What Elans are for!
Although the Elan limped home from Holland on Sunday, it is now fit and very well. Should it be he, she or it? Incidentally, the refitting of the gear-box cable, replacement of two instrument panel lights, a quick check on all wearable parts and a very good valet cost just £84. Perhaps a very good reason to buy an old Lotus Elan.
Last night, I wanted to go to London to do some shopping and have supper with my middle son. My youngest son, wanted a car, so he needed the Jaguar, so despite the forecast of rain, I took the Elan and parked it in Blackhorse Road for the Underground. As an aside here, if they want to encourage people to use public transport, why do they still charge £3.50 to use the car-park at the station at all times of the day? That applies even if you park at five in the afternoon, when the car-park is half-empty.
I was raining hard, but the M11 wasn’t that busy, so I did push it a bit. But there wasn’t really any standing water, so the journey was safe. But does every car handle as nimbly and well in the rain? Visibility is very good and the wipers create a clear screen, although perhaps not quite as clear on the Jaguar. But then the car is a twenty-year-old design! An hour after leaving home and I was in the car park at Blackhorse Road.
The return journey was clear and without incident. I was also listening to the football on the radio in the car. Not the original, I should say, that wasn’t the best because of the plastic body, but a new SONY, that seems to work well in all conditions. I can even get BBC Radio 5 on the other side of the North Sea in Holland.
I may have had my problems in the last year, but if I want to feel really alive and get a lift, I just get in the Elan and drive.
That’s Elans they are for!
Shoe Cleaning
I have expensive shoes. I always have done ever since I could afford them. Partly, it’s because my feet are small and fairly wide and size six shoes are difficult to find, but mainly it’s because I always try to dress well and good shoes don’t come cheap. You may be able to find a decent shirt in Marks, but decent shoes never!
I tend now to get my shoes in Busy Bee in Newmarket as there my size six are not the smallest. Jockeys have surprising consequences for others! I posted in an earlier blog how I bought a pair of John Spencer shoes there in February.
But I hate shoe cleaning and more than once I’ve ruined shoes by not cleaning them every time I’ve used them. My late wife always did that and when she died she had an immaculate collection of all the most expensive makes.
I still struggle to follow her example.
Sathnam Sanghera
Sathnam Sanghera is one of The Times columnists.
He is also someone who I try to read each week. I suppose that despite his background from an Indian family in Wolverhampton being very different to mine of a group of London mongrels, that we have a lot in common. He usually makes me laugh a bit and always makes me smile.
Take this first paragraph from his piece yesterday which was ostensibly about cats and their relationship with men.
If you’d asked me, at the age of 10, what my life would be like at the age of 33, I would have probably mentioned a semi-detached in Wolverhampton; the 2009 equivalent of a Ford Orion on the drive; a Punjabi wife of ten years or so; a couple of spoddy kids who, like me, were good at maths, but crap at English and sport; a job at a local building society; a garden; male pattern baldness, and a cat. That I have none of these things is not a cause of distress or concern — they might still come and, besides, more thrilling things, such as houseplants, have taken their place. But it does puzzle me that I still don’t own a cat.
If you’d asked me the same question at about the same age, I would have probably thought something similar, except that I’d be running my father’s printing business in Wood Green.
So we do have a lot in common.
The most interesting thing is that Sathnam says, that he was good at maths, but crap at English and sport. And here is Sathnam writing well-crafted articles in one of the world’s premier newspapers. In fact, as his column is probably syndicated, then it might be several.
I was the same! Maths good, English bad. But now, even if I say it myself that is not true. The maths and its usage is still good and that of those around me sadly gets worse. Does teaching not instill the joy of maths, physics, chemistry and the other sciences into students any more? But it is my English that has improved so much!
Why? I don’t know. Perhaps, Sathnam could tell me, as it’s probably the same reason his has improved.
I was crap at sport too. But now I play a lot of real tennis and was actually a National Champion a couple of years ago. Don’t tell anybody, that it was in my handicap group and only five people entered!
So there is hope for Sathnam’s sport too!
Toilet with a Built-In Washbasin
Something like this was shown on the BBC this morning. They were saying it is a good idea for saving water, as you use the hand-washing water to refill the cistern.
It is! But!
I would say that it is much more important as a space-saving device. After all, how many toilets don’t really have the space for a basin. It must also be a lot easier to fit, as you only need to plumb in one piece of sanitary ware.
Here’s a link to one of these devices from an Australian company.
Man of the Noughties
They were talking as I drove back to Suffolk about who were the most influential men and women, who have died in the last decade. The usual suspects were all paraded from Ronald Reagan to George Best, the Queen Mother and Heath Ledger.
But the decade saw the passing of the Reverend Chad Varah.
