Gina´s London Blog

The weekend was good as usual, although the weather wasn't that perfect.
On Saturday it was raining all the time and I got home quite early, because I had to talk to Danny about that.. well.. incident on Thursday *cough*
They also had to pay my taxi bill which made me feel even worse about it *brrr*
Anyway, Anna popped round for a nice DVD evening and some "psychological talks" *g* and on Sunday I had a really nice night out with Daryl again.
We popped down the cinema in Surrey Quais in the afternoon, but there was nothing really on so we decided to go up to Central for some drinks..
We forgot about the Bankholiday weekend so it was fairly busy and after a few bars, Walkabout and Co. we just stayed at a nice and small pub next to Piccadilly Circus.

Sometimes it is just weird.
In the beginning I got never bored in London, there is always something to do, to see or to experience, but meanwhile I get moments where I meet up with my mates there and we can't make up our minds. I can't believe it, how did I ever exist in a town like "Meerbusch" or a city like "Duesseldorf"? Un-f**-believable I'd say *lol*
Boooooooooring
And I hate nothing more than being bored!

D. and L. are coming back from the Isle of Wight today and I am actually supposed to be in ETON (College) in Windsor today meeting the Queen or Prince William *brrrrrrrr* (At least there's been word on the street that one of the Royal Family might attend).
The kids of my friend's house family go to ETON (posh!) (as their father did, and their grandfather etc.) and there is a celebration today (Fourth Of June/ Picnic) where I(!) was invited as well.
But unfortunately Miranda has been taken ill and so Maritta is doomed to stay with her *grrrrr* which is REALLY REALLY mean because that means I can't go either.
The chance of my life and once more: screwed up *g*

Anyway, at least I got some V.I.P. tickets from L. for the Chinese State Circus in Hampton on Thursday

It's Sunday now and my week didn't go as it was supposed to, everything went completely wrong and I actually got the impression that everything I think, do or say at the moment is not right, either.
Let's put it like that: I have not been particularly lucky recently.

On Wednesday Anna and I went up to Kingston where we popped down the cinema and didn't know which film to watch (as we had been to the pictures far too often and seen everything we wanted *g*).
We made a huge mistake and got tickets for MISSION IMPOSSIBLE III.
It's been in the cinemas here for quite a while and so it wasn't busy at all (despite Orange Wednesday 2for1) but after 20 minutes we got so fed up that we actually left the screen *lol*
I love Tom Cruise but I hate that kind of action-shooting-exploding-special-effects-stuff, it drives me crazy and at the same time really bores me *brrrr*
Staff members of the Odeon got a bit suspicious of us because we were running around checking all the screens for a better film but there wasn't any so we got to see "ONCE IN A LIFETIME" - the most boring documentary I'd ever seen.. about football!! Brrrr....
The only interesting thing was Franz Beckenbauer speaking English - gosh what a horrible Bavarian(-German) accent *ggg*
Besides we were the only ones in that screen so that was fun *g*

On Thursday I went to College after work and met up with Daryl in the evening.
We went for a drink in SE1 (Waterloo) and I don't know why but for some reason I couldn't tolerate all the alcohol that night.
Footie was on which made it fairly busy but nevertheless, we had a really good time .. until.. until I missed my last train, took another one to Twickenham (South-West-London) and .. I can't remember how I got home but someone must have put me into a taxi (how embarrassing). That lady (some architect from EC (London)*g*) gave me her business card and visited D. and L. on Saturday (how considerate).
That really shocked them (and me!) I guess and I feel quite guilty and bad about it but nonetheless: although one could think my drink had been spiked or something like that I am quite possitive about the fact that it was just a bad combination of "nothing to eat + feeling unwell + stress + too much to drink" - at least I hope so *brrrr*
The only thing I remember is the cap driver being really worried that I could be sick in his taxi *ggg*
"Gosh, open the window"
But I didn't have to be sick (I didn't even feel particularly sick, just very, very dizzy, drowsy and far, far away *grrr*)..
Anyway: that really taught me a lesson

