Walking to work...

…is really nice most days. I don’t have to worry about public transport (which seems to have come to a grinding halt in the absolutely unprecedented event of a smattering of snow in February) and let’s be honest about it, walking around Central London is pretty much the only exercise I get. Plus I get to see the sights of London on the way to work, such as the ongoing standoff between the Houses of Parliament and Brian Haw (I do wonder when he will give it up but also have a grudging admiration for the fact that he hasn’t).

However this morning it wasn’t so nice. I managed to both forget that we were expecting snow overnight and to look out the window before setting out on my walk to work. Consequently, I had no idea that it was still snowing. Which meant I forgot my umbrella and coat, and which also meant by the time I got to work I looked a little like a cat someone had tried to drown in a canal.

Part of the problem is my stubbornness, I suppose. I could have jumped into a taxi or a bus or onto the tube but I refuse to do any of those. The taxi option is just too expensive (when I can’t expense it through work of course). The tube is too crowded and it seems pointless to pay for a tube ticket for just two stops. And I am just too snobby to use a bus*.

Quite what this proves is a little beyond me, but I did feel my stubbornness waning slightly when I got to work this morning and had to dry my hair using the hand dryer in the gents. But look at it this way – I don’t use any transport other than my feet, so at least my carbon footprint is fine.

Jesus. I am unintentionally green…

*To some extent I am vindicated by the last time I tried to use a bus. Stood at a bus stop in the depths of South London, we were accosted by a Polish (?) gentleman who proceeded to talk at us manically in spite of the fact that he was speaking Polish (or some other Eastern European language) and therefore we could not understand a word of it. We tried to explain this to him, but I don't think he spoke a word of English. Normally I would find this entertaining and surreal. However at 1am in the depths of the SE postcode, and given the slight look of insanity in the guy's eye, it became a little uncomfortable to say the least.

So we got a taxi.