First trip to London

I am now officially able to bank in the United Kingdom! It only took five weeks, but I now have a bank account, a debit card, and a pin number for the debit card. I list these separately because apparently, in the U.K., it is physically impossible for them to give you all three at the same time. Heaven forbid. That might actually be, like, efficient or something. It took three weeks to get the account, another week to get the card, and another week (once I'd 'activated' the card) to get the default PIN number mailed to me. Keep in mind - I'm one of the lucky ones. If you can't prove you have the right (i.e., a work visa) to stay in the U.K. for at least 12 months, most banks won't even give you an account! It's only through the miracle of the 'corporate client' account that I was able to even get one! They've tightened the banking laws to ridiculous levels - what with their constant fear of money launderers, terrorists, and Eastern European immigrants - all of whom apparently wish to defraud the banking system of thousands of pounds... (no no - seriously...)

So, to celebrate my newfound wealth (I'd gotten paid on the 26th, but couldn't actually access the money until I had my debit card!), I was finally able to take a trip to London this past Saturday. Organised, and I use the term loosely, by my fellow summer interns working in the Big Blue Tent, we were originally going to stay the weekend, but were not able to find a hostel with 10 beds on such short notice. Just as well.

Actually, if you don't mind leaving London before midnight (and unless you're going clubbing, you're kicked out of most pubs at 11:30 pm anyways...), it's almost cheaper to take the train from Cambridge and back both days than to stay the night - 'offpeak,' single day return fares are only 13 GBP. Add another 5 for unlimited tube fare within the central zones, and you're all good for travel costs.

The day, however, did not start off well. At least I wasn't quite as hungover as I should have been - went to Bullard Labs "happy hour" again, and the beer flowed... Oddly, enough no pictures - decided not to bring my camera out and tempt fate.

Anyways - woke up at 7 on Saturday for an attempt at an early run before our 9:30 scheduled meeting time to catch a train - no point booking in advance - they run every 12 min or so. So I got dressed, started putting my socks on... and felt a sharp stabbing pain in my foot, which I initially thought was a pulled muscle or something... but it got worse, and worse... and started to throb. I leave my windows open for air - turned out a bee had flown in, landed on my sock, and somehow stayed there even when I turned them inside-out by hand. I don't think I've been stung by a bee in at least 10 years - it really freakin' hurts! And it was right on the fleshy part of my arch, so as soon as it started to swell I couldn't very well go for a run. Oh well, I told myself, I'll just try to not drink so much beer this weekend.

Anyways, after 45 min of keeping a bag of frozen veggies on my foot, the swelling had pretty much gone, and I was just left with a dull ache and occasional shooting pains. Didn't make the 9:30 meet-up though - Norway decided to sleep in a bit - he called El Jefe and myself, we delayed until 9:45. Turned out the others had gotten there at 9:30 (on time), but it turned out ok - because we didn't travel with them we decided to attempt some culture before descending into depravity...