Top 5 Things that Piss Me Off About London

OK, so this was originally intended to be a sports related blog (inspired by my brother's), but I soon realized a few things:

1. I don't know enough about sports for this to be entertaining in the long run which negates the whole purpose of a blog that's supposed to be enjoyable to write while also being enjoyable to read.
2. Given #1, I wouldn't be able to come up with enough ideas to even write on a semi-regular basis which would eventually turn it into a chore as opposed to something that is supposed to be fun.
3. There are about 14,323,328 sports blogs out there (probably a low estimate), so really I would just be rehashing the same ideas that everyone else is talking and writing about. I have no interest in reading the same thing multiple times, so once again, the original intention really is not that interesting.

So here's the deal from here on out: I will only write when I feel like it, which hopefully is more often than before since it's been almost a solid year since my last post, I am going to write about any and everything that comes to mind, and most of you will probably disagree with what I say (still holding true to the original title), especially since there will probably only be 3 people who actually read it.

In order to start things off easy, I'm going to steal an idea from a few different places and give a top 5 list. Maybe this will be a reoccurring theme, maybe it won't, but just to get back into the swing of things, here goes.

Today's topic: Top 5 things that piss me off about London in no particular order.

1. I'm sure this is no different than any other major city in the world, but I've never lived in a major city before so it's new to me. Most people bitch about traffic since almost everyone has to drive to work these days. Since I live so close to where I work and since I don't have a car here, I walk to work everyday (about a 20 minute walk). Generally speaking, I'm trying to get to where I'm going as fast as humanly possible, so I carry a pretty fast gait in order to achieve that goal. In a city with around five million people, I tend to pass people on the sidewalk pretty regularly when walking in the same direction. Most of the time, this is not a big deal but there are times (generally three to four times a day) when there's a group of two or more people effectively dominating the entire sidewalk and walking much slower than I am and are completely oblivious to the fact that someone is behind them trying to get where they're going quickly. Just like a nice walk in the park for them while I'm absolutely fuming inside trying to figure out a way around them without touching them or getting run over in the street.

Most people would not not have an issue with this happening occasionally and I would tend to agree. However, once this happens a few hundred times, I have a huge issue with it. The only thing keeping me from giving them a forearm shiver to the back while muttering “get the fuck out of my way” is the knowledge that they wouldn't deserve that kind of reaction. It's not the specific people that are pissing me off to the point where the above actions would be acceptable, but the combined fury from the other encounters with similar situations. Maybe one day it will boil over and I'll lose my mind for a few seconds leading to said forearm shiver, but for now I think it's under control. To be continued...

2. Since we're on the subject of walking, I have another trend I've noticed. I do a lot of walking. A lot. At minimum 3 miles a day. Maybe it's another one of those things I don't understand since I'm from a small town, but one of the more annoying scenarios I've noticed is nobody moves out of the way when there is plenty of room to let someone pass instead of taking up the entire space by walking in the middle of the sidewalk. By walking in the middle of the sidewalk and not moving, it effectively gives me about a foot and a half on either side with which to work with. This usually leads to four options: hope there's no oncoming traffic and go into the street, brush up against a building while king shit walks by, “accidentally” bump into the sidewalk kid while walking by (never a wise option), or simply stop and make him choose. The fourth option never usually works since he's either oblivious or too self-important to notice anyone else walking and bumps into you. What usually happens in this situation is I try and morph my body into positions that cannot possibly be good for it in order to not touch this person as I'm walking by. Apparently I'm the only person in the entire city that can either pay attention to their surroundings or actually cares enough to make room for a person to walk by untouched. Side note that kind of explains the above: I don't particularly like being touched, especially by random people I don't know.

3. Our internet provider is a company called Pogolink. Pogolink is complete and utter shit. I've dealt with a lot of internet companies over the years and this is by far the worst I've encountered. First, our internet is limited to 2,000 minutes (fine, I get it, not a big deal) and 1.5 gigs a week. 1.5 gigs...yes...1.5 gigs. I could use that amount of data in a few hours, let alone forcing it to last an entire week. At first, the limitations were horrible, but just like anything else, you get used to it and it becomes just another thing. What really pisses me off about this company other than the limitations is the actual quality of the service. We are forced to log in to use the internet, which makes sense since we have the limits on the personal accounts. Most nights it's a miracle if a connection exists and even if it does exist, that doesn't necessarily mean it will work. Even if a connection exists and it works, it doesn't necessarily mean it will be a good connection. This makes for a very frustrating internet experience. In order to log a problem with the service, we need internet. How can we log a problem with the service if the internet doesn't work? In order to log off correctly, we need the internet to work. How can we log off if the internet service does not even recognize its own domain? I say again...Pogolink is complete and utter shit.

4. Since we're on the subject of internet, mobile internet is another interesting topic. I kept my Blackberry from the US (fuckin' Verizon...that's a whole other situation) and unlocked it to use in the UK so I wouldn't have to buy another phone. Part of my phone plan is obviously mobile internet but they have a “fair-use” policy on almost all carriers which limits mobile internet to either 750mb, 500mb, or 100mb per month. The plan I use limits my internet to 100mb per month (because I'm cheap and probably also because I didn't get that great of a deal) and thus forces me to be very prudent with what I use my phone for in any given month. This means no Pandora (irrelevant because Pandora does not work in the UK), no YouTube, making sure my program downloads are necessary, and keeping browsing to a minimum. Rationing mobile internet isn't as fun as 1,348 other things I could be doing, but unfortunately necessary since most of my communications are made through the mobile internet. Another issue (which could also be my own fault) is the service. I don't have 3G, but instead have GPRS (which is essentially 2.5G) because when I originally purchased my sim, I was unaware I needed to specify I wanted a 3G sim. It can be rectified, but as with everything relating to internet, I need to be careful. My phone is working now (it was a pain in the ass to get it to work) and I'm afraid if I screw with it, it will stop working. Not something I want to have to deal with if it happens. So for now...I guess I just have to suck it up or get some stones and make the changes.

5. As most of you probably know, I'm not what anyone would call a “morning person.” My work schedule forces me to wake up at 7am each morning in order to get to work on time. I knew this would happen eventually, but I hate it. If I could work a 10-7, I would absolutely love it. Since I also require between 7 and 9 hours of sleep to function correctly, this forces me to go to bed around 11pm each night, effectively turning me into a grandfather. Every night I tell myself to go to bed at 1030 (seriously!?) but 1130 rolls around and I'm usually still awake like an idiot. Sure, also my own fault, but I enjoy staying up late...I guess this is growing up. This is not even close to being related, but the weather is awful here. London isn't supposed to have that much snow (which would be awesome if it were actually the case) but just last week they had a few inches (which is a few inches too much). Also, it isn't supposed to get very cold here (supposed to hover around 32 degrees) but it had been in the 20s for much of the previous week. As many of you also know, I hate cold and I hate snow. Cold, snow, and walking a ton do not mix. Sure, I'm from Ohio so I should be used to it, but as my roommate said last week: “I don't care where you're from, cold is cold. And this is cold.”

So there you go, first installment of what may eventually turn into a series of blog posts on whatever I feel like posting and writing about at the time. If anyone has any specific questions about anything In London, go ahead and ask and I'll do my best to answer. Other than that...until next time...