From the over enthusiastic loud honk by the bus driver on a Durham roundabout this evening I can only conclude I had a near death experience. His subsequent over enthusiasm in hitting the breaks in non-life-threatening situations can only suggest I was lucky to survive.Yet I am grateful at this time of year for any bus turning up within a 30 minute window. Once the ice is gone and the evenings get lighter I can walk to and from Durham (aside from the event of the odd torrential downpour). But …

Today as I sat enjoying my cup of tea at morning break I felt lucky. My ex-colleagues and friends will be sorting letters and packets, and tomorrow delivering mail. During the national strikes in 2007 I was doing the same. Two years on I had hoped both sides would be closer to a resolution, but I’m not surprised they aren’t. Whilst everyone is on strike a managers days are long, but when strikes are over is when the real work begins.
In 2007 as the strikes came to the close I …

Since the beginning of September things have got busier week on week to a climax of the past fortnight where I have done work of some description every day since the Monday before last, sometimes finishing late at night, and I am exhausted. Today I have gone from babbling to full speed ahead. From laughing hysterically to crying as I walked between meetings.
In London this pace was the norm, not just for a month. I survived (by a thread) six months in a row of working 50-70 hours a week. …

My blog has existed in various guises since 6th February 2007 but took a whacking fourteen month break before recommencing in October 2008 to make me determined that this time my blog was here to stay.  My 100th blog comes only days after the six month anniversary of it finding a permanent residence at helenthornber.com. In those six months I’ve entertained almost 2000 unique visitors from 55 countries. Not including anyone who reads this via Facebook. That is something I am very proud of.

On the 1st October it will be …

Back in the days when Sarina and I lived in our little house in Collier’s Wood I ran out of excuses of why I shouldn’t go to her spinning class. So one Saturday morning at the ungodly hour of 8.30am I got out of bed and reluctantly went along. The first class was hell on earth. The second was ever so slightly better but I still felt like I was going to collapse by the end of it. I didn’t go religiously but as I went to more classes it …

If you’re new to my blog you might want to read ‘The Real Me’ to put this blog into context.
The past two weeks I’ve been focussing on getting healthy so I have more energy. This came out of getting fed up of of feeling “meh” far too often. The depression has retreated for now but I’m still feeling a bit flat. I thought a fortnight of doing all the right stuff would have me dancing on the rooftops. It hasn’t. Though I have lost 4lb along the way. However that …

It’s been seven months, one week and four days since I moved to Durham. Going back to London I realised how much I miss having some of my best friends on my doorstep, but I don’t miss living in London, after all it’s only three hours away on the train. If only I could move my friends up here.
I have decided to follow in the footsteps of the great Bill Bryson and tell you why I love Durham so much.
1. It’s so pretty. For years my favourite part of the …

Arriving in London I am surprised at how relaxed I feel in the middle of rush hour. Leaving everyone else to their panicking and cursing, whilst I weave into the next free spot in the crowd in the direction I’m heading. So what if I miss a bus? There will be another.
As it happens the bus arrives almost immediately. I get on, not bothered about a seat, but get one. The experience of a couple of hundred meters from train to bus stop makes me realise how stressed, irritated and …

Normally the most I venture into Radio is listening to Chris Moyles for an hour on a weekday morning. My parents however are avid Radio 4 listeners with speakers in the lounge, front room and dining room all hooked up to the stereo. Whenever I’m home I can’t help noticing the radio, but am also very practised in tuning out, especially when I hear the first bars of The Archers theme tune.
So it surprised me this evening when I found myself, in my tuned out state, tuning back in. I …

When I told people my intention to move to Durham, a city I had visited only three times in my life (as a child, as a drunken student and for my job interview), on more than one occasion I was told that I was brave. I didn’t think it was particularly brave. I was moving for a job that was a lot less stressful than my current one, to a place that would allow me to be lazier than I ever was in London. As for making friends, how hard …

In my previous job I had to get up ridiculously early and I hated it. I am not a morning person in the slightest. So I was surprised to find that when it came to research for my novel I was willing to get up at 5.15am, having taken a days holiday from work. It is funny the affect that dreams and determination can have on you!
The first half (or so) of the book takes place around the area of Colliers Wood and Morden in South London. (Google Map). I …

Well I kicked off my bank holiday weekend last night, despite the fact that unlike most people in the UK, who are going to be having four days off work, I will have to do some work on Saturday. At best this will be making a few phone calls to people at around 7am to check that all is in order with everyone that is working (well not everyone in the UK that is working, obviously, that would take hours if not days – just the six managers working for …

Thinking about writing this I realised I’m probably going to end up with a blog that resembles a listings magazine reviews section, you know the kind of thing… ‘what to do and see this weekend’. However it does sum up the experience of the twenty-four hours or so between Friday and Saturday night last weekend…
After finally leaving work about an hour and a half later than planned on the Friday, then getting home about two and a half hours later than planned – courtesy of Tooting High Street turning into …

For those of you familiar with me this might seem a little strange as I do actually live in London… but indeed this weekend I trekked half an hour up the northern line for a weekend with E, and what a fantabulous weekend it has been.
The low points of the weekend (have to get this bit out of the way): Being ridiculously tired on Friday night and dancing with my eyes shut at the Islington Academy. The worst DJ in the world ever trying to bore us to death in …