Jason's Daily Notes

I started the week, and the month for that matter, in Paris. My trip there was amazing, and the weather was gorgeous. I could not have planned a better trip (and of course I didn't really plan anything at all!).

Anyway, what happened in Paris is more a subject for my travel blog, which I'll surely update eventually. So now, I'll just pick up with my return to London this Tuesday:

Tuesday, 2 October 2012
The bus ride back from Paris gave us the same bus driver, a Spanish guy who seemed to be in a rush, urging us all off the bus when we arrived anywhere. We were scheduled to have a snack break somewhere 2 hours before leaving France, but as he pulled into the service area, he stopped the bus, kept the doors closed, spoke on the phone for a minute, and then announced to the bus that the snack break was cancelled because "there is a problem with the ferry. We now will try to make it to take the train in time." Apparently the only trains we could take were at 14:30 or at 19:30! So we rushed to the Eurotunnel terminal, where we were herded out of the bus and through passport control (twice, once for France and once for Britain). There was one Korean woman who held up the entire queue at British immigration because she couldn't answer all the questions straightforward. Bleh.

Anyway, somehow we made it onto the train around 15:00. (?!) On the other side, England was cold and rainy. I was sending WhatsApp messages with Mike and Swag. Apparently Swag was put on a last-minute assignment in Belgium, and he was getting on the train that very afternoon. So I wouldn't see him. So when I arrived home, around 17:50, no one was there. I went around the corner and bought some juice and a chicken sandwich from the kebab shop. Mike arrived at 18:15, having rushed home really quickly on his bike. He was really excited to go to the Bond screening tonight (Swag had gotten free tickets to a Bond 007 screening). So excited that he insisted we both suit up! So we did, and we hurried over to Leicester Square to see the movie - which wasn't the new Bond movie (Skyfall) but a documentary about the 50 years that the James Bond franchise has been active. Interesting.

Wednesday, 3 October 2012
It was the first day of my work-at-home internship. I put my Skype on, anticipating a 9am start, and before I could get ready, Iain called me at 8:40 and begun briefing me on what to do. So I was off, submitting content to the site, and taking peeks at the Facebook and Twitter accounts.

After a few hours, I found it already pretty boring and repetitive. Was this what my next month was going to be like? I couldn't stand it.

Oh yeah, and the gas was out in the flat again. So that meant a cold shower for me, and only the microwave and toaster to cook with. I microwaved a pack of the pork faggots and microwaved some frozen vegetables for dinner. I was gonna go out to top up the card, but Kayleen returned home early and did it instead.

Mike and I walked to Tesco. We bought some food and beers, which we drank in the evening while watching some TV.

Thursday, 4 October 2012
Second day on the job. I was told to go at it some more, giving a little more emphasis on the social media. So I did. It was ok, but still it was hard to motivate me to do the work. I should be getting paid for this kind of work, honestly.

Fernanda was messaging me all day, saying how she wanted to go out to cheer her up (she had been down since losing her job a few days prior). So I planned that we go out to the 80s night in Camden town.

In the evening, Mike returned and we spent some time planning our trip to Cornwall. We chatted with Swag and Sandy. We would have set the trip for next weekend but Mike didn't want to rush the trip so he decided against it, arguing we should go the following weekend. So the plans completely collapsed.

We went to Camden around 10pm for the 80s night. It was shitty. There were maybe 15 people there, and there was a bad cover band playing somewhat obscure songs. Not stuff to dance to. It would have been better if they just hooked up someone's iTunes. Fernanda arrived, and we just sat awkwardly complaining about the place and how few people were there. So, fuck it, I just got up and danced by myself. Honey Badger don't care. Mike eventually joined me, and so did Fernanda. I tried to make it fun. But they still wanted to go somewhere else, so we did - to the Blues Kitchen, just down the street. The band was just finishing its set as we arrived. There was a really drunk guy there who was excessively friendly with me. And a bitch of a woman. I was not in the best mood as we left, but I kept it to myself.

Since Wednesday, I have been working full-time as a work-at-home unpaid intern for a website, Competition Hunter. The goal of my internship is to increase traffic to the site, whether though increased search ranking or through social media outreach. Why did I take an unpaid internship? Because I need experience in web technology and online marketing. I feel that it will give me more tangible skills as I try to find other jobs. It remains to be seen just how much that will actually go through in reality. For now, I'm just getting by. And trying to stay warm as the days get colder and colder (and shorter and shorter) in London...

Wow, it's already the 26th of September?! The time is just flying by.

Last night, the internet router was delivered, but it was too late to call, so I spent an hour in the morning setting up the internet connection, having to call Virgin Media 3 times (and I despaired a bit when the online registration wouldn't go through). But finally, it worked! WE FINALLY HAVE INTERNET!

