Category Archives: Weather

My bank holiday Monday

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It’s impossible to walk down Southbank in the early evening with your iPod plugged in.

It’s bank holiday Monday and I’m sitting enjoying a couple of buskers perform under the sunset outside the Tate Modern. The tide is out and just below me, are the pebbles and sand that usually form the river bed.

20130506-205221.jpgThe air above me is busy, with planes and helicopters flying over and of course, the setting sun to me left, blinding any turn of the head towards Blackfriars Bridge.

If anything, I should be in my flat revising for my upcoming exams but I’m not. Instead, listening to two guitarists and the many conversations around me – most of which in a language I don’t understand. Continue reading →

Oh I do like to be beside the seaside

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If I’m being honest, Brighton isn’t really my scene…

My reason for travelling down to the coastal town was for an interview, just a couple of questions with someone representing a company. I figured that by going the extra mile, or so, I’d be able to give myself a great opportunity for the assignment. Once the interview was over, it was my intension to explore and to visit somewhere new.

The train I was on arrived into Brighton station an hour and a half early and after briefly popping into an internet café, took a stroll to the beach where I spent some time taking photos and walking up to the pier. I noted the old pier too, which appeared abandoned and cut off from the shoreline. I remember seeing it in a presentation based on hyperlocal websites, where one of my classmates chose a site local to Brighton and a banner on the home page was a picture of the old pier. Continue reading →

Two days notice

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Ever since I could remember, holidays took weeks if not months planning in advance. Flights had to be booked as early as possible. Up until now, the shortest time I’ve had to prepare for a holiday is somewhat four months. Up until now of course, where little over 48 hours was really the fine line.

I shall set the mood for you back to when the idea first came into question.

It was a drunken Monday evening and the four of us had been on the topic of Mickey’s monthly adventure and that was where, I think, the joking about began. I have a vague idea of what happened next but it resulted in the booking of a city break to Amsterdam, later that week. Continue reading →

This years blanket

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Every year, I say the same things. In the build up to Christmas, I’m always wishing for snow and then when it arrives, all I do is moan.

While it wasn’t so much a white Christmas, the last few days have seen a gentle blanket across London and for my first winter in London, I thought it would be fun to take some photos, so here are just a few that I wanted to share with you.

Smithfield Market
Millennium Bridge
St Paul’s Underground
Bicycle on St John’s Street
Northampton Square, in the snow
St Paul’s Cathedral

Isn’t she beautiful

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Okay, so you could argue that it’s probably better to be going to bed than taking a stroll along the Thames at night, but really, isn’t she beautiful?

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The great lawnmower depression

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Okay, it’s summer. I get your point. But does that really mean I should spend my day listening to the struggling lawnmower a few hours round the corner? Surely not, I hope.

It’s already a steaming hot day with the sun belting down from a beautiful clear sky. I woke late this morning with a slight headache from the heat, made worse by the constant strain of a lawnmower pushed beyond belief along a stretch of grass that I presume is in need of a trim. You’d at least hope it’s not for the sake of it.

It reminded me of an occasion while waiting in the reception area of a helicopter training office, where I had previously had a one off flying lesson in a helicopter. It was time for a pleasure flight, to enjoy the scenery from above, without being distracted by the controls that had surrounded me. I was sat on a rather comfortable sofa, quietly chatting amongst the group of people I was with as an irritated woman made her way into the premises.

Her presence turned heads, before she had even opened her mouth. She stormed across to the desk and demanded to see the manager, who unfortunately wasn’t there to witness such event.

“What are these helicopters doing?”

It was an amazing question to ask. What were those helicopters doing in an airfield?

“They are being used for training purposes, is there a problem?”

It was a reasonable response to a fairly straight forward question – whether it was a little obvious or not.

“Well I’d like to speak to the manager please. Is he here? I want to make another formal complaint to the manager now. Where is he?”

She sounded awfully aggressive to the lady behind the desk, with students making their way into the reception area hoping to sign in for their lesson.

“The manager is away today, he’ll be back on Monday. Can I leave him a message on your behalf?”

Again, a polite response. What more could she have replied with?

“No you most certainly can not. Do you know how loud those helicopters are?”

At which point, with almost perfect timing, a helicopter flew down besides the window and landed only feet away from where the desk was. A quick personnel change and it took off almost straight away. It was amazing to see it so close from inside the little hut we were in, exciting me for my turn to run out under the rotor blades.

“Do you see what I mean? It’s horrific! I demand you to stop making so much noise!”

The lady behind the desk was beginning to get upset, as the tone of voice used by this angry woman was becoming more and more aggressive. I looked away from sight as a smile began to stretch across my face. After a further five minutes of ranting and violent shouting, the woman stormed off outside hand began to shout at members of the public – those enjoying the atmosphere at an airfield and waiting for their pleasure flight.

