... a slave begins by demanding justice and ends by wanting to wear a crown...

I've been feeling a little under the weather just lately - think I might have a bit of a chest infection or something.  I took yesterday as a day's leave because of the previous night's exertion leading to me having a bit of a hangover... any other time I would have rested, but I just had to exercise (first time since Tuesday) or I would have gone stir crazy.  I become like that through lack of exercise at the best of times, but yesterday so much was infuriating me and on my mind, I had to do something about it.

So I headed out on the bike on a 42 mile round trip up to Emley Moor transmitting station and back.  Completed at a decent pace this is a quite challenging ride and yesterday the End of Days style headwind on the outward journey simply added to the suffering.  Suffering?  Yes; suffering.  It's a funny old game is road cycling, many experienced cyclists live by the mantra: "if it doesn't hurt then you're doing it wrong" and Greg LeMond was once quoted: "it doesn't get easier, you just go faster."  I would be inclined to agree; over 50 or 60 miles I probably average 3mph quicker than I did a year ago, but that's for the same given [large] effort and glass-cranking along at last year's average mph simply isn't acceptable to my Roadie alter ego.

So if you've clicked the link above and know my neck of the woods, you'll see I headed out through Featherstone, Nostell, Ryhill, Cold Hiendley, Chevet Grange, Notton, Woolley, West Bretton and then along Denby Dale Road before turning right onto Woodhouse Lane to make the ascent up to the transmitting station.  The final climb is a relatively gentle 3 miles, but the gradient does ramp up in a few places - you don't appreciate how far you've climbed until you turn around to commence the return journey and are tramming along at ~35mph after a few seconds without even touching the pedals.  Shift into 50/11, spin up and watch out for wet mud and ramblers.

So what was playing on my mind so much that I felt the need to bury myself for 2.5hrs, up hill into a headwind with a bad chest?  One or two little things, where do I start?

The Government Spending Review took place on Wednesday (20th October 2010) and as far as I'm concerned there were no real surprises.  Okay I couldn't have accurately predicted the exact numbers, but it was fairly obvious where cuts would be made.  I'm working as an external consultant in the public sector at the moment and because of this second wave of recession I'm out of a job in a month... I'm not thrilled about this, but I'm bloody realistic about the whole thing and understand what's happening.  So it PISSES me off when proposed job cuts where I'm currently based are met with incredulity similar to what I witnessed at ABC cinema when Doc's DeLorean went back in time 30 years from 1985 to 1955 in a split second.  Nobody wants anyone to lose their job and we all understand how public sector cuts affect us all, but it had to happen this time around... the Public Sector Gravy Train has derailled and the passengers aren't at all happy.  The Private Sector has dealt with it (twice now) so they need to deal with it, step outside the bubble and... welcome to the real world.

I passed by some demonstrations on my lunch break the other day; they were chiefly concerned with the hike in University tuition fees.  I totally feel prospective students' pain... if I'd been a year later into University I'm not sure the family unit would have been able to support me given the fee hike which occured back then.  The key to any debate/demonstration is to have a good, solid, fact-based argument.  What you don't need is a chippy bloke in double-denim claiming that the Tories have introduced higher fees in order to "prevent working class kids from going to University".  I was actually listening until he stepped up and came out with that load of bollocks.  I agree it will result in kids from less affluent familes not being able to attend University, but it isn't the fucking reasoning behind the hike!  I resent people putting us in class pigeon holes anyway - we are one.  If this bloke wants to place himself in a class pigeon hole, then that's his perogative but I really don't appreciate him grabbing a mic and getting all chippy about it in a public space.  Thanks.

In a bid to balance out the influence of X Factor, may I take this opportunity to introduce you to a band that I'm a big fan of?  Young Rebel Set are currently unsigned but - in my humble opinion - more talented than the fame seeking X Factor contestants.  Give them a listen.

Thanks for reading and apologies for the rant!

The next station is Camden Town. Bank branch.

