The first and foremost change is that I am no longer working as a gardener. After a few weeks working with Dan, I began to see that it wasn't going to work out. Nothing against him or the work, I was just not going to get enough money/hours by working with him. Plus, it became clear that if both Alletta and I were earning our income from Dan that things could get a bit sticky. Best not put all our eggs in one basket. So now I am working in a bike shop! This new line of work is a wonderful change in my life. Basically I get to play with cool bikes and bike related gear, clothing, and components all day. Which is wonderful!! The name of my company is Cycle Surgery. I work at the West Hampstead branch. My co-workers are all very lovely people. It is a very friendly and low pressure atmosphere. So far I have sold two bikes! I started on the 16th so now I've been there for three weeks, my goal was to sell a bike in first month (I admit it was a modest goal). Once I've been with Cycle Surgery for 3 months I will qualify to get trade prices on all merchandise and bikes at the shop. (For those that do not know what trade price is, it amounts to as much as two thirds off! a very good deal). So in four or five months Alletta and I are going to buy new road bikes! All very exciting.
London is proving to be a very nice place to live. Fall is now in full swing and the weather has not been too bad. We have had a few nice days here and there but I am sure that the nasty weather will come around soon enough.
Alletta and I went to a few concerts in the time since the last post. First we saw The Go! Team in mid October. It was a great a great show. There were two opening bands. One, which was real good called Operator Please and another, which was not good, known as the velvet peaches (they are not even good enough to justify yperlinking, Yuck!). Operator Please had good energy, they actually had a presence on stage, played with the audience ect. The other guys well they sucked, no presence, the lead singer thought he was Robert Plant, but let me tell you he was not. I was overwhelmed with joy every time there songs ended. They were a Detroit band with nothing to say. The not so leading lead singer was sensing his inability to 'rock' the audience in any way and left the stage before the rest of the band even finished their last song. Then The Go! Team came on and rocked our socks off!
More recently Alletta, Tanya, and I made a journey out to Cardiff, the capital of Wales, to see Arcade Fire. The show was amazing! The trip no so amazing. We decided to save some cash by sacrificing time and rode the National Express (Grey Hound of the UK). The ride was meant to be 3 and a half hours long, we ended up doing that plus another hour and a half! All of the delay came form just trying to leave London! That was less than fun. To make matters worse the toilet on the bus was busted in two unfortunate ways. It was failing to flush and the door was busted. So every hard left turn yielded swinging doors and sewage.
Yes, it was less than fun for those at the back of the bus (that was Alletta and I).Despite all of this I real enjoyed the show. I do not know how many of you know Arcade Fire but you really should check them out if you haven't They are amazing!!That goes for everyone, parents, aunts, cousins, friends, Romans, countrymen, whoever! BUY THEIR ALBUM! It's worth it!
Because of the Arcade Fire trip to Wales our Halloween was not very eventful. (The Concert was on the 30th, thus we came back on the 31st, didn't feel much like a party.
The future holds exciting things to come along. Alletta is going to give a talk at a conference in Swansea (it's in Wales). For Thanksgiving Alletta and I are going to Dunbar in Scotland. Eden Graisbery Blair, our former Forest Grove High School Teacher, is a new Mum and we shall break bread with her new little family. All very exciting!
Okay well that should do it for now. I don't wanna go on to long. May you be in peace my friends and family. Until I blog at you again.
(Hopefully sooner than later)
Ryan
