For a blog that's notionally about London, I'm sorry I haven't written about London very much lately. There is a good reason for this, which is that I haven't been in London very much lately. A week ago I went to the West Midlands, over the bank holiday weekend I was in Norfolk, on Wednesday I went to Southend and yesterday I was in Surrey. But today I am in London and intent on staying here, so I thought I'd liveblog my day to wrench the narrative firmly back to the capital.
07:00 I am still asleep. 07:40 Woken by the noise of an email. Kettle on. 07:44 Delete email. Drink mug of tea. 08:11 Noises I can hear outside - a baby crying, birdsong, planes flying over, demolition work. 09:00 Mulling a bath. 09:30 I weigh less this morning than I have for the last twenty years. I blame the long walks. 10:07 This time yesterday I was in Chessington, sat in a bus shelter, listening to two pensioners debating at length where an ambulance and a police car might be going. Today I am at home having another cup of tea. 10:44 Sun's gone in. 11:16 Two of the timetable panels at Bus Stop M went missing a couple of weeks ago, and are still missing. The only timetable that remains is for the N205 nightbus, which is a fat lot of use. 11:49 Considering a third cuppa. 12:08 Nextdoor are bashing the wall rhythmically. 12:22 Nearly left the house in a t-shirt with a melted Magnum stain down the front. 12:29 It's nice out. Two groups of workmen are having their lunch sat outside the McDonalds drive-thru by the Bow Roundabout.
12:33 These five parking spaces on Bromley High Street can only be used two hours a week, during Friday prayers at Bow Central Mosque.
12:41 The staff in my local pharmacy always look really surprised when I say I have to pay for my prescription. In ten years I've never seen anyone else paying for theirs. 13:15 Mmmm, toast. 14:02 Taking the rubbish out. 14:07 Struggling to open the next binbag on the roll. 14:14 Workmen are gingerly demolishing the empty commercial block attached to the listed Georgian building at 223 Bow Road. 14:26 I've arrived at the supermarket during the post-mosque rush. 14:38 We daytime shoppers get a choice selection of reduced foodstuffs to choose from while the rest of you are at work. 15:00 Home lugging four bags of groceries just before it starts raining. 15:32 Enjoying a cup of tea (and a 60%-off Welsh cake) as a mighty thunderstorm breaks. 15:58 Spectacular monsoon now limping to a close. 16:21 Checking the rainfall radar to confirm that the next storm will hit Barking, not Stratford. 16:26 The Friday evening jams are building up on approaches to the Bow Roundabout. 16:36 West Ham's lower stadium seating has been removed and laid out on the tarmac behind Pudding Mill Lane station. 16:55 Pop into bookshop. Check something. Exit bookshop. 17:11 Safely home again before the next round of rumbling and rain. 17:48 London Open House guidebooks are now available for pre-order (the code GUIDE17 gets you 10% off, if you want to save 70p). 18:15 With less than a week until the General Election, my entire haul of delivered leaflets is one from Labour and one from the Lib Dems. Thus far there is no evidence of the Conservatives running any form of campaign in Bethnal Green and Bow, not even on social media. 18:37 Roast Chicken & Pancetta Bake, plus carrots, mushrooms and peas, since you ask. 19:00 Start writing about another trip I made outside London, so you can read that tomorrow.