Once she was out of ear-shot, the lady behind the desk apologised to us before saying something quite remarkable.

“I’m terribly sorry about that, she comes in here every week like that. I’m really sorry you had to witness it. She lives a few minutes walk away behind the hut and constantly complains about the noise.”

I’m sorry.

Did I hear her correctly?

The woman lives a few minutes walk from an airfield – but complains about the noise?

Surely not?

“The airfield has been here for nearly thirty years, to which she has been living across the road for just over five. She’s made violent complaints in the past and we’ve even tried to buy her house of her – just to see her move away!”

I laughed. I’m not going to hold it back I thought, so I laughed and laughed. I don’t know anyone who could be so stupid to live not he flight path of a busy airfield and then wonder why it’s so noisy.

Unbelievable.

A day in life

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It’s what feels like record breaking heat after what has been one of the wettest years seen in England and for the first time in years, I willingly sit out in the garden with a chilled glass of water by my side. I don’t recall any time in history where it has been the perfect atmosphere to sit outside without sweltering under the sun, yet chilled without being frozen. A gentle breeze sweeps through my garden, where I relax on the patio besides a pond. It goes without saying I have my iPod on, who wouldn’t?!

With what is now less than two months before I take up my new home in London, I couldn’t miss out on the rare opportunity of enjoying the garden which has only just recovered from it’s own flooding from the previous weeks. With the sun still bright at such a late time in the afternoon, you’d have to be silly to miss out! With Alistair Griffin in my ears, the only thing that seems to be missing is a nice chilled beer… which can so easily be arranged!

However it is the countdown for September that brings me closer to home – with only a small handful of weeks remaining before my big move a hundred miles away from home to the busiest city I’ve ever been to. London it is, and incase you’re thinking that there are cities bigger and busier than London in the world, I’ve been to a few and I don’t think they even compare in the slightest. Most people would argue that New York City is the busiest, well I don’t think so. I spent a little short of a fortnight in Manhattan and yes, while it is massively busy, it was no where near as compact as London. You could argue that while London has a lot less people than NY, it’s smaller and therefore, busier. Oh, and did I mention the Olympics this year?

Next week, the world will feast it’s eyes on one district of London in a global celebration of sport. It’s like a more expensive version of Eurovision for athletes, if you want to be cynical about things. It’s taken over the news here in the UK for the past few years, especially in the last few days as G4S truly messed up the security – but surely that was to be expected? It’s got to be said that we all hope the opening ceremony is without fault.

Then we can breathe.

After that, it’s life as normal, I guess. Or at least for the time being. I can imagine the underground falling to pieces and the whole transportation network crumbling with the volume of commuters in the upcoming weeks. It seems that it’ll fall apart just in time for my studies, but let’s not be too negative about the games. We do at least have some legendary artists performing in the opening ceremony. Or at least miming to a backing track. If that’s not good enough for the critics, then take the official soundtracks. Let’s think about Muse’s song for an example.

Okay, thought over.

I’m a Muse fan, and i don’t like it. Resistance was a fantastic album, as was Origin of Symmetry and Black Holes and Revelations. Showbiz too. In fact, they’re all great albums, but this Olympic theme? I’m sorry.

But enough of that, it’s time to enjoy the rest of Albion Sky and to prepare myself for what’s going to be an interesting end to the summer as I start what feels like a new life! Cheerio!

Returning to London

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It’s been just over a month since I last visited the capital, with today’s adventure taking me across to my first choice University. Of course, instead of the daunting thoughts of travelling across the city alone, I was more anxious about my travel down from Birmingham. I switched the news channel off last night after seeing a yellow weather warning for snow, and predicted heavy rain and winds. Arguably not the best weather for travelling. I woke in the early hours of this morning, taking a spoonful of Corn Flakes with one hand, while the other was reading through travel updates on my phone. Everything seemed to be okay at that time, but there was still enough time for something to go wrong. Continue reading →

Stop talking and start doing

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It’s the motivation to ‘get up and go’ which segregates failure and success that seems surprise most people these days. I myself am always surprised to hear when somebody has a dream of living the high-life, but instead of spending a couple of minutes fixing some coursework or revising, they spend yet another hour of their life in front of the television or some sort of social network site pretending to socialise with so-called friends they probably haven’t spoken to in person for months.

First of all, I should explain that I don’t have an issue with people who are less motivated, as not only is it their life for them to lead, however, it will also free up opportunities for the rest of us. It’s a win-win situation. What surprises me, are the people who will spend hours dreaming of what they want to do as a career, with ideas that are achievable, but don’t take the first step towards them. Instead, they turn their backs and hide away. They don’t even try, which is quite sad actually because meanwhile, the people who were once at the same level as them, have considerably increased their potential making it almost impossible to catch up with them.

