Friday 25 September 2009

It is dark, bleak and cold this morning. Par for the course though by the time I hit London it should be radiant and sunny. For now though I will have to shiver.

Relieved it is Friday I pull myself together and head to the station with gusto with the kind of mindset of the sooner I start the sooner I finish.

When I arrive at the station Son Of Computer Fag is already there waiting for the train carrying a suicide bomber sized rucksack on his back. This guy is geek nerd aggro incarnate.

Also at the platform lingering is a man in a white t-shirt looking scruffy and lost. He then asks a lady eating a chocolate bar if she has “ever been to India?” Shocked I find I cannot believe what I have just heard so the guy gets my full attention. What the fuck is he doing? Is this the latest method for nutters to try and pull birds? Is this their best new line? I give him evils as he toddles off to the other end of the platform being a nuisance and annoying other commuters/extras with the same question. Who let this guy loose on our platform?

Today is payday. I guess the Tuesday Thursday Blur is at least good for something as it gives off the illusion of weeks being shorter and pay days arriving sooner/quicker. Slowly I am building up a decent amount of reserves in my bank, for the first time I am beginning to feel I have some kind of financial security and possibly even something heading towards a mortgage deposit for a decent place. Oh ladies they’re missing out on my riches.

After a boring journey the train eventually pulls into Liverpool Street at 8AM, serving as a timely acknowledgment that I did not imagine the “good old days” of the train being on time.

With The Consultant due in this afternoon the early part of the day is spent preparing for his visit. However as the day pans out we get no word from him or his movements.

That said after yesterday returning home to that angry letter from my accountancy body threatening to remove me from their list of members I have to turn one towards filling in my CPD (continued professional development) forms. I guess they were supposed to have been lodged back in January.

I screw through the morning and appear to only achieve getting halfway with everything.

For lunch I have parmesan chicken in breadcrumbs with linguini. It works for me. When I pop downstairs to collect our food Ewan McGregor is sat in the restaurant in a funny hat. I am genuinely star struck and impressed. I would like to high five him but I don’t.

In the afternoon we wait in anticipation of The Consultant’s arrival and as the hours tick by and get later we begin to debate “surely he isn’t going to turn up this late?” Getting a head start on proceedings my boss comes into our room and begins reviewing the purchase ledger with us. Together we work really well as a team and it is actually fun as the state of the accounts on the whole looks fairly OK, a fact later confirmed when the boss says to us that the ledger is in the best state/condition it has ever been in. After a tough week of busy week and not being very productive this is a very reassuring nod to receive.

Ultimately The Consultant does not turn up. God only knows where he gets to as it feels like we have been stood up by a date after all our waiting around for him. Late in the afternoon around 4PM I get a strange email from him requesting a couple of adjustments regarding depreciation and that is it.

As we all leave for the weekend spirits are high until I inform my boss that I am off on Monday. Suddenly coupled with The Consultant’s no show today this knocks things back even further. It is frustrating all over.

Leaving London this evening is to a beautiful sight, a truly glorious Friday evening. With hindsight I should have felt some remorse at not having anywhere to go but it only hit me as a delayed reaction as to be honest I felt exhausted and fatigued for the evening. Realistically though where at these times are my friends who I go to gigs and other events with? Why can’t I snag a casual social life of just meeting up in groups and hitting pubs and restaurants with a regularity to breed familiarity. This is in England I swear is the only way to meet people and partners. We do not date we just couple off. So with this in mind I can’t help but feel doomed.

By the time I get from St Johns Wood to Liverpool Street I feel I am struggling to function. Arrival at Liverpool Street just before 6PM is greeted with the news that there is a delay in the trains due to signal problems in the Shenfield area.

I end up boarding the 6PM Friday train which is pretty much known as “the Sarah train” these days as this is the train where I bump into her majesty. Tonight as I board the train I brace myself for an accidental on purpose crossing of paths with Sarah. As I snag a decent seat however I feel I escape her glaring wrath.

The train gets held up by signal problems at Shenfield and later again outside Hatfield Peveral making it one agonising journey home as I just want to get the weekend started and the working week finished.

Eventually the train gets home but it’s not without casualty, tonight being my mood. As I slump on my parents’ sofa in a grumpy state there is a little person in Walford and suddenly I begin to questions whether I am watching Eastenders or Time Bandits.

Not long after this I head home to an empty flat and another wasted Friday night stuck home alone. TV almost lets me down but eventually Peep Show, IT Crowd and The Inbetweeners come along to save the day and send me to sleep. There should more to existence than this.