Following those events I had a really quiet day on Friday and after work I popped down Lotte's for a night with Vanilla tea and BIG BROTHER *g*

On Saturday I visited N. up in Colchester (Essex) and Anna in the evening - nothing special and a really rainy day

It's Wednesday now and I can't believe how time flies..
On Sunday N. and I met up at Liverpool Street where we took a train up to Southend (Essex) because N. wanted to see her boyfriend and I wanted to see the sea *g*

It took us about an hour to get there and to be honest: there's not much to see there, it's really ugly and even the shopping centre was closed *brrrr*, so we had a coffee and spent the rest of the day and T.'s house before we took a train back towards London again.
In Romford we were stuck for ages because there was a guy on the train who wouldn't leave, which meant the driver held the train until the boys in blue arrived to remove him - such a waste of time and resources
We got fed up so we decided to pop down the cinema (VUE) in Romford where we watched "CONFETTI", a very british comedy... which wasn't as funny as it was supposed to be so we all got bored

Monday was really quiet and I didn't do much apart from my usual work-college-studying-mixture

Yesterday (Tuesday) we all had to take our ESOL-Reading-Exam at College and I was quite surprised as it was much more difficult than we'd all expected - about 10 pages text and 40x4 questions/answers which were all fairly tricky *brrrr*
There won't be any marks, it'll either be "passed" or "not passed" so.. we'll see

In the afternoon I took D. to Tennis (Wimbledon) and spent two hours watching young, sporty and handsome blokes while reading my book which wasn't too bad *grin*
In the evening I popped round Sylvia's and after a "How-Do-We-Get-The-Kids-Ready-For-Bed"-session we watched BIG BROTHER.
The English BIG BROTHER (which has just started on Channel 4) is even worse than the German one as I reckon you can find even more mental/stupid people in London than in Cologne *ggg*

The weekend's been absolutely chaotic and the weather's been rubbish.

Friday was cool as I had a really nice night out in Surbiton where I met up with blokes from my college, Sylvia, some French guys and their friends. We had too much to drink but fun and Miro and I managed to shock all the others by.... I'm not telling you that
At some point we were sitting in front of the toilets watching people and embarassing ourselves but we couldn't stop laughing.. We saw teenage girls throwing up, drunk blokes looking for their girlfriends, business guys who told us about their trips to Europe *g* and some confused people who just didn't get why we were sitting down there *LOL*
David ("The Sheep") had far too much to drink but additional to that he had had some "joints" as well so after the pub's closed we tried to convince him that it wouldn't be wise to drive. Well, actually it would have been quite stupid, ignorant and highly dangerous (as he could neither walk nor talk) but he got violent and after trying to talk to him and calm him down for almost an hour we got fed up. At some point we tried to get his keys but that only made him more violent (such an idiot). I sat next to him and told him if he wants to drive he will kill us both which made him hesitate for a minute - he's not my friend (just the friend of a friend's friend) and he really pissed me off so I called the old bill. They couldn't be bothered (I mean, it was a Friday night and they must have been busy collecting drunks from the gutters) and the "nice" and "helpful" dispatcher told me "What do you want, if we come out he'll get arrested. Do you really want that?"
Hello? They should want him to be arrested. They should want to prevent crime, they should be interested in having a stoned, drunk and suicidal man off the streets, but maybe it's naive to expect that...

"Get the keys and get him a taxi" the police told us, that was easier said than done and in the end Stephen had to beat him up which wasn't a nice thing to watch at all, but here you go...

