It's been a while

 It's been rather a long time since my last post and a smorgasbord of things have occurred. Firstly, I'VE FOUND A HOUSE! It's within walking distance of work and right next to a swimming pool. I'm going to be a buff ting by next year i think. This is the most important thing to happen in my life and here are some juicy, juicy pictures.

Once Greggers had help me transport my bags from his to mine (i stayed at his at the weekend, sleeping on a sun lounger) I was left to do all the generic moving in things like signing a contract, unpacking my bags etc. Although unlike in Leeds there was no rush from my new housemates to see the 'Newbie'. In fact, i've been here for two nights now and said no more than 5 words to each of them. Hmm. It's an odd set up, in which the landlord lives on the top floor and his son is one of the other 3 tenants. I'm yet to be convince whether they're friend material.

Having unpacked my bags I made my way down to the swimming pool 2 minutes down the road and was pleasantly surprised to find that late night swimming costs only 2€! I did a brisk 50 lengths before hobbling home and getting into bed. Last night was the first night I've slept alone in a room for around 6 weeks and the whole experience was rather peculiar. Refreshed and raring to go I got up at 7 and was able to walk into work, a mere 40 minutes away, where I spent the day creating a Powerpoint presentation (yes, people still do those) on Excel for dummies.

My next mission was to the Lidl just down the road as I had no food to eat in the house. After inquiring with a number of locals I made my way there and did as authentic a german shop as I could do. Meaning lots of sausages and weird bread. As I approached the till I remembered something Marcus had said a few days back - "they don't accept VISA in Lidl... fucking melts". I looked into my wallet to see only a 5€ note a few coins. Definitely not enough.

Obviously I attempted it anyway but this merely resulted in embarrassing me as I had to leave the store with my trolley on one side. Another friendly local was able to tell me where the nearest cash machine was, but unlike England, these are not on every corner. In fact the closest one was two bus stops away! I ran. It was raining and I ran. My legs still aching from swimming the night before, I felt like Forrest Gump before his legs miraculously (and somewhat suspiciously) fixed themselves. I made it back to the store minutes before closing time and could finally take my purchases home.

But this was not to be the end of the saga. Oh no. When I arrived back home I dug into my pocket in search of my door key, whick was handily on a lanyard to keep it safe... it was nowhere to be found. I spent over an hour trawling the streets, looking like a low-life whenever I stooped over to check under a car. Nothing.

As of yet I'm yet to hear just how expensive this little error will be, but all will be revealed soon.