London one-way!

You won’t believe this, no really, you won’t. Many of you don’t know about my latest assignment, and I don’t mean the homework kind either. This is day one of my very first live-in job as a carer. And this feed is coming to you from the fifth floor of Grafton Square. I’m so high I can see the whole top half of the bright red lights from the London eye, up north in Westminster. The skyline is my perfect view, and the window with the desk sat in front is the perfect inspiration for any writer, amateur or professional.

 
The whole house is perfect for a writer though, because it is filled with books: in every bedroom; the bathrooms; the kitchen – did I even mention the sitting room? The TV room literally is like a den, hidden and forgotten in the basement of this five story monster. I am sure I will despise this monster in the end; the staircase will run me ragged, up and down, up and down. Keep the toothbrush in the kitchen and the shoes at the front door.
 
I need to get back to these books though. The volumes of books surrounding me, I want to pick them all up and start reading them, but I know the likelihood of me getting through a shelf of them let alone the whole house in three weeks is near impossible. But the list is going to be impressive, and I will make one. Because these are no chick lit, no choose your own adventure, or R.L. Stine. This is the classics. We’re talking poetry by Blake, plays by Bennet, and every classic you can think of from Mrs Dalloway to The Secret Garden. The only recent publications I’ve seen so far are the next generation of classics – all the Harry Potters!
 
I imagine on a calm summers day it would be easy to block out the world and concentrate up here, but right now it is late in the evening, the wind is finding its way through the open crack at the top of the window – these houses may be nice, but they’re damn near falling apart with age – I can see the shadows of the trees swaying and hear the rattling of their leaves. Thinking about tomorrow, the second day.  How will I go, trying to fulfil the tasks of mother, care supporter and friend? How much can the roles clash and yet still work so well? Because I can make them work. I can.
 
Today was messy. I cannot drive the family car, because although my licence is more than valid over here, their insurance company is very strict and won’t allow my cover without an international licence. Tight arses. It was also raining and quite heavy which we haven’t had a lot of. Actually it was pelting down when the tube passed through Whitechapel, and I prayed that by the time I reached Clapham it will have moved on. I was in luck, although that didn’t make the pack feel any lighter. My laptop sitting amongst the clothes is three kilos on its own. As per usual, I didn’t bring many clothes, it’s the extra items that increase the weight. Toiletries, extra pair of shoes, box of homemade shortbreads… I’ve had three today, that means only one tomorrow. I told myself two a day, which is quite reasonable with dark chocolate floating around. At least that has antioxidants in it – so good for me.
 
 

Tags: Travel

This entry was posted on Thursday, January 24th, 2008 at 9:05 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.