Saturday was quite boring. In the afternoon I met Daryl at Liverpool Street and we went to see "THE DA VINCI CODE" at the Odeon at Surrey Quais/Canada Water.
A brilliant film.
I'd read the book twice and after all those bad reviews my expectations weren't that high anymore but I have to say I really enjoyed it. Very good actors, close to the book and thrilling, what more do you want? I don't care much about those critics concerning the "Jesus Christ" topic, that's rubbish as it doesn't say (at no point) that this is the truth or what's written in the bible is a lie. The theory regarding Mary Magdalene's relationship to Jesus Christ is as old as mankind and despite all those discussions I agree with the fact that we can't take every word in the bible as the only truth. Apart from that I don't believe in god so I'm not bothered, anyway

Our teacher's called up the college in Wimbledon and I finally got the dates for my exams:
It's the 4th of June and the 14th
College has been really good this week and I handed in some work I was supposed to do two weeks ago *g* I really struggled with one of those stupid articles we had to write. I called it "Today's Youth - Tomorrow's Future" dealing with topics like education, work/unemployment and the environmet. Took me quite a while but I think it wouldn't have been better if I had written it in my own language, so..

The weather is absolutely misery at the moment: cool, dull, stormy and rainy and I don't like it at all.
After work I went up to Kingston on Wednesday which was nice and Lotte and I popped down the pictures to watch "PRIME"
A really nice and entertaining film, I liked it and I think Meryl Streep is one of the best actresses anyway.

Daniel had a cricket match on Thursday so I spent most of the time there watching 9-year-olds in the cold. I think it wouldn't have bothered me if it had been at least a bit interesting and/or entertaining but it wasn't

Btw that's what my table at Mc Donald's looks like after I left:
(They should really do something about those small milk things, it's ridiculous as you need at least 8 of them *LOL*)

Yesterday I met Daryl in Waterloo (as I do every Thursday) where we spent the evening together in the pub. Cricket was on *brrrr* and it was unusually busy but nevertheless we had a good time.. and I had too much Barcadi Diet Coke *g* so on the way back to the station Daryl had to prevent me from bumping into other people and chatting everyone up (for me it was just funny as I like being tipsy (while I hate being really drunk, loose control and wake up with a hang over)), was cool Got some funny looks, though

THE DA VINCI CODE got really bad reviews and I didn't make it to the premier here in London yesterday, either.
But Daryl and I are going to watch it on Saturday (actually we were going to pop down Manchester, then Brighton and now.. we'll end up in the East End of London visiting the Odeon in Surrey Quais *LOL*)

I feel really stressed at the moment and I don't know why (which is weird). I can't sleep properly and in the mornings I usually wake up feeling sick. Is there anything wrong with me? I hope not.. Well, I don't think so
I study and read a lot at the moment but that shouldn't cause the stress I feel.

Shirley's been here since Sunday and so everyday life's changed a bit but that's fine with me as she's one of the nicest people I know here.
I haven't gone out yet this week (which is unusual *g*) but at least I managed to save some money like that. (would have been even better if it hadn't been for that lovely ticket inspector in High Wycombe the other day who made me pay 20 quid - then I got away with 8.80£ but still, he was just rude and unreasonable and didn't want to listen at all)
I went to college, to the library and visited some friends in West London, though (but that was just during the day).

On Tuesday I went up to Barnes/Putney in order to meet up with P. (which was nice *g*) and in the afternoon Danny, Lorraine, Shirley and I went to watch Daniel as he had a kind of athletic match competing against three other schools. The weather wasn't nice and in the end it started raining a bit as well but I really enjoyed it and found it quite impressive. The kids were all between 9 and 13 years old and did absolutely well.

I just got a letter from the University Of Cologne (which is great) but I'm still waiting for a kind of confirmation of my exams in June, everyone else has got them already and that bothers me *grrrr*

I'm sitting in the library in Richmond again and I know there are loads of Germans living here as (among other things) there is a German school just around the corner.
In the post office (10 mins ago) I saw two German ladies in the queue in front of me talking and to be honest.. it felt quite weird but also like home in a way (although I really feel home in England by now as well)

I just popped down Tescos to look for some stuff I could send my baby sister (because it's her birthday next Tuesday) but I didn't find much (I was actually looking for a book or a CD). I bought some chocolate bars, typical English ones you can't buy in Germany, though

So here I stand at the edge of the night, with nothing in my life, no one to love me...
I keep trying to be somebody, but nobody listens, nobody listens...
Don't worry *LOL* It's just a song I've got in my head.. from Saturday Night Fever..
Tragedy.. when the feeling's gone and you can't go on it's tragedy..
*ggg*

I'm feeling great and the weekend was great as well.
I didn't do that much, though, less than usual at least, because I've been quite bored lately and I don't know why.. I've been really, really tired as well and that's not due to any lack of sleep I reckon *strange* Maybe it's just because of the weather, who knows.

