Thursday, May 19, 2005
World of Creamer
I'm slowly adjusting to the concept of drinking coffee instead of tea. However, I can't get my head around the idea of using creamer instead of milk. And this is a shame, because I've yet to see anyone use fresh milk in coffee.
To be fair to the yanks, they have nice coffee. Mostly filter, and with a pretty nice smell. So to add a pile of powdered milk into it just seems weird. Why not use milk? I might do a taste test later in the week, to see if I can tell the difference between the two. Or I might just get a life.
Talking of drinks, a couple of discoveries... at restaurants, they fill you drinks up all the time. Over lunch today I must have had about 5 bottles of coke. Also, the Londoner (an English-type pub bar place) actually does pretty good cider - Woodpeckers, no less. And this weekend they're showing the FA Cup Final. It does seem a bit odd though to watch it at 9 o'clock on Sunday morning. Much as it's odd to listen to the Archers at 1pm, or check out MediaGuardian's new stories from 2:30am.
What makes all those oddities pale into insignificance though is the annoying inability to phone anyone in the UK after I finish work... cos when I leave here at 6ish, it's midnight back home. The only person I normally dare phone after midnight is Ian, because while everyone else is sleeping, I'll probably interrupt him having a kebab.
So evenings are a time of non-communication for me, and that's taking a lot of getting used to. The spin of that is that when I get up at 7ish (1pm UK), I've already got a stack of text messages and emails to look at. Including usually one from London Underground, telling me whether the Central Line is blocked or not.
And the weather... get this... I'm cold. Seriously, I am. Where I sit is right under an aircon unit, and I'm really cold! I want to sit outside making the best of the weather, but that seems to be an unpopular choice generally. Having 28 degree days is still novelty and I want to enjoy it!
Later... how I managed to make a mistake at the vending machine last night, and instead of getting a sachet of shampoo, I got two sticks of salami.
To be fair to the yanks, they have nice coffee. Mostly filter, and with a pretty nice smell. So to add a pile of powdered milk into it just seems weird. Why not use milk? I might do a taste test later in the week, to see if I can tell the difference between the two. Or I might just get a life.
Talking of drinks, a couple of discoveries... at restaurants, they fill you drinks up all the time. Over lunch today I must have had about 5 bottles of coke. Also, the Londoner (an English-type pub bar place) actually does pretty good cider - Woodpeckers, no less. And this weekend they're showing the FA Cup Final. It does seem a bit odd though to watch it at 9 o'clock on Sunday morning. Much as it's odd to listen to the Archers at 1pm, or check out MediaGuardian's new stories from 2:30am.
What makes all those oddities pale into insignificance though is the annoying inability to phone anyone in the UK after I finish work... cos when I leave here at 6ish, it's midnight back home. The only person I normally dare phone after midnight is Ian, because while everyone else is sleeping, I'll probably interrupt him having a kebab.
So evenings are a time of non-communication for me, and that's taking a lot of getting used to. The spin of that is that when I get up at 7ish (1pm UK), I've already got a stack of text messages and emails to look at. Including usually one from London Underground, telling me whether the Central Line is blocked or not.
And the weather... get this... I'm cold. Seriously, I am. Where I sit is right under an aircon unit, and I'm really cold! I want to sit outside making the best of the weather, but that seems to be an unpopular choice generally. Having 28 degree days is still novelty and I want to enjoy it!
Later... how I managed to make a mistake at the vending machine last night, and instead of getting a sachet of shampoo, I got two sticks of salami.
