For the next two weeks I'm staying in Dorset, UK... an hours' bus journey from Salisbury. My accomodation is quite poor; no mobile phone reception within a km, an internet cafe that never seems to be open, etc... and the shower has no temperature control... this morning, I turned all the hot-water taps on to full, put all the showers on and it didn't make the shower I wanted come down to a less-than-scolding temperature. Ridiculous.

I expect temporary accomodation to have dribbling lukewarm showers that I can at least try to wash under... not high-powered, scalding water that I can't bear!

Anyway, I'm not very mobile so don't think I'll be able to meet anyone apart from a few work colleagues who are in the area.

Tags: blandford, dorset, internet access, showers, uk, work
Current Location: Starbucks, Salisbury, UK

First day of my month-long work in Blandford, Dorset, UK was nice and slow. It was, however, only an introduction and admin day. There were hints that will be a lot of learning to do over the next four weeks! Anyway, we knocked off before 3pm, so I went and spent two hours in the gym.

Was using my wireless headphones :p

Tags: blandford, dorset, work
Current Mood: relaxed

Hi all, haven't updated for a while on account of being busy. The last two weekends I've been staying with a close friend... and on that note...

For those that don't know, I've got a wonderful girlfriend :-) We done the inevitable over a month ago and decided to call ourselves girlfriend/boyfriend... and hey I don't take these things lightly, so it was a meaningful step.

Most of you won't know who she is, and those that do please refrain from giving it away online, this relationship is a nice, slow, private, loving one and most the details are not anyone's business!

Work
We got to play on an Army assault course! It was long, very difficult, harder and much more exciting that the one in Staffordshire, and had lots of very high platforms in it! It was really cool, and one of the guys said I was a ninja on it :-) ... *squirrel* *squirrel*

They have hinted that they might be installing broadband in the accomodation blocks here.

Moved
Oh yeah, I've completely moved out of London and am living in Dorset now, at work premises. All my belongings, books, computer, CDs, etc, are here. My patient and accomodating girlfriend puts up with me in London when I'm out on weekends... failing that I stay here or can come visit friends as long as they'll put me up!

I miss you all, was nice to bump in to a few people this weekend, but didn't actively meet anyone on account of knowing I'd be distracted/busy/

Tags: assualt course, dorset, fitness, london, sam, work
Current Mood: horny

I'm moving out of London, very likely, this bank holiday weekend. I'm moving all of my stuff to my work premises in Dorset. I knew a while ago when I chose this career that I'd be giving up London, I've gone through the mourning process... leaving my spiritual home, for a life in the rest of the world!

It was organized a little quickly, the main aim is to save myself a ton of money... with which I'll actually be able to afford to come out and play in London :-) I'm not really online at the moment yet, not sure if I will be for a while. Don't know if BT will extend their services to this neck of the literal woods, and can't build a receiver myself. Yet. Am undergoing training to do that very type of thing though :-)

A big thanks for those who have helped me get where I am. I'm going to keep in touch with as many people as possible and have reverted to writing snail mail!

Tags: dorset, london
Current Mood: sad

I've had a really lazy few days off. Am now packing to go back to Dorset... depending on finance and commitments, I should be able to return to London a few weekends a month - although it'll probably be less than that the potential is there in theory.

On Sunday I ... w e n t   t o   c h u r c h, which surprised me... thankfully it was about as a liberal church as you can possibly get, a Unitarian congregation at Essex Unitarian Church. Accompanied shuripentu. The service was generally Christian but highly nonspecific; they are without a minister at the moment (in that sense it felt more like a Church of England service...). There were some attempts at building a sense of community through a request for people to stand up and introduce themselves.

Unitarianism like many extreme liberal churhces attract a largely wealthy clietelle, as is expected, so the congregation had a large proportion of world travellers, from Canada, USA, Spain, and not so many locals. Shuri made the best introduction, everyone else stuck to textbook "I am x, from y, happy easter everyone".

The congregation were no doubt initially confused why an inverted pantagon-wearing, and heptacle-wearing pair of black-clad youngsters were there, but the group leaders seemed proud we were there and (as expected from a U group) spoke out that Unitarians were a diverse bunch.

People lit candles and voiced a concern, good wish, condolency or rememberance. The entire congregation was 50+, with a child or two, and a younger mother or two. There were two (*secular*) liturgical singers, but the other hymns were mostly Christian.

The whole event was very white-light and was a bit oppressive - singers and sermons were interspersed without a real good usage of silence or punctuation. In short... I could have programmed a better service :-)

At coffee & cakes afterwards we talked to many of them, they're generally (on account of class & age, I guess) quite intelligent, a few of them actively interested in comparative religion, a few of them surprised by Shuri & mine's knowledge of stuff. When they ask "Do you have a religious background" as we talked about gnostic texts in particular the gospel of St Thomas, and I said "no..." they'd sort of look blankly until Shuri rescued their sanity by pointing out I'd been studying religion for years.

Unitarian congregations are random in that I guess you never know what particular mix of people you're going to get... I'm unlikely to try another, unless there is somewhere in England, a congregation where people are perhaps within a generation or two of my own... but that's unlikely no matter which light light establishment I decide to darken the door of!

Tags: dorset, london, religion, shuri, unitarian universalists, unitarians
Listening To: "Conjure" by Project Pitchfork

I've been notably offline for a number of months living in obscure places on training... many times in places so distant that there's not even a mobile phone signal at all... (what a dilemma in the modern world, eh?)

Well on Thursday I formally finish this very antisocial part of my training... I'm now somewhat fitter than I used to be and have basic weapons training, and many new skills completely unrelated to computers, programming, theology, philosophy and dancing.

Anyway, for about half a year from 2004 April 04 (Sunday), I will be living mostly in Dorset. On the plus side I will be online more, will be able to get out on weekends and get to London. I'll be doing specialist communications training in IT (a breeze for me!), some hacking (again a breeze, probably), satellite and radio construction, powering, installatioa and maintenance... random stuff...

And I can start doing sports again and get paid for it :-) Rugby and basketball...

Tags: army, army training, dorset
Current Mood: lazy
Listening To: "Bullet" by Covenant