Carnaby Street lights

I awoke to find my leg was marginally better, but I still could not put any pressure on it. I decided that, rather than sitting in the house and severely limiting my need to walk, I’d head to the office and see if walking helped. I avoided the long walk from Shepherd’s Bush by going directly to White City tube station. Even then, the walk to the office—with a stop at Starbucks—was excruciating.

I could feel the weight of silent passenger frustration behind me while I struggled to navigate the stairs on the tube network. I have never been so conscious of the number of steps without alternatives. It’s also apparent how short the ‘open door’ phase is on a tube train; I only just managed to manoeuvre myself to the doors before the beep.

After work, I chose not to go for drinks with the team as I was scheduled to meet C. It’s already the last Thursday, and I didn’t know how much extra time to allow because of my leg. I headed into town and exited at Oxford Circus with plenty of time to spare. I wanted to eat before meeting at the pub, and the only place I could find that served hot food and had available seating was Five Guys.

I walked to the pub and noticed the side seating was only just being put out by the staff even though it was packed inside and out. Inside, it was very noisy—bordering on unpleasant—but I bought two beers and managed to grab one of the tables before anybody else sat down.