Walking Alone in the Dark (as a WOMAN!)

I’ve gotten into a routine now where I go for a walk each night after work, for about an hour. I take the same route each night. As it happens, with winter approaching and for the fact that I live in Edinburgh, it’s now dark when I do go out. Hence I stopped the Holyrood Park – route (I walked through there a few times when it was pitch black! Rapists abound).

Now, my BF B. thinks Edinburgh is a dangerous place, and isn’t too keen on the idea of my walking alone at night. I’ve thus far dismissed it – for me, the city is a safe haven compared to the horrors of Hackney (crime pit!) where I lived last year. Here, I feel very safe and at home. Edinburgh is ‘my’ city and my home, and for some reason it’s as if it could never do me any harm.

Yesterday, however, a work colleague said the same thing – she was SHOCKED at my walking on my own in the dark, and strongly recommended I don’t do it. This has now put some doubts into my mind – nothing too major but still – do they have a point?

I always feel invincible here and very reasonable. I would NOT have left the flat in Hackney after dark – hell, I didn’t even dare walk around with my laptop during hte day as the chances of it being robbed off me were quite high (no exaggeration here – my chav mate J. had contacts to this person who handled stolen goods… and that’s the kind of thing that this dealer in stolen goods was offered, apparently).

I really don’t want to change my ways with regard to this walking. It’s refreshing and extremely relaxing, and I have a good night’s sleep every night. I may have to give it some more thought though, or make extra sure that I’m safe. Maybe not go out too late, and avoid the roads that aren’t too well lit or not busy enough. I.e. stay on the main roads 🙂

Der Sommer geht zu Ende

Image via Wikipedia

und lenina muss einen Post auf deutsch schreiben. Doch selbst auf deutsch kann sie nicht wirklich schreiben, was passiert ist, wie gehabt – diverse Subjekte, die ggf diesen Blog lesen, sollten erstmal nix verstehen.

Dann muss ich also nicht nur deutsch sondern auch kryptisch schreiben. Vielleicht sollte ich es ueberhaupt nicht schreiben. Ich habe eine [deleted] und zwar dem aehnlichen Muster von anaj nach, naja du weisst was ich meine, ich hatte dich vor ein paar Wochen per email etwas gefragt. Ist alles ziemlich [deleted] glaube ich, sonst wuerde ich ja gar nix sagen. Sehr komisch hehe und ich peile es gerade nicht, aber das Subjekt ist ein unglaubliches [deleted] zu meinem [deleted].

Und all das geschieht nur, weil lenina aktiv und produktiv ist, und nicht passiv am Leben leidet.

First Day Back At Work – Yay!

I was happy to be back at work today. I very much enjoyed the week off, but I do get a buzz from work for some reason (Great team! Great job! People appreciate me!). It’s great loving your job, because it means no matter what other shit does or doesn’t happen in your life, you can put up with it.

I remember when I moved back to London in 2000 and I literally had nothing to my name (other than one degree, a BA). I stayed at my friend K. for a few months and, while there were many moments that I enjoyed, there was always an underlying existential fear of what to do with my life/where would I end up, and a general state of feeling uncertain and insecure (I had also left my friends behind in Cologne and basically moved to London where I knew only one person!).

I think I kept a diary at the time, albeit sporadically. Maybe not. If not, I definitely wrote some stories then, so going back to those would help me cast back my mind. Not that I want to:P

Anyhow, it’s so good to enjoy work – seeing that you spend the majority of your time there. I couldn’t imagine right now working anywhere else – though for those of you who are interested and speak German – I did come across a position at the Deutsches Generalkonsulat in Edinburgh today. Not tempted though 😛

New Washing Machine has Only Got One Hose

My new washing machine, which was delivered today, only has one hose (blue) when the old one had two (blue and red). Apparently that’s because the modern ones only have one.

This however leaves me with a red hose that is disconnected from the washing machine, but not connected to anything else. I dare not disconnect it from my water feeder tap under the sink, because there doesn’t appear to be a separate tap/lever to turn just the red one off! I have one for the cold water, but can’t find one for hot.

Thus, I currently have the hot water turned off at the main tap. Whenever I need hot water, I need to put the red hose into my kitchen sink, turn the main tap on, and quickly take a shower or whatever it is while hot water is gushing out from the red hose into my kitchen sink!

I’m going to phone the council on Monday with an ’emergency repair’ request. Hopefully they’ll send out a plumber very soon – I don’t want my kitchen to flood (again).