On Friday I had to babysit and Anna popped over which was nice as after a while Danny came back and we could retire to my room watching telly, drinking Diet Pepsi and having some talks about our "dark past" *g*

On Saturday I went up to Kingston first and after that Wimbledon with Lotte where we spent some time at "Centre Court" (Shopping Centre) and walking around in order to find my school where I'll take the CAE exam next month, before we got some tickets for the cinema.
They don't have "Subway" there which is a bit of a pain so we got some sandwiches from "Greggs" and sat down on some nice wodden chairs at a wodden table (which were actually on sale as it was in front of a furniture shop *LOL*) where we got some funny looks *whocares*

We watched "When A Stranger Calls" at the Odeon (I think the film is neither good nor bad, something in between I think) and after that it took us a while (and some chats to busdrivers) before we found out how to get to Surbiton.
Actually I seemed to be wearing my usual sign ("Information") again that day as everybody asked me the way (Lotte started taking the p** after a while because of that).
In Surbiton we went to a pub with some mates an people from college which was just fun.
I had too much to drink, though (as I'm not really used to it and three Whiskey/Rum (diet *g*) cokes can do a lot to me *ggg*) but going back by train I met a dozen people who were much more drunk than me so that was good

Sunday was BORING as Daryl had come back from Oxford and was too tired to do anything. I had a really bad tummyache all day as well so I was in a bit of a bad mood and didn't feel like doing anything either *brrr*
I met up with Annika at Leicester Sq where we saw the preparations for the DA VINCI CODE premiere at the Odeon. Must be on Thursday, I'd really like to go there and see Tom Hanks etc. *g* but I'm not sure if I'll have time, we'll see.
For everyone in Germany, THE DA VINCI CODE is called "SAKRILEG". I'm not sure how the film will be called in Germany, though but it's the world's bestseller.
After that we spent some time at Starbucks and Covent Garden before I made my way up to Liverpool Street...

Summer is back and it's been lovely up till now
(More rain again at the weekend I think.. I mean.. this is England, hello?)

The weather is great and so I'm in a really good mood. Additional to that everything seems to work out and change for the better at the moment, not that I've been particularly upset recently but sometimes it's just about little things and sometimes it's about life-changing things but it doesn't matter as long as it changes something for you if you know what I mean - I'm just.... HAPPY and additional to that it's FRIDAY

I tried to do as much exercise during the week as possible and at the same time I tried to combine that with studying so I was a good girl and just did necessary/important things *cough*.. well, apart from my frequent trips to several pubs or/and chocolate sins *g*
I went sunbathing, rollerblading, shopping with A. and L. on Tuesday and to College by bike

The builders are back *nocomment*

On Monday I went rollerblading in Central for a couple of hours and coming back to the station (Waterloo) I was too lazy and exhausted to take them off so I tried to be really careful (which meant I didn't crash into other people *g*) and not to be noticed, but I wasn't that successfull I'm afraid...
"Hiya, how're you doin?" and I looked into a "Community Support Officer"'s face
"Aaaeehhm... alright, thanks"
"You shouldn't do that as it costs you 200 quid"
.."What?"Honestly, I didn't know that.. 200 £ for rollerblading in the station.. gosh!
Of course he let me get away with it and of course I didn't have to pay the 200 quid (although his collegue seemed to like scaring me "Well, love, how d'you wanna pay - cash or check?" - argh)
The funny thing is: I saw that same officer a few days later while I was carrying my skates over my shoulder. He recognized me and so did I. We were both grinning .. "Well done, good girl" he said almost seeming proud *LOL*

