Beautiful Day

It is absolutely gorgeous outside today. I mean, unbelievable 60 degree weather with a warm sun and gentle breezes. If this is what the Spring is going to be like here, then I'm about to fall in love with this country all over again.

Backtracking to Tuesday will involve a sordid tale in which I spent 3 of 48 hours sleeping, 13 of 48 hours working, and the rest either getting drunk or reveling in drunkenness. Fortunately, my 2-day bender is over and I'm mostly recovered (kudos to my German/Irish heritage).

I had no plan to go out on Tuesday. But, after a particularly long and busy day, my mate the Roving Alcoholic asked if I wanted to hit a pub for a few drinks with one of his mates. His mate is a good guy so I gladly accepted. Little did I realize that I was not to return home until 430 in the morning. The way it works over here is that people buy rounds - it goes around the group. So when we got their, immediately someone purchased a "jug" of Vodka-Redbulls. Which meant that we were now going to have 3 pitchers because you can't have one person buying drinks all night, you have to pay them back, so to speak. Fast forward 4 hours (with several repeats) and now there's a proposition to go to a club called Zoo Bar.

Now, Zoo Bar, I must say is a dodgy little shitehole, louder than reasonable, and, surprisingly, is always packed. My mates go there a lot, so they didn't charge us a cover because they were regulars. Now, the Roving Alcoholic and his friend are true Brits - they drink a ton and can hold their liquor. I feel like I've been in training camp, but I must have passed the test because we drank inordinate amounts of alcohol and I didn't pass out or puke or even come close, so I must be doing ok.

I met a nice Dutch girl there, a med student I believe. But, after the third time I asked her what her name was, she stormed away pissed. I would have remembered her name except that is was so loud in there I literally could never get more than "Ma-" I think it was Mary Anne or Mary Ellen or something like that, which was also utterly confusing because I wouldn't have expected such a name from someone from Rotterdam.

Also, it would not have been a night out to a dodgy shitehole if there hadn't been a fight, a bouncer manhandling this bloke, an arrest, and a bunch of people laughing their ass off at the dude who somehow managed to start a fight and get arrested. Lovely country.

I will neither confirm nor deny claims that I was dancing on top of the bar with two random girls at some point during the night.

At about 330 or so, they kicked us out. Well, they kicked me out, because who knows what happened to my friends. Not that any of us were concerned. Guys have an unwritten understanding that if you go to the club and you lose your mates, you don't have to track them down or see if they're ok (unless you know they're total lightweights and you think that maybe they passed out in a dark corner somewhere and are on the cusp of getting tossed out by an angry bouncer who just wants to get some of his stress out on a pliable and unresisting near-corpse). So, after realizing they were long gone or somewhere in the deep recesses of the nether regions of the club, I got my coat and bolted. I was ready to sleep. It took awhile to get home, but I finally did and promptly passed out.

My 7:50 wake up time angrily announced itself with several loud, foghorn style blares. Shockingly, getting up wasn't a problem. Well, awakening wasn't a problem. I did have to sit on the bed for a few minutes to gather myself before hopping in the shower. I think I was still drunk.

I really don't know how I survived the rest of the day. And this is something that I truly don't understand. I was a MUCH better employee on Wednesday when I basically came to work drunk than I was on Tuesday when I was relatively well rested. I got stuff done, I stayed late to make sure that some things were completed the right way, and I didn't do much more than check my email on the internet (thus no post yesterday). Not only that, I didn't have a lick of caffeine, I didn't come close to falling asleep, and I was pretty much alert all day. I have no theory to explain this one.

After work, I went and got my Halal-wich, truly the best sandwich this side of the pond, if not of all time. I forgot to mention last week that I finally have become a regular. It takes different lengths of time to become a regular because proprietors don't want to anoint someone with regular status if they just show up a couple times - they want to see you again and again. Well, last week, I think I passed the threshold because I didn't even have to order what I wanted. They just knew. I'm finally getting places in this country. And yes, succulence has been achieved - not once, but TWICE. I'm in shock and awe of this little shop's devastating success rate. Their competitors should be very scared.

Anyway, I met up with Real World later. It was really nice out, so I had it in mind to walk along the Thames for a bit, which was awesome. So instead of going home and passing out, as was the plan, I ended up meeting Real World at a pub around 4 with one of our other classmates whom I have yet to find the perfect nickname for. I thought this girl, initially, was a moron because she doesn't talk in class much and she passes notes with Real World incessantly. But after hanging out with her last night, I think she's ok. She definitely knows how to have a good time.

Real World, as I may have mentioned, just broke up with her boyfriend and she had it in her to get pissed drunk last night and go clubbing. The initial presentation of the idea garnered staunch opposition from the likes of me. I was not interested in going clubbing again last night. But, my defenses were worn down by the lure of cheap alcohol, cute girls, and an unending desire to get my dance on. We ended up at O'Neill's - a place I haven't been to since last October or November. It's not the greatest joint or anything, but it's not too bad and it has the required elements. Last night, they also had U2 cover band as well, which was pretty cool. Both of the girls I was with were lightweights though, so I had to be in a constant caretaker mode - which was fine, better me than the guy who kept trying to take advantage of two girls that are obviously a bit too drunk. It did, however, inhibit my ability to meet girls...

We left a bit early - it couldn't have been much later than 2. I finally got to go home and pass out. I think I need to detox myself for a couple days.

My date with the New Hotness was postponed until Friday, which enabled this sordid ridiculousness to happen. I have many admin type things I need to do between now and then, starting with my laundry and ending with finding an extra 915 pounds so I can pay for this extra class I want to take starting next week. But all I really want to do is go to Kensington Gardens and bask in the warm sunlight.