Sunday

Sept. 30, 2001

rainy Richmond

I stayed in bed lazily but finally got up and had a nice shower and packed up. The day was rainy so I was quite glad to have my bag (where I'd stuffed my anorak). I checked out of the hotel and stored my bag with them and took a cab to the Richmond train station. Richmond is a nice little town on the Thames. But it was rainy and I had an hour or so before meeting my young friends for a lunch.

I wandered down the street for a cup of coffee. At Coffee People I found they had Internet stations so I bought a logon and sent a few messages.

I met my young friend and his girlfriend and other companions were off storing the bags nearby at someone's home before their own departure from Heathrow back to Namibia. We had a coffee and then he wondered where they were and called her mobile and told her to call him back at the pay box. She and one of her friends had gone to a pub on the Thames where they'd expected him to meet them. Off we went to the Lettuce and Slug. Pub names are weird but that's the best.

We had a nice meal and talked about this and that and then walked along the Thames. The rain had more or less stopped. But it was dreary. You could see it would be nice on a nicer day.

When the kids had to go for the airport, I took a cab back to my airport hotel. I sat and read and waited for my colleague and, sure enough, he came along with the car he'd hired to take us to a hotel near our office.

The hotel was quaint yet nice. A couple of pints and some dinner. And a welcome bed.

quaint hotel

"Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace..."

John Lennon, "Imagine"

Meta:
We'll just be keeping Lennon's radical lyrics here indefinitely. I'm away with limited capability to add updates.

JUST TYPING
It seems so odd.
To meet someone in a train station.
Or a hotel lobby.
Thousands of miles from home.