2004-07-08

I take back what I said about Manchester�s lack of late-night shopping facilities. I�ve managed to locate a 24-hour supermarket on my route home from work, and have taken to doing my shopping in the middle of the night: of course, grocery shopping at one o�clock AM feels all weird and backwards, and naturally leads to surreal combinations of impulse purchases. Last night my basket contained two single serving containers of black cherry soy yogurt, a three-litre Tupperware container, a bag of dried figs, and a video copy of The Italian Job. And Mancunians really are a friendly lot: for two nights in a row, walking home with my groceries, I managed to flag down an out-of-service bus, and got a free ride home.

Besides providing an economical means of transporting my sundry purchases, my local bus has proven to be a hot social scene. I�ve made a friend! I got to chatting about international work visas one night with a friendly young bloke at the bus stop, and after a few more encounters of a similar nature, we exchanged phone numbers; and on Monday he gave me a brilliant tour of Didsbury. (Sadly, he is engaged, putting to rest any amorous inclinations on my part � but what young girl hasn�t dreamt of a whirlwind romance on public transport, riding off into the sunset on a city bus?)

Tomorrow I�m probably off to Southampton, catching a ride with one of my housemates; or if that doesn�t pan out, I�m going to go to the train station and buy the cheapest ticket I can find (so long as it�s not to, like, Birmingham). So bohemian of me, I know. I�ll be back Monday or Tuesday, depending where the trail of cheap tickets leads me. Ciao!