You could perhaps call post this a little bit of a rant, or you could maybe call this the truth. It’s up to you. Personally, I’d settle with both. The article follows as I listened into a conversation on the train home from London this afternoon. I had been invited to my first-choice university for the day, deep in the heart of the capital. The conversation however, was between two older couples. They sat at the table opposite the isle, mainly discussing the dreadful weather and top restaurants to dine at. Listening to them was entertaining, their voices were highly upperclass. The stereotype of the British accent was sitting just a few feet to my right. Incredible. I wasn’t paying an awful lot of attention to what these folks were jabbering on about, as I was reading through my notes. It was when they began talking about the younger generation that I put my paperwork down on the table and took great interest.

They were reflecting on their past to begin with, discussing how they had to work hard for themselves so that they could live the lifestyle they lead now. Of course, going by the way they spoke and the mannerisms across the table, it certainly wasn’t a cheap one. After noticing my interest in their conversation, they asked what I had done in London. I explained that I had been invited down to my first choice university to meet the lecturers, and they were intrigued. I continued, telling them a little more about the specifics, to which they were shocked. They could hardly believe that I travelled all that way by myself for what probably seemed like a few hours. I asked why, to which they responded saying that all the young adults they know have thrown away opportunities.

“You can see that these people have an open door to succeed, yet it horrifies me to see them shut the door and walk away”

I explained that I myself see this, but also pointed out that it opens up wider opportunities for the more motivated people. The conversation grew deeper and deeper, with the business man sitting opposite me slowly getting more and more involved himself. He looked a little worried, working his way through a pile of documents with a highlighter pen. The question popped up, asking him what he was doing.

“These are my exam notes. I’m not doing very well in this job, so I’m working for a promotion and a transfer to boost my credentials”

He was going to be sitting an exam in two months time, a second chance to improve his career. Gutted that he didn’t for-see it, to work harder earlier on.

It gets back to the whole motivation idea. A lot of young people now, can’t  be bothered to chase opportunities and you can see them throwing away their potential succession. Could you imagine going to a college reunion, where most of your old classmates who dreamt of reaching the stars work along the high street? It’s as they sit asking questions such as ‘where did it all go wrong?’ that you think, actually, it was when you gave up on life.

I recently purchased a book titled ‘Stop Talking Start Doing – A kick in the pants in six parts’, and while it was set out to be about having the motivation to start your own business, it ended up more general and open. It takes you, the reader, out of your comfort zone, taking you to new fears. It was what helped me realise that the only way I am going to reach my dream, is by actually getting off my arse and doing something.

Weather warnings

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For the previous few days,  England has seen a blanket of snow fall upon the country, putting us into the ‘cold weather alert 3′. This means nothing to most people, however I can confirm that there are only four levels to this system.

With the majority of the snow effecting weekend services, many people are left wondering what the week ahead will look like for daily commuters. According to the Met Office website, the weather warning has dropped to level 2, with ice warnings throughout the rest of the night and Monday. There will then be no further warnings until Thursday, the last day on their forecast.

The advise is still out to be extremely careful when walking out and about, and also for drivers where ice may still be present.

The temperature will still be quite low, so make sure you are wrapped up warm. If you are able to, check the Met Office website (link below) yourself every couple of days so that you can be prepared for any changes.

For the Met Office website, click here.

Previous articles on the snow this week include ‘You need to see it to believe it‘ and ‘Snowfall in the Midlands‘.

You need to see it to believe it

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Yes, I’m talking about the snow.

Across England in the past week, there has been warnings for snow all over the news. “Where ever you go, be careful of the snow”. Of course, it’s difficult to adhere to the advise when there’s none of the stuff about. Sure it’s been bloody freezing, but we want to see it snow!

And for me, today was the day. It attempted to snow yesterday, failing miserably. In the last few hours, I have gone from being able to see green outside my bedroom window, to walking in a nice blanket of snow covering the ground in a glistening manor.

There is always something quite magical about walking in fresh snow too, especially while it’s still coming down. Now, back in the warmth of my bedroom I sit and stare out of the window. It’s a peaceful scene, picture perfect.

It’s a shame my phone doesn’t have a better camera really, but here’s the view of the front right now. Such beautiful, but so so unpredictable.

Yesterday I briefly mentioned in the ‘Are our priorities in the right place?‘ article that a train had derailed itself and caused chaos for daily commuters between London and the North via the Western Mainline. Today, the repair works on the tracks have been continuing and are said to continue through tomorrow. It’s at times like now that you wish it didn’t snow, especially if you’re one of those commuters on a Monday morning.

Advise is always the same in wintery conditions, for a very good reason. Only go out if necessary and if it can be helped, stay inside. Wrap up warm too, even indoors. The ideal temperature to live in, is between 18 and 22 degrees, so get your thermometers out!