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how to avoid the congestion charge

it’s a little known fact that the congestion charge only applies to vehicles which have the driver below 10 metres from the ground. if it’s above 10 metres then you are clased as an aircraft and are exempt.
this has lead to the creation of all sorts of strange vehicles, including an attempt by London Transport to relocate their drivers upstairs in double decker buses (they abandoned this idea when they realised that they are exempt from the congestion charge anyway).
here is one such example. the driver sits in the bucket dangling on the chain on the end of the arms.
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tesco

the tescos next to my office has been under construction for about a year and now it’s finally opened. hoorah.
so, having spent millions on refurbishing it, how did they celebrate the opening ? by hanging some balloons up and making a chap walk about with some cardboard on.
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head and shoulders

i’m giving a talk at a conference in september and they’ve asked for a head and shoulders picture to accompany my written paper. so i stood by the window as john the telecoms engineer took my photo.
it was hard to strike a balance between total fool and utter nutter. but i think i managed it.
it took me ages to put all that masking tape across the window.
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and here is one i took of me looking more jovial:
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apologies for this unnecessary me-ness. it doesn’t happen very often (thankfully)

nicola donati

i walked past the shop where the owner kindly let me shelter last friday. it’s called Nicola Donati and it was Nicola himself who i met.
if his fine tailoring is as good as his kindess to wet strangers then i’d highly recommend him. visit his website
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grief

overcome with grief they throw themselves on to the burial mound
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giant games

we found a magic shrinking machine so esther could play jenga more competitively.
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bollynda

here is our friend lynda. she had a birthday party to celebrate her significance. she occasionally contributes fine items for this site and i was delighted to learn she’s got a new digital camera so we may be seeing more things like this.
i was also delighted to see she had a bollard slung between two sheds in her garden. there was a story behind it which was very good but i won’t tell you what it is. it’ll spoil the surprise if i tell you so you should ask her yourself.
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kids under a shrunkened gazebo

having a party ? spitting with rain ? simply send the kids out and make them sit under a gazebo. parents can stay inside the in dry and everyone’s happy.
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and then when it drys up then can all sit in a row and eat their puddings:
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BBQ

it’s been a day of fun today. we went to esther’s school’s summer fayre this afternoon and this evening we went to a BBQ at our friends’ house in the next village
in classic british fashion it was too cold to stand outside (we did try for 30 mins before admitting defeat) and eventually the only person outside was Steve, our host, who was doing the cooking. a most excellent evening.
tony babysitted this evening and was able to use the wifi successfully thanks to this morning’s fiddling. we may have to adjust the hourly babysitting rate to take account of the added Internet access facilties available.
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tony baby’s new hat

kezia has three babies. tiny baby, mummy baby and daddy baby. mummy baby used to be known as baby poo for those who are keeping track. if you haven’t been keeping track then follow the baby poo story back through time.
here is tiny baby with a drink on its head. kezia thought it was really funny so we had to take a photo.
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balloons

esther and i spent ages taking pictures of balloons this morning. i think this is one of her pictures.
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tarnished

it’s time to return my trophy ready for this year’s competition. but first it needed to be polished.
polishing metal is very satisfying (especially if you get your children to do it)
before:
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during:
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after:
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tony wifi

here is tony trying out wifi things in our house.
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street person

this girl seems very pleased with herself. very mysterious.
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hospitality

on the way back to the station last night there were some incredible sudden rain showers. i sheltered under this shop canopy.
As if by magic, the shop keeper appeared and invited me to shelter in his shop. it was a really nice tailors shop and the owner was a very nice chap. it was obviously i was’t going to buy anything (my trousers are beyond repair) so it was simply a matter of kindness !
hoorah for such things. (if i remember what his shop is called i’ll let you know)
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update: the shop is Nicola Donati. i took a photo of the shop on a dry morning here