Archives for April 2007
Cup a day
Back in the office. For some reason I’ve never quite worked out, four times in five my morning coffee in the downstairs EAT is free, but nobody else seems to get this benefit. I think it’s because I say hello to them and remember their names (well, the name badges help); so being nice can pay.
Drugs
This has been my crutch for what seems like forever. A persistent man-cold has knocked me out for days and I’ve relied on the drugs. Indeed, walking to Tesco Express to save a pound on Lemsip (I really wasn’t thinking straight) gave me a sense of how cold turkey might feel. Possibly.
Glove
Walking from Bank to the Barbican to see the Alvar Aalto exhibition on Saturday morning, the streets were empty. Who lost their glove? And, more curiously, who’d be wearing a glove on a bright spring day?
The exhibition was okay. Much more engaging was Jeppe Hein’s roller-coaster sculpture Distance in the Barbican’s Curve. I’d say go, but have just realised it’s gone.
Mr Predictable
I’ve got an idea to keep me fresh: try and take, and post, a photo a day on Flickr and also back on my sometime website for those who aren’t Flickr browsers. Admitting that here might keep me focused on the task. It’s going to be minutia but, well, such is life.
I take a secret pleasure in ironing even if I present a permanently crumpled experience. Queuing my work shirts on the fireplace demonstrates my Reiss-based predictability.
Holga ahoy
A little while ago I aquired a Holga, perhaps the most basic camera available in the 21st century. It takes 120 film, has a plastic lens and a body that leaks light, and – because I splashed out big time – also has a flash.
Evidence of alleged creative attempts here. All I need to do now is work out (i) how to focus it (ii) how to stop it shaking and (iii) how not to waste my pennies on bad shots.
Spending real money on developing film is quite quaint though. (And this is a first attempt to post direct from Flickr.)
The challenge
As I travelled to work on the Tube yesterday afternoon, a group of sweating men in shorts tumbled into the carriage at Balham and took the seats next to me. Looking to my right I noticed one of them had a notebook containing a complete list of tube stations, in which he was writing the time of arrival and departure at each stop. After a few minutes, I said – in the nicest way –
‘I think I know what you’re doing’.
‘And what do you think we’re doing?’
‘Every station in a day.’
Their eyes lit up as they explained their task. Yep, these four men/boys were attempting to break the Guinness World Record (and note the use of ‘Guinness’ in that official title, something to do with stupid drunken ideas) for the time taken to pass through every station on London Underground’s network. I’m sworn to secrecy on where they started and finished, since these are closely guarded facts amongst the community – oh yes, there’s a whole world out there – but at that stage of the day they reported being half an hour ahead of schedule.
This success may have been in part due to their support team, who I think was the Mum of two of them. From her holdall she produced an astonishing array of sandwiches, cheeses, crisps, cereal bars and chocolates, plus energy drinks and water. I suspect that, despite running between a few stations, the competitors ended the day fatter men.
I’m geek enough to have heard of this event before, and was quite proud to have seen an attempt in action and signed their witness form, but it’s not surprising that a few people I told in the office just gave a blank stare or asked ‘why?’. We could quote Mallory’s noble phrase when explaining why he wanted to climb Everest, ‘because it is there‘, however it’s probably more linked with man’s fascination with ignoble goals and our own stupidity.
The record, in case you’re wondering, is 275 stations in 18 hours, 25 minutes and 3 seconds by public transport alone. Having checked the website this morning it seems they missed their goal this time (oh look, I’m name checked) but will be trying again soon. Details of their earlier attempts here.
Join me in wishing them luck.
On-line help, on-line hell
It appears that the main reason I keep this website going is to complain about things. So, before my next rant, a quick word of praise.
The internet was predicted to revolutionise how citizens interact with government services. I worked with one reader of this page on understanding car owner interest in buying ‘car tax’ discs on-line, a service that’s now available after huge changes behind the scenes. Yet many of us remain disengaged beyond ignorant petitioning about road charging, or finding out when the local tip’s open.
What a difference, then, to receive a proactive email from my local library a couple of days before my borrowed books were due. Bearing in mind the extortionate level of fines in Wandsworth this service has saved me pounds, and it’s an example of exactly how the internet can be used to improve services. (Their systems aren’t smart enough to spot that I re-registered to avoid my outstanding fines, but let’s move on.)
Right, BT. It’s my new target of venom. Firstly, it’s introduced new charge for customers who don’t pay by direct debit, as well as a fine for late payment. I’ve had to sign up to keep the costs low but am very uncomfortable agreeing to pay an unknown amount (and there’s been no response to my email to the Chief Executive about the matter – then again, it wasn’t sent from my work email address this time!). Secondly, it has the audacity to tell customers that we can sign up for paperless billing at no extra charge!. And then, when I attempt to change my payment plan on BT.com, I receive this message:
The computers are very busy? Have the mice run out of cheese? What a load of tosh.
Harumph. Rant over. Enjoy the long weekend (if you have one where you’re reading this).
