The Google doodle today celebrates the 150th
anniversary of the London Underground.* (Hey, I’ve got that game!)
.
My life has mostly settled into routine (now while
there are NO hoards of people raging about the hotel), so you’ll just know that
every day I am doing pretty much the same sort of things: servicing the rooms
of stay-overs (that would mainly be worker boys during this slow period, except
for on weekends when we always pick up a few weekend tourists), cleaning up in
the restaurant a little if anyone ate there the night before, then changing out
rooms altogether from any overnight clientele.
That would entail a) replacing the bottom sheet and top duvet, plus top and bottom cases (the top one matches the white duvet, the lower one is just ordinary – could be pastel), b) new bath and hand towels for each occupant of the room, plus a bath mat (everything is white: I still have to ask Loraine the reasoning behind this, as it seems to me like an obvious ‘disaster waiting to happen’!), as well as resupplying token toiletry stuff, c) dusting off nightstands and wardrobes, d) refilling the tea/coffee supplies, while cleaning and replacing any used cups/glasses, etc.) emptying the bins, and lastly, but never least, hoovering. (Oh, yeah, and one more thing, that I am ALWAYS forgetting – checking to see if more TP is needed!) And that’s just IN the room, because then there’s what’s behind the scenes – all the washing, drying, folding and ironing. Easy, but takes a little time – AND a little out of you!
That would entail a) replacing the bottom sheet and top duvet, plus top and bottom cases (the top one matches the white duvet, the lower one is just ordinary – could be pastel), b) new bath and hand towels for each occupant of the room, plus a bath mat (everything is white: I still have to ask Loraine the reasoning behind this, as it seems to me like an obvious ‘disaster waiting to happen’!), as well as resupplying token toiletry stuff, c) dusting off nightstands and wardrobes, d) refilling the tea/coffee supplies, while cleaning and replacing any used cups/glasses, etc.) emptying the bins, and lastly, but never least, hoovering. (Oh, yeah, and one more thing, that I am ALWAYS forgetting – checking to see if more TP is needed!) And that’s just IN the room, because then there’s what’s behind the scenes – all the washing, drying, folding and ironing. Easy, but takes a little time – AND a little out of you!
Had an opportunity this very day to pull some of
the loose ends together – changing the bedding, mainly, and hoovering – to get
the remaining unfinished rooms ready to let. (Those two little words amused me
so much when I very first came to England all those many years ago – ‘to’ and ‘let,’
and specifically the juxtaposition of them. My mind just supplied the missing
element – an ‘i’ between the ‘o’ and the ‘l,’ to fill in the blank. Sorry, scatological,
I know; couldn’t help myself – just came!)
You know what’s so nice about a small hotel like this, as
opposed to a larger, ‘official’ hotel? Instead of being impersonal when it comes
to interactions with thecustomers, as usually is the case, it is much more
casual and you can actually talk to people like they're real people - you
know, like asking Jodi if I could take a picture of her ‘radiant’ hair. I’m
sure the guests appreciate the human touch, as well – like I’ve intimated, a little home
away from home. (It’s amazing how candid people are when you’re open with
them.) For instance, I was just chatting with a young man in the lounge - he had
wanted a lager). He was hanging out all alone and I asked him where his mates
were. (There are four of them – worker boys, of course.) He said they were all
sleeping, that at midnight they would go to work and stay at it till 4 o’clock
tomorrow afternoon. Oh, man! In commiseration I said, ‘but I suppose you
wouldn’t do it if it wasn’t good for you.’ He said he was used to it – as he’s been
doing it for eight years now. They’re putting in optic cable around the town. (Remember
what I said a couple days about learning line up on line, here a little, there
a little? Oh, boy . . . now I’m a bar maid!)
[If the truth be known, it was on a Sunday – of
all things! – just a couple days before Christmas, when I made the first fatal turning
that led to my eventual decline into depravity (insert melodramatic music here)!
My very first coach group of guests had
arrived and been seated in the bar (area), when with expectations for me to
help out, I poured the very first cup of coffee and/or tea I had EVER served in
my life. (I keep chanting to myself, ‘IN the world, but not OF the world’ . . .‘‘IN
the world, but not OF the world,’
For the last couple of weeks, as I’ve walked down
the street leading to and from the hotel – The Esplanade – I had become aware of
a place called Moby Dick’s. I had grabbed my attention because they had a marquee
on the walk that advertised a ‘Wednesday nite special – curry, rice and naan,
£4.95.’ You would know that I was all
over that – seeing as how I love Indian food, first! And a bargain, second! Even tried to get Andy and Loraine
to ccome with me, but they were watching a movie and having Chinese takeaway (as opposed to 'takeout'). ‘Sure you don’t want some?’ No, but thanks
– I’ve got my taste buds all set on Asian food (meaning East Indian here in England, you know; whereas ‘Asians,’ as alluded to in America, are referred to here by their individual country names – like Chinese, Laotian, Korean, Japanese, etc.) I was going out to get me some
curry tonight! I’d been looking at this sign for weeks – something just always seemed
to come up every single Wednesday night. You can imagine that, at this point,
nothing, but NOTHING, was going to get in my way!
And then – on the way out the door – as I happened to be chatting
with Jack, Loraine’s older son, telling him about my plan, he said, ‘You
sure?! You know it’s just warmed up pub food, just like you could pick up from the
convenience store across the street. They (meaning anywhere you’d get Asian food
in this type of an establishment, as opposed to a legitimate Indian restaurant)
all come from the same place – pre-prepared, frozen cuisine.’ What – not
homemade?! Man, was I duped! (I DIDN’T KNOW!) Thank you, Jack, you just saved me
5 pounds and a big disappointment – I can’t BELIEVE I was SO naïve! (Then he
said, ‘so now what’re going to do?’ I said I didn’t know – had some stuff
around. 'There’s some rice from Ming Wah's you’re welcome to have.’ That
was really nice – thoughtful of him. (All Loraine’s kids treat me just like one of the family – I LOVE it! Who wouldn't?!)
*[The London Underground, often shortened to The Underground, also known colloquially as the Tube
(the nickname, ‘the tube,’ comes from the circular tube-like tunnels through
with the trains travel), is a UK rapid transit system that serves 270 stations and
has 402 kilometres (250 miles) of track, 45 per cent of which is underground. First
opened in 1863, it incorporates the oldest section of underground railway in
the world, and was the first line to operate electric trains, 1890. The Tube is
the fourth largest metro system in the world, in terms of
route miles. (Can you guess the others? +
+ + + Seoul, Shanghai and Beijing!) In the year
2011 passenger numbers were just under 1.2 billion making it the third busiest
metro system in Europe. (Behind which two other countries? + + + +
Moscow and Paris!) The system is an international icon for London, with the tube map, considered a
design classic, having influenced many other transport maps worldwide.
Photos_
1- palm tree across the street, as seen from my
window (Yep, that's what I said! What?! you say. I know, I know – whoever would have guessed it – in
England, of all places?! (All you have to think of is Southern California or
Arizona or Florida in the winter – THEY have palm trees, after all, and cold temps
are no problem for them. Same sort of thing.
2- two little words
3- starts small, seemingly innocuous
3- starts small, seemingly innocuous
4- one thing leads to another
5- map of the London Underground
6- it’s simple
7 - tube stop – Westminster
8- Lancaster station – below ground
9- Oxford Circus station – above ground, leading to the most famous clothes shopping in London
10- iconic symbol
