My place of work has recently moved from just out of town to right in the town centre. This has several benefits:

- it takes off about five minutes from my commute time

- it means I’m centrally located, handy for meeting up with other centrally located people AND with the lucky studenty types who are free to wander the town centre during the day

- it means we all have to move seats. I think every company should make its employees change seats every couple of years, just to shake things up a bit. The effect of moving seats is that you get a new set of people to say hello to in the morning, and to listen in on your conversations in that open-plan-office sort of a way. Change is good.

- easy to pop out to the shops at lunchtime

- easy to pop out to the shops after work

- did I mention, the shops are nearby?

Anyway I’ve been determined not to spend my money rashly. But I have also been determined to find a dress for a wedding. And the main stipulation for this dress is that it has to be PERFECT. And I was willing to pay a fair price for perfection. I had a red dress in mind, maybe one of those ones with a net underskirt that flares out. Maybe silk. Silk is always good. It had to be a good fit and I had to feel comfortable in it..but not comfortable in the way that an old person feels comfortable in slippers. It had to be glamorous, flirty and fun while also being absolutely appropriate for a family wedding.

So I searched high and low. High street and low street and in-between street. Tried the designer outlets and the high street shops. Tried the expensive section of the cheap shops and the cheap section of the expensive shops. Some dresses looked great but weren’t in my size. Others looked amazing on the hanger but really not good on me. Others were fun but more for summer barbecues than for a wedding. I began to think I’m just not the dress-wearing type.

Then it happened. I walked into the expensive section of the expensive shop and I saw it: the Dress of Wonder. Green silk. Just above the knee, with a kind of flirtatious swooshiness to the cut. And a perfect fit. Well nearly perfect, the only trouble was it slipped off at the shoulders more than I’d like. And the other imperfection was the price. I could have just bought it, but it seemed like a lot to pay, especially when it wasn’t quite right around the shoulders. So I walked away.

See? I do have some will power. And then came back the following day and had another look and tried it on again, and discussed with the sales assistant whether a tailor could fix the shoulders for me. She wasn’t sure, so I walked away again.

And then one lunchtime I idly walked into the shop, just to gaze longingly upon the dress of wonder one more time. I was wondering how I would react if it had gone.. but it hadn’t gone. Wonder of wonders, delight of delight, it was still there, in perfect condition and … wait for it … was selling at FIFTY PERCENT OFF!!! It had gone from being slightly extravagant to being a perfectly reasonable price. So I bought it straight away and took it to the tailor, who agreed it was nice and said he could do something about the shoulders.

And I got it back today. And I love it.

I went to the cinema the other day. (Good thing#1: an informal cinema club appears to have formed.)

Went to see “Priceless” (a French film, original title: “Hors de Prix”).

I love French films, mostly because they’re SO different to the formulaic American films we’re so used to. This one was very French, with a touch of “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” about it.

Anyway it was full of fun, symmetry and beautiful people. And because they’re beautiful and funny, they can get away with outrageous behaviour. And its always nice to hear French spoken. And I learned that if you want to seduce a rich man, you just have to say “je voudrais…” and then tail off without finishing your sentence as if its too painful to continue. Not convinced by this approach, but may give it a try and see what happens. Oh and another nice moment was when the guy was trying to win back the girl’s affections. He’d taken her out for a very expensive dinner and then out for drinks, and then asked her if she wanted anything else,

“ice cream?”

Her answer, “I want a dress”.

Classic.

Anyway the thing that amused me was when I bought my ticket. For some reason the ticket machine stopped working. The man look flustered, pushed a few buttons, and eventually got the ticket to print. And this was the result:

The film: Priceless
The price: Priceless.
Now isn’t that priceless?!?

You know, sometimes I love Glasgow more than I can express. Its like a love for a person, and isn’t dependent on any one aspect of Glasgow’s Glasgowness. It isn’t the architecture or the people or the weather or the arts scene or the many happy memories or the wacky things that just happen at random. And its not the tragic side either, the things that just makes you want to somehow defend Glasgow from itself. Its something indefinable about the city as a whole.

And one of my favourite things to do in Glasgow is to walk home after a film. Its the perfect way to digest the film.