Firstly, let me apologise for the long delay between this post and the last one. I’ve been hella busy over the past week or so; completing my ICE Professional Review submission and preparing for mock reviews with senior colleagues. I would usually make time in between work commitments to let my creative juices flow, but on this occasion; the deadline was an immoveable object (think Brian Blessed in diving boots) and the hoops through which I had to jump on the way to said deadline were set at World Record height.

I posted the reports last Friday, enjoyed a pretty relaxed weekend and then headed to London Monday to Wednesday. On my return last night, I had confirmation of receipt from each of my reviewers – the self addressed postcards I provided for this purpose are scribed with the messages: “Good luck!” and “Received. I look forward to meeting you.” This already bodes greater than my last attempt where both postcards merely read: “Received.” So it looks like I’ll be interviewed by two human beings this time.

You didn’t think I’d mention a trip to London and not provide details? Gav and I headed down to see our friend, Leah, who we met just over two years ago while on holiday in Southern California. We stayed in the Comfort Inn on Edgware Road, about a 5 minute walk from the tube station – you’d be forgiven for thinking there aren’t any major chain hotels on that stretch of road as the entrance is a single width door between a Halal grocery store and a shady-looking Bureau de Change. But no problem: it was cheap and Edgware Road is on the Bakerloo, Circle and Hammersmith & City lines which means we were well equipped for travelling to Camden to meet Leah.

On Monday evening we ate at a lovely little Caribbean and Latin restaurant in Camden. I would recommend Guanabana in a heartbeat: chilled out atmosphere, fantastic food and reasonable prices. We headed to Piccadilly Circus afterwards so we could have a few more drinks and cut some SERIOUS rug. I must be some kind of freak because the next morning I was absolutely fine when I woke at 8:30am whereas Gav was broken from the Sambuca (and looked terrible to be fair) and Leah tells us she was still drunk at 10am.

Tuesday eventually got underway and we headed to the Imperial War Museum and the London Eye, but not before sampling the best of Camden’s markets. Such a diverse day: one minute I was browsing through Cyberdog in Camden and the next I was walking morosely through the hard-hitting Holocaust Exhibition at the museum.

That evening, we headed to another great Camden restaurant. At Market they “provide quality, wholesome food in informal, relaxed surroundings, using the freshest, seasonal produce.” I don’t mind quoting here because those words are bang on; it was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time. Pig cheeks and black pudding to start followed by Seabream, chorizo and broccoli – washed down with two bottles of Brooklyn Lager and iced with a large Cognac and cheese and biscuits. Also on the table were Oysters, mussels and a very wholesome looking chicken and mushroom pie. I love food, me!

Yesterday, Gav and I took the Central line to Stratford to take a look at the Olympic site and hopefully find the old Big Breakfast house. The Olympic site is massive and I’m afraid the cynic in me still doubts whether everything will be in place in time for the opening ceremony. I hope my cynicism is unfounded, but history tells us that the least “successful” Olympic games have been the ones where the host nation has attempted to create something truly groundbreaking in terms of stadia and new infrastructure. The Los Angeles games of 1986 are the only ones in modern history to have being truly successful in not leaving the country/state with massive debt and unserviceable new development. The secret to the success? Existing stadia and infrastructure were used.

It should have been “England 2012”: Wembley, Manchester Velodrome, Old Trafford, The Emirates, Villa Park, M1, A1, East Coast, West Coast, Birmingham NEC, Sheffield Arena… all proven infrastructure and event venues. But I suppose “London 2012” sees Stratford undergo a much needed facelift.

We’d kind of given up hope of finding the Big Breakfast house and Old Ford Lock, but then we stumbled upon it. Someone lives in the house now as far as we could tell and the canal here isn’t anything special – murky water, a disused anglers hut and a dilapidated British Waterways maintenance vessel with “RENTBOYS” crudely spray-painted on the hull.

Mission accomplished.

We spent the afternoon moseying around Oxford Circus, Baker Street and Camden markets (again) before catching the 1933 East Coast train back to Wakefield and reality.


Thanks for reading…