*sigh.*

Today was one of those days where you just want to throw your hands in the air and declare aloud, "I GIVE UP!"

I decided to join my new flatmates, Dave and El, on a trip to IKEA. The mattress in the room I am renting is so squishy that I can feel all of the springs through it when sitting on the bed. The actual act of sleeping on it is also somewhat precarious. I had looked online and found a mattress pad that I thought might work for 50 pounds-- more than I wanted to invest in a bed in a flat where I will only be staying another 6 weeks but right now my back is making some of the most horrifyingly disgusting cracking and popping and generally yuck noises that I decided that some financial sacrifices needed to be made to, in the very least, somewhat alleviate the situation.

I spent the night at Ladis and Manuel's place last night as the tube had stopped running by the time we finished dinner and the movie we were watching. The plan was to meet up with Dave and El at the New Cross Gate tube station which is just a few minutes and a couple of stops from Bermondsey where the boys live. Having switched trains, I was just sending El a message telling them I was on my way when they evacuated the car, then the platform and eventually the station. Apparently, there was a "bomb threat."

That's fine. A little change in plans, I can deal with. I decided to take the bus. It took forever to discover I'd have to return to London Bridge and take a overground train from there. By that time, the station was opened up again and I got to pay again to go back to my train.

El and Dave had already made their way further in the trip as nearly an hour had passed in the meantime and we decided just to meet up at IKEA so I was to continue the rest of the route on my own-- shouldn't be a problem.

Well, when I arrived to the final station where I was to leave the station and take a tram I discovered that my pass isn't actually covered on that line and since I'd "jumped" the line I was to pay a 20pound fee. And then I had to pay for the tram and a full fare for my last trip because I hadn't "touched out" at new cross gate-- i had just congratulated myself as I left Bermondsey that I had only spent 10 pounds in the past two weeks on the tube. My trip to IKEA alone cost me 30!

I finally met up with El and Dave and Dolly and they had already checked out, my mattress pad cost 20 more pounds than I thought and I didn't get my sheets.

(Dave and El fell asleep on the train back to London: see the people I live with below-- They are both super cool, by the way. I am really happy to have found such nice flat mates.)




Damn. That was a shitty, long day.

I think I'll take the tube back to Bermondsey to watch a movie-- and catch Le Grand Départ of Le Tour de France tomorrow morning.

Goodnight!