Since returning from China I have been unemployed and constantly looking for work but unfortunately thus far I have not been able to secure many interviews.
Today, however, was one of those rare occasions when I had got one to go to and with it being up town I was hoping to make the most of the opportunity. Having been twice refused travel expenses after the fact by the DSS, I wasn't about to gamble a third time, and so had previously taken a trip to my local office to pick up a travel warrant in advance. Oh, and I also picked up a few new ties while I was in the high street at the same time.
Having finally managed to swing a travel card, I left messages with a few of my uptown friends to see what they were doing ahead of time, and as luck would have it I was able to arrange both a lunch time and an after work gathering.
The interview itself was at 11am and despite my best efforts I was only able to impress upon the interviewee that I was as good as anyone else and failed to shine through, but much of this I put down to the fact that he already had in mind what he was looking for and nothing else, no matter how brilliant, was going to raise much interest out of him.
At 11:30 I left, fervently hoping that the rest of the candidates would fare equally as poorly and yet still had almost a couple of hours before I was due to meet my friends. I had with me a nice Clive Cussler reading book, but finding a quiet place to sit and read without being disturbed or moved on by security guards in London is not as easy as it looks. Well, not unless you don't mind sitting on a park bench and freezing your butt off!
I chose to kill this time by doing some good and headed off to find my regular blood donor station only to find it was closed for renovations. But of course, they still need the blood and so a temporary trailer had been brought in to accept donations and this was parked just a few roads away. With most of my travelling being more than 12 months ago it meant that I was not asked too many additional questions and so before long I was lying on my back with claret draining out of my left arm at a hefty flow.
I must have looked a lot worse for wear after, however, as my attending nurse insisted that I lie down again and wait a little longer than normal for some colour to return to my cheeks before she would let me go on my merry way. As anyone will tell you, despite being a massive horror fan, the sight of real blood and me have never got on too well, so I am always pleased with myself that I neither throw up nor faint each time I give blood, even if the thought does pass through my mind more than once.
Lunch was a double blessing as not only did I get to meet up with two of my favourite latina friends, but one of them even splashed out and bought me to lunch, a rare and welcome treat and just one more reason why I love them both dearly. Catching up with them is always a pleasure and I look forward to returning to work in London so that we can go back to doing it on a regular basis.
After a round of farewell hugs I then had several more hours of doing nothing til I was due to meet my other friend from work, so with the weather still chilly and grey I decided that I could do no better than to find a nice quiet corner of a pub to sit and read, and as luck would have it I already knew the very spot.
Refusing to let the scenery beguile me into getting lost amid taking photographs yet again, I managed to find my way unaided back to one of Londons more refined and inviting haunts. Despite the warming growl offered by its real open fireplace, the place was empty and so I had the kings choice of which comfy chair I chose to lounge in while I read. The whole experience was marred by only two tiny hiccups, the first was that they had run out of the heavenly Fruli they serve on tap and the second is that a friend I know who lives nearby appeared to be out and unreachable by phone.
So it was that for a few hours I had the entire bar to myself, seated as I was near a crackling fire and content to sit there undisturbed and read my book of intrigue and adventure on the high seas.
It was almost a shame to leave my retreat and head back out into the cold, but I knew that there would be something even better waiting for me at the other end of my next little jaunt, a cross London trip that took the best part of an hour.
Just a few stops south of Victoria I met my last friend of the day, another lovely latina and cousin to one of the girls I had met earlier in the day. The last time I had managed to catch up with her was before my long travels and so we had plenty of catching up to do, and for this we retired to a place we had been to a couple of times before, an Italian Vodka bar and restaurant.
Lady luck was firmly with me by this time as not only were they doing 2 for 1 deal on all pizza's that night but we also guessed right a coin toss which won us 4 cocktails for the price of two, so thus it was that we ate and drank our fill for a very modest sum indeed. Indeed there is nothing I like more than the happy conversation of an old friend over a few drinks while I slowly gorge myself on food til my belly is full to burst.
By the time I had to say goodbye and head on home my good fortune must have finally run out as the first train that I got on developed a fault and so we were all switched to another set of carriages before we left Victoria station, but I didn't mind overly as it just gave me more time to get further into my book.
Pulling into Chatham I was still a few chapters short of my books finale, but all in all I had had a much better than average day and could only hope that the rest of the month continue in a similar vein.
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