A Funny Turn On Thursday
Because of my endoscopy at five on Thursday, I had a quiet day. I wasn’t allowed to eat anything for eight hours before or drink anything but water for four hours.
About one in the afternoon, I was sitting at my computer, typing a post into my blog.
And then everything, went rather fuzzy and words were coming out garbage. Often each letter was replaced by one of the next on the keyboard.
I was also a bit unsteady on my feet and as I was alone in my house, I decided to go out, so that if it was something worse and I collapsed, there would be someone to help me.
As I got to the bus stop, which is about fifty metres away, a violent thunderstorm broke out.
On the bus to The Angel, I tried to check my phone to get the time. It didn’t respond and I couldn’t unlock it. And even with help from the EE Shop and a guy on the bus, the phone wouldn’t respond to my fingers.
At the Angel, I did at least have a sensible conversation with an assistant about a clothes purchase, but in the end I bought nothing.
I left the Angel earlier than I’d intended and as I was on a 38 bus, which starts my journey to Homerton Hospital, I gave up on the idea of going home for some water.
I had a long change at Dalston Junction for the 242 bus for the hospital, but at least the rain had stopped somewhat and I was by now steady on my feet.
My phone was also working, so I was able to read the instructions about where to go at the hospital.
So what had happened to me at one in the afternoon?
Was there a low pressure before the storm, that sucked all the water out of my body and in the process made my fingers dry, so they didn’t work the phone?
Interestingly, I lost 0.9 of a Kg between 08:00 on Thursday and 08:00 on Friday. Was that just the fasting?
My INR also dropped from 2.4 at 08:00 on Thursday to 2.0 at 08:00 on Saturday. Was that because of all the fluid I lost, thickened my blood?
How I Was Imprisoned In A Pizza Restaurant And Driven Home By The Metropolitan Police
At lunchtime today, I received a phone call, saying that my GP’s surgery could see me at 16:30 this afternoon, to discuss my lack of sleep, arthritis and various strains and pains.
My middle son; Henry had expressed a desire to be at such an appointment, so I said, that if he could chauffeur me to the GP, he could come along.
His diary co-operated and he duly arrived outside my house at 16:00.By the time of the GP’s appointment, we had parked conveniently outside the surgery and we had been ushered into the GP’s consulting room.
We had a good meeting and by just after five, we had broken up and agreed a comprehensive plan for the diagnosis of my problems.
Henry had three problems of his own.
- He had legal work to do for the morning.
- He needed to do some bits of shopping.
- He also said, that he was feeling rather hungry.
- I too was hungry and needed to do some shopping.
So I suggested we drive to Southgate Road and see if we could get a pizza in Sweet Thursday.
- They do gluten-free pizzas, so I would have no dietary worries.
- In previous meals, I have found the quality excellent.
- There are shops nearby, where we could shop, if we needed.
As I approached the restaurant, I decided we had made the right decision, as there was a parking space about twenty metres from the restaurant.
We both had similar meals.
- Ham and mushroom pizzas, although mine was gluten-free.
- I drunk a zero-alcohol Lucky Saint, whilst Henry had a Diet-Coke.
- We both finished off, with two scoops of appropriate ice cream.
It was only, when we had paid and tried to leave that we got a very big surprise.
Parked in front of the restaurant with its disabled ramp extended, like some beached airliner was a 141 bus, that was empty of passengers.
- There was broken glass at the front of the bus.
- Was this evidence, that the bus had hit something or somebody?
- The police had strung white tape everywhere.
- There were half-a-dozen police cars and ambulances blocking Southgate Road.
Henry’s car wouldn’t be going anywhere for some time, as it was blocked in by two ambulances and a police car with flashing blue lights.
- So, Henry and I each had a coffee, to pass the time.
- We also made friends with others trapped in the restaurant.
- Henry also obtained information from the police, that no-one would be moving, until it was known that no-one would be moving until the full state of the injuries of the person hit by the bus was known.
So Henry and I just sat there with several others on the hard chairs in front of the restaurant.
In the end, for me, it was over very quickly.
- I live about a kilometre North of the incident.
- Some were walking from the incident to the Balls Pond Road to get a bus.
- I am fairly sure, Henry had told the police, that it was far too far for me to walk with my arthritic hip.
