Would We Benefit From More Female Builders?
Over the years I’ve employed about half a dozen or so builders and rarely has progress been at the speed they said they would manage.
Usually, this seems to be because, the exclusively male person in charge, tends to muck up on the project management and some minor mistake causes a major delay in the work.
As the documentary on Crossrail showed some high level project managers in large construction projects are now female.
Could it be that the supposedly superior multi-tasking ability of the female of the species makes them good project managers, when they get the chance, as project management is often effectively juggling several balls with one hand?
Hence the title of this post!
But having been around project management for forty years, my gut instinct says that if more small builders were female-led, we would see an improvement in the performance of the building industry.
The odd fact about builders in my experience, is that whereas builders generally muck something up, decoratprs are usually much better with performance.
Is it because you’re dealing with a craftsman, who likes everything to be as good as possible?
Service From Hackney
A week or so ago, I ran out of Visitor Parking Vouchers. Normally, I go over to the Council Offices in Hackney, as I’ve tried to buy them on-line a couple of times and I’ve not been successful.
So this time, last Friday, I filled in the form in the book of vouchers and posted it off with a cheque.
I was just about getting worried this morning about what had happened, especially as the cheque hadn’t been cleared.
Then the vouchers were hand delivered to my house at about nine o’clock in a hand-written envelope.
So all’s well that ends well!
A Design Crime – How Not To Design A Connector
This is the connector to get power and my computer connected to my Samsung Galaxy S5.
How Not To Design A Connector
Note the flimsy cover that clips over the orifice.
I doubt that it’ll last the life of the phone.
There is no excuse for crap design! Except perhaps in a piece of sit-upon sanitary ware!
Isn’t it about time, that all mobile devices had the same power connections?
Marks And Spencer Now Do Goats Milk
My food shopping, has got a bit easier, as I’ve now found that Marks and Spencer have been stocking goats’ milk for some time.
Marks And Spencer Now Do Goats Milk
This now means that the only staple I buy that is a bit difficult to find is my preferred Breakfast Cereal, which I can get in most Sainsburys’ stores and the excellent Waitrose at Canary Wharf.
So now most of my shopping can be done in one place, either a good Marks and Spencer or a larger Waitrose.
They may be nice people in Waitrose at the Angel, but I shan’t be sad if I don’t visit again, with its difficult to use plastic bags on the self-service tills. If I need to shop at the Angel, there’s always the small Mark and Spencer there, with its gluten free quiches and scotch eggs and excellent bakery products.
Searching For East Putney Station
East Putney station is the first station south of the Thames on the Wimbledon branch of the District Line and it lies within walking distance of the Carluccio’s. But finding it wasn’t easy, as there were no maps or signposts.
When I eventually got to the station I questioned the station man about this and he said it was all a devious plot. Or something like that!
Note that the railway I crossed over is the line between Waterloo and Richmond.
East Putney station is a curious station in that it effectively lies within the junction of two lines, although no passenger services run on the other track.
Over The River For A Tea And An Ice Cream
I walked over the footbridge on Fulham Railway Bridge, where I got a of tea and an icre cream in the Carluccio’s on the south bank.
It’s rather a large cafe and it sits right on the river. Their web site describes it like this.
Located on the riverfront, east of Putney Bridge and a minute from the High Street, the caffé boasts a huge riverfront terrace for sunny days.
I wouldn’t disagree and it would be a good pit stop on a walk by the river in the area. Perhaps, you might start at Putney Bridge station and walk across the railway bridge.
Is This The Last Pill Box In London?
When I went to Wimbledon to trace the Goblin Extension, I noticed that perched on Fulham Railway Bridge was a Second World War pill box.
So I just had to go back and investigate, by taking a trip to Putney Bridge station.
I think this type of defensive structure is pretty rare in London these days.
Note though how Putney Bridge station is on the Fulham side of the river, by a bridge with that name.
Was this all done to confuse invaders, so they didn’t know whether they were coming or going, so they could be picked off easily from the pill box.
Probably not, as the naming was I suspect a cunning plan to confuse those South of the river, if they should venture into the North.
A Routemaster Of My Own
London is very quiet at the moment, as the well-off seem to have gone to Chelsea on Sea and Chiantishire and the plebs to the costas. This bus today was so quiet that I was the only passenger.
It did liven up a bit, when the tail gunner joined, as she was a bubbly Italian girl from Mestre near Venice.
I wonder how her currently good English will be honed on the platform of a new Routemaster?
It’s Amazing What You Can Do With Meccano, Lego And Sheets Of Glass
I happened to go through New Cross Gate station and just had to take some pictures.
Let’s hope that Network Rail and Transport for London, are going to use the system to create a few more modern stations. There certainly seem to be decision makers in these organisations, who are not afraid to do the unconventional.
Let’s face it, London Underground in the 1930s created some of the finest stations of the era, anywhere in the world. When our descendants look at stations like this one at New Cross Gate in a hundred years time, they might just say that we got something right.
Just because it’s only a station, it doesn’t mean the architecture or construction must be second rate.
Should Hackney Send Missionaries To Yorkshire?
One of my Google alerts has found two reports today about New Routemasters being considered for Yorkshire; one in the Huddersfield Examiner and another in the Yorkshire Evening Post.
I live on London bus route 38, which is one the most intense bus services in London, that links Hackney to Victoria via the West End, using a squadron of New Routemasters.
And we love them! So much so, that when we have a choice, as say a bus on a parallel route has arrived together with a 38, we all get on the 38.
I’ve never heard a complaint about these buses, whilst on-board and they are becoming very much part of life in Hackney. They are faster, as they load quickly, everybody seems to be polite and you are certainly more likely to strike up a conversation with a fellow passenger.
So why should only London get the benefits of this superb updating of a humble method of public transport?
Londoners and especially those that live in parts of London, where the routes go, should broadcast their enthusiasm to the rest of the UK and the wider world!
The Anonymous Widower 