Polly had a job interview, somewhat out of the blue. This job interview turned out to be in Plumbton, which is just north of Brighton. Our panicked hunt for transport lead us to coaches in the end and we booked an overnight coach down on Wednesday night and back Thursday. And so we found ourselves in London for a day.
The coaches were, as coaches are, somewhat unpleasant. And late. The worst part was the seats – far too short for anyone of a reasonable height, so not much sleep was to be had. They were also wary about bags on the bus and all bags were opened and searched before being loaded. Ah, the joys of London.
We arrived at Victoria at 7am and discovered the joy of having to pay to use the toilets. Slightly cleaned up we sent Polly on her way while I got lost in Westminster. I eventually found myself by Vauxhall Bridge and the conspicuous MI6 headquarters. I drifted down to Westminster and up through Trafalgar square until I found myself on Oxford Street. At this point I acquired some breakfast and decided what to do. I was well and truly bored of walking by this point and so hoped on the tube and went to the Imperial War Museum.
At this point the 2 minute silence came up. While Polly had the dubious joy of a breather in her interview I had the eerie experience of silence in London. It’s decidedly unsettling.
Expecting Polly to be finished about midday I walked up the embankment, awaiting her call. It came when I was passing London Bridge. After reuniting I took Polly to St. James’ park, where she slept on the grass, before we walked to Westminster and then tubed down to the Tower. We then retired to Victoria before bussing out at some unglody hour. We arrived back in Glasgow on time only to discover the buses accepted only exact fares and no one would change a 10 pound note. Ah, Britain.
The rest of the day was spent fighting HSBC and sleeping. Banks over here make those in NZ look streamlined, friendly and competent. Honestly, how did they run an empire given the requirements for picking up an ATM card?
The good news – Polly has a job offer at the top of the salary bracket they were offering. Of course now she just has to decide if the job interests her, which is the best way for interviews to end really. Stay tuned!
