Festive greetings
Trying to find an open coffee shop which is not one of the big three (Starbucks, Costas and Nero, in order of size) with wiffy seems to be quite difficult. I'm guessing it might have something to do with the recession with the big stores staying open because they can afford to, the tiny coffee shops being open because they have to, and the medium ones closed because they don't make enough money once the students go.
Anyway! The Tea Tree House is open and has presented me with a tasty bacon sarnie and a big mocha while I play around with a netbook. Decided to take the plunge before the VAT increase (plus the sales helped) to get a lil netbook; my laptop is in slow decline with the monitor have a minor colour issue, occasional wobbles with the power supply and, as it's three years old, as powerful as this netbook! This wee lady should meet my internet and document needs while i'll either by a more powerful computer sometime or switch to an Xbox/PS3 sometime.
So Christmas wasn't too bad in the end and it was good to catch up the with the parentals, but with my brother away it wasn't quite the same. I definitely felt a desire to be back in Edinburgh for Christmas Eve for a night out with friends. Had a run in the snow on Christmas day which was really nice, enough snow to give grip and cushioning but not enough to cause problems. I got a bus back to the flat on Boxing day and went to the pub in the evening; absolutely dead. Almost made things worse knowing that i'd 'missed the boat' and was now standing at an empty pier (to continue the nautical metaphor).
I'm off until the 4th of January and usually the thought of all that time off would make me happy, but actually now that i've been off for four days already and have nothing to do, I want to go back to work! I did some training yesterday and will do again tomorrow but beginning to feel a bit restless. New Year is looking to be empty so i'll be running on Saturday (New Year) morning with the Parkrun guys. Talk about changing times when you don't have anything on New Years eve! Even last year with the triathlon I got out for a few hours.
What else? Santa brought me mostly junk with the exception of a weighty tome on the 30 years war and, in complete contrast, a sexy pair of running tights. Now i'm not usually one to say that running gear is sexy, but these feel really good (at an almost fetish like level...) and given how thin they are, extenuate rather than hide the definition on my legs.
I think next year would have been the year i'd spent Christmas away except it's likely to be a year when Douglas and Ruth are over so i'd rather be there for the full event. The year after will probably be my first away as I feel a desire to stay more with friends than family, even if just to experience it.
Finally 2011 is looking to be quite, quite busy. I've enjoyed 2010, rambling 'end of year review' to appear later, with 2011 being a move from 4 triathlons and no holidays to a ball-busting possible 9 triathlons, 4 runs, 4 gigs (including amphi and infest), skiing holiday and 3 week cycle tour from Belgium to Sweden planned. That's currently what I have penciled in, I just need to make sure I have enough holidays and money to do it all!
Hope everyone is having a good time over Christmas.
Anyway! The Tea Tree House is open and has presented me with a tasty bacon sarnie and a big mocha while I play around with a netbook. Decided to take the plunge before the VAT increase (plus the sales helped) to get a lil netbook; my laptop is in slow decline with the monitor have a minor colour issue, occasional wobbles with the power supply and, as it's three years old, as powerful as this netbook! This wee lady should meet my internet and document needs while i'll either by a more powerful computer sometime or switch to an Xbox/PS3 sometime.
So Christmas wasn't too bad in the end and it was good to catch up the with the parentals, but with my brother away it wasn't quite the same. I definitely felt a desire to be back in Edinburgh for Christmas Eve for a night out with friends. Had a run in the snow on Christmas day which was really nice, enough snow to give grip and cushioning but not enough to cause problems. I got a bus back to the flat on Boxing day and went to the pub in the evening; absolutely dead. Almost made things worse knowing that i'd 'missed the boat' and was now standing at an empty pier (to continue the nautical metaphor).
I'm off until the 4th of January and usually the thought of all that time off would make me happy, but actually now that i've been off for four days already and have nothing to do, I want to go back to work! I did some training yesterday and will do again tomorrow but beginning to feel a bit restless. New Year is looking to be empty so i'll be running on Saturday (New Year) morning with the Parkrun guys. Talk about changing times when you don't have anything on New Years eve! Even last year with the triathlon I got out for a few hours.
What else? Santa brought me mostly junk with the exception of a weighty tome on the 30 years war and, in complete contrast, a sexy pair of running tights. Now i'm not usually one to say that running gear is sexy, but these feel really good (at an almost fetish like level...) and given how thin they are, extenuate rather than hide the definition on my legs.
I think next year would have been the year i'd spent Christmas away except it's likely to be a year when Douglas and Ruth are over so i'd rather be there for the full event. The year after will probably be my first away as I feel a desire to stay more with friends than family, even if just to experience it.
Finally 2011 is looking to be quite, quite busy. I've enjoyed 2010, rambling 'end of year review' to appear later, with 2011 being a move from 4 triathlons and no holidays to a ball-busting possible 9 triathlons, 4 runs, 4 gigs (including amphi and infest), skiing holiday and 3 week cycle tour from Belgium to Sweden planned. That's currently what I have penciled in, I just need to make sure I have enough holidays and money to do it all!
Hope everyone is having a good time over Christmas.