I'm currently between jobs – five weeks to be exact, which equates to about one calendar month salary-free. I'm also paying rent on two flats for approximately the same period, so I need to watch the pennies. Therefore, going to the pub every night to borrow a cup of internet is not really an option – buying only one pint is probably rude and buying two is reckless, so I'll alternate nights in and nights out just to maintain a semblance of contact with the outside world.
Unfortunately my former employer refuses to send me payslips and a P45 in the post, as was traditional, no, I must log-in to their payroll app and fetch those documents from the cloud myself. I believe that ought to be illegal but what would I know.
Today I rode the bicycle from my new residence to my future workplace, partly to reinforce the revised route into my memory and partly to time it. It took about 35 minutes, so I'll bank on 45 to start with. It's also a good idea to get my cycling muscles back in shape since I haven't ridden the bike since December, and my butt needs to re-familiarise itself with the saddle – ouch!
I feel I must shout out about how mobility-conscious Bedford is, there are so many beautiful routes through town accessible to everyone without a combustion engine, and on three passes this week I have encountered the “John Bunyan” community narrow boat taking fragile folk on river trips. We've reached the moment when the pilot recognises me and my bike on route 51 and we wave to each other.
On the return journey I investigated the out-of-town Tesco – OMG! The prices are so much lower than those at the Tesco Express in the centre of town that the bicycle panniers I bought for twenty quid yesterday are going to pay for themselves in my first month of living/working/commuting here.
In the afternoon I took a walk to investigate the parts of town I would have found earlier had my search for accommodation been more prolonged. Bedford Park is so lovely, and best of all, it doesn't close as it has no railings nor gates. There are only signs to say what time the café stops serving – currently 9pm.
Next month the park will host live gigs by Simply Red and Paul Weller.
I think Bedford has just smashed both Medway and Henley into the outfield.