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!
Polycell Launch Underpants For Builders
This was reported in The Sunday Times.
Builders have long used Polycell to cover up unsightly cracks, so it was only a matter of time before the company launched its own underwear range. PolyPants have a high waistband to avoid revealing “builder’s bottom”.
A cartoonist friend, will have to redraw one of his best cartoons.
Construction Seems To Have Resumed At The Pinnacle
The cashpoint I used at Tower 42 was opposite the Pinnacle.
Work seems to have resumed, which must say something about the economy. Although there are reports, that they may be demolishing it and starting again. There’s a piece here in the Architect’s Journal.
What Is This Strange Building By The Millennium Mills?
I passed this building whilst riding on the DLR back from Woolwich yesterday.
A Strange Building
I must go and find out what it is!
The white building on the left is Silo D by the Millennium Mills.
This blurb with this set of pictures says it is a circus tent.
I think I should go for an explore.
Living In The Toilet
This article on the BBC, shows how even the smallest buildings in London are being converted into homes and other uses. The opening paragraph says it all.
Converting abandoned public toilets in London into flats and businesses is providing a solution to rising property prices for some.
I don’t think it’s just about property prices. The conversions that I’ve seen both in the article and on the television, seem to be stylish and are good adverts for their designers and architects.
Remember too, that many of these buildings were very well built in the Victorian era and are still sound buildings. After all we’ve seen offices and warehouses transformed into stylish dwellings, so why not the smaller ones too?
A Design Challenge
It is absolutely essential that the London Underground increases the number of stations that have step-free access.
Southgate station is a station I know well, as I used it many times to go to and from my school. It is one of those stations with three escalator slots, as this picture shows.
The middle one was just an emergency staircase, but this could be converted into an inclined lift, as is proposed at Greenford.
But as Southgate is a Grade II* Listed building, it would have to be installed with a high degree of sensitivity, which would be the design challenge.
But solve it at Southgate and you could solve it on any of the number of stations, that have two escalators and a staircase.
My Central Heating
There’s something weird about the central heating in this house.
I haven’t had it switched on upstairs due to its homicidal tendencies for a few weeks. So today, as it’s so cold, I switched in on again.
It must be the first time, anybody has switched the heating on and the temperature has fallen. Despite the fact that the floor is now quite a bit warmer!
A First Proper Bath In Ages
I had a proper bath tonight.
A First Proper Bath In Ages
The bath may not be finished and the whirlpool bits aren’t connected, but it was nice to lie in warm water for half-an-hour or so.
I feel properly clean and refreshed.
Hopefully, it will be tiled in and finished in a couple of weeks.
But at least itb was safe and the plumbing worked as it should.
A Plea For Peckham Rye
Tristram Hunt wrote a thoughtful article for the Standard yesterday about Peckham Rye station. He says this of the station.
Sadly, British Rail didn’t care for this station as it should have done. Its features rotted and beauty ebbed. The Old Waiting Room closed and the windows were bricked up.
It’s not just Peckham Rye station, that has been treated like this.
Some have been treated badly, whilst others have even been built as eyesores or impractical buildings like Brixton. Those architects of the 1960s, who worked for British Rail and London Underground should hang their heads in shame.
The saviour for these buildings could be proper property development in conjunction with good architecture. I have seen what is proposed for some sites and liked what I have seen. Surely similar schemes should be proposed for other stations to both improve the lot of both passengers and local residents.
These Must Be EL James’s Builders!
EL James must live here, judging by the builder’s board on the rails outside.
These Must Be EL James’s Builders!
I didn’t see any other signs of dark secrets. The front door seemed to be painted in fifty shades of grey.
The Anonymous Widower 