WARNING: dull, self-indulgent entry

What a week! It's been really good and really bad. GOOD: My friend Tim was in town for a few days on route to Morocco. He's working on a really interesting piece for some Canadian publications (I'll update more on that when it's actually finished). It was great to talk shop for a few hours and he inspired me to get a move on with journalism things over here. Perfect segue to the exciting news that I'll be doing a few weeks placement at a paper. Hurray. I've never worked on a daily and am hoping the office will be a bit more lively than TL's. BAD: I also started work at a bar/restaurant in Camden. I should have clued in when co-workers mentioned high turnover and a lack of work permits. After working an 11 hour shift and discovering the pay was 25 quid a night plus tips, I decided to reconsider. Don't even try to work out the hourly rate. It's shocking. I was also disgusted to discover that any drinks not paid for by customers 'dining and dashing' came out of the tips. Everyone working there was really nice though and I might have stuck it out except I couldn't get a day job at the same time -my original intention-as shifts started at 4 and ended between 2 and 3. GOOD: On Saturday we went to see fireworks for Guy Fawkes night and then to a party with some friends of Megan's. BAD: Apparently it is impossible to just switch services, like phone and internet, when moving. Instead we need to cancel our services, get a bill charging us for reneging on our contract that we then ignore, and then sign-up again. I have no idea when our phone/internet will be working again. BAD: I'd applied for a bank account and had been waiting for over a week for my card, etc. I called and found out that they (the man!) had photocopied the wrong page in my passport and I needed to take it in again. Apparently they'd tried to get a hold of me, but I'm not sure how. I didn't get a phone call or receive a letter. I even made sure that they had the correct contact details. None of this would be a problem except that we move in two days and I can't get the info sent to any other address but the one that I signed on with. GOOD: the girl I spoke to was very nice, complemented my accent, and promised to get it sent out by the end of the week. GOOD: Got a call from one of the agency's I've been harassing about a decent sounding job. BAD: It's been two days and nothing. When I called to check-up I wasn't able to talk to my recruitment person ( I dunno, what would be their official title) and she still hasn't called me back. GOOD: I applied for a position at Urban Outfitters (I love that store). BAD: I realised when I'd left that I was dressed entirely in clothes from Urban Outfitters, down to the purse and earrings. I'm a sad case.GOOD: Oxford Street has all its gaudy Christmas decorations up. Pretty. BAD: I don't even want to talk about this because it makes me so angry, but the letting agency wants a bigger deposit from us. John reckons they are just trying one on because we're not from here, but the place is just this very basic studio with no frills and a bigger deposit is completely uncalled for. Of course telling us they want another 500 dollars two days before we move in is completely reasonable. We have no intention of paying anything extra, so stay tuned to discover the fate of London Darling and John J.