The Anonymous Widower

Blood Testing At The Royal London Hospital

The Royal London Hospital is still trying to get to the bottom of my health incident, that I wrote about in The Hour Change Has Completely Knocked Me Out.

On Monday, I had a serious liver scan by ultrasound at Barts Hospital and today, I was phoned up by the Royal London to invite me to take a blood test to check against those that they took a couple of weeks ago.

They said to turn up any day before five and they would do it there and then.

As I was going past the hospital this afternoon, I turned up about two-thirty, without a prior appointment.

I logged myself into a queuing system, which was more McDonalds or Leon, than NHS and sat for about fifteen minutes, whilst the patients in front of me were tested.

As I sat there, I was approached by a doctor doing research. He asked if I would give a couple of extra vials of blood for his research.

As I knew that this would only delay me for a few more seconds, I said yes and filled in his form, which asked no important ethical questions.

Is the system in use at the Royal London Hospital research-friendly?

Suppose, a researcher is looking into the frequency of a particular gene in a population. They could just ask patients for a sample.

November 24, 2022 Posted by | Health | , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Dalston Junction To Moorgate Via The Elizabeth Line

This morning to get my breakfast at Leon on Moorgate, I took the longer route via Dalston Junction and Whitechapel stations using the East London and Elizabeth Lines.

Note.

  1. I travelled in the last coach of the Overground train from Dalston Junction station.
  2. I travelled towards the front of the Elizabeth Line train from Whitechapel station.
  3. There are lifts between Overground and the Elizabeth Line at Whitechapel station.
  4. All the escalators have traffic lights.
  5. Using stairs and escalator, the change at Whitechapel station took around two minutes.

The total journey time was just over 25 minutes.

June 10, 2022 Posted by | Transport/Travel | , , , , , , | 4 Comments

The Joy Of Freedom

I set out my views on masks in the title of Should We Be Given More Discretion Over Mask Wearing?.

Today was the first Friday under the relaxed rules on masks, when I have done my pre-weekend Friday morning routine.

  • Take a bus and a Northern Line train or a direct bus to Moorgate.
  • Have a Full English breakfast in Leon.
  • Visit Marks & Spencer on Moorgate and get my weekend food.

These are my comments on today’s trip.

  • I rode the bus to Angel without a mask and had a pleasant chat with a lady of my age about Putin.
  • We felt that the Brutus solution for Vlad the Poisoner would be best!
  • On the train between Angel and Moorgate stations, I was the only passenger not wearing a mask.
  • It was easy to walk up the steps at Moorgate station.
  • Leon was busy, with about half of customers and all staff wearing masks.
  • Marks was about half full and it was nice to be able to shop wearing my glasses, which don’t fit my mask.
  • I should say, that I need my glasses to read sell-by dates.
  • There were no naked faces on the bus home.

It was such a joy for me, to be able to travel and do my shopping without a mask.

But then at no time, was I in a crowd, which might have made me reach for my mask.

Conclusion

I doubt at no time, I’ll go back to full-time mask wearing.

Incidentally, I used to have a racehorse called Joy of Freedom.

February 25, 2022 Posted by | Food, Health, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

A Full-English Gluten-Free Breakfast At Leon

I regularly have a breakfast like this in Leon.

Delicious and gluten-free!

December 11, 2021 Posted by | Food | , , | 2 Comments

Finsbury Circus Appears Fully Open

I bought my breakfast yesterday in Leon on Moorgate and ate it in the nearby Finsbury Circus Gardens.

It is now fully open.

This picture shows the gardens during the construction of Crossrail.

Note.

  1. The bandstand can be picked out amongst the trees.
  2. The shaft towards the bottom is forty metres deep and was used to get men and materials to the tunnels.

Comparing the pictures shows that the gardens are now able to used for their original purpose.

April 1, 2021 Posted by | Food, Transport/Travel, World | , , , | 2 Comments

Could I Survive Four Months Self-Isolation?

As I am over seventy, it is quite likely that if newspaper reports like this one in The Times, which is entitled Coronavirus: Millions Of Over-70s Will Be Told To Stay At Home For Four Months, prove to be true, I shall be spending at least four months, alone with my television, my books and the Internet.

These are a few thoughts.

How Does My House Get Cleaned?

When I moved into this house, I decided that I didn’t want to have anything to do with cleaning the house, so I hired a contract cleaning company, who come every Monday.

I also reduced my cleaning utensils to those that I would to clean up a spill.

  • A dustpan and brush
  • Kitchen roll
  • Washing-up liquid.
  • A portable Dyson vacuum cleaner.
  • A few sponges.

At least I don’t spill much.

How Do I Get My Clothes Washed?

