diamond geezer

 Tuesday, April 02, 2024

31 unblogged things I did in March (true version)

Fri 1: I can't believe another constituency has elected George Galloway as its MP (actually I can, mine once did, because politics repeatedly proves you can fool enough of the people some of the time).
Sat 2: Yes I watched the Brits, and yes the nominees included a lot of acts I'd never heard of (but the majority I had because I'm not a musical hermit). I'm not convinced Raye deserved six awards, it suggests the competition isn't what it was. Thank God for Kylie.
Sun 3: Regarding your advice about my dodgy laptop keyboard, many thanks, I'd never used the accessibility-focused onscreen keyboard before and it's made adding the Zs, Xs, Cs and Vs much easier.
Mon 4: The dozen celebrities they've gathered for the return of Celebrity Big Brother aren't especially celebby, nor entirely enthusing, although bringing in Sharon Osbourne for a week and pairing her with Louis Walsh was a masterstroke.
Tue 5: Buses passing along Stratford Broadway now announce "alight here for Moorfields Stratford", and I had absolutely no idea what that might be but it turns out it's a satellite of Moorfields Eye Hospital which opened last summer, so that's why.



Wed 6: British Gas sent me a letter saying I hadn't paid my bill, which I could understand if I'd only just paid but in fact I paid a fortnight ago and their letter was postmarked a week later. I rang up to check, and it took me three attempts to comprehend the simple fact that yes, they had indeed got my money.
Thu 7: I took my new Gold Card to Angel station to get the discount added to my Oyster and it was the usual - initial bafflement and then swift professional processing. And that may be the last Gold Card I ever get, assuming the next Mayor doesn't ditch the 60+ alternative.
Fri 8: Regarding your advice about my dodgy laptop keyboard, many thanks, I hadn't realised generic USB keyboards were so cheap. In particular thanks for the specific suggestion to go to Stratford CeX, where I picked up a very decent one for £3 and it's essentially solved all my ZXCV issues.
Sat 9: My birthday walk took me past the house I grew up in and it had a For Sale sign outside so I was straight onto the estate agent's website. I didn't recognise the place inside, partly because it's been extended twice, but I'm quietly gobsmacked this narrow terrace is now worth £700,000. My parents paid closer to £700.
Sun 10: You could hardly move in Tooting this morning for offspring wandering around with small bunches of flowers, and mothers braving the downpour to be taken to a reserved table for dinner and drinks.
Mon 11: My flat suffered a five hour power cut this evening, all of it after dark, and blimey that seriously limits what you can do these days. I used my wind-up radio as comforting audio backing and lit some candles. I also managed to write half tomorrow's blogpost courtesy of the battery in my laptop and made sure not to open the fridge, but ended up going to bed early. A one-off, thankfully.



Tue 12: The next London Boroughs of Culture will be Wandsworth (2025) and Haringey (2027), which means since 2019 we still haven't had a properly-west or a properly-east borough. Being in zone 3 also seems to boost your chances. I still think Waltham Forest (2019) made the best go at it and it's been downhill ever since.
Wed 13: Last time I didn't hear anything for a month I sent an email and got back "no don't worry I'm fine" by reply. Again I haven't heard for a month and again I sent an email but this time there's been silence, increasingly prolonged silence, and I worry about what might have happened. I also realise I might never know, but thanks a million.
Thu 14: BestMate was in need of cheering up so I bought him some gypsy tarts from the J Ayre bakery in Blackfen and his eyes lit up. If you too feel nostalgic for sweet circular tarts filled with evaporated milk and muscovado sugar, as perhaps gorged at 1970s school dinners, now you know where you can get them. Compared to chain pastries I think £1.70's very reasonable.
Fri 15: The 1000th Wordle was ERUPT, and I thought the New York Times might celebrate but instead they hid everyone's stats unless you'd signed up for a free account. I had a streak of 190-something which has now vanished, pah, but if I can't see it go higher I can now safely skip a day, so what they've actually done is lose my loyalty.
Sat 16: I really should have joined the website before, it's been immensely illuminating as to what I genuinely like, and I've been seriously impressed by how it generates content on my behalf.



