'40'' N and 0° 0'0'' W?/E?

It's now 22.51 (GMT) and time for the usual lyrics:

And you run and you run to catch up with the sun, but it's sinking
And racing around to come up behind you again
The sun is the same in the relative way, but you're older
Shorter of breath and one day closer to death

Pink Floyd - Time

Greenwich Park on a grey London Autumn Day

Topic: Snapshot of the week - Part Two

2007-09-30T21:55:00.001+01:00

UiUiUi, I have been pretty lazy that last couple of days and didn't write too much. Have been quite busy though. Not really with going out, but more having loooong working hours. But that should calm down. And as snapshot of the week, a "homage" to my current project manager. It's Ramadan time... Welcome to multicultural London. Not everyone seems to take the stuff serious though - and regarding "multikulti": another colleague did not come to work for two days two weeks ago as it was Jewish New Year. And yes, they can work together...:-))

Any news from my side? Not too much. Spend a very short "long" weekend back home. Didn't manage to see as many folks as I wanted, but had a lovely evening/night/early morning at the wedding of a good friend of mine. Dear Wedding-Couple if you happen to read this: Again all the best!!!

Oh, and yepp, discovered again, that I HATE Oxford Street on a Saturday and Sunday. Had a huge shopping list, as my flat could still, uhmmm, need some decoration. Great plans, zero outcome. Bought absolutely nothing, zero, niente, nada, rien! Simply too crowded the whole thing. Well then, saved some money and while writing this, doing some active Home-Shopping...And for any visitors to come, good news. The Christmas Shop at Selfridges has already open. I am waiting for the day, they start selling Easter Eggs before Christmas...

And as always, when I write something in here, the lyrics of the day. This time in remembrance of Oxford Street:

If you were there, beware
The serpent soul pinchers
Three hundred and fifty no thank yous and nobody flinches
Go on girl go on, give us something gruesome
We require your grief, the thugs help the thieves
As they're trying to rob the words from her gob and
Take the source of the innocents

Arctic Monkeys - If You Were There, Beware

Topic: Snapshot of the week - Part One

2007-09-18T22:19:00.000+01:00

Think, this cinema has seen better days - kind of remined me of "Cinema Paradiso".

Hoxton Road - Hoxton, London E2

Topic: Discovering London - London??

2007-09-17T23:21:00.000+01:00

"These little town blues, are melting away -
I'll make a brand new start of it - in old new york
If I can make it there, I'll make it anywhere
Its up to you - new york, neeeeew yoooooooork
I want to wake up in a city, that never sleeps - And find I'm a number one - TATA - top of the list - YEA - king of the hill - YAY - A NUMBER ONE!
new york neeeeeeew yoooooork

Frankieboy "I swing the world" Sinatra

Yay - this time not discovering London but good old New Amsterdam. Couple of days ago already. But anyway. Taking the opportunity of a super cheap flight (Amercian Airlines - although you get what you pay for...) managed to get x-rayed, examinated, enquired and so on by a - actually quite friendly - US customs girl (Mexican I assumed). And off we go. Visiting some fantastic friends, one of whom I haven't seen for two years, and spending some great days.

The three monkeys - see nothing, hear nothing, say nothing...

It's definitively cooler to cruise around Manhattan in a BMW convert than a tourist bus. Thanks Maged for driving us around! At least besides all this shopping and loads of food I had a little bit of sightseeing...just a little...

Basically the days consisted of shopping, shopping, taking the NY subway which is kind of cool but definitively not modern (every Londoner that complains about the tube should spend a weekend in NY...the Londoner tube seems to be a superhypertechnological onehundred percent reliable transport system of the 23rd century...)

But I have to admit, the NY sub does have it's nice sides too...:-)))

Oh, And had quite some booze too. Saturday evening somewhere in Brooklyn. Karaote-Bar. Couple of beers and you suddenly hear Christine and Thomas singing...well, kind of...hehe, sorry you both. And met this nice little chap. Not really my type, but he was kind of cute and fulfilled absolutely my prejudice on how a real american has to look like...
And eating. Portions so huge, I somehow can understand my ridiculously high BMI (see previous blog entry...). And definitively understand, why you are shivering, when you are sitting in your economy class seat on the way back and 175 kilos roll towards you... Some spanish food (that didn't exist anymore when we arrived...) a sunday brunch (well, I would call it lunch - but here we go: american style if it's on a sunday it's a brunch), excellent northafrican/middle eastern (??) in a place freezing cold (definitively not like in northafrica), once (and only once!!!) McDonalds and one of the best ice cream I ever had. Oh, and did I mention already? Shopping. Went there with an empty suitcase (literally) and came back with a full one (Don't tell the customs. Thanks...). Actually wanted to buy some cheap Levis 501 but ended with buying the most fucking expensive jeans I ever bought in my life...