My clothes washing arrangements may seem strange to some.

  • The cleaning company also looks after my bed-linen and changes it on Mondays.
  • Most of my clothes like underwear, shirts and jumpers are washed by a lady, who collects them from my door and brings them back a few days later.
  • I take trousers, jackets and suits to the dry cleaners.

Since my washing machine packed up about three months ago, I haven’t replaced it and I use a pair of new socks every three or four days. It’s cheaper than buying a new machine.

I can see problems arising, as my lady, who does the washing, is not in the first flush of youth or good health and may be told to self-isolate.

But I can afford to get more clothes delivered.

How Am I Placed For Home Deliveries?

Despite my front door virtually opening onto the street, I have problems with home deliveries.

  • Inevitably, they come when I’m out! But that won’t happen, if I’m confined to barracks!
  • But the major problem is that I share a post-code with the mews that runs down the back of my house and drivers relying on sat-navs inevitably end up in the mews. It happened last week and only because I’d given the company my home phone number, which the driver rang, did I get the parcel.

I should say, that most things that I need I collect from shops, because of the delivery problem, which inevitably means I have to collect it from a Post Office or depot a short or sometimes long distance away.

I Like A Daily Paper

I buy The Times most days and I also have an on-line subscription.

Being brought up in a print works, I like the feel of papers and as I do most of the puzzles in The Times every day, I don’t have to print them out. Not that I can print them out at the moment, as no-one can work out how to drive my printer from this terrible Microsoft Surface Pro Studio computer.

If anybody knows how to drive a HP LaserJet P1102w from one of these awful computers please get in touch. And if you are anywhere near London N1, there will be a beer waiting if the fridge or a boiling kettle, if you turn up.

I buy the paper from the shop round the corner, but I can’t find anybody to deliver one!

It sounds like there’s a business there to deliver papers to those, who the government insist are isolated in their own homes.

What About My Food?

At the present time, I shop most days and generally keep the following in the fridge.

  • Two bottles of milk; one in use and one full.
  • Some fish pate or M & S salmon parcels.
  • Several small pots of M & S Luxury Honey & Ginger yoghurt.
  • Three pots of cut fruit from M & S, which I usually eat at a rate of one a day. Sometimes with the yoghurt.
  • Benecol spread instead of butter.
  • Two or three ready meals.
  • Two packs of M & S gluten-free pasta, which has a two months life. I cook it with peas in a yoghurt sauce, with each pack giving two meals.
  • Three bottles of Adnams 0.5% beer from M & S. I’ve also got plenty of this in store.
  • Some eggs and cheese.

In various store cupboards, storage jars and bowls I also have the following.

  • Several bananas.
  • Lots of dried apricots
  • M & S gluten-free bread.
  • M & S gluten-free ginger snaps.
  • Plenty of tea bags.
  • Tins of sardines
  • Tins of baked beans,
  • M & S gluten-free granola, which I eat with yoghurt and apricots
  • M & S gluten-free porridge pots, which I eat with honey or strawberry jam.

I should say, that most days, I eat breakfast out either in Carluccio’s or Leon.

You will notice that I shop extensively in Marks and Spencer. But I have one only about five hundred metres away in Dalston and in Central London, you pass one of their food stores very regularly.

I can also go to their two larger stores at Finsbury Pavement or The Angel, if I am able to risk the bus.

  • It should be noted that I have strong connections to M & S at The Angel.
  • My paternal grandmother used to shop there before the First World War.
  • C and myself used to shop there in the early 1970s, when we lived in the Barbican.

There is also a Boots next door, where I get my prescription drugs, which was also used by my grandmother over a hundred years ago.

How Will I Get To The Doctors?

It’s walkable!

Conclusion

I think, that I’ll survive.

 

March 16, 2020 Posted by | Computing, Food, World | , , , , | 1 Comment

LEON Scraps China Cups Because Of COVID-19

LEON used to offer proper china mugs in their restaurants.

Not in every one, but in some that I use.

But not any more, as last week. they were using paper cups.

I was assured that as soon as they can the china mugs will return.

March 15, 2020 Posted by | Food | , | 1 Comment

The Northern City Line Must Almost Be At Capacity

Most Monday mornings, I go to LEON on Moorgate for breakfast.

I go to that branch, mainly because I can get a proper china mug for my tea and also because a cheery member of staff usually has what I want ready within a minute of my entering the store.

One day, I’ll confuse them by having something different! But then she looks the sort, who enjoys a joke!

To get to Moorgate station, I can take a bus, but I usually go via the Northern City Line from Essex Road station, as it’s quicker in the Peak and drops me in the right side of Moorgate for LEON.