Sun 17: One ring of trees in the Blossom Garden in the Olympic Park has bloomed (the other varieties open later), but it's still very much not the memorial stunner the National Trust hoped, not this year.
Mon 18: I walked to Lambourne End and wondered if it might be fodder for a new series, Villages Fractionally Outside London, but I don't think I could sustain that based on a steakhouse, a car park, an outdoors centre and a few big-drived hideaways. Unexpectedly it's the first time I'd been to Essex this year.
Tue 19: This year's theme at Two Temple Place is glass, another winner which allows for provincial museums to showcase some of their finest exhibits, in this case Sunderland, Stourbridge and Ely. A delight, and as a plus the midweek audience made me feel positively sprightly.
Wed 20: One of the journalists at Secret London has written a derivative article - This Is The London Street With The Shortest Name - heavily based on a post I wrote in 2021. Fair enough, but they've also used two of my Flickr photos with a non-commercial attribution on what's unashamedly a commercial website, and despite emailing them I've heard bugger all, but that's clickbait parasites for you.
Thu 21: On my alphabetical journey through classic authors at my local library, I didn't enjoy Doyle, raced through Easton Ellis, was charmed by Forster, admired Greene and am now settling down with Hemingway.
Fri 22: Several Southwark parks have signs outside warning that they don't grit the paths during bad weather so "Please think about the risk of slipping before entering the park", which does sound like they're abdicating legal responsibility for fractures because they're now too skint to afford salt.



Sat 23: Went to the theatre (non-West End) with BestMate. We decided to eat first but forgot to double check the start time, so after relaxed starters ended up gulping down our main course and complimentary dessert in 15 minutes flat. The performance was very good, if shorter than the advertised 70 minutes, and we enjoyed sharing the bar with the main star afterwards.
Sun 24: In my quest to spot all the numberplate letter pairs, I've seen another ten this month bringing my total to 505 out of 519. I finally saw GT on a GTI, and today an improbable personalised numberplate starting with PV, so that's all the G's and P's done. FYI the pairs I've yet to see are NR, OF, RL, UE/UH/UT/UV/UX, VH/VJ/VL and XG/XW/XY.
Mon 25: I need to remember that sometimes, when I write about some new project and pick holes in it, the people responsible might be reading. They were, they got in touch, and we're still very much on speaking terms.
Tue 26: When it happens it happens so depressingly fast. "Maybe a year" should have been months, "maybe months" should have been weeks, "maybe weeks" should have been singular and "hopefully tomorrow" turned out to be today.
Wed 27: Living where I do I see a lot of horse-drawn funeral corteges. What I hadn't seen before was one jump a red traffic light. First four black mares trotted through, pulling a carriage containing the remains of NANNY, and then four black hearses followed on behind. I wasn't aware that funeral processions were allowed to ignore traffic lights, or maybe it's just that those horses weren't going to stop for anything. As they disappeared off over the Bow Flyover I wondered if perhaps NANNY had requested one last rulebreak on her final journey.



Thu 28: I passed by the Widow's Son, site of the long-running Maundy Thursday hot cross bun ceremony, but it's not been a pub since 2022, the curtains are closed and all that's stuck up in the window is a year-old squatters eviction notice.
Fri 29: The London Greenground Map is a gorgeous huge pdf connecting 1200 of the capital's green spaces. Think tube map but more complex, more colourful, more parks, rivers, nature reserves, woods and wetlands, and more of an attempt to be a work of art. This Easter it's been made open to everyone to download for free, although the designer would very much appreciate a one-time contribution.
Sat 30: On my way to Norfolk, via a guided tour of Essex, that's the first time I've ever had my ticket checked in a car park before boarding a rail replacement coach. Those with barcoded tickets ended up in the longer queue.
Sun 31: A rare gathering of the entire family took place over a home-cooked Easter meal, the youngest also celebrating his 25th birthday. Eggs were hidden, chocolate was eaten, retirement gifts were admired and wedding accommodation plans were made. The generations move on...
Mon 1: For the avoidance of foolish doubt, all 31 things in yesterday's post were untrue.

Finally, let's see how my annual counts are going...
Number of London boroughs visited: all 33 (at least six times each)
Number of London bus routes ridden: all 548 (100%, including the three new ones)
Number of tram stops visited: all 39 (100%)
Number of Z1-3 stations used: all 350-odd (100%)
Number of Z4-6 stations used: 0