Tonight it was raining and the rain got harder and harder as I walked. I don’t mind the rain, particularly when I’m on my way home (ie I’ll be home and dry soon enough), and when I have trustworthy shoes (thank you Merrell for your amazing trainers which are really truly waterproof). There’s also something therapeutic about the feeling of rain on your face.

As I walked up Sauciehall Street, I heard someone busking. He was playing a guitar and singing “no woman no cry”. I love that song. He was singing it well. And a random bunch of slightly drunk people were singing along with him and dancing in the street.

It was a nice moment.

Today I had a good day at work. If I was writing my CV (resumé) I’d say I’d been doing the following:

- liaising with staff at all levels

- problem solving

- working independently and as part of a team

- fostering good customer relationships

- using excellent verbal and written communication skills

But still, work is work and is kind of dull really. As a nice contrast I met up with a friend who had also just finished a productive but office-bound day, and we went for coffee (well, actually a Tchai latte with some delicious banana and toffee cake) and that’s when life got more colourful.

We discussed:

- aerial routines on trapeze and rope (working alone and as part of a team!)

- James Bond theme tunes versus Mission Impossible

- Bond girl outfits that can be worn while upside down

- Ninja costumes

And we’re not just all talk… within a couple of months, if all goes according to plan, we WILL be upside down in Ninja outfits, or maybe a black and gold number. Safe to say it will be fun, it will be different and it will be a hundred miles away from gazing out of the window while swizzling on a swizzle* chair or discussing what level of change to a system may or may not require change control.

*OK I’ve just realised what’s wrong with that sentence. Its a swivel chair, isn’t it? But I like the idea of swizzling better than swivelling so I think I’ll just leave it like that. Just because I can.

I don’t like cold calling. In generally I try not to be horrible to cold callers because I know it must be a horrible job. But I will also refuse to give anything away about who I am and whether I might ever consider buying their product.  If I do want the product I’ll buy it on my own terms, not in response to an unsolicited phone call.

Today’s conversation when something along these lines

Me: Hello?

Them: Hello, this is <name> from <marketing company>. Is that Mrs <Surname>?

Me: Who did you say was calling?

Them: <marketing company>

Me: Who?

Them: <marketing company>. We’re doing a small home owner’s survey.

Me: Oh, I’m not interested in that thanks

Them: Oh. Goodbye.

[The End]

Question1: how can you be polite to these people without inadvertently thanking them for bothering you with unsolicited calls?

Question2: Small home owners survey? Do you think their database includes the height of the house owner? Freaky.

“sigh”

Had to give the hired car back yesterday. It was a short relationship but no less meaningul for its brevity. We worked well as a team, but in the long term, it just wasn’t meant to be. We’ve parted on good terms and if we ever meet again there will be no bad feeling, we will just smile at each other sadly and think of what could have been.
And as part of the grieving process I’ll make a list.  Lists are always helpful at times like this…

Pros of car ownership:

- freedom!

- can visit friends in the country

- can offer people lifts

- can randomly drive to Loch Lomond for coffee (well, not completely randomly, you still need to follow the rules of the road, most of the time..)

- you can carry lots of stuff around with you

Cons:

- expensive to run

- parking round here is a nightmare

- huge responsibility (a lapse in concentration and someone could die, that is really scary if you think about it too much.. and as a general rule, I do think about it too much)

- not good for the environment

And the benefits of travelling under your own steam:

- more sociable (if you see someone you know when you’re walking to the underground, you can stop and say hello)

- healthier (when you have a car, somehow its easy to get into the habit of driving 3 miles to the supermarket instead of walking 500 metres to the grocer’s)

- cheaper

- flexible (if you ‘re walking in the street and decide that its just way too busy you can stop and turn around. In a car, once you’re in a jam you’re in a jam and there’s no way back)

- you spend less at the supermarket because you can’t buy more than you can carry!

- you can hire a car anytime you want and have the best of both worlds

- you can feel slightly smug about your carbon footprint

Another lovely day today, seemed a shame to be cooped up in the office all day. So instead of taking the underground home, I suggested to AM (who works nearby) that we walk home together. Takes a bit longer to get home that way, but nice to make the most of the sunshine while it lasts.

