First thing I knew about the storm today was that both glass revolving doors of my office building were shattered by the wind at the weekend - we now have to enter and exit by the fire escape. And there's a constant, strong and bitter wind.. the lashing rain, however, waited until I was waiting for my bus this evening, wrapped up in my parka as much as possible, wondering why the hell it wasn't there yet. Of course, once it came, it filled up with people all in wet, padded clothes - buses are not pleasant in such conditions. Better than walking, though. I never did get properly warm on the bus.. wish I'd brought gloves. At least a load of people got off with me - I'd been wondering how I'd push past them all!
And it was a cold, wet, miserable walk to Wilton's. Short, but not short enough - I felt like a block of ice by the time I got there. Quickly located our organiser - who, as usual, had secured a front-row table! Alcohol helped to warm me a little. When I discovered that the kitchen was in operation, I also ordered some garlic and oregano fries: warmed me up, and have the advantage of tasting delicious. The bar, however, is as draughty as I'd feared - even the toilet was warmer. Perhaps keep your coat on, in weather like this - our group mostly did.
The band, when they started, were excellent - rock, r&b.. what's not to like? (You can just about catch sight of the pile of spilled nuts on the floor between them - oops. The perils of rock n roll decadence.) Covers of Chuck Berry and Johnny Cash numbers, plenty of ad-libbing.. it's easy to tell they've been on the road a while. Marvellous performers, with a nice line in irresistible, toe-tapping music. Close your eyes, you can imagine you're drifting away to somewhere that's warm, headed out on the open road. Highly recommended, if you come across them. (There were some talkers in the audience again, but it was louder tonight than last time, so it didn't matter.)
Great to chat to everyone - a lovely way to spend a Monday. Looking forward to seeing them again. On the way home, it wasn't that bad - until I got nearer to my place, and the wind unleashed its full, howling awfulness. A lot of wind tunnels, with the skyscrapers around there, and the wind blasting any hapless pedestrians. Very glad to be in, dry, and warm!
Tomorrow, I tried to get the first meeting of the year going with that group from my last company. Had the idea while I was eating at the Amarcord Museum - I love to advertise good places to people, and this is one! But apart from a couple of people who made their excuses because they're on holiday abroad - and despite the invite having gone out before Christmas - the only taker is Ivan, with no-one else even bothering to respond. Dead in the water, that group, it seems. Well, their loss. We'll have a lovely meal, and then he's booked that recording studio again for later that night. And as they do a special deal for 10 hours.. it'll be an all-nighter! So I'm taking the next day off work.
On Wednesday evening, I signed up for my first ever event with The Roads Less Travelled: Ekzotic Adventures Travel Club. Not actually travelling, mind - this is a talk about Myanmar. Specifically about the rubies you can get there, but with plenty of other information about the country as well. Takes place in a room above The Iron Duke pub. Ah, but then.. (and I should have remembered this event, because I knew about it) London European Club (and the World Music Meetup) advertised a concert by a Kurdish artist (from the Turkish side) at the Finnish Church. So I'm going to that instead. Tickets from Tuned In London, as usual.
On Thursday, I'm back at Soho Theatre for Jen Brister's show, Under Privilege. Then I'm back to Ireland for the weekend - where I have to sneak a look at my mother's Eir contract. She just changed to a new package, I just got her first bill for it (we've gone paperless, so it gets emailed to me as she doesn't use her email account), and I swear they've overcharged her on the monthly package price. They messed up the email address when I was ordering over the phone, so I never got the confirmation email - will have to check the paper version she got to ensure that what she got was what I agreed on in the first place. No point in asking her to check - she won't know what to look for, and she'll only get hysterical.
And assuming I survive all of that (they are AWFUL to deal with, and I thought her previous internet provider, 3, was bad!), next Monday I'm back with Up in the Cheap Seats for The Haystack at Hampstead Theatre. Another group of them went on Friday night, and I'm hearing excellent reports..
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