I should be working right now, but after a pay rise below the level of inflation (yet again), a diminishing bonus (yet again, in spite of my performance being the same) and being put in this horrid part of Londinium, I frankly don't feel very motivated.

One of the big wigs circulated a plea asking what the company could do to improve things. I replied what about sending me back to Canary Wharf, giving me a proper bonus and compensating me for the lost of purchase power of my salary in the last 4 years.

Needless to say I got no reply.

So instead of killing myself at work, I bought tickets for all the piano recitals that Daniel Barenboim gave here in London during the last couple of weeks. That is right ladies and gents, 8 fully packed recitals with all of Beethoven Piano Sonatas (OK, it was not exactly like that, I booked almost one year in advance, but obviously I  can see into the future, because this is exactly what I needed). I shall talk about this more in another entry.

Got a Nintendo DS as a birthday present. I have a mental age of 80 according to the annoying avatar of the Japanese doctor that designed the game. Sodoku is very nice and intuitive.

Movies: Atonement (very good), No country for Old men (ditto). I watched something else but it was so good I forgot about it.

And now, what is about people in South London? I took a bus, leaned a bit too much in the opinion of a guy (one of the abusive types that blasts his rap music through his headphones for the benefit of the rest of the passengers) and he began to shout "Back off man! Back off!" like if I was kicking him in the testies or something. I can truly say I was preparing for a violent attack...

Then in the evening I read about a dimwit, which most likely lives in West London (Norht of the Thames) decrying the gentrification of South East London and how people in power want to hide the working class people out of sight. Well, let me say I was not feeling very sympathetic to such plight. My parents were working class, I went to school with working class people, but the crassness, anger and intimidation prevalent in today's London's working class people is absolutely terrifying.

I have to say this is prevalent in young people only (30 or less). The oldtimers in the greasy spoon around the corner are extremely polite, the lady that runs the muffin place greets me by name.

What has gone wrong!