Only Three More Days To See The Dalston House
I passed the Dalston House this morning and it was very busy.
As it closes on Monday, there is not long now to have a butchers!
Here‘s my pictures from a few weeks ago.
My Devonian Ancestry
I was watching Who Do You Think You Are? last night and it got me thinking about my family tree.
Of the four surnames of my grandparents; three are fairly common, but my maternal grandmother, who incidentally was born in the Balls Pond Road, close to where I live now, had a surname of Upcott. So I typed “surname origin upcott” into the Internet and found this page, which says this.
This name is of English locational origin from one of the four villages so named, all in the county of Devonshire. These “Upcott’s” are to be found in the parishes of Culmstock, Dowland, North Mol;ton and Rockbeare, and all have the same meaning. This is literally “the cottage up (the hill)”
So if she didn’t come from Devon, the name certainly did.
Could Banks Help To Cut Fraud By Doing Simple Things?
A couple of days ago, I noticed a spurious and unknown payment in my bank account for £115.73. It was just labelled Bank Ctedit, with no indication as to who had sent it.
Checking for those that usually pay money into my account, I could not find a similar payment in the past. So I came to the conclusion, it was probably an error in the banking system. Or possibly some clever fraud! But then I’m cynical.
This morning it revealed itself as a rebate from nPower, who supply my electricity and gas. Perhaps four days ago, they read my electricity meter, so there is a possible explanation.
But supposing that the credit had been a debit, or I had not noticed it, as many people don’t check their bank statements every day, as I do.
Now if the banks put more information on the pending debits and credits, which they must have, it might help cut fraud, in that customers would be alerted to what was happening earlier.
It’s the same with cashpoint withdrawals, where the information is very minimal. How many people would spot a fraudulent withdrawal from their bank account, from the information given now. If the withdrawals were properly labelled, customers would probably spot an illegal one earlier and more easily.
I Hate Avoidable Imperfections
I have just spent twenty minutes putting out the recycling. As it was only two full green sacks of mixed recycling and a cardboard box, that is far too long.
The problem isn’t the sacks, the box, my gammy hand or anything else outside of my control, but the front door of my house. I asked my previous builder to do something with it, so that it doesn’t close on its own volition. Luckily, it has only managed to lock me out once, but tonight it closed on me four times, as I took the recycling out. But I always check that my keys are in my pocket, as they were tonight.
I’ve been in this house nearly three years and I’m getting fed up with this door. All it needs is to look good, have an adequate letter box to replace the one, the previous builders broke, only shut when I want it to, and possibly be able to be locked and unlocked from upstairs, by flicking a switch.
I have an adequate budget for this job and I don’t think it’s too much to hope that this door will be sorted soon.
I suppose the real problem is that Jerry got the door on the cheap!
Did These Adverts Affect The Choice Of The Royal Baby’s Name?
These adverts are on the Tube all over London and have been for several weeks.
Did These Adverts Affect The Choice Of The Royal Baby’s Name?
Was it a subtle message? As the Queen was obviously very interested and probably went on Saturday, it was perhaps a name in the forefront of the whole family’s minds.
My youngest son, was called George, so I have no objections to it as a name, but to me, it’s probably an unlucky one.
I don’t know whether, I could have a lady friend called Georgia or Georgina.
I’ve Got No Boxing Day Football Again!
This year Ipswich Town are away at Doncaster on Boxing Day. They’ll of course be no trains.
But how many other matches will be impossible to get to?
Derby on Tuesday, October 1st
Leeds on Tuesday, January 28th
Yeovil on Tuesday, March 11th
Huddersfield on Tuesday, April 8th
Ten Reasons I Don’t Like Eastfield
I went to Waitrose in Eastfield this evening, to get some bits and pieces for my supper.
1. The Waitrose there is not for me, as some of the staples I like, like Genius bread never seem to be in stock. I also found out tonight, that it doesn’t have all the small packs of microwaveable vegetables I use.
2. The Marks and Spencer isn’t a patch on the ones in Oxford Street or Finsbury Pavement for food. It doesn’t even stock gluten-free sandwiches, which is rare in a their larger stores.
3. Clothes at Marks and Spencer are probably the normal standard, but unless you get in early in the season, small sizes can be difficult to find.
4. Although, I don’t use it often these days, the Starbucks at Eastfield doesn’t use proper china cups.
5. I went into John Lewis today and it really is a bit small and inferior when compared to the flagship store in Oxford Street.
6. Waitrose and John Lewis are a long way from the main Stratford station.
7. With the exception of Marks and Spencer, I’ve bought no clothing in any of the shops there, as they seem to be almost exclusively aimed at women. The few shops that sell men’s clothes are ones I wouldn’t visit.
8. The only restaurant that I know serves gluten-free food is Jamie’s Italian. Why can’t it have a Carluccio’s like Westfield?
9. As I’m very much a guerilla shopper, who comes, buys what he wants and retreats immediately, the centre is usually too crowded for my liking.
10. In some ways my major gripe is that, if say you want to go anywhere from the main Stratford station, you have to walk through the shopping centre. I always go shopping, when I want to, not when I end up in a shopping centre by accident.
You may think that this has all been very negative.
But I do like the toilets, the only Lakeland near me and the large numbers of cash points.
Is Funding Circle Going To Sleep With The Enemy?
There are rumours around the Internet that Funding Circle is going to tie up with Santander. Read a report here in The Telegraph.
For many years ING provided funding to a host of smaller lenders in the UK. Then they changed tack and left these lenders up the creek without a boat, let alone a paddle.
The only possible tie-up that I would possibly do if I was the CEO of Funding Circle is to licence the technology for use in a non-competing market.
I certainly wouldn’t get involved in any direct tie-up in the UK, for a number of reasons. Most of these are detailed in the Telegraph.
But I was part of a small dynamic company taken over by a big US corporation and it just didn’t work. Santander and Funding Circle are so different, I’d only give them a few months before they fell out in a big way.
I hope that if they are talking, that Funding Circle see the light and withdraw.
But the rumours probably haven’t done their business a load of good.
The Copper Box
After leaving the park yesterday, I went and had a look in the Copper Box.
This is the first new Olympic venue to become fully open.
It is an impressive arena and I shall be looking to see if I can play badminton there. With my eyesight, it might be a better game to play for me, than real tennis. You can play badminton there and details \are here.
Although the information isn’t fully working, it would appear that the bus stop for the Copper Box on the 588 route, is called the Copper Box. They would appear to run every fifteen minutes and I took one back to Eastfield for a train home.
The Anonymous Widower 