I had a really good time yesterday when I went out with Daryl.
We went to our local pub in Waterloo where we had a couple of drinks and a lot of fun.
I don't know but sometimes it's just amazing, almost scary how childish and crazy I can be without having much alcohol
So I'd better not tell you about my special cocktail mixtures, laughing fits and our "ice cube battles".. the rest of it was just really, really nice and we're planning to go to Manchester together, probably on the 20th of May *happy*

I said to everyone I wouldn't comment on this year's local elections here in England and I won't tell anyone what I think about Tony, his lovely labour party and all that he's done.
I'm not English. I live here but I haven't got the right to vote. I am not informed enough about the English political system to judge but I see what's going on in the world and I think every European has got some opinion about Mr. Blair and his politics.
I hear English people say "he's a liar" all the time, but hello? Wake up, he's a politician that's his job
Looking at what's going on in Germany at the moment and our chancellor's relationship to "Mr.-I-don't-know-what-I'm-doing-Bush" I shouldn't say too much *cough* as there is a lot of shit going on out there between the mighty and the idiots who rule this world.
However, Mr Blair held talks this weekend with his likely successor, Gordon Brown, about Labour's future
In an interview to be broadcast on GMTV's Sunday programme, he said the local election results had been a wake-up call (!) for the government to update its policies (hahaha)
"It is definitely the case that after a period in government you have got to renew yourself by being able to address not just the issues of the day but the issues of the future," he said.
"There is policy renewal and there is party organisational renewal and the two things go hand in hand."

Anyway, for the time being the summer has disappeared so it seems.. It's not really warm anymore and this morning I woke up finding a grey and dull sky out of my 3mx1.5m window *g* Brrrr....

I've just finished stuff for college and in a minute I'll meet up with Anna for a nice night out in town here.

Yesterday (Sunday) I had a lie in which was nice (as on Saturday I had to get up at 8ish in order to drive D. to Cricket and Tennis in Cobham and Wimbledon)...
I met Adrienn at Charing Cross and because we hadn't seen each other for more than a month (she had been in Hungary for a few weeks) there was a lot to chat
To be honest we didn't do much apart from sitting at cafes and pubs
At Leicester Square there was a celebration going on because of "BUDDHA'S BIRTHDAY" but seeing all those tourists everywhere we couldn't be bothered *yawn*

Adrienn didn't have any ticket so we just walked around trying to escape from that species Adrienn is as allergic to as me and after a while we decided to just hang around on a wall at Tottenham Court Road watching those sweet little tourists running into doubledecker buses *hahaha*
Was a nice day but for some reason we were all endlessly tired and knackered, god knows why...

That was at Leicester Square:

Everyday life's started again and I'm still tired while doing homework, reading, working and studying as usual - must be the weather.. or my diet

Thursday was cool as the weather was fantastic and after college I just went sunbathing in our garden *g* which was nice. It was also nice being able to do that without any builder watching you *lol*
One of our chauffeurs popped over, though, and I didn't here him because I was listening to music which meant a bit of trouble *nocomment*
But it wasn't my fault as I hadn't been told he'd come by to get some keys for the s-class *grrr*
I went out with Daryl at Waterloo in the evening where we popped down a local pub - for a change *g*
We had loads of "unhealthy" drinks *g* (again) and played some pool - he wasn't a gentleman and didn't let me win so I lost as usual but it was fun as usual as well
At some point I got bored and just started singing stupid stuff (nobody noticed, anyway *g*) and it was just funny, because when we went out of the pub there were some drunken guys singing "Aerosmith's I DON'T WANNA MISS A THING" *g*
"I do apologize for the singing" one of them said
Well, luckily they hadn't heard me singing PHANTOM OF THE OPERA. *LOL*

Friday was a nice and hot day as well.. After work I went rollerblading on "Southbank/Waterloo" again and after a while I got bored so I just crossed Westminster Bridge up to Westminster (Big Ben and Parliament) on my blades which was fun, but also a bit of a pain (obviously) as I was kind of stuck in a crowd of tourists - at least the pavement was okay and I went back over Lambeth Bridge etc.
I finished my book and after studying I had a nice night out clubbing with some friends in Central.

