Did a bit of a sleep in as exhausted from Iceland and being irritable with people.
Then spent the day packing and trying to get things done. made a last shopping trip to get hair dye and they didnt have any and then decided I needed one more pair of jeans to replace my black ones which were starting to fall apart. That all took so much more time than i anticipated and then I realised I would be late getting to Leicester Square to meet everyone for my farewell dinner. Took the bus and then the train but realised I didnt have the right ticket to get out of the station as I was now doing pay as you go rather than weekely travel card to have the guy get all uppity on me and make me pay a 20 pound fine for not having the right ticket. He could see I have 30 pounds credit on pay as you go so that I wasnt avoiding it rather in my haste I hjad been thoughtless. It was also hot and I was running late and I had to walk forever so managed to squeeze a few tears out not that he cared. However about 4 frozen margaritas made up for it later. A people traffic jam to get out offf the tube station due to the sudden and ferocious downpour of rain outside and people not moving along the footpath. I was there by 1830. lovely dinner of hicken fajitas and a dessert - very full.
Sad goodbye to Andrew and Nancy
Thursday I still had a bit to do but got up early to vacuum the apartment and clean the bathroom as well as last minute washing and packing
Had to post presents to NZ for the kids so went to the local postoffice for it all to take nearly 2 hours. If your parcel is under 2kgs then it is considerably cheaper than over 2kgs - about two thirds cheaper. I wrapped and unwrapped and brought new boxes and packets so many times and I was tired. i was so frustrated. Then got out some US dollars and went to the pharmacy to get hair dye only to have my HSBC credit card declined. I then go over to the bank which fortunately is not far away to have the manager say that everything appeared to be ok. I then go outside to withdraw money to be declined again and go back in the bank to wait again in a line of 10 people. Fortunately the manager sees me and calls me into his ofice to sort it all out. He rings the debit card place only to get frustrated himself by being given different numbers and people and being put on hold. After 30 minutes it appears that they have put a hold on my card as they thought someone was fraudulently using it in Iceland as well as four times at the postoffice (3 trips back with parcels and then US dollars). I then race back to the apartment as I wanted to leave by 1500 to get to the Radisson Hotel at the airport and miss the traffic. Didnt end up leaving until after 1600 and the minicab cost only 25 pounds. Driver talked the whole way. Frustrated at the hotel as my free wireless internet didnt work so couldnt catch up on the blog like I planned. McDonalds for dinner as next door to the hotel, a bit of TV and last minute juggling of packing as my bags are way too heavy.