SomersTownLisa

London Life
2022-01-11 09:01:44 (UTC)

Cranbrook and Pho

Monday 10/01/2022
Woke up with a headache which didn’t go away until lunchtime, so I couldn’t face going to the phone shop. I set up the “week 1” of new music but also spent a lot of time trying to sort out the spreadsheets for my boss’s figures. I thought I’d got ahead with his metrics last week, but he pulled me up on the one bit I hadn’t done.

Had to put some money in the post office for Jack’s mum, then we went to the vegan place at the corner of the box-park and got a Mexican wrap and shared a macaroni cheese. At home, I ordered a filing cabinet and later ran along the canal to do a task at the community centre. Without my phone I was a bit worried that I’d got something wrong, as I was waiting alone in Mare Street, and the building where we meet was locked, but I eventually saw Rosie (who I don’t know very well) and Becky at the side entrance. Heather arrived and I congratulated her on her milestone, and mentioned she’d also “selflessly” supported the socials. I was pleased that most people had met there, rather than at the centre. I talked to Becy who went to both North Yorkshire and South Oxfordshire (including Wallingford) over Christmas. Some people cleared tables while most of us were picking up leaves which had fallen between an outer and inner fence, and after spending some time with TJ, I was chatting mainly to Sree as usual. I had to briefly acknowledge Beth, when Laura asked if she could help me. I said there were rubbish bags she could fetch in the centre.

Afterwards we talked about Becky’s engagement. She’s getting married very soon, on 7th May, and I suggested a special “Becky social”. She said she’ll do something with us in the morning. Ivy and Leo (who I ran back to the station with, along with Laura) both enthusiastically mentioned next Saturday, which set me against the idea of going to football instead. Stephanie, the interestingly different one, needed help with directions. I chatted to Sara a bit, about the January challenge, and Johnny briefly. I told several people that we could jump from 4th to top of the table based on our numbers tonight, assuming Portsmouth and other areas in our group aren’t active at the same time.

As I hadn’t got my phone, I’d written a note about which method of transport to get to a meal afterwards in Islington, depending on what time we finished the task. However the bit of paper I’d used got wet on the way (leaky water pouch) and now I‘d lost it altogether. Sadly I just missed a train, and knew that the next alternative was either a 106 bus to Hackney, or a 55 going the other way, so I had to keep looking in both directions, and when the 55 arrived I dashed down the side street to catch up with it. At Old Street, at first I went the wrong side of the roundabout, so had to cross the road which had no pedestrian space the other side due to development work, meaning I was walking round a blind bend into the path of cars and bikes. That station entrance was closed, so I then had to cross City Road, and for a while I was stranded on the white line in the middle, with basically no room between cars going both ways.

Unusually, I then had to get the Great Northern train, which I was barely aware even stopped at Old Street. The entrance inside the station was closed so I had to go a long way round and at first ended up on the Northern Line platform. When I got to the correct platform, I had seven minutes to wait for a train; I don’t know whether CityMapper intended me to get an earlier train, because I didn’t arrive at Pho for the meal until slightly after the start time, which I hadn’t anticipated. This meant I had to sit at the end of the table, not my preference as it means I’m restricted as to who I talk to.

Actually I had some nice people next to me. I was sitting by Alison and almost opposite Jacqui, with Caitlin and Eilidh were also in our conversation, but too far away to hear very well in a noisy restaurant. We talked a bit about plays and Shakespeare adaptations. I had a vegetable curry with rice, though somehow all the hard onions got left at the bottom. Afterwards I chatted briefly to Emily then walked to the station with Marie and Caitlin, waited for a train with Caitlin and went two stops with her. She is restrained but interesting. I talked about using that station, and the picture of us in the local paper, which I’d picked up before Simons showed us a copy with our picture in it.

I managed to get the clothes right for tonight's mixture of running, working outside and going for a meal: long-sleeved shirt as well as a vest; also I carried a loose skirt to put on over my running briefs in the restaurant. Newsnight had a story about another party at Downing Street during the lockdown – ITN have obtained an email inviting 100 people to a gathering on 20th May 2020, during the first lockdown, a day when Jack and I sat sitting outside on our own in Granary Square drinking coffee, and other people were unable to speak to their sick and dying relatives. It’s apparent now that the Prime Minister attended two large gatherings, with drinking involved, during lockdowns, even though he told the House in December that he was appalled to have recently heard there’d been a party under lockdown.




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