<< click for Newer posts

click for Older Posts >>


click to return to the main page


...or read more in my monthly archives
Jan24  Feb24  Mar24  Apr24  May24  Jun24  Jul24  Aug24  Sep24  Oct24
Jan23  Feb23  Mar23  Apr23  May23  Jun23  Jul23  Aug23  Sep23  Oct23  Nov23  Dec23
Jan22  Feb22  Mar22  Apr22  May22  Jun22  Jul22  Aug22  Sep22  Oct22  Nov22  Dec22
Jan21  Feb21  Mar21  Apr21  May21  Jun21  Jul21  Aug21  Sep21  Oct21  Nov21  Dec21
Jan20  Feb20  Mar20  Apr20  May20  Jun20  Jul20  Aug20  Sep20  Oct20  Nov20  Dec20
Jan19  Feb19  Mar19  Apr19  May19  Jun19  Jul19  Aug19  Sep19  Oct19  Nov19  Dec19
Jan18  Feb18  Mar18  Apr18  May18  Jun18  Jul18  Aug18  Sep18  Oct18  Nov18  Dec18
Jan17  Feb17  Mar17  Apr17  May17  Jun17  Jul17  Aug17  Sep17  Oct17  Nov17  Dec17
Jan16  Feb16  Mar16  Apr16  May16  Jun16  Jul16  Aug16  Sep16  Oct16  Nov16  Dec16
Jan15  Feb15  Mar15  Apr15  May15  Jun15  Jul15  Aug15  Sep15  Oct15  Nov15  Dec15
Jan14  Feb14  Mar14  Apr14  May14  Jun14  Jul14  Aug14  Sep14  Oct14  Nov14  Dec14
Jan13  Feb13  Mar13  Apr13  May13  Jun13  Jul13  Aug13  Sep13  Oct13  Nov13  Dec13
Jan12  Feb12  Mar12  Apr12  May12  Jun12  Jul12  Aug12  Sep12  Oct12  Nov12  Dec12
Jan11  Feb11  Mar11  Apr11  May11  Jun11  Jul11  Aug11  Sep11  Oct11  Nov11  Dec11
Jan10  Feb10  Mar10  Apr10  May10  Jun10  Jul10  Aug10  Sep10  Oct10  Nov10  Dec10 
Jan09  Feb09  Mar09  Apr09  May09  Jun09  Jul09  Aug09  Sep09  Oct09  Nov09  Dec09
Jan08  Feb08  Mar08  Apr08  May08  Jun08  Jul08  Aug08  Sep08  Oct08  Nov08  Dec08
Jan07  Feb07  Mar07  Apr07  May07  Jun07  Jul07  Aug07  Sep07  Oct07  Nov07  Dec07
Jan06  Feb06  Mar06  Apr06  May06  Jun06  Jul06  Aug06  Sep06  Oct06  Nov06  Dec06
Jan05  Feb05  Mar05  Apr05  May05  Jun05  Jul05  Aug05  Sep05  Oct05  Nov05  Dec05
Jan04  Feb04  Mar04  Apr04  May04  Jun04  Jul04  Aug04  Sep04  Oct04  Nov04  Dec04
Jan03  Feb03  Mar03  Apr03  May03  Jun03  Jul03  Aug03  Sep03  Oct03  Nov03  Dec03
 Jan02  Feb02  Mar02  Apr02  May02  Jun02  Jul02 Aug02  Sep02  Oct02  Nov02  Dec02 

jack of diamonds
Life viewed from London E3

» email me
» follow me on twitter
» follow the blog on Twitter
» follow the blog on RSS

» my flickr photostream

twenty blogs
our bow
arseblog
ian visits
londonist
broken tv
blue witch
on london
the great wen
edith's streets
spitalfields life
linkmachinego
round the island
wanstead meteo
christopher fowler
the greenwich wire
bus and train user
ruth's coastal walk
round the rails we go
london reconnections
from the murky depths

quick reference features
Things to do in Outer London
Things to do outside London
London's waymarked walks
Inner London toilet map
20 years of blog series
The DG Tour of Britain
London's most...

