I hate London

secretsam

lazymedievalist wrote:

I hate London and am desperate to get out of this overcrowded stinking hellhole as soon as it's at all practical.

Are you me in disguise?!?!?!?!?!?

cjcp

This is realistically the only place I can work.

For me, the big disadvantage with London is that unlike cities such as all (or just major?) the cities in OZ, Vancouver, Toronto (ok - inland), Auckland, Hong Kong, LA, San Fran, Boston etc etc, it isn't situated on the coast.

always_tyred

cjcp wrote:

This is realistically the only place I can work.

I sympathise. I went to several interviews in London after I graduated and I simply couldn't face it. The decision not to work in London reduced job opportunities in my chosen field by about a factor of 10, seriously. As such, it cost me about 4 years and 3 sideways moves to find a position elsewhere.

Honestly, it was worth it.

cjcp

Always Tyred wrote:

cjcp wrote:

This is realistically the only place I can work.

I sympathise. I went to several interviews in London after I graduated and I simply couldn't face it. The decision not to work in London reduced job opportunities in my chosen field by about a factor of 10, seriously. As such, it cost me about 4 years and 3 sideways moves to find a position elsewhere.

Honestly, it was worth it.

I should have mentioned though that I do like the job and where I live. If I worked in another area, there'd be greater freedom.

There was also the desire to move away from the area I'd lived in for 20 odd years.

Kieran_Burns

I've only stayed in London for a week at most (training) and have watched the madness of the morning & evening commutes.

I honestly do not know how you do it. :?

Whenever I have left the suburbs on my way home and hit the countryside I do think about you poor lot stuck in that mess / mass of traffic fumes.

I could NEVER give up my commute for yours... it may be at the ragged edge of the distance I would travel but I enjoy it WAY too much to change it.

Sewinman

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."

cjcp

Sewinman wrote:

"When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford."

It was bollox then, and it's still bollox now.

Surf-Matt

Did a year and a week in London.

Now my "commute" is in this area from Malpas (where I live) in the bottom RH corner, up to Threemilestone (left hand side) and back again (work from home).

Basically - stunning riverside ride, through a pleasant very small "city", up into a nice valley, across two fords (great fun when it's been raining hard!) and back again.

Sorry...

http://www.multimap.com/maps/?qs=truro& ... %20TR1%202

gabriel959

I can honestly say Cambridge is great for cycling.

lazymedievalist

Always Tyred wrote:

cjcp wrote:

This is realistically the only place I can work.

I sympathise. I went to several interviews in London after I graduated and I simply couldn't face it. The decision not to work in London reduced job opportunities in my chosen field by about a factor of 10, seriously. As such, it cost me about 4 years and 3 sideways moves to find a position elsewhere.

Honestly, it was worth it.

I made the horrible mistake of going to university in London. I could theoretically look for jobs elsewhere now I've finished, but now the whole thing is complicated by my having shacked up with someone who works in London. Neither of us is at the point in our careers where we could realistically support both of us on one salary for long, so getting away is close to impossible unless I get myself funding for a PhD somewhere. Bah.

lazymedievalist

SecretSam wrote:

lazymedievalist wrote:

I hate London and am desperate to get out of this overcrowded stinking hellhole as soon as it's at all practical.

Are you me in disguise?!?!?!?!?!?

Well, I am slow and bad tempered

always_tyred

lazymedievalist wrote:

unless I get myself funding for a PhD somewhere. Bah.

nooooooo!!!!

secretsam

cjcp wrote:

This is realistically the only place I can work.

I know your pain, me too

cjcp wrote:

For me, the big disadvantage with London is that unlike cities such as all (or just major?) the cities in OZ, Vancouver, Toronto (ok - inland), Auckland, Hong Kong, LA, San Fran, Boston etc etc, it isn't situated on the coast.

Sigh, Vancouver, sigh again...

GEPC

I know that London isn't for everyone but I for one still love it. Every day that I cycle along the Albert Embankment and see the Houses of Parliament with the sun on it, and every day I cycle over Waterloo bridge and take in what I consider to bethe best view in London I feel lucky to be living in a great city and even more lucky to have started cycling after years on the tube.

To me the key to enjoying cycling in London is to have a tolerant attitude. I am not a RLJ'er myself but if someone else does thats their business and if they get hit by a car they didn't see coming that will be their problem too. I think most drivers mean us no ill so don't get pissed off with them. They are just trying to get somewhere as well.

Part of the fun if riding in London is the fact that its a bit of an obstacle course at busy times of the day. If you want empty roads either move to the country or just cycle at night when you can sail around at twice the speed you do in the day.

Maybe one day I will have had enough - but not yet....

GEPC

fairweatherbiker wrote:

biondino wrote:

I hate things about London, but I love London.

