Clearing Out the Phone
Over the years, all and sundry have been added to the memory in my mobile phone.
Today, whilst I was having lunch, I finally cleared out the detritus of my life in the country.
Sad in many ways, but it would have had to be done at some time.
Some were years old and some I hadn’t a clue who they were.
How Do You Make A New Threadbare Carpet?
You could ask why you need one too, but here’s the paragraph from Modern Railways describing the sumptuous interior of the new Midland Grand Hotel, that is soon to open at St. Pancras.
Here is the grand staircase, made famous in a score of films, with a sumptuous new carpet from Brintons of Kidderminster – but wait, the carpet does not look that new. No it has been specially woven to look a little threadbare, to be in keeping with the age of its surroundings.
The hotel must also be unique in that it will feature a Ladies Smoking Room, where smoking will not be allowed.
The Telegraph has an article here.
Will this become the best station hotel in the world? If it does, Sir John Betjeman will be chuckling out loud. It is certainly attached to a station that the head of French Railways, once said was the best station in the world.
Welcome to IKEA
I finally got the spice rack last night at IKEA in Croydon.
It’s quite an easy journey by public transport, as I just get the 21/141 bus to London Bridge, a train to East Croydon and then the Tramlink to Ampere Way.
In a strange way, the journey summed up one of the things I like about London; friendliness. I chatted about my troubles and travels to a pleasant guy called Duncan from the Bank of England and then as I waited for the tram, I talked to the tram driver, who was to take my tram to Wimbledon. Incidentally, Duncan doesn’t have a car, so like me he uses public transport everywhere. Perhaps, we’re ahead of our time and in a few years or so, non-driving will be the normal thing to do.
The only problem, I had on the journey down, was caused by a slight lack of signage at East Croydon, my uncertainty about how to use the tram and which one to get.
Duncan pointed me at this book; The Brain That Changes Itself. I shall check it out!
I was then presented to this at IKEA.
Welcome to IKEA
Just look at those concrete benches, that are ideally placed to bump the shins of people with limited vision. It wasn’t the easiest walk to and from the tram stop, with some roads controlled by pedestrian lights and others that worked on the cross-quickly-and-be-lucky principle.
Coming back was quite easy, in that I took the tram to West Croydon and then took the East London Line to Dalston Junction. But there is no signage at West Croydon to the Overground from the tram stop. Supposedly, plans are in place for a better connection. At Dalston, I was even lucky enough to avoid the five minute walk, by getting a convenient bus along the Balls Pond Road.
The spice rack is now on the wall.
The Last Bolts
Every time I go up the staircase these bolts annoy me.
Brass Painted Bolts on the Stairs
On the other side of the stairs, they have used Rawlbolts, but here they don’t have any identification on them. So I took one out to have a look.
Brass Painted Hexagonal Screw
This was not what I expected. But it will have to do for the moment.
The Boiler – Sorted
When nPower changed the gas meter, they told me to get the boiler serviced. Over the last few days, it has not been performing well and I’ve been cold, so yesterday I phoned a number on the boiler and the engineer rang me back this morning to say he could come round at 10:00.
He’s just left and the financial damage wasn’t too bad, considering that the boiler probably had never been serviced since it was installed. Nothimg else in this house has I suspect! And they’ve managed to lose all the manuals too!
I would certainly call Accurate Services on 020-8523-1121 or 020-8531-4411 again!
Ingrid Pitt
Ingrid Pitt, one of the stars of British horror films died a few months ago. So it is rather fitting that the Rio cinema in Dalston is showing some of her films.
Rio Cinema, Dalston
In some ways the biggest story about Ingrid Pitt, is that she survived a Nazi concentration camp. A documentary and perhaps a longer film is being made.
The Spirit of Boughton Lives
I’ve mentioned Boughton before as a sense of great hilarity and a running joke between my father and myself.
But his methods are still alive and well and hopefully dying in this house, as the staircase showed.
Just look at how the worktop is mounted using the fridge as a base.
Boughton Lives
Note how the door has collapsed and broken. Partly, this might be due to the hanging of the false front on the fridge, but mainly it’s because everything fouls everything else and just shutting the fridge puts enormous strain on the door and the hinges. Incidentally, the raised screw is down to me, as I removed the false front before it broke anything else.
If I can get the fridge out, I’ll fit a new one, as a new door alone costs the same as a whole new fridge from Currys, John Lewis or someone else equally reputable.
Let’s hope the geyser who did this, built his own house and it collapses into a heap of firewood and bricks, whilst he’s out shopping with his family.
Feeling Guilty
I hadn’t realised that the vicious floods at Boscastle had occurred on my birthday in 2004. I’ve been trying to think where I was, but can’t remember.
Perjhaps, I’m feeling guilty, whilst others were in so much peril.
An IKEA Joke
Whilst I’m waiting for the spice rack, here’s a joke.
Answer: “Sorry, we ran out of light bulbs. We expect them to arrive early next month. We do have ladders though! You just go straight on, then left and then right. No, thanks, anytime.”
Ikea is Swedish for ” how the f_ck do i put this together”
But that’s not my problem. I just want the product.
The IKEA Nightmare Continues
I thought I’d cracked problems over the spice rack yesterday, when IKEA’s web site said that there were spice racks in the store at Edmonton. But the web site was leading me up the proverbial garden path again. In a way, it wasn’t so much of a disaster, as I had to go to Stoke Newington to the excellent A & B Framers to drop some work in. But it did add perhaps forty minutes to my trip.
So now I’ve resorted to e-mailing them.
I am trying to buy a Grundtal Spice Rack – 90022781. I would prefer to buy it on-line, as I have had a stroke and can’t drive. However getting to your Edmonton store is just one bus ride and as I need one or two other small things, it is not a difficult journey. I always check the web site to see if the product is in stock and three times now, it has shown availability, but when I get to the store about 30 minutes later, they say they have all been sold. I have better things to do than sit on a 341 bus.
At least get the web site right, so I don’t have any more wasted journeys. In desperation I tried Wembley, but despite showing 11 before I left, there were none available. I can’t even pre-order on the web, which for me would be the ideal solution.
Ill add their reply, if I get one!
