Fri 1: I bought some Edding 55 pens online yesterday because I can't find them in the shops any more, and they were due to arrive today. Before they arrived I got three emails saying "Please note, your driver is unable to leave this item safe" which nearly made me stay in all day, but in the end the package was so teensy the driver merely posted it. I then got three emails urging me to review the delivery, and I gave the delivery emails one star.
Sat 2: The hoardings in Dunton Green said Beautiful Retirement Apartments To Buy For Over 60s and I instantly discounted it, then realised with a shock that by the time the shell was complete I'd be in the target age bracket. But it's still very much a no, I couldn't live in Kent. Sun 3: Bob Harris has taken over Sounds of the 70s and it's not what it was, more a story-telling nostalgia burst with a focus on music rather than listeners. That music also appears to be more American and/or guitar-based, much as Sounds of the 90s has always been pop-obsessed and Sounds of the 60s keeps nudging towards soul. Hurrah for Sounds of the 80s. Mon 4: I'd like to remind everyone that the day before the Presidential election we still had no idea who would win, only hopes and hunches, even though it now feels like the end result was always inevitable. Tue 5: It feels like there are a lot fewer fireworks on Fireworks Night these days, not just because it's midweek this year but because people can't afford to set off hundredsofpoundsworth in their back gardens or a local public space.
Wed 6: I bought myself a drink in a City pub, a gassy bottled beer that wasn't Becks, and was appalled that it cost £7. But when they gave me the contactless gizmo my card kept failing to register, then the barman wandered off, then I thought it had worked, and only when I checked my statement a few days later did I discover payment hadn't gone through and the beer had actually cost me £0. This never used to happen with cash. Thu 7: That is not the email you want to wake up to in the morning. Sudden, slow and so sad. Fri 8: Supermarket update: I fancied some cut-price Mr Kipling Cherry Bakewells but they were mis-priced because staff had stacked the 'full sugar' and 'less sugar' versions round the wrong way. The healthier ones should of course be cheaper. I pointed this out to a nearby member of staff and he chatted merrily as he switched them back, avoiding some future customer spending £1.30 more on the wrong ones. Sat 9: May's Confectionery, the long-mothballednewsagents that's somehow lingered for a decade in the heart of Greenford, has finally been emptied and converted to three flats and a small pristine retail unit. I hope someone makes good use of it, but I shall miss the sunbleached boxes of Maltesers, Cadbury's Snack bars and Freddo Caramels.
Sun 10: My favourite sentence I deleted from today's blogpost was "Instead old industrial barges unfloat beside ex-boathouses and decrepit rowing boats fail to bob." Sorry Isleworth. Mon 11: In my alphabetical library book quest I wasn't fussed by Tóibín, enjoyed the grit of Updike, wallowed in Vidal and am about to dive into Waugh. I can't believe I've never read Scoop before. I fear picking an X may be a lot harder. Tue 12: That's the first time I've ever read in advance the book that went on to win the Booker Prize. It's Orbital by Samantha Harvey, a slight but lyrical tome about a day aboard an orbiting space station which focuses on six astronauts/cosmonauts and the swirling planet laid out below. If you'd like to hear an abridged version, Radio 4's just repeated all five episodes.
Wed 13: The area round the new flats in the centre of Lewisham has fully opened up, so on the bright side it's a tad quicker to walk to the pedestrian crossing and on the downside the path funnels between glitzy highrises with all the allure of an Elizabeth Duke jewellery box. Thu 14: It's a damned shame that Doctors is finishing after 24 years, not because I always watched it but because when I did it was always well written, and because that's a lot of actors, scriptwriters and production staff who'll no longer have a regular training ground. They ended it well with a pregnant hostage, a vanquished villain and an ear irrigation. Fri 15: I've added another 300 followers on Bluesky in the last month and will add 300 more before the end of November, which is ridiculous given that what I post there is of no relevance whatsoever. Sat 16: It's really tough when you pick a new name for a social media account and the best names have already gone. I tried all sorts of possible endings including -er, -ing, -ling, -ly, -erer, -ble, -bock, -smith and -monger, but eventually settled for -erd.
Sun 17: While I was walking from Oxhey to Croxley I checked to see what the Metropolitan line extension looks like eight years after they cancelled it, and the trees growing on the tracks are now above bridge level. Mon 18: If you're going to observe the farmers' inheritance tax protest, make sure you don't turn up a day early by mistake and wonder where all the tractors are. Tue 19: Scott Mills is probably the right person to take over the Radio 2 Breakfast Show, not that I listened to Zoe anyway. Once she leaves Jeremy Vine and Sarah Cox will be the only daytime DJs still in the same slots as three years ago, and Jeremy the only pre-2018 survivor. Wed 20: While I was riding the tram bus today I was approached by a BBC London reporter asking if I'd do a voxpop but I turned him down, sorry. In reassuring news, no voxpops appeared in his final news report.
Thu 21: Today I warned you "If anyone posts any Overground line name comments on any future post, I will shift them back to this post instead" and so far 13 comments have been shifted back (in case you're wondering where your diatribe went). Fri 22: I keep picking up the new weekly Standard newspaper even though it remains targeted at readers in Putney rather than Plaistow. Editor Dylan Jones is nudging it further and further towards a paper version of their previous lifestyle magazine ("The finest watches of 2024", "My life in bespoke suits") with a selection of opinion pieces slanted centre-right, so I'm pleased he's quitting but I'm not sure it's rescuable. Sat 23: My electricity bill took 11 days to arrive and demanded payment within 14 days. I duly did so, but they still sent a letter saying I hadn't paid yet which arrived 7 days after I definitely had. What I take from all this is that the postal service is broken.
Sun 24: I've finally got round to watching series 1 of Slow Horses, the Apple TV drama that was filmed during lockdown when I stumbled upon a nigh perfect facsimile of a bus stop and shelter outside the Barbican. It turns out the bus stop appears only once during the six episodes, and only for a few seconds and seen only from a window across the street and is irrelevant to the plot, so I don't understand why they put all that effort into making something so fabulously detailed that nobody would ever see. Mon 25: I'd like to apologise to my Dad for sitting through BBC2's Quizzy Monday and offering a commentary and/or attempted answers throughout. Neither of us normally have company on the sofa so we don't usually get the chance. Tue 26: The last time we met, before her optician's appointment, one of the things we discussed was her husband's ashes and when they might be scattered. This morning it's her face on the front of the order of service, smiling as always, as the stained glass shines rainbows onto the brickwork. The flowers are gorgeous, the eulogy is rightly eight pages long and the delivery wrings all the emotions from the assembled congregation. At the wake we reminisce over scones and cream, it being too early for cold meats, and everyone gets a candle to take away, forever in our hearts.
Wed 27: When it rains a lot, as has been the case a couple of times recently, the Cycle Superhighway behind Bus Stop M becomes a splashpool because the water no longer drains away. Bikes thus avoid it by riding up onto the pavement, repeatedly, and if someone could come and clear the drain we local pedestrians would very much appreciate it. Thu 28: Where shall we go for a walk, asked BestMate, and as we scrunched across Sandy Heath beneath sun-dappled trees on a carpet of leaves aiming for Parliament Hill, I was glad we didn't go to Sutton instead as originally planned.
Fri 29: Gah, not again? But two years is longer than I'd hoped for. Sat 30: In my quest to spot all the numberplate letter pairs I've now been at it for a full calendar year, but I haven't seen any new ones since August so my total remains 515 out of 519. FYI the pairs I've yet to see are UE, UT, UV and VH. They must be out there somewhere but I fear I may never see them.