Then, our landlord gave me an address to go to for me to pick up the gas payment card. It was all the way beyond Brixton, towards Clapham a bit. So I went there, gave the card details and PIN, and the card was denied! I called the landlord to ask what was up, and apparently the card wouldn't be activated until 12pm! Since it was like 11:50 I just went for a little walk and returned around 12:20 to try again. But no luck! Fuck this. I chided Demi, telling him to call the gas company now and sort it out while I was at the store, but he didn't call back for a couple hours. I figured this out and just returned home.

In the afternoon, Demi returned with a crew of two guys to (1) clean [mop] the common spaces in the house and (2) fix my bed. Instead of replacing the base, he just hammered a piece of plywood onto the existing base. And it didn't fit perfectly, so there's still a small gap in the base. Unbelievable! But I don't care; I can live with it. He also installed a crappy little suction-based shower head holder. So that's being resolved. And as for the gas, apparently it wasn't activated until 4pm! And he couldn't even take care of it himself, so he asked me to return there. The audacity! But fuck, we needed gas, so I gladly made the trek over there to pick up the card and top it up with £20 (even though he told me not to add credit). And I returned, put it in the reader, and voila! It worked. We had gas again! (Although only £6 of credit.)

Since it was my last day of having a weekly travelcard, I asked Swag if he wanted to meet somewhere for dinner. He suggested a cheap place on Brick Lane. Mike and I went there (having to walk to Stockwell station for him to buy a new travelcard) and met Swag and Sandy. The food was ok, largely fish-based, but not really strongly flavored. We bought a couple sweets on our way out, and Sandy wanted us to try paan, which is a leaf filled with ground nuts, sweets, sugars, and chewing tobacco that is supposed to get you mildly high. It was hilarious, because we had to keep these large leaf things wedged in the corner of our mouths and slowly chew on them. We were laughing about the whole way as we went on the tube (randomly, I decided that we should go to King's Cross). As I mentioned, the paan "tasted like car wash" or "a grassy field without the grass." Not exactly the best. And I think the hallucinogenic properties was mostly a placebo effect. So Swag and Mike spit theirs out, while Sandy and I chewed and swallowed it all.

Sandy and I got beers at O'Neills on Euston road to wash down the taste in our mouths. Then, we went on a quest to find a photobooth for Swag and Mike to take pics for their visa application and railcard, respectively. We wandered all the way through St. Pancras and Kings Cross stations before finding a photobooth hidden in King's Cross. The guys were having fun messing with Swag or Mike while they were trying to take their picture. I suddenly felt very bored. We then just parted ways and went home. I meditated on the tube ride home, suddenly feeling very content and introspective. Maybe it was the relaxing effects of the paan? Either way, I didn't feel nervous for the first time in a while. It felt good. And I slept pretty well, because for the first night in a while we had heating :)

(However, I did knock over a mostly full glass of water on my desk, so I frantically tried to save all the papers and electronic chargers that got wet. I think I did well enough. Still - D'oh!)

Still no internet in the apartment, so I returned to LSE in the morning. I took the bus, and on my iPhone came "With a Little Help from My Friends" by the Beatles, which made me tear up a little bit with love for all my great friends. At LSE, I called Iain to confirm that I was going forward with the internship. As I was following up with other emails, I got a call from Demi (our landlord) asking if I would be home soon to let the plumber/electrician in. So I took the bus back around 2pm and let him in.

The handyman confirmed what I had suspected about the gas - the bill hadn't been paid! Next, the electrical socket for the oven, which wasn't working. He discovered that the neutral wiring had been burnt off, which meant there was no current. He re-terminated all the wirings, and the electricity was flowing again! That's one small victory for the flat. Next, the washing machine. There was no where to plug it in to! So, we just simply need an extension cord to reach it over to the wall plug. (Seriously, why are there so few electrical outlets in buildings here? I have nowhere to plug my laptop into in the dining room, which really sucks! Finally, he checked the toilet, which is continuously flushing. He said he could fix it tomorrow, since all that's needed is to replace one of the valves; he just needs the landlord to approve it (greeeeeaaat...).

I followed up with the landlord to tell him what to do, and he was again hesitant. I mean, c'mon, just call the fucking gas company and tell them to activate it now! (Apparently you have to pay by inserting a gas card into the meter.) And the plumbing issue should have been resolved asap. But no! UGH.

As a flat, we all agreed that we deserve some sort of refund on our rent.

Dinner was microwaved shepherd's pie for me, and then we tried to make guacamole to go with the remaining tortilla chips, but it became a massive fail as the avocado was still hard and wouldn't mash. It turned out to have an awful texture.