I hated it when I was working there,

But I love it as a tourist - Yes I admit it I have swelled the coffers of those open-top buses :oops:

I am the opposite to you as I hate the tourist side of London but like the rest of it.
Lucky we all like different things as it would be a nightmare otherwise!

roger_merriman

I moved down to be with my wife to be. Yes it's a dirty crowed place. But I don't reget moving down. I do miss the land I could stand on the edge of the gorge and the river snaking it's way was just over 1000 ft below me.

robbarker

lost_in_thought wrote:

However, if I didn't live in London:

- it would be a lot harder to commute entirely by bike,
- I wouldn't get to have friday beerz with other cycling nuts
- I would have never bought a fixed gear bike
- I wouldn't get to enjoy zooming around the deserted streets in the dead of night
- I wouldn't appreciate the Essex countryside as much
- I wouldn't get to ride around Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens in the mist early in the morning
- I wouldn't do nearly so much sightseeing (I never go in, but I go past a lot!)

No, but you could ride somewhere nice.

I have just returned from a 3 hour ride around Monmouthshire, punctuated briefly towards the end with a pint at an award-winning village pub, and from leaving my doorstep until I got back I was overtaken by two cars and a van, and saw no more than a handful of other vehicles.

The views were frequently pleasant and occasionally to die for.

The air is fresh, the people are friendly and there is more space per head than anywhere in England.

You are very welcome to London :-)

giltkid

Fewer people in London have poo on their hands. FACT.

always_tyred

Note that the study was only conducted in England and Wales.

spen666

Always Tyred wrote:

Note that the study was only conducted in England and Wales.

Is that cos people in Scotland are known to be full of sh*t? :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Kieran_Burns

Always Tyred wrote:

Note that the study was only conducted in England and Wales.

This will be because the Scots are usually sh*t-faced...

always_tyred

Kieran_Burns wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

Note that the study was only conducted in England and Wales.

This will be because the Scots are usually sh*t-faced...

"You may take our oil, you make take the p!ss, but you will NEVER take our FREEDOM!"
(Mel Gibson, 1995)

UnworthyPapaLazaru

I thiought you were English AT but living in the Capital City??

always_tyred

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

I thiought you were English AT but living in the Capital City??

Outed as a fraud.

Mel Gibson didn't even say that either.

spen666

giltkid wrote:

Fewer people in London have poo on their hands. FACT.

Even fewer convicted shoplifters in Saudi Arabia have poo on both their hands

always_tyred

spen666 wrote:

giltkid wrote:

Fewer people in London have poo on their hands. FACT.

Even fewer convicted shoplifters in Saudi Arabia have poo on both their hands

Dude. :? :?:

UnworthyPapaLazaru

Always Tyred wrote:

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

I thiought you were English AT but living in the Capital City??

Outed as a fraud.

Mel Gibson didn't even say that either.

Yeah, but it was something similar...

How long have you been up on God's country? Whats you accent like???

We could have you adopted for forum purposes

always_tyred

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

Always Tyred wrote:

UnworthyPapaLazaru wrote:

I thiought you were English AT but living in the Capital City??

Outed as a fraud.

Mel Gibson didn't even say that either.

Yeah, but it was something similar...

How long have you been up on God's country? Whats you accent like???

We could have you adopted for forum purposes

Over 3 years.

My accent is unchanged - I was 7 years in north america and that didn't work either.

But I am picking up interesting new bits of vocab - like peely wally, glakit and irnbru.

No one will tell me what "irnbru" means though. Its a big scandal; aparrently it makes neds turn orange or something like that.

cjcp

SecretSam wrote:

cjcp wrote:

This is realistically the only place I can work.

I know your pain, me too

cjcp wrote:

For me, the big disadvantage with London is that unlike cities such as all (or just major?) the cities in OZ, Vancouver, Toronto (ok - inland), Auckland, Hong Kong, LA, San Fran, Boston etc etc, it isn't situated on the coast.

Sigh, Vancouver, sigh again...

Yes, a lovely place. And the beauty of it is that it's a direct flight back to the UK, as opposed to Flip Flop land down under.

The problem with Vancouver though, is that it's home to a helluva lot of homeless people. I mean, it's really obvious and in your face. I assume it's to do with the city having a milder, more hospitable climate when the rest of the country is frozen over or freezing. And you can't blame them for flocking there if that's the case.

Used to live just outside Cardiff. By the sea. About 400 yards from a cliff top walk,which has a great view over the Bristol Channel.

Think I might stop there.

el_presidente

Vancouver is such a cool place

I ended up in some metal bar talking to some chick who'd just driven in from Alberta, about a 24hr drive. She'd been working in the tar sands, had a 1000 yd stare and said she'd "seen a lot of bad things". Crikey!