Then we came across a scene that took a while to interpret…

girl 1 was wandering away from a cashpoint, carefully putting her cashcard into her wallet. Walking quite fast, but in a daydream.

girl 2 was about to take her turn at the cashpoint, but had just realised that girl 1 had forgotten to collect her money. Girl 2 wanted to do the right thing but wasn’t sure she could catch up with girl 1, and didn’t want to take the money out of the machine. If you leave it, the bank machine swallows it back up again and apparently it makes the money back to your account, but its always a worry that it won’t… but then again, if you take someone else’s money out of the machine, that could be misinterpreted… what to do?!?

AM&I rushed up to the bank machine, and along with girl2 spent a second or two wondering. Then AM sprinted after girl1 and as soon as I could see he was going to catch up with her, I grabbed the cash and went after him.

Girl 1 was happy (but still a bit confused), Girl 2 could get on with getting her own money out, and AM & I got that nice “good citizen” feeling.

Glasgow has an annual “Doors Open Day“, basically a chance to explore buildings old and new that aren’t usually open to the public, or to see sections of public buildings that you don’t normally have access to. Its a great idea, the hardest bit is deciding which of the hundreds of options on offer to go to.

I went to:

Glasgow Film Theatre – got shown behind the screen and around the projection room. Saw a demo of how they splice the reel together (bizarre, they basically just chop it and sellotape it back together again, seems like a harsh way to treat precious footage, but appears to work) AND, best of all, got given a small strip of free film. It looks a bit like photographic negatives (except its not negative) and the amazing bit is that the sound information is all stored in a section up the left-hand side. Living in a world where squillions of stuff can be stored on a microchip that shouldn’t really amaze me, but it does. And its nice to be amazed.

Aloysius school (new and old). The old school was gorgeous, I think we may have accidentally scared the schoolkids who showed us round it in our attempt to ask friendly questions. The new school is modern, bright and airy and the girl who took us around that was a complete contrast to the frightened rabbits in the first building. She was outgoing and vivacious and clearly loved her school. It was good to see. If I had kids I’d seriously consider sending them there if I thought they might turn out like her.

St Mary’s Cathedral – a beautiful and recently renovated episcopal church. Got talking to an Acolyte. Not even sure what that is, but it sounds REALLY cool and he had a long flowing robe which gave him a certain presence.

Lansdowne- a church of Scotland in serious need of renovation. Got chatting to the minister there; they have an unusual set-up where they’re selling the building to private enterprise and will then rent the church section of the building back, while private enterprise gets funds for renovation by building a cafe. Interesting idea, I’ll be watching to see how that one pans out. At least they’re not turning into flats I suppose but I do wonder if sooner or later there will be a conflict of interest.

Architect’s office – met some happy architects who have a very cool building with a great view of the river and some impressively scary Giant Hogweed.

Coachhouse trust – this is a great place and a great concept. They take in people who are generally hard to employ and train them up in woodwork skills among other things. They’re very into recycling and they have a lovely garden plus a market garden and several wormeries. Its not every day you come across a wormery in the city!

Fun. And a good cultural mix. There are so many people in this city who are doing good, and creative things.

Had a strange and stressful day, involving some strange requests and a friend going through a hard time. Then there followed an incident of much strangeness but that made me smile.

I got on the underground to go to a friend’s house for cake (mm that too was a Good Thing), had about 8 stops to go. Half-way along, the underground train stopped for a few minutes longer than usual. Finally an underground worker got on our carriage and very purposefully strode up it, looking at all the passengers in turn. Felt a bit worried, maybe he’d heard rumours of a terrorist travelling with us. Didn’t seem like the right time of day for terrorists somehow. He made rapid progress along the carriage until he got to me.

He looked at me, stopped, and said “Are you French?”

All the other passengers looked on in anticipation.

I said, “No”.

He walked out, explaining as he went “we’ve lost a wee French lassie”.

And everyone in the carriage exchanged bemused smiles. I was very chuffed to have looked French. And isn’t it nice that the people who run the underground system care enough about their passengers to send out a search party?

Had a residents meeting the other day. In my building, I don’t pass the neighbours on the stairs very often and don’t even recognise all my neighbours by sight, let alone know their names.

The residents meeting was the first of its kind and there was a very good turnout. It was nice to have us all in one place, united in our common desire to look after our flats and the building in general. It was a good humoured meeting with a little bit of moaning but generally agreement about what we thought was important.

To my shame I still don’t know most of their names, but feel I know them a little better, and like them. And I like liking people, its a good feeling.