Snippets

God, where do I even start?

Life in the past two months has been somewhat akin to a shinkansen and I'm still rather zapped, despite a huge amount of sleep and lie-downs in bed. The deal I've been working on for the past 2 months "completed" on Tuesday morning, and I've been given some days off-in-lieu which means I won't be going into the office for the rest of the week. It has certainly been lush - waking up at noon everyday, chilling/lazing around, enjoying the good (sunny/toasting/boiling at times) weather - albeit a little surreal after 2 months of crazy hours culminating in a 120 hour week last week.

HR sends a (somewhat obligatory, and) short email asking if everything's alright once you clock up a certain threshold of hours (I don't know the exact figure but I think it's over 60ish). I'm speaking, of course, about trainees in the firm; I very much doubt the feasibility of doing the same with respect to associates. Getting the emails from HR is in a sense a rather nice gesture, but it also has the effect of reminding you that you've been missing out on a social life and, increasingly, the impetus to get to work everyday is diminishing with rapid speed...

So what exactly have I been up to?

Sometime back...

Saturday - Club session at Heaven with Leanne.
Sunday - Movie day (Skeleton Key - think the American south; voodoo/hoodoo magic hell-crap; twisted twist at the end, aka not a typical hollywood ending) at UGC Canary Wharf with Peter.
Tuesday - Missed the Stanchart 5km run at Hyde Park (which I had, funny enough, signed up for) as I was stuck in a conference call; ended up leaving the office fucking late, so no chance of meeting up mates for post-run drinks.
Wednesday - Business trip to Dublin; 17 hour day.
Thursday - Champagne reception; drinks with Felix.
Friday - Slight morning hangover; lunch with secretary at Pizza Express.
Saturday - Met Hani (visiting from Mancs) at Euston; quite an amazing lunch (foodwise) at Randall & Aubin (semi-chic champagne and oyster bar in Soho); Turnmills with Hani and 2 of his (rather infantile) mates.
Sunday - back to the office.

Fast forward then to Tuesday this week. Lunch at the OXO Towers - brilliant weather, balcony seating, good service, standardised food - which reminded me of lunch a few months ago with Rif at the members' room at the Tate Modern.

Wednesday evening. Met Dave for Mojitos at Cafe Kick (http://www.kipferl.co.uk/) at Exmouth Market, my local pedestrianised street hosting a row of eclectic bars/restaurants/shops, etc. Cafe Kick is my favourite nondescript evening bar and somewhat reminds me of Krobar in Manchester, only less chic (more down-to-earth) but certainly not cheap!

Thursday evening. The weather was looking dire, short of a rainy thunderstorm (I exaggerate), and I made the brave decision to go for a short jog along the Thames on my usual route. Feeling the cool crisp air (and dare I say, sweet river breeze) was very nice indeed. The regret of not being able to do this more often was quite genuine I think. I'm toying with the idea of a night/early morning jog sometime - the smell of sweet dusk/dawn air can be quite invigorating.

Friday morning. Woke up at 9, in anticipation of Chris coming in to clean the flat, and went out for a morning jog, followed by a visit to Kipferl (http://www.kipferl.co.uk/), an Austrian delicatessen 5 minutes away from the apartment, where I bought a pack of lush Manners (www.manner.com), and chilled for a bit at the Smithfields Carluccios (www.carluccios.com), before heading home. I'm so loving this life.

To be fair, whilst I'm no less chuffed that it has completed, I do appreciate the bloody steep learning curve I've experienced over working on this deal, and of course not forgetting the countless overnighters; the wry camaraderie with other team members; that business trip to Dublin - waking up at the ungodly hour of 4, taxi at 5, check-in at 6, airbourn at 7, dublin at 8, rushing for the return flight at 8, and back to LHR at 9; the shiatsu massage (the best thing to happen at the printers, other than the refridgerators, i shit you not); the uneasy relationship with the accountants; the pretty relaxed clients (we worry enough for them); and the brilliant finale (more of a "thank god it's finally over!").