In the evening, Mike was dead set on cheering me up, so we went to the cinema and watched Untouchable, a remarkably feel-good film about a man helping another man who is paralyzed. It's such a simple concept, but the characters are brilliantly executed and you can't help but cheer up when you watch it. :)

Monday, the start of the work week, but it was already my second day going to LSE to use the internet. Our landlord promised that the internet would be installed tomorrow (Tuesday), but given his track record so far, I didn't expect much.

I followed up with Iain regarding the unpaid internship, calling him from the LSE library lobby, where we talked for almost 45 minutes. The site has a lot of problems and things to look after, which means that I would be very busy as an intern. It does seem to provide me with precisely the experience I need - working hands-on in a startup, managing social media, reaching out to blog partners to drive traffic to the site, touching a bit on SEO. I can do it. At least I'll get a good recommendation out of it and something to put on my CV. I told Iain that I'd get back to him tomorrow to confirm.

I told Swag about the internship, and he said "go for it!"; I told Mike about the internship, and he said "don't do it!"

Got a phone call from Fernanda, who was having a horrible day at work. She was ready to quit right then and there. I did my best to console her and keep her going. We made arrangements to meet for dinner.

Since I had internet, I called home, but mom wasn't there, so I just spoke with my uncle, who has apparently gotten into Mahjong, which seems good for him.

I came home then went to dinner with Fernanda. We met at Canada Water and walked over to the Angel pub, which unfortunately wasn't serving food on Mondays! :X So we had a beer, and hungry, we walked over to Bermondsey and had sushi at Poppy Hana. I almost died walking in front of a bus. We talked, but it turned somewhat awkward as you could feel the tension in the air.

While I was at dinner, our landlord came to the flat to fix my bed and Kayleen's bed. But he brought the wrong size base for my bed, which Mike was texting me. I told Fernanda about it and she was like, "go, go!" It was pretty awkward.

So I went home; Mike had made his room into a romantic candlelit cave, and we chatted. Apparently it's a cultural thing - in the Netherlands people are just naturally upfront and honest with their emotions, not keeping anything inside or trying to protect others' feelings. Just say what you feel and what you think. How awesome is that? Anyway, Mike encouraged me to get my feelings out, which was pretty awesome.

Still no internet in the flat. I went to LSE in the morning to send out more job applications and to download some shows to watch in the evening (primarily Game of Thrones and Californication). Mike apparently slept in until 3pm!

Anyway, one job application responded right away - Competition Hunter, which is a UK website that aggregates online competitions in which people can enter and win stuff. The founder was impressed by my qualifications and wanted to bring me on as an intern. But (as I would soon discover) it would be a one-month unpaid internship, and I would be working from home. So it's not ideal but it would give me exposure to a lot of areas that I want to learn about.

The weather has turned colder and damper. Summer is definitely over now :(

I returned home to learn that the gas boiler in the house was not working, and as a result, neither was the oven/stove, the hot water, or the heating in the house! WTF?!?!?!

We called the landlord, but he was hesitant to reply. The problems in the house are simply becoming too much. The toilet continues to leak, there is no shower fixture, neither Mike nor I have a working wardrobe rod, there are piles of wood just laying in the upstairs hallway, and my bed is still broken! Unbelievable.

So, unable to cook food (except for the microwave, which we weren't prepared for), Mike and I walked to Brixton and had some take away food from two fried chicken joints. Meh.

Today we spent the day buying things for the flat. The flatmates and I went to the nearby dollar store and then Tesco twice. We brought backpacks and filled up the kitchen with all the basic ingredients. In the afternoon, Mike and I made Nachos.

Then we went to the laundromat around the corner from our house to wash/dry some clothes and bed sheets. The laundromat didn’t give change, and it had no outlets for us to plug our laptops into. My laptop battery had died, so I could only use my iPhone, leaving me to send WhatsApp messages around. Mike was writing up a progress report for his internship.

In the evening, Mike and I met up with Swag at the Old Blue Last. He was there with Maria and some other friends, but they left just a few minutes before we arrived! Well, Swag returned and had one more drink with us. There was a Brit indie rock band playing, (Bear Cavalry; http://www.facebook.com/bearcavalryband) which I liked. Mike and I returned home with the bus, exhausted from 4 straight nights out (plus 4 days of nonstop moving before then).

Still no internet in the flat.

Woke up pretty early, because there was so much sunlight coming through my windows! Mike left for work. Around 9, an engineer from Sky arrived to install the satellite connection. Morgan was still sleeping on the fold out sofa. The Sky installation didn’t work, because they needed to get onto the roof to properly position the receiver dish (a second guy came around a couple hours later to confirm this).