Short: some amazing days with Christine, Michael, Thomas and Maged. Thanks again folks:-)))

And at the end: "It's so fucking political" (Miss "shaved head" Skunk Anansie)

Thanks to this nice little bar in New York - more precise - Christopher Street, we do have some nice parties around the world nowadays. But as I said it's actually quite political. The CSD is held in memory of the first big uprising of homosexuals and other minorites against police assaults that took place in New York's Christopher Street in Greenwich Village on June 27, 1969. The so-called Stonewall Riots took place in the bar Stonewall Inn. Since then we're partying. Thanks NYPD....

And - not to miss - for today's lyrics (which have absolutely nothing to to with New York):

Do you sometimes feel like you've been used and abused
Your not visibly black and blue but on the inside bruised
And does your love life leave you feeling kinda bemused
You've played all the games And you're no longer amused

Do you count the flakes
When it snows
And can you feel the heat
Or only the afterglows
Do you count the flakes
When it snows

Snowflakes - Just Jack

Topic: World famous - Part One (again)

2007-09-11T22:39:00.000+01:00

Nope, Nope, Nope! The first world famous topic is not bringing you some boring stories about Westminster, St. Paul's or whatever. It's about the world famous, unreachable and simply fantastic National Health System (sarcasm involved here...). Short NHS. Yay, I am finally a complete resident of the UK - two legs, two arms, a di..., head, eyes AND NHS Number. I'm registered. Finally. Went to my local GP (der Allgemeinartzt auf deutsch...) left my passport number, my phone number, some other details, and off we go. Waiting 45 minutes to speak 5 minutes to a nurse who took my weight, asked me about my drinking habits (5 pints per evening or so...), reminded me to eat healthy (loads of crisp... that still confuses me: chips are called "crisps" and freedom fries "chips"...no Pommes chips then...), calculated a ridiculously high BMI (I'm overweight....please, hello. I mean, I know, i don't have a six-pack, but overweight?), gave me a "Diet plan for men" (fruits = good, sugar = bad, wowww!) and said good bye. That's it. And here we go with the amateur transplant:

But for today's lyrics one of my favourite songs from one of my favourite bands:

You are one of God's mistakes,
You crying, tragic waste of skin,
I'm well aware of how it aches ,
And you still won't let me in.
Now I'm breaking down your door,
To try and save your swollen face ,
Though I don't like you anymore,
You lying, trying waste of space..

Placebo - Song to Say Goodbye

Topic: Discovering London - Part One

2007-09-10T22:33:00.000+01:00

"And only footsteps in a lane,
and birdsong broke the silence sound
and chuffs of the Great Northern train
for Alexandra Palace bound"

Diary of a Nobody" - John Betjeman

Some of you might know, that I have once been a hardcore railway fanatic. So it should not come as a big surprise that already a couple of years ago, I discovered this lovely little walk in Northern London. And which I did again last Sunday to greet this nice little fellow. More about him/her/IT, later on.

The Parkland Walk is a 4.5 mile surprisingly green walk which follows the course of the railway which used to run between Finsbury Park to Alexandra Palace. This path was once part of the "London and North Eastern Railway's (LNER) network.

Plans were published by London Underground in the 1930s for its incorporation as part of the Northern Line but the outbreak of World War II stoped the work. So it's basically Adolf's fault...
Passenger trains continued to run on this line until 1954 and there is the myth that trains could still be heard rumbling along the route... I wonder what England would be without it's ghost stories (...i'm still waiting for any shadows appearing in my flat. It wouldn's surprise me...)

Now back to this nice little chap... " The most mercyful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents." (H.P. Lovecraft). The essence of the Cthulhu Mythos is that the human world and our role in it are an illusion. Humanity is simply living in a fragile bubble and now and then, individuals can, by accident or carelessness, catch a glimpse of, or even confront the ancient extraterrestrial entities, which the mythology centres around.

