Monday, September 24, 2007
youtubin: let's get hyphy
you know what? When I grow up, I want to be a hip-hop dancing professional sports mascot.
faster, faster
with my work schedule still in full madness-mode (one week to go!), I did manage to find myself a new flatshare last week. My lease was due to end on the 24th (today), and though I barely had time to look at places, I felt it was time for me to find accomodations a little bigger and possibly closer to my workplace. Thanks to the magic that is gumtree, I found such a place pretty easily: went to see it on Wednesday afternoon, said I liked it, and when I called back Thursday morning, the room was mine. The rest was straightforward as well: 2-3 tube return trips to move my stuff, a transfer of the deposit+1 month's rent via internet banking and presto, I'd changed flats.
One of the greatest things about the new place so far is that I can walk to work. Or at least will be able to when there isn't a mini-typhoon lashing out at London like this morning. Walked just 3 minutes to the bus stop and my feet were still wet 6 hours later. And that's after changing socks, and letting my shoes dry with newspaper stuffed in them (grandma-tip style).
One thing for sure is that, compared to Paris, looking for a place to live here is very very easy. No need to give landlords a file with ridiculous amounts of information, not to mention guarantees from your parents. Here you pay a deposit (generally 4 weeks' rent), the first month of rent and you're good. Now this situation is linked to the fact you can get expelled pretty fast if you fail to pay rent, compared to France where multiple laws protect renters, which leads many landlords to stay away from anyone who doesn't have the ideal profile. And with so many people (including more and more foreigners) wanting to live in Paris, it isn't hard for them to cherry-pick. Not to say London is heaven when it comes to renting an apartment, far from it, but at least when it comes to moving in/out, it doesn't feel like you're going through an adoption process.
One of the greatest things about the new place so far is that I can walk to work. Or at least will be able to when there isn't a mini-typhoon lashing out at London like this morning. Walked just 3 minutes to the bus stop and my feet were still wet 6 hours later. And that's after changing socks, and letting my shoes dry with newspaper stuffed in them (grandma-tip style).
One thing for sure is that, compared to Paris, looking for a place to live here is very very easy. No need to give landlords a file with ridiculous amounts of information, not to mention guarantees from your parents. Here you pay a deposit (generally 4 weeks' rent), the first month of rent and you're good. Now this situation is linked to the fact you can get expelled pretty fast if you fail to pay rent, compared to France where multiple laws protect renters, which leads many landlords to stay away from anyone who doesn't have the ideal profile. And with so many people (including more and more foreigners) wanting to live in Paris, it isn't hard for them to cherry-pick. Not to say London is heaven when it comes to renting an apartment, far from it, but at least when it comes to moving in/out, it doesn't feel like you're going through an adoption process.
Monday, September 17, 2007
droning on
warning: this post is about as rock n'roll as an episode of Everybody Loves Raymond
these days my schedule has started to get a bit blurry: weekdays turn into weekends which are workdays, after which I go out like it's the weekend. Things are busy at the office (which will only increase as the month goes along), yet there are still things I want to do after spending 12 hours staring at three computer screens, so evenings chilling at home have not been part of the agenda recently. I'm not partying like an art school student or anything, but I keep finding things that keep me out of la casa, even if it's just a run in Hyde Park after work. I think tomorrow I will go home straight from the office, but I can't be certain seeing how things have gone.
This has me thinking that out of the many concepts branded about in the modern corporate environment, that of work-life balance rings particularly hollow. Early in one's career, spending long hours at the office is almost a pre-requisite to move up the proverbial ladder. In that sense, the notion of balance does not really exist. Work takes up most of your time, energy, and motivation. Of course in return you get plenty back, from increased self-confidence, financial willpower, and if you're lucky a decent social environment. But in order not to feel too drained, it's essential to be able to maximize one's rest/leisure time. In my case I've found concerts to be one of the better ways to forget about everything for an hour or so, without staying out too late. Two weeks ago I had an absolute blast at the Justice gig, with a tremendous Rex club-like atmosphere, yet I was home by 12:30. The previous night I had seen an amazing concert by Broken Social Scene, one of my all-time favorite bands, and was safely home by eleven.
The trick in those busy times is to keep things bordering on predictibability without feeling like you're living a real-life Groundhog Day. Although who knows, being able to punch that guy Ned every once in a while might turn out to be a good stress-reliever.
these days my schedule has started to get a bit blurry: weekdays turn into weekends which are workdays, after which I go out like it's the weekend. Things are busy at the office (which will only increase as the month goes along), yet there are still things I want to do after spending 12 hours staring at three computer screens, so evenings chilling at home have not been part of the agenda recently. I'm not partying like an art school student or anything, but I keep finding things that keep me out of la casa, even if it's just a run in Hyde Park after work. I think tomorrow I will go home straight from the office, but I can't be certain seeing how things have gone.
This has me thinking that out of the many concepts branded about in the modern corporate environment, that of work-life balance rings particularly hollow. Early in one's career, spending long hours at the office is almost a pre-requisite to move up the proverbial ladder. In that sense, the notion of balance does not really exist. Work takes up most of your time, energy, and motivation. Of course in return you get plenty back, from increased self-confidence, financial willpower, and if you're lucky a decent social environment. But in order not to feel too drained, it's essential to be able to maximize one's rest/leisure time. In my case I've found concerts to be one of the better ways to forget about everything for an hour or so, without staying out too late. Two weeks ago I had an absolute blast at the Justice gig, with a tremendous Rex club-like atmosphere, yet I was home by 12:30. The previous night I had seen an amazing concert by Broken Social Scene, one of my all-time favorite bands, and was safely home by eleven.
The trick in those busy times is to keep things bordering on predictibability without feeling like you're living a real-life Groundhog Day. Although who knows, being able to punch that guy Ned every once in a while might turn out to be a good stress-reliever.
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