yet another weekend went by

Some things never work out the way you plan them. Especially if the plan is to sneak out the office without your boss knowing at 5pm, just to spend an hour on the tube to Hammersmith to meet with the guys going to the Lake District. And it's even harder when you realise at 1pm that you haven't packed a single pair of trousers, except the pair of business trousers that you're wearing. Your heart sinks at that point. However you pick yourself up in pieces from the floor and you go to the nearest Mark & Spencer, where you buy what's gotta be the most expensive pair of trousers ever, light sport trousers.
And then at about 3pm you realise there's no way you can sneak out of the office at 5pm, as you're swamped with work and your boss would fire you on the spot or maybe just keep it in mind for your next appraisals, if you asked for permission.
That's the time when you call it the day and realise it's going to be another weekend in London, instead of the trip to the Lake District. And that's the time when you try to mentally make up for it, by telling yourself how sour the grapes are, how you have this sore throat in its infancy, how it might rain in the Lake District, how you don't have waterproof cloths and other psychological bullshit to keep you avoid starting to cry and kill your boss in a spontaneous act of generosity towards your work colleagues.
Yes, it's true, I didn't go to the Lake District as planned :-(. Maybe next time, it's still on my long list of destinations I have to visit.

So instead, on friday night I went for drinks ... I really needed some drinks after the long day and after all that stress accumulating and probably dragging my heart slowly but surely ever more closely to arrest. It was a good night and I was grateful to Ali for managing to somehow dislodge so many people from their comfy dens. It's always good to see other people initiating these things, instead of leaving it to me every time. If I had medals to give out, Ali would get one for friday.

Saturday I went with Lilian and Christina to a brazilian party in Fulham Broadway, the prospect not very enchanting, but it's when you have the lowest expectations that you are impressed the most. I wasn't very impressed though, but having low expectations surely helped me avoid disappointment. And the party wasn't bad, people were speaking English, they were very polite, the hosts very warm and friendly and on top of that ... Lilian bought some romanian wine for me. What more could have I ask for? Looking back now, probably I could ask to revert back the chain of events that led to me spilling a glass of wine in their lounge. So embarrassing!!! Thank god the glass was far from full (I'm very efficient at that part - that means I drink, not that I'm a pessimist), and thank god no one saw it, and thank god Christina was there to help me clean it quickly as I was so embarrassed and probably blushing like a lobster in scalding water.
Sometimes it's good when you're with friends and you can indulge in small talk with strangers, usually talking about all sorts of silly subjects you will definitely forget about tomorrow, but it's just an excuse for you to sip your wine without feeling like an alcoholic.

Sunday went by uneventful, I had to turn down a brazilian lunch to Mariana's place, something I really regret as I heard it was very good, but technicalities and tiredness prevented me from going. So I went for a quick lunch at Tai Tip Mein, I think I'm their platinum customer by now, I'm sure they would remember my name if they only cared about names there. But they don't, they only care about flushing people through as quick as they can. That's a bad thing to say, because the food is good, cheap and comes in industrial quantities.

Today I managed to wake up late, after switching off my alarm. So I was in office at 11.30. I felt bad up to the point I realised no one noticed. My work colleagues work in the basement, I'm based on the 2nd floor with the support and operations people. They don't know me, too busy to talk on the phone, which usually they like to put on speakers so that everyone in the office would enjoy their language sprinkled with F words and references to the recurrent weather theme. Wankers!

That's about it, just had lunch, roast beef with roast potato and vegetables. And I’ve just remembered that the french call the english "roasbifs" :-). Funny frogs!