What the heck is Andres blurbing around. Simple! It is said that this nice little fellow (actually this piece of art created by a lady called Marilyn Collins) has inspired one of the Kings in Horror literature or, to be more precise, Stephen King to one of his short stories which are based on H.P. Lovecrafts Cthulhu Mythos. And this chap here might be well alive an kicking, showing you a glimpse what happens outside of the bubble we live in, if you pass IT in the dark. Btw: the story's called "Crouch End" - after the area, where you find the sculpture and where the story takes place. You find the short story in the book called "Nightmares and Dreamscapes".

Old platforms at Crouch End station.

But back to the railway line. Or not really. I managed to walk until the tunnels below Muswell Hill, when I got....not really tired....but kind of hungry and fancied a pint of London Pride. So off we go the railway line straight into a pub. And have a Sunday roast. There are not many traditional AND eatable dishes in the UK. But a Sunday roast in a local Pub between Crouch End and Finsbury Park together with a perfectly draft Ale... Yummy :-)
So here we go with the last picture. The tunnels. A fantastic place for a nice rendez-vous...

For today's lyrics:

Under the arc of a weather stain boards,
Ancient goblins, and warlords,
Come out of the ground, not making a sound,
The smell of death is all around,
And the night when the cold wind blows, No one cares, nobody knows.

I don't want to be buried in a Pet Sematary,
I don't want to live my life again.
I don't want to be buried in a Pet Sematary,
I don't want to live my life again.

The Ramones - "Pet Cemetery"

Topic: The UK view...

2007-09-07T10:13:00.000+01:00

Not really good advertisement... slightly different than the "Chueglogge und Schoggi" view...

Switzerland: Europe's heart of darkness?
Switzerland is known as a haven of peace and neutrality. But today it is home to a new extremism that has alarmed the United Nations. Proposals for draconian new laws that target the country's immigrants have been condemned as unjust and racist. A poster campaign, the work of its leading political party, is decried as xenophobic. Has Switzerland become Europe's heart of darkness? By Paul Vallely
Published: 07 September 2007
At first sight, the poster looks like an innocent children's cartoon. Three white sheep stand beside a black sheep. The drawing makes it looks as though the animals are smiling. But then you notice that the three white beasts are standing on the Swiss flag. One of the white sheep is kicking the black one off the flag, with a crafty flick of its back legs.
The poster is, according to the United Nations, the sinister symbol of the rise of a new racism and xenophobia in the heart of one of the world's oldest independent democracies.
A worrying new extremism is on the rise. For the poster – which bears the slogan "For More Security" – is not the work of a fringe neo-Nazi group. It has been conceived – and plastered on to billboards, into newspapers and posted to every home in a direct mailshot – by the Swiss People's Party (the Schweizerische Volkspartei or SVP) which has the largest number of seats in the Swiss parliament and is a member of the country's coalition government.

The full article here

Topic: Slightly confused

2007-09-06T23:28:00.002+01:00

For our non-german speaking folks: This nice litte green thing is indeed called "piss off". Not sure, if it became a bestseller.

2007-09-06T00:22:00.000+01:00

It’s actually quite nice to get drunk on company expenses as tonight… but I just start becoming philosophical and think I should give up right now, as I wrote in the first post, it’s not going to be a philosophical blog. Nevertheless some thoughts, that just came to my mind while sitting in the bus: I really start enjoying living in a city where people ask as a first question, “where do you live” and not “where do you come from”? Where it is normal to work in a team (as me right now) where people come from India, South Africa, Malaysia, the UK and Switzerland and no one cares. And where over 300 languages are spoken. I’m not saying, that all these nationalities live perfectly together. And it’s far from being perfect (coincidence that yesterday all cashiers at Tesco were black…?). But they live more or less perfectly next to each other. To be honest, it drives me mad each time I read all that bullshit news from the “we’re the only ones that save Switzerland from the world” party called SVP. The party that manages to produce such crap like the “Zottel rettet die Schweiz” game on their website.
Don’t get me wrong: I love Switzerland, and I miss you, my friends… or like Bilbo said: I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve”… aaaaargh, I still didn’t get it…:-). But I’m glad I took that step and moved to this amazing city where I didn’t know anyone (Rene and Ina, that doesn't count for you...thanks for helping me to settle in and your biiiiiig help regarding the estate agent saga...) and where you can go out the evenings alone and spend the most fantastic night. Stoooooooooooop, this is getting to philosophical now so first for today’s lyrics:

“What kind of father would take his own daughter's rights away?
And what kind of father might hate his own daughter if she were gay?”

