The Windows Are In
I passed the new wooden frame house yesterday and took this picture.
The Windows Are In
All seems to be going well and the house is attracting a lot of curious looks from passers-by.
My Last Bottle Of Lammsbräu
This is my last bottle of Lammsbräu.
My Last Bottle Of Lammsbräu
The supplier is still awaiting deliveries of this excellent gluten-free beer from Germany.
I ordered something else from the supplier; Beers of Europe, on Tuesday and it arrived yesterday. So at least the local loop is efficient!
Archbishop In Cloud Cuckoo Land
This story about how Justin Welby aims to compete Wonga out of business, is on the BBC today. Here’s the jist.
The Archbishop of Canterbury has warned the online lender Wonga that the Church of England plans to force it out of business – by competing against it.
He may have laudible aims, but like the poor, loan sharks, where legal or not, will always be with us.
What the people who use Wonga need is money and if everybody supported credit unions, that wouldn’t give any money directly to those who need it.
Credit unions, like all responsible lenders, don’t lend money to those who would be unable or unwilling to pay it back.
A Public Inconvenience
I thought this notice on a toilet was funny. You may not!
A Public Inconvenience
It was actually in the Royal Academy.
Richard Rogers At The Royal Academy
I went to see the Richard Rogers exhibition at the Royal Academy yesterday.
It was really worth visiting, with lots of drawings, models and quotes from the architect, of the Pompidou Centre, the Lloyds Building, the Millennium Dome and many others.
They also had a wall for ideas, about what you would like to see done to improve London. I couldn’t resist adding my four pennyworth about my plan to reduce chaos in Oxford Street, by building a first floor level walkway above the buses and traffic.
I also followed someone else in moaning about the lack of public clocks in London. Especially when you compare it with Liverpool.
But one particular idea occurred to me. Why not give all those who live in London, who don’t drive or who have returned their driving licence, a Freedom Pass?
It is definitely, a must-see exhibition.
Does Danny Alexander Read My Blog?
Last week I published this post. The key part is this paragraph.
I would like to see a law, where all loan companies from the banks, through peer-to-peer lenders to the legal loan sharks, have to publish the amount of money they lend in various parts of the country.
Today I read this article on the BBC web site. Here’s the first paragraph.
Major UK banks will reveal details from January of their lending in thousands of local areas, Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander has announced.
So did he read what I said?
Remember many years ago I used to analyse the costs in the various branches of what was then a major clearing bank. It was amazing the differences you got between branches causes by the odd mistake, malpractice or unforeseen circumstance.
French Think About Beach Smoking Ban
The French Minister for health has said, that she might like to ban smoking on beaches. It’s reported here on the BBC. This is the first paragraph.
A call by France’s health minister for local authorities to ban smoking in parks and on beaches has sparked debate as a heat wave grips the country.
Marisol Touraine told the Journal du Dimanche newspaper she wanted to see more tobacco-free zones, to protect children’s health.
The Socialist minister said she hoped smoking would also be banned outside schools and on university campuses.
According to the article, there is actually a ban at La Ciotat near Marseilles, where they say it has been well-received.
In my view, anything that cuts smoking is a good idea.
Not One Of My Problems!
This story about treatment for varicose veins shows how a lot of medical treatments are going to get more hi-tech. This is the first bit.
People with varicose veins should be offered laser or heat treatment, say new guidelines for England and Wales.
The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) says, in most cases, surgery should be a last resort.
Both my parents had bad varicose veins, with my mother’s being particularly bad. She had them operated on at the old Highlands Hospital in Winchmore Hill in the mid-1950s. The strange thing about that operation was that the surgeon was an Indian lady, who did her ward rounds in a sari. I don’t think, I actually saw the surgeon, as eleven-year-old children weren’t allowed to visit their parents in hospital in those days, but my father would recall if her surgery was as as good as her looks, then my mother would be fine.
It’s strange, but you don’t seem to see the awful varicose veins you did fifty years ago!
I certainly don’t seem to have inherited them from my parents!
Cleaning Up My Garden
My garden has been a mess since I moved here. it was rather overgrown with bamboo and a dreadful tree. Until today that is!
The two gardeners were from Cercis and I’d recommend them to anyone.
I’ll post a few more pictures, when they put in the plants.
Let’s All Push Together
This story shows how teamwork and lots of people can do things that many would think impossible.
The Anonymous Widower 