Arrived in London on the 2nd and was fortunate enough to stay at Bert’s place. Not sure what I am going to do for work, as I need to get this hernia operation sorted out first. After seeing a doctor as soon as possible, he sorted me out with a referral to the British Hernia Center.
Had an interview for a job at the Walkabout Inn at Reading on the 6th. I was told that they were mainly looking for women but that Leeds were also looking for staff. I had an interview two days later with Jon Crook who offered me a job the next day. My start date is to be the 27th.
Some time after that I moved down to Barnesy’s at Kingston. They have a bigger place and wanted someone to house sit while they went to Spain for two weeks. I was more than happy to oblige. My only trip into the center of town was to spend a day wandering and to go to the Dali Museum. A great exhibition from my favorite artist. I’m pretty sure that some of the works were the part of a traveling exhibition in Florence I saw in 1998. Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed seeing his works of art. Pure genius! Afterwards I walked up to the National Portrait Gallery near Trafalgar Square. The gallery was displaying an exhibition of Australian photographers / personalities. A little bit of home in London.
Buckingham Palace, London
On the 22nd I made my way up to Hendon to the British Hernia Center to have my problem resolved. The surgery took a couple of hours. I was under a local anesthetic and don’t remember any of the operation. The taxi back to Kingston was a bit blurry as well. The following two days saw me in pain and I was having trouble walking.
I delayed my trip to Leeds for two days to recover. I managed to catch a train to Leeds on the following Tuesday to start working the next day. I get to share a room with Pete and Fraser. The work is not too bad, but it will take a bit of get used to being on my feet for long periods of time. The aftermath / recovery from my operation is coming on nicely.
On the 29th Amy arrived from the USA. It is so good to see her again – can’t believe it has been seven weeks. She will stay in Leeds for a week before heading off for a trip to Spain.