P!nk - Dear Mr. President

And now to something completely different: Mister “I want to be president" Schwarzenegger’s travel journal… His favourite body part: The ass! The female one - unfortunately...*g*

Topic: Strike, Strike, Strike...the road goes ever on and on

2007-09-04T22:19:00.000+01:00

You better not going out tonight:

Bakerloo Suspended
Central Suspended
Circle Suspended
District Suspended
East London Suspended
Hammersmith & City Suspended
Jubilee Severe delays
Metropolitan Suspended
Northern Good service
Piccadilly Part suspended
Victoria Suspended
Waterloo & City Suspended

For live updates: www.amIbeinglatearrivingatallandwhatisitallabout.com

Topic: Paaaatience

2007-09-04T21:57:00.000+01:00

A typical, everyday conversation with a United Kingdom First World Utility Provider:

The Provider (following just short The P.) or actually a nice angel-like female electronic voice: "Welcome and thank you for calling Thames Water"
The Stupid (me) thinking: Did I have a choice?
The P: Please choose CAREFULLY from the following options. If you call for your bill, press 1, if you call because you moved home or are about to move, press 2, if you call due to a water leak or other technical problems, press 3
The Stupid (me): I press 2
The P: Thank you. Please choose CAREFULLY from the following options:
The Stupid: What the f***
The P: If you already moved home, please press 1, if you are about to move, press 2
The Stupid (that's again me...): I press 1
The P: To provide you with a better service, please enter your customer number
The Stupid (you know who): I don't press anything, as I am a new customer...

Loooooong pause

The P: We are sorry, we could not recognize your entry. You find your customer number on the top right of your lates bill. Please enter your customer number.
The St...never mind: I don't press anything, as I am still a new customer
The P: We could not recognize your entry. You will be transfered to one of our customer service representatives
Me: Wieso nicht gleich???
The P: Sorry we are currently experiencing a high number of calls. Your expected waiting time is 75 minutes
The Stupid: go figure....

Topic: Strike, Strike, Strike....what do we bother Fawlty!?

2007-09-03T23:23:00.000+01:00

Welcome to London... In my Inbox today a nice e-mail from TfL (stands for Those f***ing Lazy Bastards):

Dear Mr Lanz,

Metronet strike affecting Tube services from this afternoon until end of Thursday 6 September

We continue to work to avoid the strike by Metronet staff.

If the strike goes ahead, it will affect services from this afternoon's peak period. If possible, please complete your journey by 1700 this evening or use alternative routes, including DLR, National Rail and bus services.

The Jubilee, Northern and Piccadilly lines are the only lines expected to operate normally. We anticipate that they will be very crowded.

Services may not return to normal until Friday morning, unless the strike is resolved.

Please check local news, travel reports or visit tfl.gov.uk for the latest information.

Yours sincerely,
Tim O'Toole
Managing Director, London Underground

Topic: Let's get it started

2007-09-03T23:01:00.000+01:00

Well, well, well.... I finally managed. Here it is. My own Blog. No MySpace, no Facebook with 487 Friends linked (sometimes I wonder how they manage to keep in touch with all those friends...) With loads of short sentences. Such that those, that only read 20 minuten, LondonLite or the LondonPaper can follow.

As I just moved to London, I thought of giving you some impressions, on how I see the city. Through the eyes of a complete stranger so to say. Don't expect a highly philosophical thing. And don't expect to get any bedtime stories. You won't get them here. Although I might from time to time add some nice pictures *g* (Those how need them now, here are two links: for him/her www.surprise.com and for him/her www.surprise2.com.

And please be kind. It's my first time, I dare to enter the wild world of blogging, publishing, creating and I hope, this blog will improve from day to day.

So here we go with today's lyrics:

People in a show,
All lined in a row.
We just push on by,
Its funny,
How hard we try.

Bit City Life - Mattafix