So why should I as someone, who has no religion, say that Chad Varah should be included on any list of important people of the noughties? He has probably done more to help people in distress, first in the UK and then on a world-wide basis, than any other person of the last fifty years. Most know that he founded the Samaritans, but read his entry in Wikpedia and you’ll see that he was involved in sexual education, stopping female genital mutilation and many other causes that affect how we all live in this complicated society. He was even a consultant to The Eagle comic.
But I had a personal link to the Chad Varah. My wife gave her body to medical science and there was a Memorial Service in Southwark Cathedral for all those who had done so in 2007.
I wrote this after the service.
In the Order of Service is a list of over two hundred who gave their bodies in 2007. Amongst is Edward Chad Varah, who founded the Samaritans.
One day in about 1973 or so, our marriage was at a very low ebb. We had debts, a grotty, damp, rented, fourth-floor flat in St. John’s Wood, three children and to say the least, divorce was more than a possibility. I had a small consultancy job at Lloyds Bank and as I was walking home, I passed his church, St. Stephen Wallbrook, where the Samaritans were based.
I saw the sign and was somehow drawn into the church, before spending half an hour or so with the Reverend Varah. He talked me through our problems and made several practical suggestions, most of which worked.
We were always in debt to that kind and compassionate priest.
My wife never knew of this until I told her, when I heard of his death on the radio, a month before she herself died. I should have told her earlier.
So when you talk of great men and women, don’t forget the Reverend Chad Varah. We can all learn a lot from his wonderful example.
Parakeets in Den Haag
I took this picture of a parakeet at a bird feeder in the garden of the house where I stayed in Den Haag.
Parakeets in Den Haag
Unfortunately, by the time I’d got the camera sorted, the rose-ringed parakeet had flown. That’s what birds do! They fly.
But I did get this picture of several parakeets in the garden.
Parakeets in Den Haag
There is quite a few references to parakeets in Den Haag on the Internet. They’ve been in Holland for some time.
Anne Frank
I said in the piece on Robert Fisk, that the next time I returned to Amsterdam, I would visit the Anne Frank House. Strangely later I went over the library at the Hotel Ambassade, where I saw a signed book by Fisk. It was one of many hundreds, by lots of famous authors!
I first visited the Anne Frank House in 1968 on my honeymoon. This was my second or possibly my third, as I can’t be sure that we didn’t visit, when we came to Amsterdam with the children around 1980. It was very different then and a much smaller museum without the new building to the right as you face the original house. This was added in 1999.
Perhaps, the building has lost some of its impact. When it was just the house it was smaller and this added to the claustrophobia, that Anne and her family must have suffered. But there is now a lot more information.
As I said in the original post, “when we forget the story of Anne and the diary, then we will probably have lost our humanity.”
Fast Train to Rotterdam and Den Haag
It has just been announced that Thalys is now running fast through to Amsterdam. So I looked up and see if I could book from Ebbsfleet to Rotterdam for a reasonable price at a reasonable speed. I actually would go to Den Haag, but couldn’t find that on the Eurostar web site. Or should I say, I could find it, but I couldn’t book it!
In mid-January, I have found that I could do the trip in three hours and forty-seven minutes for a return cost of £127.50 with a credit charge of £3.
So how does that compare to easyJet?
easyJet on the same days costs £47.98 with a charge of £8 for the credit card.
The parking at Ebbsfleet and Stansted are about the same and I suspect you can get them for about £70, with perhaps an extra tenner for diesel for Ebbsfleet. And then you have the trains at the other end, which would both be just a few Euros.
As to time, the flight takes about five hours door-to-door and the train takes about six and a half.
So is it a no-brainer to take the plane?
No! I hate airports and all of the ridiculous rules. Not all are security too!
So it is perhaps why I actually prefer to take the boat. The last trip, I used Stena from Harwich and because I had a problem with the Lotus, I came back the same way. It is not really such a long trip in terms of time, as I would do Harwich-Hook overnight. But then coming back, you have the annoying delay, whilst they keep you on board, so you might have breakfast. I don’t, as their offerings are not gluten-free!
I normally go over using Norfolk Line from Dover to Dunkirk, which usually takes about eight hours door-to-door. That may be a lot slower, but I can fill the car with all the goodies that expats can’t get in Holland. And I can also take my Brompton!
Cost of the ferry is usually about £60 with perhaps about the same amount for diesel. I know that calculating the cost of motoring on the fuel cost is not valid, but it is the way we always add it up!
So perhaps, the easiest and most relaxing way is to drive via Dover. At least you get a nice break on the boat and can listen to BBC Radio 5 Live all of the way. And it’s only three hours slower than the plane.
Julie and Julia
I went to see this film last night in The Hague. I liked it and hadn’t realised that it was also about blogging and Senator McCarthy. Will we ever see a film that covers those two topics again? I doubt it, but never say never.
I found it strange though to see a film in English, where part of the dialogue was in French, with Dutch sub-titles. It took me some time to get the hang of ignoring them.
Meryl Streep must now hold some sort of record for playing someone, who in real life was some twenty centimetres taller than she is!
The Anonymous Widower 