Londoner..

Tue, Apr 27, 2004

Daily

Had a good one last weekend. The temps hit 26c which meant everyone flocked to Hyde Park/Kensington gardens and stripped off naked to soak in the sun. What else can you do when there’s no nearby beaches? Caught Kill Bill Vol. 2 on the weekend which was excellent — Quinten most certainly loves Uma. Also took in some shopping on Oxford St. A friend at work bought a brand new bike last week and had it stolen after the first morning, the thieves cut(?) through two of those chunky high security U-Locks, this is mighty discouraging as I was thinking of buying a bike for summer. Bloody London. In tax news, I’m currently playing the National Insurance number game, where by you make dozens of phone calls to various uninterested public servants in a vein attempt to get the equivalent of the Australian Tax File Number. It’s incredibly difficult, and described as the one of the most frustrating experiences for visitors. Until I get the number I continue to be taxed from my very first pound earnt at a top bracket rate. So many Australian’s whinge about red tape in Australia government departments, where as in reality Australia has it quite good. The Brits on the other hand have mastered bureaucratic ineffectual unhelpful public service systems. I hope to post the Belgium pics in the next week or so, along with some pics of Gibraltar from months back. Booked on a trip to Ireland in June which should be good. We’ve got friends staying over this week, and family staying over in May and June.

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