Today, the train was very full and it looked like you’d have had trouble squeezing in any more.

Since the new Class 717 trains have been introduced ridership has grown and the trains are getting more crowded in the Peak. This is despite an 11% increase in capacity, compared to the older Class 313 trains.

Currently, there are the following Off Peak services into Moorgate station.

  • Four trains per hour (tph) – Welwyn Garden City
  • Four tph – Hertford North, Watton-at-Stone and Stevenage.

There are also extra services in the Peak.

Various improvements and developments will affect the number of passengers going to and from Moorgate.

Improvements To Stevenage Station

Stevenage station is a bottleneck on one leg of the services  of the Northern City Line to and from Moorgate station.

An additional platform with full step-free access, is being added to the station and should open this year, to terminate services from Moorgate station.

Currently, services that stop at Stevenage station, that are going North include.

  • One tph – LNER to Leeds or Harrogate.
  • One tph – LNER to Lincoln or York
  • Four tph – Thameslink to Cambridge.
  • Two tph – Thameslink to Peterborough.

These will be joined in Autumn 2021 by East Coast Trains to Edinburgh at a frequency of five trains per day.

I suspect a lot of passengers going between the North and Hertfordshire and Cambridge will change at Stevenage, rather than Kings Cross.

The works at Stevenage also give the impression, that they could handle more than the four tph, that run on the route.

Improvements To Highbury & Islington Station

Highbury & Islington station is going to get more escalators and step-free access to the four deep-level platforms at some point and this will surely attract more passengers to use both the Victoria and the Northern City Lines.

Frequency increases are also planned for the North and East London Lines, in the next year.

Will the Northern City Line be able to handle the extra passengers?

A Second Entrance At Walthamstow Central Station

Walthamstow Central station is one of the constraints on even more trains on the ever-welcoming Dear Old Vicky and may have had money allocated for a second entrance with more escalators and much-needed lifts.

As I said with Highbury & Islington station, will the Northern City Line be able to handle the extra passengers?

Rebuilding Of Essex Road Station

I think that Essex Road station could be a good investment for a creative property developer.

  • The building has little if any architectural merit.
  • The location is convenient on a busy road Junction.
  • Large numbers of buses pass the station, but the positioning of bus stops could be improved.
  • The station needs step-free access.
  • A large number of flats could be built on the site, with good access to the station.
  • Car parking is terrible locally.

I could see this station being transformed.

But if it were to be improved with much better access, it would further increase the number of passengers using the services into Moorgate.

The Gospel Oak And Barking Line

If you are going between Barking and the West End, lots of passengers in the Peak seem to change to the Victoria Line at Blackhorse Road station and numbers doing this seems to have increased since the Gospel Oak and Barking Line was electrified and now, the route  has double the capacity it had before.

Also are more passengers needing the City walking across at Highbury & Islington station.

It should not be forgotten, that the Gospel Oak and Barking Line is being extended to Barking Riverside with a same platform interchange to c2c’s services to and from Grays.

An increase in frequency between Barking and Gospel Oak is also planned.

Developments on the Gospel Oak to Barking Line will increase the number of passengers going to and from Moorgate station.

Crossrail

Consider.

  • The route between Moorgate and Highbury & Islington stations will become an important link between the Victoria Line and Crossrail, as there is no direct connection between the two lines.
  • The short route will also link the North London Line to Crossrail.
  • I suspect too,that passengers from Hertfordshire will go all the way to Moorgate for Crossrail.

In addition, when Crossrail opens, Moorgate station will be fully step-free with umpteen escalators and lifts.

Will there be enough capacity and services on the Northern City Line?

Conclusion

Rough calculations and my instinct suggest that there will need to be an increase of services into Moorgate station.

Currently, in the morning Peak, twelve tph or a train every five minutes run into Moorgate station.

  • This frequency is easily handled in a two platform station.
  • Lines with modern signalling on the London Underground can handle up to thirty-six tph in a two-platform station.
  • The route is double-track between Moorgate and Alexandra Palace stations, where the route splits into two.

Twenty or more tph could be run on this simple route, with modern signalling.

January 13, 2020 Posted by | Food, Transport/Travel | , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Toned Down Automatic Leon In Leeds Station

Leon have opened a new outlet in Leeds station.

It’s toned-down with an automatic order facility.

December 31, 2019 Posted by | Food, Transport/Travel | , , | Leave a comment

Leon Has Smart-Looking Glasses For Gluten-Free Beer

I had lunch in Leon at Ludgate Circus.

It was only a chicken burger and fries, but I did have an Estrella Damm Daura.

It even came with a smart-looking Glass.

December 24, 2019 Posted by | Food | , , | 2 Comments

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