Unloading my think tank...

This post comes because I'm waiting for a colleague, the lovely Emma, to get free so that I can discuss something with her and then continue with my work. Until then, I'm stuck with nothing to do. So if you want to thank someone for bringing me from my oft-self-induced break from blogging (for today, at least), you've got Emma to thank!

Lets start with a cliche... life's been pretty hectic. Its been crazy the past 1.5 months. It was crazier after Dec 08 and up until April 09, but I'd rather forget that. The work I do here is awesome, I work with some of the best minds in telecom industry and my profile absolutely kicks ass arse (now that I'm in England... ) There are such humble people in my office; almost all are armed with PhD (in khatarnaak subjects like high speed data transfer using helium technology etc.). I'd rather not get started on them actually... it will be an un-ending post then. (Not really, but you get the drift.)

I didn't get paid for the month of April, since the Finance lady was on leave and hence couldn't get my papers through to the payroll. But I wasn't complaining then. I did get a lot of stares and "are you sure? absolutely?" questions when asked if I wanted an advance on my salary and I'd refused. Salary advance after a 4-month hiatus from work and I refused, why, you ask? Allow me to explain.

I wanted a fat increase in my bank balance, suddenly. You see, because I opted for April+May salaries to be credited to my account at end of May, I have a cool amount of money in my bank. OK, to hell with modesty, its in £££ (GBP)! Groovy baby *like Austin Powers says* Just the thrill of having 2 months salaries at once was super ... err thrilling :D

And what did I do with it? If you thinking it, whack yourself. I'm a girl and in such times, a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do. S-h-o-p-p-i-n-g! And in UK! But before that, we had dinner at Rainbow Cafe. Uber cool place if you are a vegetarian and don't want to ask the waiter what's in the dish everytime you order something in this meat-loving-country-with-so-few-veg-choices.

So shop I did, including an ultra-sexy pair of Red Nike shoes (pic coming up soon). I also bought a cool cycle: Dunlop Mountain Bike - shock absorbers, disc brakes and 18 gears!

Yes, I ride my cycle to work everyday! Reminds me of school days, but only I'm now wearing formal clothes and big sunglasses while riding them, as against a dork in school dress and 2 plaits *going back in time and imagining me then* (yep, that would be me from 95-98 when I used to ride a cycle to school.) Ah, bad memories. No not all of my school years were bad, but most of it was. I was bullied real bad and I didn't have the courage to stand up against it. Can't blame me; you see, the bullying came from the teachers. Notorious, most of them. And I don't remember my 11th and 12th at all. Yes, AT ALL. Wierd huh? I nod my head in agreement. The other time I was talking to my friend, who lives in Reading. I remarked that I haven't remembered having spoken so much to her during our 4 years of engg (she was in Civil while I was in Comp Science) as much as we have since I moved to UK 4 months back. She goes, "What are you saying? We were together for 6 years. 11th, 12th and 4 years of engineering after that. And in 11th and 12th, we were in the same class, except for Statistics and Comp Science." Huh, really? I'm completely blank about those 2 years of my life. Like written with a marker and wiped as and when a day passed. You can imagine how much fun I would've had in my 11th and 12th. As for the awkward moment with my friend, I acknowledged being a silly goose and not remembering those 2 years.

The scene at the place where I live (with 2 Zimbabweans, 3 Polish, 2 Nigerians and 2 British toddlers, apart from me and hubby) is, not as you must've imagined after looking at the number and diversity of people living, i.e in chaos, but actually quite ice and relaxed, thank you very much. The Zimbabwean lady goes - "how do you have your hair so long? Do you have extensions?". She says the other day - "I got my indefinite right to live in UK granted today, so I'm gonna wear a bikini and go to the beach with my cousins. My baby can stay with my husband. I'm gonna come back at night and go clubbing with my friends and sisters. I'm gonna get piss drunk and completely sloshed. I told my husband I'm not breast feeding my baby for a day or two." Wierd people in this country man! Celebrate, no one forbids you, but why drink and forego breast feeding to your 8 month old? Drinking is a huge problem in this country. Smoking too. I see kids as young as 8-10 hanging outside pubs and looking for half burnt cigarette butts, so that they can have a go at smoking. Parents are not allowed to raise their voices or even beat the kids, so kids (most, not all) turn into bad habits to very young age. Whack them I say, if they steer towards anything bad. My mom used to, very often I must add. Hehehe I was a naughty kid!

OK, Emma is still busy. I'll go and see if I can disturb her again. Adios!