(I am writing this up to two weeks late as I have been on morning shifts most days, and so I have probably forgotten a lot of stuff)
13/07 - This morning I turned off two alarms and went back to await the third - which never came! Suddenly it was 0550, and my bus was at 0555 - I got the number of my desk and rang the night shifter to tell him i'd be late. Comedy of errors on the way there - there were no trams but replacement buses instead, taking a different route so I missed the 56, then got on the 57 and forgot I had done so, so I had to get off at hôpital-la-tour and wait for the Y bus, which was also late. I got in at 0712, to find the night shifter was still there.
It was a successful shift, we took about 27 nb-1 of data today - a new record, I believe. I had an awesome merguez and goats' cheese sandwich for lunch, and then went and paid my housing deposit (in spite of only having 3 weeks left), sorted out my removals and also booked my last flight home. Back in Geneva I lay on the wooden bit outside on l'Ile for an hour or so, then bought shorts from diesel and then went to lie in my hammock in the park for a bit - I stayed until about 10 in the end as it was a nice evening, I got lots of smiles from passers-by as I lay there reading Treasure Island.
14/07 - I was especially knackered this morning, and starving by about 0930. I also had and unexpected shadow shifter today, I have nothing to teach him. Nothing whatsoever. This proved somewhat embarrassing. As the forecast said it would be 36º today I went to the park and stayed until sunset.
15/07 - Actually I have to apologise for my tardiness today - I couldn't sleep at all last night, partly due to the heat here. Eventually at about 1 am I got to sleep, having tried on the sofa, and having a shower and going to bed soaking wet, etc. I woke up and turned off my alarms then made the fatal mistake of sitting down, and all of a sudden it was 0645 and I panicked - I rang the desk, rushed in and got there at 0750 or so, oh look nothing went wrong.
Some lady came and told me off, but I have no idea who she was, and so I was slightly disrespectful to her, or at least felt no real shame or remorse. I had, once again, eaten my lunch by about 10am, and had another one at 12, then after my shift I went home and had a little sleep, before going to the park to write my report for a while, I think. Dinner was, umm, I have completely forgotten. Probably not that good.
16/07 - As I have a flight to catch later I worked from home this morning. I then went to Montbrillant park for a while, where I got incredibly hot and sweaty working in the sun. My plane was late, again - to avoid import duty I checked in a big bag of wine (6 bottles, wrapped in coats), which was waiting for me by the time I got though passport control - Kelly met me there and we got home for about 8. Felt a bit odd and 'het up' as kelly put it, and I think I was a bit snappy at Ed, but our BBQ went very well. We had delicious steak, sausages, sardines, pork steaks and some good wine too. Paul and Clare came round, which was great - I feel like I haven't seen Clare in a while. Oh, also I put the Buck's Fizz from Fi's wedding in the freezer and forgot about it - I found it on Sunday, exploded and frozen. Bugger.
17/07 - Well, what to say about Lovebox - We got there about 1, started on the beers/ciders (they had roaming guys with backpacks full of booze) and sat in the sun for a while. I had, of course, made a spreadsheet of people to see - I don't remember the order, but I think we managed to see Man Like Me, The Correspondents, Swaharama (exquisitely dressed Indian rock band), Empire Of The Sun (they had dancers dressed as swordfish), and went into the dark and heat of the NYC Downlow stage to see Tim Westwood. He was pretty good, playing mixes of loads of songs by the same artist - including Will Smith, starting with the Fresh Prince Of Bel-Air theme. We also saw Wild Beasts, who were great but seemed better in the smaller venue of Rock City, and Yeasayer who were great too - wish we had been able to get closer.
18/07 - So today we had a leisurely breakfast at the Pavement Café, and headed back east. Today we saw the Destroyers (15 piece Balkan band), Vid Warren (a beatboxing harmonica & recorder player), a crazy Mexican lady and her band, a bit of Peaches (most notable for the giant naked pre-op transexual pushing her wheelchair) and some of Brass Roots, and then we had to rush over to Cut Copy - they were the real reason I wanted to come to Lovebox, and they were simply awesome. We caught a little of Hot Chip and then Chromeo, who were really good too. We ended with a spot of Grace Jones - we saw maybe 20 minutes of her, during which time she did about 5 costume changes. Incredible, terrifying lady.
19/07 - Oops… I met Ed in the morning, he had overslept by an hour (it was 0630) and then I left just before seven- this may well be the last time that I have to leave the house for Geneva for quite a while. Phew. Now, it was an interesting journey, I got the bus then the tube then the DLR, however as there was a 'suspect package' at Canning Town, my train was delayed and then terminated at Blackwall at 0745. Myself and four other business travellers (I was scruffy in flip flops, shorts and a plaid shirt with a canvas bag and a yellow duffel) squeezed into a cab and headed to the airport, where I was unable to use the automatic check in and so I had to go to a desk, but even after all this I still had time for a sandwich and a sit down. My plane was pretty empty, so I sat in the front row gazing at France as we passed for a while. I think I got in a bit early and headed home to write my report. I got a pizza in the evening and as I settled down to eat it I noticed that, as night had fallen, a few hundred bugs had come in and were clustering around my light - I then spent half an hour jumping about with an oven glove and a rolled up towel, swatting as many as I could. I felt a little silly, but I think I got them all, and I remain bite-free.
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