London Calling
Things have taken a turn for the ‘interesting’ recently.
The company I worked for finally shambled too close to the cliff edge and, once the dust settled, the remains were separated and sold for parts. At a similar time, our landlords told us that the flat we were staying in was being sold. Combining this with the scarcity of games companies around Edinburgh, I took this as a sign that I should just get the hell out of Dodge.
As a result of all this, I’m now working at Lionhead in Guildford. It’s all going pretty well so far; the company seems to actually know what it’s doing, which is a refreshing change, and there are a lot of nice creature comforts and perks which I’m not used to having. The only real downside is working in a dull business park on the outskirts of the town. I definitely miss being slap bang in the middle of a city like the VIS offices were. Also, distressingly, I can occasionally be seen scooting around on the Fable webcams.
I’m not actually staying in Guildford, but rather living in Sarf London and commuting. This seems a bit ack-basswards, but it’s going pretty well so far. Guildford’s a bit too sleepy and middle class, and I’m definitely enjoying living in London (although after going to see a film in the West End, I’m never going to complain about Edinburgh’s cinema prices again.) It also has the advantage that I’m commuting in the opposite direction to everyone else, so I get to laugh at the sardine-packed trains passing by on my way to work.
I’m suffering Internet withdrawal. Phone companies still don’t seem to realise what century we’re living in. I’ve had to wait a week to get a phone line set up, and will be another 7-10 business days before I can get ADSL set up. Hence the lack of updates recently; it’s hard to find weird net stuff on dialup. Shouldn’t this crap be instantaneous by now? It’s not as if anyone actually has to come over to my house, it’s all just exchange-fu. On the plus side, my WoW characters are going to have so much rest state.
Everything still feels pretty weird. Leaving a place I’ve lived in for the last 8 years and a bunch of friends to come to a new city where I hardly know anyone has definitely been pretty stressful, but I’m getting used to it a lot faster than I thought I would.
So: some random observations from the last couple of weeks.
London Observations
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It’s too damn hot! It’s been over 30 degrees C several times, which is just too much for a poor Scottish kid. Last weekend I watched Halla doing a Triathlon in Windsor. I barely managed to stay conscious just standing around in the heat, so I’m totally in awe that she managed to finish it.
Who decided that “shirt, jacket and jeans” was an acceptable fashion option for men? Did Jeremy Clarkson stage a very quiet coup in London? Have I somehow woken up back in the 1980s? I’ve taken to carrying a pair of scissors around with me, just in case I see anyone wandering around with a mullet.
According to the signs that are posted everywhere, public transport in London is better than it’s ever been. That’s great! Maybe one of these days it’ll even be faster than walking…
Out of the various people I know around here, none of them seem to be interested in live music at all, which makes me sad. What the hell is wrong with everyone? I definitely need to find some more people whose musical taste is more adventurous than Coldplay.
On a related note, interesting music shows seem to be generally more awkward to find in London than in Edinburgh, which surprises me. Boring indie bands are hyped to hell and back, and all of the clubs still seem to be playing exactly the same stultifyingly monotonous House stuff they started playing 10 years ago.
Having a street market right by your house is cool! My body is still confused by all of the extra fruit and veg it’s being asked to process.
Even though I’m living here now, I still get to pretend I’m a tourist and go around all the London sights on the weekend. I wonder how long that’ll last?