On Saturday I met up with Daryl and after an "Oh Gosh We Can't Find A Starbucks" Tour we took the 47 bus to Canada Water/Surrey Quays where we had a drink and went to the cinema (Odeon) in the evening.

The film we watched was SILENT HILL and one of the stupidest films I've ever seen.
After that Daryl and I were discussing it on the bus when a couple in front of us turned around:
"Oh have you been to watch Silent Hill as well?"
And we all tried to figure out what it was all about as they hadn't understood it, either
It was kind of scary but in the end it was only stupid *sorry*

We took the C10 bus which meant we had to walk a bit and although we tried to run most of the time I missed my train. Luckily it wasn't the last one that night and we popped down a bar in the station where we could watch some drunks being kicked out *g*

BTW that's how I looked like this morning just after waking up *g*
SCARY...

And yes I do wear the "LONDON FIRE BRIGADE" T-Shirt we got from those charming firefighters in South-East-London as a nightdress

It's definetely summer today
If only for one day, I'm enjoying it: The sun is shining, the sky is blue with a temperature of about 80 degrees (Fahrenheit) and all this out of a sudden.
I went to college on rollerblades today (which took me almost an hour *g*) and arriving at BOOTS I looked like a tomato-on-wheels.
I had a rest in the shadow (as I was really knackered) but as soon as I stretched and had a quick lie-down two cars stopped in front of me: "You alright?" which was a bit annoying (although I like the public to be nice and alert (and helpful), because they're usually not) so I just stood up and made the last few yards *brr*

Yesterday I went up to Kingston with A. where we watched "drunk teenagers" at McDonalds and "AMERICAN DREAMZ" at the Odeon

It's a good-natured satire of pop, politics and the American's bloated sense of entitlement (arguably their biggest export) lampoons the great American disconnect from reality by locating the place where all these things intersect.
To cut a long story short: When the US President guests on hit reality TV show 'American Dreamz', a terrorist plot to kill him on air is put into action.
I didn't know whether to laugh or to cry and although it was well made, funny, entertaining and critical you didn't get much at the end of it - nothing new, nothing exciting, nothing extreme - I did like it (and I love Hugh Grant) but I'm a bit afraid of making a statement to be honest.

It's spring (= almost summer *ggg*) and the weather hasn't been bad at all so far.
Additional to that (as mentioned) I don't seem to suffer from any hayfever this year (I'm still so happy about that!) and so I decided to start doing more exercise..
The last couple of days I tried to go rollerblading at least an hour per day and although I'm not properly trained anymore I'm doing well I think *g*

Today I went rollerblading for two hours on Southbank (between Embankment and Lambeth Pier/Bridge) next to Waterloo which was exhausting just fun.
Yesterday I also played cricket and football (gosh I'm so good it's thanks to me that we are missing two balls now *lol*) before I popped down my lovely beauty centre in Cobham *stretch*

College has been cool so far this week and I got two As and a B for my letter/essay/report which isn't too bad.
BTW I cycled to College

I've just started reading the book I got from Lorraine:

It's been in the charts (first) for quite a while now and I really like it.

The other day I was reading some magazines when I came across that story about a 38-year-old woman who spent 4(!) months on a sofa before she died of a heartattack...
I have to say it takes a lot to actually shock me but that one was.. just terrifying...
The mother of that (20-stone/ 130kg) woman left to rot on a sofa by her family was "too embarrassed" to call a doctor, an inquest heard.
Excuse me? How can one do that to their own?

That mother, 76, told an amazed nurse at the hospital where daughter L. died: "What a year it's been. I've broken my wrist, the rabbit has died and now this."

Earlier, as five paramedics carried her unconscious daughter from her home she wondered aloud: "What will the neighbours think?"

