Why on EARTH do we live in London when we could live in...not London?

Samoëns...A far cry from, *bleuurgh*, London

London. England's Capital City. Steeped in history. One of the best known and best loved cities worldwide. But does it even compare to a tiny town in the French Alps called Samoëns? Beautifully traditional, quaint, peaceful and wonderfully placed for easy access to the skii slopes above. So, no then. Then why do I live in this miserable, self loathing, over-populated, crime riddled city? Because it's convenient? Perhaps. Because it's full of friendly people? That was a joke. Because it makes sense financially? Certainly not. Convenience it is then, but it's not even really that. Bar Central London and North West-ish, where I live and work, I have no need to go anywhere else. Site seeing, once done, is done. You can only admire such landmarks as The Houses of Parliament and Big Ben once, If that, and then all that's left are tower blocks, council estates and unobtainable mansions. Ok, so I'm being a little bit dramatic having just returned to the dreariness of London after spending a week in the snow filled Alps, but It does make me question why I am here and not there. Then, like always, once my standard, realistic, non-dreamer brain returns to replace the one filled with rants, raves and completely unrealisable aims, it hits me. Work. And future work opportunities. Fun. But work wouldn't be called 'work' if it was fun. It would be called...fun. Going to 'fun' 5 times a week sounds soooo much more appealing, but that's besides the point. London has HUGE opportunities for furthering careers and THAT's why I'm here. That's why EVERYONE is here. That's why it's overpopulated, jobs are oversubscribed, travel is shi...I'm off again.       

Happy New...grumble grumble

The New Year presented much anticipation..

2012. A new year for new resolutions, promises, ideals etc etc. But in the end it becomes the same old same old it always is. Hoorah, we celebrate the 1st Jan like we're going to turn over a new chapter in life, the world is going to be different this year we tell ourselves. A few days later and we're commuting back into work, sat at our desks doing exactly what we were 2 weeks ago, eating salads for lunch (because we ate so much over Christmas)- which lasts all of 2 days. We detour towards the gym on the way home only to change our minds at the last minute and state "I'll start tomorrow" which roughly translates as "I'll make the resolution again in 2013". Vow to take ourselves off to bed at "a reasonable hour" due to being back at work, yet we still feel the need to be watching a re-run of 'Snog, Marry, Avoid' until 2am, having to get up a only a few hours later, tired, aggravated and cursing BBC3. Yes, Happy New Year.

OK, so maybe I'm being a little pessimistic, Christmas is the best time of the year for me after all, so the chances are I'm a little bitter at not STILL being in Christmas holiday mode. I do however feel 'new year resolutions' are a load of rubbish. If you're going to do something worthwhile, do it, don't wait until January. The new year does represent the chance to do differently however, so to those of you who do have realistic ambitions for 2012, good luck.