I'm trying to settle down now to a routine of working Saturday to Tuesday, it's an odd set of days and takes some adjusting to. I'll be leaving shortly for tonight's shift.
Yesterday's drive saw the oddest incident of near road-rage I've ever been involved in. Not that I make a habit of it, you understand. A Mercedes shouldered its way in front of me coming out of Trafalgar Square – the lanes are a bit difficult to figure out there and he'd obviously found himself in the wrong one. I had to brake sharply to avoid buggering his exhaust pipe and a motorcyclist (with a female pillion passenger in a business suit) nipped in front of me too, so I used the car horn. Not a great fuck-you-asshole blast, but not a farty little parp either.
Inevitably, 100 yards later we were stuck at a red light next to each other. I had my window wound right down and he stopped next to me, staring calmly at me, waiting to see what I'd do. I'm sure we each expected the other to start ranting and waving fists. Instead I told him he was going to get himself killed driving like that and, while I didn't mind if he needed to go in front, he should be more careful doing it. More ruminative silence, then I reached out a hand, he shook it, and off he went.
It's difficult to express how bizarre the whole incident was.
I'm finding the drive a real pain as its riddled with speed cameras. One caught me doing a careful 39mph in what I was convinced was a 40 zone. It was, inevitably, a 30 limit and suddenly – after 17 years of problem-free driving – I'm halfway to a ban when you take into account the other one I got a few weeks ago. Last night another camera went off behind me and I have no idea what that was all about – it wasn't a speed camera, and it struck at a time of confusion when drivers were reacting to a parked car blocking one lane just after some traffic lights. I guess I just have to wait and see if anything comes through the post.
I really don't fancy the idea of a driving ban, thank you very much.
Finally, in non-driving related stuff, here's a book recommendation: Living in the Box, by Dean O'Loughlin. Dean was in the second series of Big Brother over here, and he's written the inside story of his selection and participation, and the aftermath. He's got a lot of stinging words to say about the programme-makers and he's also broken his contract, which bans him from writing anything that Endemol UK doesn't approve before publication. Basically it's one long, well-written, badly-punctuated, self-published, two fingers up to them, and because it's not officially approved he hasn't been able to get a publisher.
Instead, he's published it himself and is selling it on E-bay. It's not too expensive, and it ought to be compulsory reading for anyone interested in the show. Here's the link.