Friday 28 April 2006
Surreal event of the day
HEMS (Helecopter Emergency Medical Service) landing in the playground outside my house. The black car to its right is mine, which led to a hairy moment when I thought it might land in the street. They were responding to an accident which had closed Essex Road in the Friday-before-Bank-Holiday Rush Hour and left a row of buses (at my count) 50 long.
Oh bugger, I'm so annoyed that I was at work and missed all the excitement. Ooooh, all your potential stalkers are going to track down where you live now...that's it, you *really* need to get some proper curtains for the master bedroom window now!
mj xx
So your car is the one pointed in the opposite way? Nice.
Wednesday 26 April 2006
Sometimes you're the windshield ...
... sometimes you're the bug. I don't know why this view reminded me of the Mary Chapin Carpenter song, but as the London-Glasgow express flashed through the station in front of the going-nowhere local train, the song came to mind.
I *adore* this picture! Lovely!
Tuesday 25 April 2006
I'm assuming it's wooden
I don't like spam emails any more than the next guy, but I just got one from "Plank Q. Presumtiousness", which I think is probably one of the best names ever.
Monday 24 April 2006
Smart
I was quite taken with this new idea for an ecologically sound vehicle - admittedly, it's not really a new idea, but has a number of features that actually make it desirable to own. Not least because it looks really cool, especially when cornering. I was in Calcutta recently, and for the first time in my life rode a motorbike - admittedly pillion. Driving for the first time on a motorbike in a city with such relaxed driving standards as Calcutta would be a death wish that I don't currently enjoy. However, it did give me a taste for two wheels that I'd never previously held - maybe the three-wheeled "Clever" (Compact Low Emission Vehicle for Urban Transport) is the interim solution.
I've decided to get rid of my car - it's almost 4 years old and is due for replacement under the terms of the lease. But instead I've chosen to take the money and run - a) because I'm living and working in London and there's a bus past my back door every 30 seconds; b) a lot of the supermarket delivery trucks are now using biodiesel, and it's allegedly more eco-friendly to order online and have it delivered than drive to the supermarket yourself - particularly when Waitrose allow you to choose a delivery time when the van is already in your area. And c) Streetcar have 2 VW Golfs parked on the next street to me, which makes picking one up at short notice very easy indeed.
I guess the ultimate carrot to make getting rid of your car an easy option is the financial one combined with your location - my tax, servicing and petrol cost savings significantly outweigh the value of having my own car, and where I live makes it easy to do. I couldn't, I don't think, if I was still living in Surrey.
N.B. I do note the irony, or rather hypocrisy, of using a mainstream supermarket given what I was talking about in my last entry. But this is the constructed society we live in - the only way to change it, in my opinion, is to change the demands of society as a whole. I also think there's a much clearer "audit trail" of what comes from where with a large supermarket - the battle is to change the "where" from over there to nearer here.
When you mentioned Calcutta, for a second there I was half expecting you to announce that when it comes to ecologically sound vehicles, nothing can beat a rickshaw!! xx
I so wish I could get rid of my car. In my neck of the woods, it's already such a novelty to carpool let alone take any form of public transportation.
Friday 21 April 2006
State of the Nation
As I rapidly lose interest in the political party I've been contributing to for the last few years, I've found myself regularly agreeing with the reports put out by the New Economics Foundation. I only noticed them as an organisation recently, but their reports follow the kinds of things I've been thinking; every high street in the UK looks the same; why do we need to eat Strawberries in January?; why does the "Convenience" Supermarket up the road need a delivery 6 times a day? The "Clone Town" and "Ghost Town" back up what I've been thinking all along, and the "Day Britain Started Eating The Planet" (last Sunday, in case you were wondering) is also fascinating.
While 'Green Issues' and the Green Party have long been deemed by Mr & Mrs Middle England Voter as "agreeable but economically naive" (primarily because that's what all the other parties tell us) there seems to be a strong movement to turn that around. I for one think it's about time.
Friday 21 April 2006
SOJ!
Some things about Great Britain should never be changed. Like Simon Jenkins, who should be protected for future generations as an example of a quintessential middle English liberal. I am starting the Save Our Jenkins campaign, to ensure that his writings in the Guardian continue for ever and ever. Today he listens to Radio 4 for half an hour from 0530 hours.
Friday 21 April 2006
On The Bus
It's not often you see a man in his carpet slippers resting his foot on a Moog Prodigy on the 476 to Euston.
Then again, I don't usually take the 476 to Euston at this time of day, so it might actually happen quite often.
There you are. I keep you on my faves just in case you update. Congrats on getting engaged! I hope I get to read about your travels since it sounds so intriguing.
Lisa
Thursday 13 April 2006
Break in Service
It has been brought to my attention that I haven't updated this site recently. This is due to a number of factors including new job(s)/getting engaged/going to India/going to Nepal/going to Holland/going to Middlesbrough/having another new niece, and many other excuses far too numerous to mention. Another part of it is that since my database failed I've totally lost interest in it, as it required a huge amount of work to get it into a vaguely presentable shape. Or, at least, my version of presentable. (Beta 0.01). But, hey, look - a bout of insomnia has provided results.
Now all I need is something interesting to say.
![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.dustbinman.com/nav-commenters.gif)