Except, to get the bike home, I had to ride on London streets. Worse, I had to go straight to the gym for a yoga class, so I had my yoga mat and workout clothes in a bag slung over my shoulder. And I haven't ridden a bicycle in three years. Needless to say, it may have been the scariest 20 minutes of my life, and my yoga mat fell out three times, unrolling itself into the middle of the street each time. Did I mention the yoga mat is bright purple? When I bought it (in LA) the gym lady assured me it wouldn't stand out at all. Well, it stood out alright. I finally lashed it onto my back like a sword; I'm sure the locals thought gay liberation had finally come to Ealing.
Then I realized I would need a bicycle lock when I got to the gym. I could have stopped at a store and gotten a cheap lock, but what do you do with your bike when you're buying a bicycle lock? It would be embarrassing to have owned a bike less than an hour before it was stolen...twice. (The first time I was only 12, and I'd like to think I am a little smarter now.) But it didn't matter because I had a brilliant idea: I could use the lock I had for my laptop! Now, if you're familiar with computer locks, you'll immediately recognize the fallacy in this plan, but it wasn't until I was at the gym did I realize that the computer cable just slips through a loop and then plugs into the laptop. With nothing to plug into, effectively all I was doing was tying the cable around the bike like a piece of rope, and hoping a thief didn't notice. But again, it didn't matter because by this time I was too late to join the class, so I just came home. (I ended up ordering a lock over the Internet which cost as much as the bike itself! However, London has a very high theft rate, so a cheap lock is just an invitation to steal, and I figure the inconvenience of losing my bike while away from home would be much worse than just the financial loss.)
In the afternoon, I went to a "drop-in" tennis class at the park, except I was the only one who dropped in. I asked someone and he told me they hadn't done that in two years, and I must have been looking at an old web site. (I was.) He said they'll have classes on Friday if he can get at least four people signed up, but including me I think he only had two people, so I'm not holding my breath. There's another tennis school nearby that has drill sessions on Sunday, but they are expensive (£12 for non-members!) so I'm thinking about going there once just to see if I can find someone who will play me on the free courts.
So that was the normal part of my day.
I mentioned in my last email that getting broadband + phone line + cable TV was cheaper than broadband by itself, but neither would do me much good because I didn't have a phone or TV. I found a cheap, second hand TV on gumtree (the UK equivalent to craigslist) that was just a short bus ride away. Of course it wasn't a flatscreen, but it was only 21" and I figured I could carry it to/from the bus. However, no doubt because I haven't been to the gym in two months, I could barely lift it. The seller offered me a large rolling suitcase that he was getting rid of, which he taped shut, tied off with a yellow LAN cable, and then wrapped two wire coat hangers around. It looked like something out of Sanford and Son, but it worked, and I rolled the TV a mile back to my place. (See attached photo.)
The TV is still in the suitcase, however, as Jessica suggested I stain the TV stand a darker color. I'm also going to see if I can string up a hammock in my little patio space.
P.S. "On your bike" is the British equivalent of "get lost" or "take a hike."
No comments:
Post a Comment