The whole Monday afternoon got wiped out getting home to Liverpool. All due to some small errors:

• Not leaving enough time to go to the post office and then finding a queue of ten people with only three staff working. This gives a ratio of 3.3. My personal rule is, if the ratio is more than 2 then it is not worth waiting. This rule does not apply at theme parks.
• I got to New Cross station and found late and cancelled trains. I really should have checked the National Rail website before I set off, but I had got used to the trains being very reliable. However, the combination of a new timetable and icy conditions meant that New Cross station had been like this all week. Ironically, the new timetable increased the frequency of trains.
• And I should have got a taxi back home. The train was slow and the walk home was covered in ice. Not easy with a suitcase.

Actually, writing about the journey home is an excuse for me to publish a photo which I took today:

While admiring the view, I asked the question: who got my work Secret Santa gift?

A bet for Liverpool to win the FA Cup AND for England to win the World Cup. I should be £125 richer at the end of July. As a clue, the accompanying card reads: “Miracles do happen at Christmas”.

After a year of living in London, my piano has been transported from Liverpool into my flat.

Originally, I thought that there would not be enough room in the flat. I was right, there is just a foot of room between my bed and the piano. There’s not even enough room for a music stand, I have to tape the sheet music to the wall. There’s also no room for a stool. I have to sit on the speaker, boasted by a copy of Shakespeare’s complete works, so that I can sit at the correct height.

Space isn’t the biggest issue, what I lack most is time. I’ve talked about the London time-vortex before. It is clichéd but I have met many grade 8 musicians who don’t have the time/inclination/space to play anymore. It’s a shame. Were all the hours of practice wasted? Why do it in the first place? Pushy parents? A better personal statement for university entry?

I’m not being critical of the pushy parents because I’m (secretly) jealous. I’d rather be a retired grade 8 pianist than a struggling grade 2 adult learner.

The real answer is to enjoy the learning experience and not to worry about the end result. Or I could concentrate on an instrument that I can already play – the guitar.

A Ferris wheel has been erected in Liverpool. Comparisons with the London Eye are inevitable. It’s not as large or prestigious but it is lit with a whiter and purer light. Even unskilled photographers with inferior equipment (me with my mobile phone) can’t fail to take a good picture:

Liverpool One Wheel

Liverpool was the end of a frantic week’s holiday. It started with a weekend trip to the South coast of England. I saw the channel for the first time. The calm white rolling waves can’t be found in the city.

The South Coast

Several friends commented that they would like to live in such a place. But not me, I’d be bored after a day. As annoying as London can be – the frantic pace and impersonal nature, it is addictively exciting. I do want to stay for a few more years at least. Friends have complained that London has caused them to feel abandoned in the North West. It’s a shame that the UK is so capital-centric, but the fact that it is London is compensation enough.

Let’s hope I don’t get burnt out soon.