home, sweet home (for a couple of months anyway)

I've been in edinburgh for a wee while now, (over a month, I think).., until now I've been staying in a hostel.., a nice enough place, across the road from Haymarket Station... with a crazy Slovakian guy we called Adam, and a variety of other guests, each one there for a different length of time.., some semi-permanent residents.., who became like family, and others who came and went over weekends. Last night I moved into a flat in the north side of town.., Julie, a friend from church.. (a kiwi with a mohawk) has a house, and was looking for a quality flatmate, but didn't want to let just anyone into her lovely house.., so I showed up, and now I'm no longer sharing a hostel with alcoholics, kleptomaniacs, and crazy foreigners.

I came back to Edinburgh because I felt it was about time I stopped wandering around aimlessly spending money..., of course, I'm still spending too much money, and took my time getting a job... but now I'm driving a van, doing furniture & whiteware deliveries for a company who contract to a Christian trust involved in helping people get set up in houses. The pay's pretty light, but the hours are good, and the work's pretty easy.., (and better still, they gave me a bike!.., an early model Specialised Rockhopper... It's a similar vintage, and style to my first ever decent bike (any of you who have known me for a while, and ever mentioned bikes will, no doubt remember a rant about how dearly I loved that Marin before it was stolen) The bike I've got here is the wrong colour..., a subtle grey, not a gawdy bright orange, and the gear on it is a little basic and worn out..., (gripshift, anyone??)... but it's a nice light chromo frame, with rigid forks, and pretty quick, twitchy handling.

So, I'm currently enjoying a slightly quieter pace of life, not having too many adventures that will make exciting blog posts, but I am getting to know the city through the course of my job, and intend to continue having fun, exploring and writing about it when I get the chance, I haven't been taking any photos since I've been here, as I left my beloved camera at Reg's place rather than risk leaving it in the hostel, but now I'm flatting, I'll pick it up and try to snap a few more shots..., after all I am living in a pretty impressive, scenic and beautiful city.

Oh, and there are a couple of posts from europe I've still to put up, so look forward to those... and one day, hopefully photos from Verdon and Ceuse will make their way onto facebook...