yesterday was of suck

[derien]

I had a rather crappy day, yesterday. Sucks, because it started out all right.

Chronologically...

I worked, as I rarely do, with this guy from London, so I asked him if I was on crack to think we can get from Heathrow to King's Cross in an hour. Apparently, I am. He says the 10:30 arrival time they quote is the moment they expect the wheels to touch the ground. From there, getting through Customs and across the city can take more like two to two and a half hours. Ack! This cuts into the time we get to spend with those of you who've expressed an interest down even further. :( I suppose it can't be helped, but there you are. Expect us at King's Cross Starbucks at more like 1PM and hopefully you won't be disappointed. *sigh*

Then I made the mistake of slamming capitalism as practiced in the U.S. to him and the other Republican I was working with, and had an earful for the next few hours, until about the point in time I got hauled out back to be yelled at for being tardy three times so far this year.

Now, I'll grant you that three times is a bit much, but one of the times they have me as tardy I actually had a very short notice dr's appointment because I had a bladder infection, and I hauled myself in to work anyway because I had to do one-on-one training with someone and make sure they got through their test. So at least that particular time I really was trying hard to be the good worker and do what was best for the company, and I'm getting punished for it. This pisses me off. Another of those times was the day the windshield wipers stopped working, it was snowing, and I had to take a cab in, and the cab took for-freakin-ever to get here and drove ridiculously slowly, so it cost me $14 to be late for work that day. I'm not exactly happy about that instance, either. The last time was just stupidity and ignorance on my part - I forgot my parking card and didn't know that it was possible to get the parking people to look up your account and let you in, so I went back to get the card. I won't have to do that again, now that I know.

But my conclusion is that I'm much better off calling in sick. I have plenty of sick time, I don't think I'll bother to feel guilty about using it after this.

And this morning I'm having breakfast with Phoebe, so hooray for mountains of hash! :)

Comments

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

How are you planning on getting to/across London? The Heathrow Express takes 15 minutes to get into Paddington (it comes every 15 minutes, costs £26, AFAIK - I'm hoping that's return, BTW. The local train takes about 30 minutes and comes every thirty minutes, costs approx £7 one way). Take the Tube (Circle or District lines - yellow or green) to Victoria, and the Victoria Line (light blue) to Kings Cross (£2 for a one way ticket, AFAIK) I'm not sure how long that'll take you, but I'd hope it's not quite the ordeal suggested. Unless you have a lot of luggage? That's no fun to haul around on the tube - lots of stations have Unexpected Stairs.

ETA: Tube map. I hope someone who knows London's exciting transport better can give you better tips!

[derien.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :) We can usually get around okay - we always seem to have, between us, a small suitcase, a knapsack and a camera backpack, but I'm urging Eor to make the suitcase as light as possible this time, since we do know there's laundry facilities in the cottage.

[peak-in-darien.livejournal.com]

Heathrow is also the only airport I've had a 3 hour delay at due to people being unable to remove ice from a plane's wings >.> just thought I'd throw that in there...

Enjoy your well deserved breakfast!

[derien.livejournal.com]

Oh, I did! :) Omlet with spinach and sausage.

[kryptyd.livejournal.com]

Augh, that sucks! The work bit I mean. London will be cool. Don't stress about it.

[derien.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :)

[bravecows.livejournal.com]

I haven't taken the Heathrow Express. I usually take the Tube straight from Heathrow and it does take FOREVER, 'cos it has to trundle across Greater London and so on. So say about an hour to an hour and a half after touching down for customs and getting your bags out and so on, and then another hour to get to Central London from Heathrow on the tube. Yeah. :(

The advantage of taking the Tube directly from the airport is that you don't have to haul things around various Tube stations while changing trains. Also, it's probably the cheapest option -- about £5, I think? There are also buses (good because you don't have to mess around with your bags, bad because I'm not sure there are buses that go directly and non-confusingly to King's Cross) and of course, the Heathrow Express.

[derien.livejournal.com]

I thought we had it figured out at one point, but we'll probably have to print it all out and carry the info with us because we'll get confused otherwise and be wandering around looking for the right bus.

[arjuna-lj.livejournal.com]

hooray for mountains of hash! :)

...you're not going to try taking *that* through the airport I trust ;p

[derien.livejournal.com]

*chortles!*