I was put in the back of a police car and ferried home, at about 21:45.
Thanks to the Metropolitan Police.
I have some further thoughts.
Do I Drink Enough?
Since lunchtime, I have drunk the following.
- 4 x 330 ml – Adnams Ghost Ship 0.5 % Beer
- 1 x 330 ml – Lucky Saint 0.5 % Beer
- 300 ml – Assorted water and juices.
- 1 cup – coffee.
Is that enough?
I certainly slept better last night!
Extra Capacity On The Elizabeth Line At Tottenham Court Road Station
When I go to Oxford Street, I generally use the Elizabeth Line from Moorgate.
- If I need the Western end of Oxford Street, I use the Western entrance of Bond Street station.
- If I need John Lewis or Leon in Hanover Square, I use the Eastern entrance of Bond Street station.
- If I need the Eastern end of Oxford Street or Marks & Spencer at the Pantheon, I use the Western entrance of Tottenham Court Road station.
- If I need Tottenham Court Road or the British Museum, I use the Eastern entrance of Tottenham Court Road station.
Today, as I was going to Marks & Spencer at the Pantheon, I used the Western entrance of Tottenham Court Road station.
It wasn’t very busy and the tunnels and escalators were easily coping with Christmas shoppers.
But if Crossrail 2 ever gets built, Tottenham Court Road station could be the only interchange between the Elizabeth Line and Crossrail 2.
So I was pleased to see that someone had had the foresight to leave space for a fourth escalator at the Western entrance of Tottenham Court Road station.
I took these pictures as I returned.
A fourth escalator could easily be fitted on the right of the escalator on which I descended.
A Design Crime – Marks And Spencer’s New Paper Carrier Bag
This article on the BBC is entitled Marks & Spencer Scraps Plastic For Paper Bags.
This is the sub-heading.
Marks & Spencer is swapping plastic carrier bags for paper ones in all stores, in an expansion of a trial that began in 10 branches in January.
These two paragraphs give a few reasons.
It follows other High Street stores in swapping plastic bags to paper in a bid to cut plastics use.
Supermarkets Morrisons, Waitrose and Aldi all use paper bags for customers, though some stores offer plastic bags as an option.
But the proof of the bag is in the using.
This picture shows the new bag.
It’s main problem is unlike the plastic bags, it is a nightmare to fold.
I could also fold the plastic bags, so they went in the pocket of my Barbour jacket.
I have searched my house for some of the green plastic bags to use in the future.
Conclusion
Three out of ten!
Heat And The City
As I do on many Saturdays, I took the bus to Moorgate to have a late breakfast and do some food shopping in the Marks & Spencer department store.
To say it was hot would be an understatement and it must have been over thirty, so I retreated into an air-conditioned restaurant for my brunch, with my son and a friend.
I know that area well and although, I’m normally there on a weekday, I’ve never seen so much display of female flesh, with bare shoulders, cleavage and tummies everywhere. At least some were wearing white, which surely was prudent, but others were suffering in black and other darker colours.
After eating, I did my shopping.
I didn’t need much, but I did need some beer. As I’d miscalculated my consumption in the hot weather, it was a priority.
At home, I generally drink Adnams 0.5% alcohol Ghost Ship, which my body attests to be gluten-free. Normally, the store stocks it, but I couldn’t find any, so I asked an assistant, who was restocking the shelves. She said that they didn’t have any, but they did have the Adnams-brewed M & S own-brand, of which I’ve drunk dozens of bottles and my body also attests is gluten-free. So a couple of bottles, went into my shopping basket.
Interestingly, the assistant was rearranging shelves and it appeared, she was moving zero-alcohol bottles from the floor into the refrigerated end of a large display.
Could the heat be creating a high demand for customers needing to drink something to cool down? And many felt that zero-alcohol beer was acceptable in the heat of the City.
On Monday, I went back to take this picture of the display.
Note the Marks & Spencer own label brewed by Adnams in the middle!
And this was the price label for the beer.
No Alcohol – No Gluten – £1.90 a bottle – What more can a coeliac, who’s on Warfarin after a stroke need?
Traffic Constipation At The Angel
On Tuesday, I went to the Angel, with the intention of doing some shopping and then got tuck in an enormous traffic jam.