L., 39, died of a heart attack brought on by her immobility and obesity after refusing to leave a sofa for four months(!!)
She spent her time watching US wrestling videos and daytime TV soaps while wolfing down eggs on toast brought by her mother.

NOW THE MOST DISGUSTING PART:
As the weeks passed, her flesh rotted and she grew facial hair *argh* and talon-like fingernails (I don't wanna imagine that).
She did not even get up to visit the toilet.

Mary and son Stuart, 46, did nothing until Lorraine fell unconscious.
Stuart then dialled 999 (wow, probably they were afraid she might die and leave them stuck with her dead body)!

Later the mother admitted to the press she had failed her daughter. She said: "I know I should have got help for her, but at the time I didn't think about it.

"I was really worried about her. But what with all the other problems I'd recently had...it was a bad year to start with."
(no comment)

Lorraine, plunged into despair after her father Ronald died.
She ditched her job as a checkout girl, withdrew, and eventually refused to leave the sofa at her home in Bournemouth, Dorset.
As the stench increased Stuart started eating his meals upstairs.

Mary said: "Lorraine just gave up. She used to watch wrestling all night and Home and Away and Neighbours in the day.
"At first she didn't want to get up. Then she couldn't get up.
"She wouldn't hear of us getting the doctor. Every time I mentioned it she said no. I tried to clean the room but couldn't when she was on the settee. I'm not houseproud."

An inquest at Bournemouth was told that when paramedics arrived they could not separate the sofa cushions from Lorraine's flesh.

Paramedic Deborah Thompson said:
"She had long hair and facial growth. Her legs were rotten."
(HOW MUST THAT HAVE LOOKED LIKE?)

Colleague Corinne Chapman added: "As we were taking Miss Robins out to the ambulance her mother said 'What will the neighbours think?'"

Lorraine died at Royal Bournemouth Hospital.

Nurse Katherine Hillier said: "Mrs Robins told me Lorraine had asked for a doctor. She said 'I couldn't get her up and was embarrassed to get a GP out'."

She was effectively a prisoner in her own home.
I find it difficult to believe that two intelligent people could have allowed this situation to develop.
To be honest they both must be completely crazy
The mother and L.'s brother were investigated by police but they will not be charged.

That is just... disgusting and unbelievable

You might know that one but I just love it *g*

On Sunday the weather was still quite good (although it wasn't really warm) and I met up with N. in Waterloo. We didn't do much and spent most of the time on buses chatting or having a drink somewhere.
There was a kind of music festival going on at Trafalgar Square (I don't really know what exactly it was as it was too busy and I couldn't be bothered) and additional to that it was bankholiday weekend which made Central even more busy than usual.
We couldn't even sit down to have sandwich without hearing German around us (all those tourists *g*).

In the evening I met Lotte and we spent some time at her place where we watched "Romeo And Juliet" *g* having a nice chat.

On Monday Romina went back to Germany (Frankfurt) and we met up at the airport (Heathrow) in the morning.
I waited for her at Lufthansa check in (T2) and while doing that I thought I must be wearing a sign "Information" *grr*
"Oh, excuse me, do you know where the next cash dispenser is?"
No.. why should I? Just because I've been standing here for 20 minutes doesn't mean I know every corner of the f** terminal

5 minutes later:
"Excuse me, do you have the time?"
Aaaaaaaahhhh....
Finally Romina arrived with three thousand bags and we went to "Wetherspoons" for a snack and a chat which was nice.

After that I tried to find a bus but there wasn't any local bus going up to Central so I decided to top up my Oyster Card and take the tube which ended up in an endless discussion with some TFL staff members *g* (no comment)
So after a while (because they didn't really want to understand my problem) I just waited watching them to figure it out, eating my soya nuts *g* while I couldn't believe how brainless people can be...

