Thursday
The last working day of the month and, as it happens, my final day at BT Ignite. Yes, that particular nail was thumped ceremoniously into the London departure coffin with only a minor hiss and a roar - the HR intranet site was due and my God it was going to be completed before I left. I managed to hold onto my job with BT (in all its various guises) for the best part of two years which was an amazing feat really, given the sector's slump over recent times. I like to think my longevity as luck but my lovely colleagues attempted to convince me otherwise.
We took off for Fifteen05 once everything had been wrapped up and proceeded to imbibe a goodly amount of alcohol which is the norm for such occasions. "Oh, you bought me a shot of Tequila Sunrise ... how nice!." "Oh, you bought me a triple purple Aftershock ... that's very kind of you!" Needless to say, stumbling home was the order of the evening when we finally disbanded - a bittersweet farewell from an excellent job and one which left me with the means to continue my travels over several months. BT, I thank you.
Friday
So it was 6am and do you think I could get back to sleep? No. Arse. Chilled water is your friend. As are early phonecalls home to friends. And naps on the sofa. And finally making yourself presentable enough for an evening sojourn to the pub-i-plex in the West End. Kirsten and the girls were in fine form which lifted my spirit somewhat, despite the vast number of drunken lecherous punters who had also deemed it a worthwhile location to pass away the Good Friday.
Saturday
And speaking of passing away ... she did, at last. I've not much to say about that really. Saturday was spent down at Hammersmith on the banks of the Thames, watching Oxford and Cambridge battle it out in their annual boat race. "Go the rich team!", Aussie Paul, his friend Simon and I yelled as we drank cold beer and ate chips for a good couple of hours. Oxford won, for the record. The Boat Race is another one of those book-ending events for me - I was dragged unceremoniously to it the day after I arrived in the country in 2000 and managed to thoroughly enjoy myself before collapsing around 8pm. To be fair, I had been flying half way around the world and then drinking late on a Friday night in London for a good proportion of the 48 hours beforehand. Ahh, memories.
Johnny strong-armed me into going to G-A-Y later on that evening, and it was another enjoyable farewell to one institution I've definitely enjoyed during my sojourn here. The company was hilarious, the drinks were good and Nuclear Pussy succeeded in rousing the crowd to an appropriate level of frenzy. Oh, and Young Joe was randomly encountered which was a minor weird-out moment - no doubt, it'll be the last time I see him here also. Pah ... onwards and upwards and down with the maudlin I say!
Sunday
Awoke with an intact liver with which I was amazed. The clocks went forward but my brain certainly didn't as I launched myself into the fourth day on the trot - dinner with Scally and the recently bronzed Iain at Nando's before adjourning to The 2 Brewers to see Pam Ann ... again, for what will probably be the last time. She turned in a fantastic performance too - a very long one, which became all the more interesting when she dragged Aussie Paul up on stage, told him to strip off his shirt and dance with her and another similarly disrobed bloke to Kylie's "In Your Eyes." A certain companion's jaw dropped significantly but I'm not about to name names, am I Scally?
Monday
No. More. Alcohol. I thank you. And my gracious host for his accomodations, of course.
Today
"Lady Of Leisure" mode kicked in well and truly, resulting in me doing very little of anything at all for much of the day. Bliss. But there was always socialising to be done at The Retro Bar's Retroteasers Pop Quiz, right? Erm, no. One was sick, one was ill, one was working and one was finishing champagne. So one completed the quiz by oneself, scoring 11.5 out of 20 which one was rather chuffed with.
The Retro Bar itself is almost complete after it's Oprah-style makeover - the new artwork is scheduled to go up downstairs on Friday and upstairs has been completely transformed and is now a very swank lounge bar. Croontastic! And so nice of Wendy to arrange for it to be done a scant few days before my leaving party, don't you think? ;o)
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