I've been in my new job for about 3 weeks. Today was the first payday and when I checked my account this morning I was surprised to see a figure higher than expected. Perhaps it's this or perhaps it's the fact that I am being appreciated, trained and asked to stay late that makes me really love my new job. They even gave me personal business cards. It's always nice to feel needed. Or maybe it's an escape route from a rather volatile, (and fun, nevertheless) personal life, where a healthy uncomplicated relationship remains ever so elusive. Work enables me to avoid the drama and largely reduces the time I have to ponder the motives and reasons behind people's actions and words. Maybe it's just better to take everything at face value instead of trying to read too deep?
I had an opportunity to visit some beautiful western English lands last weekend, namely Devon. I truly was impressed, and so far deem Devon to be the prettiest part of England. Of course not having been to the Lake District, or Bath, or many other places, I realize this is a very skewed and inaccurate judgement. It seemed like everything in Devon started with "Ex". Exmoore National Park, Exmouth, Exeter, The River Exe, etc. Maybe it's a land of ex's? Exeter was a beautiful town, apparently ranked to be one of the highest standard of living towns in all of Great Britain. I could easily believe that. The combination of modern and old, the clean streets, friendly people, proximity to the sea and great shopping pretty much compute to produce a desirable place to live. I also got a chance to drive to a beach just just west of the Exmoor National Park, in Woolacombe, facing the great Atlantic Ocean. The water was fresh, clean and the waves pretty high. Enough for amateur surfing, and I regretted not having prepared a wetsuit or a surfboard, as I really do want to learn to surf. The beach and its surroundings were spectacular. Wild, green, surrounded with cliffs & hills, but the beach itself was all sand and stretched for about a mile before it gave way to admirable cliffs & rocks. The weather was typically English, graciously allowing a few rays of sunshine from a prevailing cloud cover, but at least it did not rain. A friend phoned and said that London was having a hot sunny summer day. Forget it, I would never trade this natural near-paradise for crowded London with its overpopulated streets, horrible traffic and daily tube comutes. I was glad to be out of the city.