It was bankholiday/May Day on Monday so there were huge demonstrations going on in Central which meant buses on diversion and arriving at Trafalgar Square (it's always Trafalgar Square) I couldn't believe my eyes, it was almost scary to see all those crowds..
"Excuse me" I asked a copper standing there (looking bored) "What about the buses, are they all on diversion?"
"Oh yes, sorry 'bout tha' luv"
"Well, where's the next stop then?"
"Overthere.. where d'you wanna go?"
"Trafalgar Square"
"Oh, right. That's just 10 minutes down the road then, you can walk"
"I know I could but I don't want to I'm lazy" *smiling*

Later on we got some cheap tickets and watched a new West End Show:
FOOTLOOSE
Was quite good and I enjoyed it although there are loads that are far better than this one I think.

Busy weekend this has been so far..

On Friday I met up with Romina in Central and we spent ages at Starbucks (about 3 hours) and Subway (about 1 hour) *cough*
Was really good to see her again as we hadn't met for a couple of months (cos she went home for good and has just spent a week in London visiting her family)
It was a really nice day, the weather was great and Barclay's "hole in the wall" *g* even gave me some cash *wow* At the moment I owe some people money which makes me feel absolutely bad, I'm so broke and it's really hard to get by with the money I get here...

Later on R. and I were just having our sandwiches (carrot cakes *g*) sitting on the stairs at Trafalger Sq when that little girl came over to us (well, actually she was hanging over the balustrade next to us like a shot rabbit) and started chatting.
She might have been about 7 or 8 years old and looked particularly "neglected" in a way. She was a redhead with long and unkempt hair and extremely pale. Her figure was lumpy and she wore dark pink lipstick(!). Additional to the cloths she was wearing that made her look very odd..
"Have you got another one?" she asked gazing at Romina's cake.
"No, sorry, would you like one?"
She nodded.
"It's yummy, isn't it" (and while saying that I realized how absurd that was regarding her nutritional condition)
She seemed to be a really weird child and in spite of her obesity she obviously loved hanging over balustrades, railings and stuff like that *LOL* which just looked funny
She was unusually chatty and so she started asking us strange questions.
"Why have you got short hair, you're supposed to have long hair" she said to Romina (Yeah in order to make it look like that filthy stuff on your head perhaps, I thought)
"Can you talk to each other in that funny language" (she meant German) "I wanna listen to it from here"
(Our language isn't half as funny as you hanging over that wall like a bloody sack, I thought)
Actually we were quite relieved when her mom called her *g*
Seeing her mom everything seemed to make sense. Her mom didn't look much older than 20 and all in all she seemed as scruffy as her daughter.
Sometimes you see parents and you think "they really shouldn't have kids"
What choice do those kids have? Their future is set the day they are born and that is so sad. Nobody will help them finding the right way and living a fulfilled life and they will learn from their parents only one truth without realizing that there is so much more out there. Not many will find a way out of that vicious circle of articial poverty, unemployment, unrefinement, antisocial existence, lack of education and despair.
How could they if that's all they've known?

When we were waiting for a bus at Charing Cross we saw hundreds of people on bikes passing by (some of them looked fairly strange).. After getting a leaflet from them we found out it was that thing called "Critical Mass"
I've been here for quite a while now but I hadn't heard of it.

In the evening I popped round Sylvia's and we had a nice time watching DVDs, chatting and having loads of Ben&Jerrys ice cream.

On Saturday I had a mission: finding/buying the jeans jacket I'd wanted for ages.
So I met up with N. and spent most of the time in several shops a la TOP SHOP, H&M, NEW LOOK, NEXT and Co.
After three hours on Oxford Street and King's Road (Chelsea) we were completely knackered and popped down COSTA'S just to let ourselves fall into one of their arm chairs.

I took a train at 7ish and popped round Anna's for Apple tea, oranges and CSI NEW YORK.
On my way back we got loads of stupid, chanting, babbling and bellowing Chelsea football fans on the train.
(They clinched a second successive Premiership title with victory over Manchester United at Stamford Bridge that day).
I tried my best to ignore them and read my book but I wasn't successful and after a while they thought it would be a good idea to sit down next to me, chat me up and ask stupid questions (questions only stupid drunken football fans can ask).
*grrr*