Thursday

New thing today was nipping to a corner shop for tonic water for my gin after I decided I couldn't be arsed going to Asda for vegetables and all that other good stuff.....

Wednesday

I might have run up and down someone's driveway in West Hyde on my walk back from work...

Tuesday

First day back at work after the weekend, and my brain phoned in to tell me that it was still off. Went into the toilets of that pub called the Oaks, that I recently vowed never to go into again.

Bank Holiday Monday

Went into a shop in Marylebone station that I hadn't been into before to get the Sunday Times, before I realised that it was Monday today. It reminded me of the time one of my dad's friends was stranded in London because he was so drunk, he couldn't pronounce "marylebone" to ask for directions. Then went to a bar in Waterloo station that I hadn't been into before to meet a friend, who I had met before!

Sunday

Drove a new way to the swimming pool in Chalfont St whatever. Did 29 minutes in the pool due to people being rude. One guy hit me twice on the head cos he wasn't looking where he was going, so I gave him a kick in the ribs.

Saturday

New thing was doing nothing ("and it was everything I dreamed it would be" - just like Peter Gibbons says in Office Space).

I did watch Fritz Lang's Metropolis from 1927 which was my real new thing. I enjoyed it, but it gave me night terrors.

Friday

New thing for today was going to a new room for a presentation!

Thursday

Totally forgot that I was meant to be in Newbury AGAIN yesterday, so my new thing for yesterday was losing my mind. No, my real thing for yesterday was aimlessly driving around the Sainsbury's car park in Watford before I went across the road to do my shopping in Asda. The other new thing was buying Asda own brand gin, and also tonic, and taking a giant leap down the path towards hoboville.

Edited to add, that Thomas now says that the new thing of going into the attic was MY idea; he suggested going around to the neighbours for a hot drink.

Also, for today's new thing, on the way back from Watford, I turned off and drove through Croxley Green, spying two new potential pubs for sunny days; The Coach and Horses and the Artichoke. Man, I should get a new hobby.

Wednesday

Because I am a particular kind of idiot and totally disorganised, I went back down the M4 again after yesterday's jaunt. But then totally uninspired by things to do in Reading, my new thing for the day was buying a number of 24p sachet of Horlicks in varying flavours. I then slept like a baby! (I mean, really well, not screaming and pooing myself in the night).

Tuesday

Lots of new things today. First up, I had a meeting in Newbury, and the person I went to see had a new office. Then time to kill, so went into a couple of hairdressers in Newbury that I'd never been to before - and into a couple of new shops that weren't here when I worked here. Then to Slough, again into an office that I'd never been to before. The new things continued after work when I went for a run, turning LEFT out of my road, instead of right! I ran towards Chalfont St Peter/Giles (both the same to me), but then realised I was going uphill, so turned around and ran home again.

Monday

Bit stumped for new things to do, despite running a ridiculous errand at lunchtime, which involved a circuitious route back from Ealing. Against the advice of my colleague Thomas who thought that climbing into the attic would be a good idea (it was the getting back down again I was worried about), I went to M&S and bought Wensleydale and blueberry cheese.

Sunday

New thing was checking out most of the canal path through Rickmansworth as the very impressive Rickmansworth Festival was on. Topped off the new things by going to the Polar Bear pub, also in Rickmansworth. The landlady got my drink wrong twice, and then tipped half my pint down my arm, before advising me to "hold the pint at the bottom so as not to spill it".

Saturday

New things for today were all pubs! The first was the "Whip and Collar" pub in Royston Vasey - oops, I mean Rickmansworth. One pint there, then we went to the Apple Tree in Gerrard's Cross, but were overcome with the fumes of posh people. Did I hear someone asking what that "hatchback" type vehicle was in the car park, parked between a brand new Bentley, and a Range Rover? We laughed our way out of there, and went to the much more reasonable "French Horn" across the road, where our round came to £4.40.

Friday

Today's new thing was the "Long Island Bar and Grill" pub in Rickmansworth - a place which makes my old student union look like the bar in the House of Commons. Dreadful. Made our escape by quickly dodging down a new street which I hadn't explored before. Man, there are some big houses in Ricky!

Friday

Yesterday's new thing was purchasing a fruit from Tesco (every little helps), and then subsequently eating it. It was called a rambutan, and was very much like a lychee - in fact I have know learned that they are from the same family. The rambutan is a medium-sized tropical tree in the family Sapindaceae, probably native to southeast Asia. It is closely related to several other edible tropical fruits, not only the lychee, but also the longan, and the mamoncillo.

Thursday

Last night's new thing was exploring the road that takes you out of Chalfont St Giles (or Peter) - can't tell the difference. It doesn't go anywhere, but takes you in a big fat loop right round to the top of the high street, which is where I started. I did all this en route to the swimming pool, which a few blogs ago, I lauded as clean. Well I take that back. I saw a girl cleaning the side of the pool and throwing the dirty water back into the pool, which nearly made me vomit. And my mood wasn't helped by a woman appearing in front of me in the middle of the pool when I was swimming up and down. I stopped in amazement and she told me to move so she could do some ridiculous aqua exercise routine that she might well have learned from the Mapp and Lucia books.

