slip sliding away

Eeeeek! Somehow time (as it is wont to do) has flown by and suddenly I have less than two weeks left before I leave. There is WAY too much to do... and this time no Steph around to help me do it! However, the local charities have been very helpful. Every week or so a different one seems to leave an empty bag in our mailbox asking for donations. In this manner, I have got rid of several bags of stuff without having to move it anywhere. It even beats putting up a freebie ad on Craigslist.

Work continues apace. My supervisor came back, still deathly ill, and had two solid days of meetings during which I managed to see her once or twice. Then she asked me if I would mind running down to London to pick up some important documents for her. I found out for sure I was going on Tuesday afternoon at 2pm. Caught the 4pm train to Banbury - it's about a 4.5 hour train ride. Stayed that night, got up early, went into London, picked up the stuff, shopped for 45 minutes, and got back on the train to Bangor. Talk about your whirlwind trips. Unfortunately, the train back was 20 minutes late leaving and decided to go insanely slowly on the journey, so I missed my connection at Crewe (since we were 45 minutes late by that point) and ended up spending an extra hour hanging around Crewe station. YUCK. Oh well. All part of the job, I suppose. Supervisor is now in India, and by the time she returns I will be nearly out the door.

Also the train was full of chatty people. One guy who couldn't believe I was old enough to do my PhD ("You must be older than you look!") - I didn't have the heart to tell him I also spent five years bumming around and am even older than he thinks. Then he left, and a Singaporean businessman got on and started asking me detailed cultural questions about Britain. No matter how many times I explained I'm not from here, either, he didn't seem to get it. "What is the age of marriage in Britain? Is the nightlife better in Manchester or Liverpool? What should I get my British business associate as a gift?" good lord.

In other news, saw Lily Allen in the paper wearing this dress, the day after I wore it to Club de Fromage in London. Clearly, Lily is taking style tips from me. Also, thanks for the dress, mom!