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February 2004

watch

but what did you expect for £10.95 ?
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a very british scene

telephone boxes at Embankment. these phone boxes have probably got a BT code name and i’m sure Pete will tell us what it is …
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good is not normal

in the last few months these funny boards have appeared in most tube stations. they tell you how all the other train lines are doing so you don’t feel so bad that the line you are about to travel on is a bit broken too.
occasionally you can even feel smug that your line is ok whilst all the others are broken.
i like how they are written by hand in felt pen. makes them somehow more human.
this one today caught my eye. it uses the words ‘normal’ and ‘good’. standards have fallen so far that normal is bad and good is noteworthy.

click for big version

watch shop

how often do you see something in a shop window and go inside to buy it only to end up leaving the shop with a watch nearly twice the price of the one in the window (but with more features).
this happened to me today. the watch in the window was £5.99. Admitedly it wasn’t all i wanted. once in the shop an extremely nice chap showed me a variety of watches and in the end i bought one for £10.95.
no compass – but i can always use an upturned plate if i want to draw a circle.
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this shop is just off petticoat lane and is excellent. go there and buy a cheap modern digital watch.

hospital banana

my mum used to tell my brother and i that mushy over ripe bananas were what you got given in hospital to make you well. they became known as hospital bananas.
it never occured to me that maybe the reason we called them hospital bananas is that they could make you ill and you’d end up in hospital.
whatever, nobody likes the brown gloopy bit of a banana do they ?
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a happy welcome

i’m usually pretty useless when i arrive home in an evening. my 1hr 45 minutes commute can often be quite miserable (though it’s at least more bearable since i dumped the tube for walking).
the best bit about the commute home is the reaction from esther and kezia when i walk through the door. they are (usually) so excited to see me. it’s a real ego boost.
today they were even waiting at the window, waving down the street as i approached the house.
hoorah for jolly kids !
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update: ooops, just in case anyone thought otherwise, hoorah for jolly wives too. especially jane who it goes without saying i’m also very glad to see each evening. it went without saying, so i didn’t say it. but now i have.

strange goings on

here are two people painted white snogging on paddington station waiting area. i think they were doing something official
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update: having read the comments, i suppose they are trying to recreate ‘the snog’ as seen in the tate modern

don’t park here

here are some double yellow lines on the road and the curb stone. i thought you’d like it. think of it as an early valentine’s present.
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fridge and a chair

interesting how the door opens on to the road side and that the chair is behind the fridge. makes you think.
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cashback

cashback is a brilliant idea and much safer and more convenient than standing in the street taking money out of a cashpoint.
you buy something from a supermarket on your bank card and before you know it you’ve got your shopping a big wad of notes.
unless you go to the supermarket near my office. in there they haggle.
i asked for £40 cash back today. and they said “how about £20” ?
so i said “no, i’d like £40 please”
and she said “well, i’ve only got £20”
so i accepted her original offer and received £20 in £2 coins. i thanked her on behalf of my wallet manufacturer.
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sign of the times

i’m looking to buy a watch, but no where seems to sell them these days. i went to Nowhere and even they had ceased selling them.
i went from door to door down tottenham court road saying “do you sell watches” with no success. next time i’ll actually go in to the shops.
i want a thermometer and compass on my watch and i only want to spend £20. i suspect my search may take some years.
meanwhile i can take my old watch to the clothes repairers where i saw this sign. they can apparently alter a 24 hour clock and turn it in to a more decimal 10 hour version. possibly.
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jacuzzi

here is an upturned jacuzzi in a skip. jacuzzis are just so pass�.
in london the craze is to have your bath replaced with a small pond with actual living fish in it. more posh families have turtles. i even heard of someone having a dwarf alligator in their bathroom.
but where do people wash nowadays you ask ? the answer is in purpose built wash blocks which have been built by the local council on most street corners. they have been sponsored by personal hygiene product manufacturers to reduce the tax burden.
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