Tuesday

New thing for today was going into a pub between my house and work that I've always wondered about. It's called the Oaks and is situated on the corner of a narrow country road that people storm down at 90mph. Indeed the thought that I would probably get killed turning into the car park nearly came to fruition when some fat bloke came round the corner virtually sideways. The pub didn't live up to the expectations that I'd placed on it - three old men sat around the dark bar, reminiscent of one of a pub in Lambourn or in the far west of Ireland. I had a quick pint and left, never to return. Almost literally, as a woman in a Porsche nearly hit me as I edged out of the car park.

Monday

Names are being withheld to protect the innocent, but while en route to the pub, I ended up taking a new route on a slip road off the A40!

Sunday

Today's new thing was going to a place in Ealing called the Cafe Bar as we took a detour from our intended trip to Ikea as the rain was so bad, and there was lots of traffic around Wembley....then dropped Mabel off at the station..

Saturday

New thing for today was going to a cafe in Tring called Buttercups, despite Mabel's desire to go to another cafe in the High St, called Tringfellows....also nipped into Tesco to stock up on beer ahead of tonight's Eurovision Song COntest

Friday

New thing for today was venturing further into the car I went into back in February as my new thing - a bar in Rickmansworth called Vines. Last time I nipped in for a drink, but today (or yesterday, more truthfully), I went right to the bordello style bit at the back.

David Bellamy

Thursday's new thing was taking my boss' advice and utilising a footpath to get to work, instead of walking along the dangerous country lane which links our offices to the outside world. Had a lovely stroll along the lakes, through the trees and past the Coy Carp pub, but then got caught by aforementioned boss taking off my sweaty top and replacing it with another at my desk....

Wednesday - dry stuff

Dry cleaners in Rickmansworth. B-O-R-I-N-G!

If you're reading Tra - look away now!

Dull. Far too busy to do anything but veer up a side street in Maple Cross.....

Bank Holiday Monday

New thing today was going to Bar HaHa in Ealing. I'd almost been here before with my colleague SImon after the football, but it was almost closing time, and the guy on the door showed such a lack of enthusiasm that we turned back. Now I've actually been inside, I can see why he wasn't enamoured with the place.....

Sunday

Feeling a bit "tired", new thing was going to Tesco in Wellingborough for some brown sauce for our bacon sandwiches.

Saturday

New thing today was going to Wellingborough to help our friends move house. Stopped en route in Sainsburys to get some booze for them as a house warming present, and ran into Kate in there buying cleaning products. Also got a good look around the pubs of Wellingborough in the evening, as well as stopping off at an Indian restaurant on the way home.

Friday

New thing was going to Chelmsford for a meeting- got there ridiculously early because the directions I'd printed out told me it would take one hour and 20 minutes to get there, but of course, those were a different set of directions that I'd picked up by accident. Also went to Tesco in search of a pillow (they don't sell them), and then also went to Renautl London West, which appears to be the largest Renault dealer in the world.

The town mouse and the country mouse

Are you sitting comfortably? Then I'll begin. There was once a country mouse, called Marge, and a town mouse, called Lil Tra. Marge, dressed as a bag lady, went up to the big smoke as her new thing on Thursday, meeting Lil Tra at Waterloo station. Lil Tra alighted at Waterloo having travelled from Paris in first class, with a car ready and waiting for her (well, not quite, as it turned out). So my new thing for the day was marvelling at my younger sister's panache, and being driven to her house, through the streets of London, finally arriving in Barnsbury. She'd just been reading my blog, so she agreed that today's new thing was a lot more exciting than suddenly veering down random side streets!

Wednesday - I touch myself

Yesterday's new thing was walking home cross country, floating on high o'er vales and hills, taking in new parts of the lakes around my work that I'd never seen before. I also went into the office next door to make the guy there a cup of coffee when I was on my own, so that he wouldn't mention to my boss that I was singing the Divinyls song "I touch myself" very loudly to myself in the office....

Supporting Liverpool in Champions League

Not really, I'm still a Spurs fan! But I was desperate to see Chelsea and their poser of a boss get knocked out of the Champion's League, so my new thing for today was supporting the Reds. Losing 4-1 on penalties isn't a nice way to go out of a Championship, but it's a hell of a way to win one! My real new thing was parking down a side street in Ealing that I hadn't been down before due to my morbid fear of traffic wardens....

House of pain - Monday

Never-before-seen back streets of Ealing was my new thing of the day as I was trying to get past a bunch of roadworks on the Uxbridge Road on my way to Morrisons. Twill probably be my last visit to Morrisons, as I finally moved from my old house in Hanwell, not before a fond farewell to my two miserable housemates, which involved my removing of the batteries from the TV remote.