The Anonymous Widower

London Is Heaving

There must be something going on in London later in the week.

I was trying to locate some lights for my hall, so I decided to take the Underground to Warren Street and then walk to Selfridges by way of Habitat, Heals, John Lewis and Marks and Spencer.

A couple of years ago I bought some  bedside lights from John Lewis, that are touch on and touch off.  I would show you a link to their web site, but they are not there, although they were in the Oxford Street store. Here’s a picture of the bedside light.

John Lewis Touchable Table Lamp

They work well and what I want is three tall ones, so that I can place them at strategic points in my hall. And as I walk past in the dark, they will automatically switch on, when I touch them.

In fact, you can play lots of games with this type of concept.  Perhaps, when you are out or it is pitch dark, they should switch on and they could text my mobile phone to say that someone was about.

The possibilities of this sort of technology are endless. The text message facility could even be used to locate where you have put your mobile phone. I once had an e-mail from a friend, asking to call his mobile phone, as he’d left it somewhere in his house and couldn’t find it. Like many these days he didn’t have a landline. He does now!

I finally found an elegant tall lamp in Selfridges, but why are there so few?

I can’t be the only person, who when they enter their house in the dark, doesn’t have a light in the hall, that is close to hand.  But I have a space between the door and the wall, where I could put such a light.

A Space for a Tall Lamp

Ideally it would be touchable, but a foot switch would be an alternative. Note the switches on the wall.  They are for the outside lights, or at least I can’t get them to work any others. At least, I’ve got a suitable powerpoint, but note the cracked plaster above it.  Jerry’s electrician didn’t have a clue.

You might argue, why I don’t have a light in the hall?  Jerry didn’t put one in to save money and to put one in would mean trunking all over the place as the ceiling is a concrete slab. Wall lights are so naff! And yes, I’ve got lots of really hideous ones, probably bought in some bastion of good design like Fred’s El-Cheapo Lighting Emporium in Dalston Market. Don’t knock that market, as I think, Lord Sugar started his business careeer there.

The trip wasn’t helped by the fact that London seemed to have many more people about than normal.  To make matters worse there were lots of smokers lining up outside the shops having a cough and a drag. Some were even sitting on the floor, creating more unseen hazards for people with limited vision. I did think about deliberately falling over a particular well-upholstered couple dragging away with one hand and eating a burger with the other but I decided against it, as I would have hated to have contact with such an awful pair of individuals.

Let’s hope that London gets a little bit less busy as the week goes on.  I have a lot of shopping to do!

April 27, 2011 - Posted by AnonW | World | Jerry Builder, John Lewis, Lighting, London, My House, Shopping