read the archive
Oct24  Sep24
Aug24  Jul24  Jun24  May24
Apr24  Mar24  Feb24  Jan24
Dec23  Nov23  Oct23  Sep23
Aug23  Jul23  Jun23  May23
Apr23  Mar23  Feb23  Jan23
Dec22  Nov22  Oct22  Sep22
Aug22  Jul22  Jun22  May22
Apr22  Mar22  Feb22  Jan22
Dec21  Nov21  Oct21  Sep21
Aug21  Jul21  Jun21  May21
Apr21  Mar21  Feb21  Jan21
Dec20  Nov20  Oct20  Sep20
Aug20  Jul20  Jun20  May20
Apr20  Mar20  Feb20  Jan20
Dec19  Nov19  Oct19  Sep19
Aug19  Jul19  Jun19  May19
Apr19  Mar19  Feb19  Jan19
Dec18  Nov18  Oct18  Sep18
Aug18  Jul18  Jun18  May18
Apr18  Mar18  Feb18  Jan18
Dec17  Nov17  Oct17  Sep17
Aug17  Jul17  Jun17  May17
Apr17  Mar17  Feb17  Jan17
Dec16  Nov16  Oct16  Sep16
Aug16  Jul16  Jun16  May16
Apr16  Mar16  Feb16  Jan16
Dec15  Nov15  Oct15  Sep15
Aug15  Jul15  Jun15  May15
Apr15  Mar15  Feb15  Jan15
Dec14  Nov14  Oct14  Sep14
Aug14  Jul14  Jun14  May14
Apr14  Mar14  Feb14  Jan14
Dec13  Nov13  Oct13  Sep13
Aug13  Jul13  Jun13  May13
Apr13  Mar13  Feb13  Jan13
Dec12  Nov12  Oct12  Sep12
Aug12  Jul12  Jun12  May12
Apr12  Mar12  Feb12  Jan12
Dec11  Nov11  Oct11  Sep11
Aug11  Jul11  Jun11  May11
Apr11  Mar11  Feb11  Jan11
Dec10  Nov10  Oct10  Sep10
Aug10  Jul10  Jun10  May10
Apr10  Mar10  Feb10  Jan10
Dec09  Nov09  Oct09  Sep09
Aug09  Jul09  Jun09  May09
Apr09  Mar09  Feb09  Jan09
Dec08  Nov08  Oct08  Sep08
Aug08  Jul08  Jun08  May08
Apr08  Mar08  Feb08  Jan08
Dec07  Nov07  Oct07  Sep07
Aug07  Jul07  Jun07  May07
Apr07  Mar07  Feb07  Jan07
Dec06  Nov06  Oct06  Sep06
Aug06  Jul06  Jun06  May06
Apr06  Mar06  Feb06  Jan06
Dec05  Nov05  Oct05  Sep05
Aug05  Jul05  Jun05  May05
Apr05  Mar05  Feb05  Jan05
Dec04  Nov04  Oct04  Sep04
Aug04  Jul04  Jun04  May04
Apr04  Mar04  Feb04  Jan04
Dec03  Nov03  Oct03  Sep03
Aug03  Jul03  Jun03  May03
Apr03  Mar03  Feb03  Jan03
Dec02  Nov02  Oct02  Sep02
back to main page

the diamond geezer index
2023 2022
2021 2020 2019 2018 2017
2016 2015 2014 2013 2012
2011 2010 2009 2008 2007
2006 2005 2004 2003 2002

my special London features
a-z of london museums
E3 - local history month
greenwich meridian (N)
greenwich meridian (S)
the real eastenders
london's lost rivers
olympic park 2007
great british roads
oranges & lemons
random boroughs
bow road station
high street 2012
river westbourne
trafalgar square
capital numbers
east london line
lea valley walk
olympics 2005
regent's canal
square routes
silver jubilee
unlost rivers
cube routes
Herbert Dip
metro-land
capital ring
river fleet
piccadilly
bakerloo

ten of my favourite posts
the seven ages of blog
my new Z470xi mobile
five equations of blog
the dome of doom
chemical attraction
quality & risk
london 2102
single life
boredom
april fool

ten sets of lovely photos
my "most interesting" photos
london 2012 olympic zone
harris and the hebrides
betjeman's metro-land
marking the meridian
tracing the river fleet
london's lost rivers
inside the gherkin
seven sisters
iceland

just surfed in?
here's where to find...
diamond geezers
flash mob #1  #2  #3  #4
ben schott's miscellany
london underground
watch with mother
cigarette warnings
digital time delay
wheelie suitcases
war of the worlds
transit of venus
top of the pops
old buckenham
ladybird books
acorn antiques
digital watches
outer hebrides
olympics 2012
school dinners
pet shop boys
west wycombe
bletchley park
george orwell
big breakfast
clapton pond
san francisco
thunderbirds
routemaster
children's tv
east enders
trunk roads
amsterdam
little britain
credit cards
jury service
big brother
jubilee line
number 1s
titan arum
typewriters
doctor who
coronation
comments
blue peter
matchgirls
hurricanes
buzzwords
brookside
monopoly
peter pan
starbucks
feng shui
leap year
manbags
bbc three
vision on
piccadilly
meridian
concorde
wembley
islington
ID cards
bedtime
freeview
beckton
blogads
eclipses
letraset
arsenal
sitcoms
gherkin
calories
everest
muffins
sudoku
camilla
london
ceefax
robbie
becks
dome
BBC2
paris
lotto
118
itv