Randomness...by B

Here are more random thoughts from me (Beth):

There are a ton of homeless people here. Many of them have dogs; now when I see a dog I look for the homeless person. There is even one dog that keeps a pacifier in its mouth all the time - we wonder if it's dead. Anyway - my advice.......get a job! I'm annoyed with you!

A mid-afternoon hail storm in Battersea Park is not out of the ordinary in London.

I've never been happier to see my drying rack!

Due to the dryer not really drying, we are only buying thin-fabric clothing going forward.

Being paid once a month totally stinks - we may be eating bread and drinking tea for the next 10 days!

I have jealous moments of Iowa - it is in the 70s there and we are still hanging in 50s territory. Of course, all that will change once I hear it is 100 there and we are hanging at a mild 72.

Two days in a row of drinking now takes me at least 3 days to recover. Thank you year 30.

Now that I'm married and love my wife very much, strip clubs just aren't as fun......buzz kill!

Looking forward to playing softball tomorrow night in the bankers league. I guess we were good last year and moved up to the "serious" league - not good.

Why, if my behind is sore after a good walk, does it not get smaller? Or better yet, just fall off?

Enough of that......

So this morning we went for a walk - a 2 hour walking workout; this was NOT a leisure walk. It started out sunny....we were off!!! Yes - excited - ready to go. We head out the front door and make it a block before the rain starts. OK, we'll keep going since all rain episodes here last 10 minutes max. Sure enough - it stops. We are a bit wet and cold, but are only 3 blocks from home so need to keep going. The wind was crazy......it was cold......it rained again.....now the sun is out......dang, it's hot.....cold.....windy.....hot.....etc. This is how the whole walk went and why living on an island with a crazy weather pattern requires people to wear multiple layers and carry bags large enough to carry the clothes they off load. We stop the walk at Battersea Park to enjoy the sights and take in a bit of the warm fresh air (at this point it is sunny). Pretty soon, another little rain shower. No biggie - we've been in a couple thus far. Oh wait - is that an ice ball hitting my arm??? Wait - what? Yes folks, this is hail. Small hail, but still.....seriously. We are in this lovely park - families out and about, the entire running population of Chelsea is there and bam - HAIL! Anyway, I'm over that - won't be so shocked next time it happens.

So....we mosey on through the park and see a huge pagoda. Humf....wonder what is going on with that. We walk over and see a yoga class going on. The wind is blowing so hard that their little yoga mats aren't staying put. The mats along with the pose they were in (arm in front, arm around back and locking under the leg - yea, don't ask......most people wouldn't even dream this one up) is making the yoga class a bit difficult. But the 70 year old hippie teaching the class is enjoying helping everyone get into position.....very unsettling. On to the pagoda of peace.... there is someone power washing the stairs the lead up to the statues (London employs a LOT of people to clean - it's amazing). We go to a dry set of stairs and walk up - the pagoda is beautiful and it has 4 statues of Prince Siddhartha (Buddha), each in a different position. Very nice - and the view from there, even better. You look over the river and the river walk - and can also see the next rain cloud moving in. Whew - that was fun - let's go check out what this whole thing means. Now, I'm not going to give you a history lesson because I'm not really into all that smart stuff. We read over the specifics, etc. and then read at the bottom that no one is allowed up on the pagoda.........oops. If they don't want you to walk up there, the sign should have been much bigger...AND in front of the structure! DOH! I cannot believe we did that....I'm sure we aren't the only people to do that, but still pretty embarrassing.

Back to random thoughts - London is VERY clean! I cannot believe how many people are paid to push around a huge garbage can and sweep up leaves, garbage, really anything that is on the sidewalk. It's impressive!

The commercials here are very cheesy - this country is still stuck in the 80s. Weird. And, everyone loves 80s music....I get it, but not all the time.

Ok - that was anti-climactic! I'm getting tired.....done for the day. We did a ton of walking and did it through all 4 seasons :)

Hope you are all having a wonderful Monday!