The 8.22 Shetland Pony express

Why do people prefer cycle / walk / ride on the back of Shetland ponies rather than have to take the underground… discuss…

My commute yesterday was ‘orrible. I got to Victoria bright and early but then the District and Circle lines were up the spout (people falling ill on trains or some such) and after enduring the crush of people for as long as I could – when a tube did eventually turn up almost twenty minutes later, it was rammed, as was the one that followed eight minutes after that – I left the station and got a bus. I thought to myself I must be worth more than this: to put myself through the crush and the stress of getting on to a dirty and unreliable tube with my head in someone’s armpit and my knees aching because I can't move just seemed really unfair. I was so claustrophobic I was climbing the walls at one point. Anyway I got the bus in the end. Very pleasant way to travel the bus, but unfortunately, subject to the vagaries and whims of London traffic. So I was at Victoria for 8am but didn’t get to work in Hammersmith until 10.10am.

My weekend was much more of a success. Went out for a drink with my college friends on Friday evening and my partner came to join us. We handed in all our work, including our portfolio! Our lecturer said we should hear our results before Christmas.

Saturday I went to the match and enjoyed being pitch side after quite a long absence. There are many good things about the Steelers but the quality of the supporters is superb and I really enjoyed catching up with people again. My partner went to a fair trade fair (think she bought me some Christmas presents because she was being very cagey!) and we met back at home later on that afternoon. Then we went to a friend’s for dinner and then the midnight showing of The Holiday. Yes, it was pure cheese, but it was romantic and fun and gentle and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I love Jack Black and Cameron Diaz… although for very different reasons!

On Sunday, we took the dog for a very long walk to some local woods and got covered in mud. Great fun and much needed exercise. I took lots of photos and will be doing a range of Christmas cards next year to sell – original, handmade cards and I’m even going to choose a charity to give a percentage of the profits too. You see, I’ve got it all worked out...

And then to my ghastly Monday morning commute… getting home there were delays as well but when I did get home, my partner and I opened a bottle of wine and soon I forgot all the nasty London underground...

PS. I will be taking a photo of the outside Christmas tree tonight and posting it on my blog tomorrow!