Woo! Congratulations, you Lexcen-keeled work monsters!

Was it raining when you attempted The Stairs Of Death? The most spacious seats are up there (the one at the back, near the stairs) but the trip there is fraught with peril. Particularly when pissed...

Shauny, this may sound selfish, but just remember that next time you are caught out by the stairs of death, hold your hands in the air so the other bits of you cop the damage...and you'll still be able to type!!

(Congrats on tackling the unemployment problem).

yay!! congrats on the employment thing. So what you doing?? Is it exciting? And stairs are evil no matter where they are :)

Hooray for my webmistress and her sister! Also--good luck with not falling down stairs. UK stairs are tricky things. *winces at the memory, especially with my ginormous feet and lack of non-clumsiness*

Three cheers for employment! And yeah, keep an eye out for those crazy double-decker stairs.. They're silent killers!

Bless.

When cities are so densely packed that the population needs to be stacked vertically even on public transport, a percentage are always going to break their neck. It sounds like you've gotten off lightly so far ... :)

Congratulations on the job!

I want to hear proof from both of you, Australia 1 and Australia 2. Or has the other sworn never to write anything online?

She's not dead! Yaaaaayyyyy!!!

Thinking of you. Hope you're well. :)

I don't know if you've got the same double-deckers as in London (RouteMasters - the ones with no doors) but if you do, there's plenty of potential for more fun there:

Stylish dismounts from moving buses - almost as exciting as bungy jumping as you realise you've narrowly avoided running into a lamppost.

Congratulations on getting a job. No Internet - how do you pretend you're working without the Internet? Hide a book under the desk?

Wait 'til you get the first paycheck in Pounds. No more haemorrhaging (that took way too long to spellcheck) Australian Dollars. You've got over the 2 biggest hurdles fast - job + accommodation.

The world's your oyster (well Edinburgh actually).

Good luck,

Scott F :)

No internet access :(

Jesus, let the poor lady live. Internet access might be as omnipresent as hydrogen in the U.S. or Australia. But in Europe, it's a pain in the ass outside of Internet cafes or offices with DSL. At least it was when I last visited two years ago.

I, for one, would rather see Shauny post her thoughts and feelings whenever she has the opportunity, even if it means waiting two months for the next post.

With apologies to Bananas in Pyjamas:

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking A1?"

"I think I am, A2."

"That we're lucky to have found jobs and not been killed by farken bus stairs, A1?"

"Absofargen-lutely, A2."

Congratulations all round, you fine Ozzie export.

Hooray! Hope the jobs are good ones :-)

I'd like to say that you'll get the hang of those vertical drops with decorative step effects, but I've never got the hang of them. Those poles they have in fire stations would be better (and a lot more fun!). Or a slide. A slide would be good. They could even have a slide that neatly deposits you on the pavement (contoured so that you effortlessly land on your feet). Or a little lift complete with muzak (except you'd miss your stop 'cause there'd be too many people piling in).

:-)

Never gotten the hang? Come on... it's easy! It's not a series of little steps: it's one big one. You make like you're going to fall, leaning down the stairs, catching the rails halfway along their length, like you're on parallel bars. Your legs, gravity taking over, will end up in front of you, just on the wooden ridged floor at the back of the bus. Hanging out the side of the bus with one arm securing you to that half-inch metal pole is optional, but highly recommended for the maximum-scoring dismount.

oh.. I think I've been riding on the wrong sorts of double-deckers, then :-P

(Isn't double-decker dismounting going to be one of those exhibition sports at the Olympics next year?)

I sincerely hope so. Because I will be so fucking there... but I suppose then you'd get traditionalist back-exit versus tres moderne middle-bus-exit fights.