Note.
- In the end I abandoned the bus and walked.
- It looked like it was all caused by emergency roadworks at the Angel.
- These happen regularly, as Islington’s water pipes aren’t the best quality.
I believe traffic jams at the Angel will get worse, when the Silvertown Tunnel opens, as this will encourage trucks to take routes through Central London, when the Dartford Crossing is busy.
Are Boots Marching In The Wrong Direction?
My family has used Boots at the Angel since about 1900.
But have they ever been so disorganised?
Yesterday, I went to pick up some Warfarin, which I have taking for a dozen years.
It must be one of the most common and cheapest drugs they dispense.
I needed both 1 mg and 3 mg tablets.
But they didn’t have any 1 mg tablets.
The pharmacist explained that Boots didn’t have any.
Surely, this is a bit like Sainsbury’s running out of baked beans?
East London Is A Duckers And Divers Paradise
This is the East End Tube Map, which I clipped off the full tube map.
I live just South of the East London Line between Canonbury and Dalston Junction stations.
Today started just after nine, as many others do by braving the nightmare on the buses to take a 141 bus to Moorgate.
- At Moorgate, I had breakfast as I do regularly in the Leon, by Moorgate station.
- After breakfast, it was one stop South on the Northern Line to Bank, to see if the new entrance had opened.
- It was then a trip on the new moving walkway to the Central Line.
- I took the Central Line to Stratford to do my main shopping at the start of the week, in the large Marks and Spencer in Eastfield, by the station entrance.
- It was then on to the North London Line to go back home.
- I didn’t go all the way home on the Overground, but got off the train at Hackney Central and using the new Graham Road entrance, I crossed to get a 38 bus, which would take me home.
- But two 38s passed as I tried to cross the road and in the end I took a 277 bus to Dalston Junction station.
- From the Junction, I got a 56 bus home.
I got home about eleven.
At least now, I’ve got food until Thursday!
Findlater’s Corner At London Bridge – 11th February 2023
This restoration was shown on the BBC London news in a story, which was entitled London Bridge: Derelict Railway Arches Restored To Past Glory, and I thought it was worth a visit.
Note.
- It is a fine restoration.
- I shall be interested to see, the tenants it attracts.
- The railway bridge needs an appropriate repainting, to eliminate the graffiti.
I think, that with the right tenants, the tea room could be a gem.
The BBC article says this about the tea room.
The project team also made a surprise discovery when removing a section of plaster from a wall to another of the arches; a glass mosaic for an Express Dairy Tea Room dating back to the early 1900s.
Railway stations were a popular location for tea rooms because at the time they had access to the freshest milk, often transported from farms on trains before being sent to urban milk dairies.
“The tea rooms were one of the first places that ladies, who couldn’t necessarily go and eat in bars or eat in chop houses, could come, get together as single women and meet their friends, so this is perhaps an important part of the emancipation of urban woman in London”, said Mr O’Looney.
Mr. O’Looney is the architect of this project, who is the gloriously named; Benedict O’Looney.
He featured in this blog before in It’s Not April The First, where I wrote about his restoration of the waiting room at Pekham Rye station.
Could The Giant Station At Bank, Liverpool Street, Monument And Moorgate Be Considered A Superhub?
In Is The City Of London Moving Towards One Giant Station?, I showed how the four stations were being drawn together and developed as one large station that served the heart of the City of London.
London is also developing other large interchange stations that could claim because of their connectivity could be classed as London superhub stations.
- Canary Wharf stations, which connect the Elizabeth and Jubilee Lines, and the Docklands Light Railway.
- Old Oak Common station, which could bring together the Central, Chiltern and Elizabeth Lines, the London Overground and High Speed Two.
- Stratford station, which connects the Central, Elizabeth and Jubilee Lines, the Docklands Light Railway, the London Overground, High Speed One and the Great Eastern Main Line.
- Whitechapel station, which connects the Circle, District, Elizabeth and Hammersmith & City Lines, and the London Overground.
But what are the characteristics of a superhub station?
A Lot Of Lines And Services
Obviously, it must have a lot of lines and services, so perhaps Clapham Junction station is the original superhub station.
All Lines Should Have Step-Free Access
This surely, goes without saying.
There Should Be Lots of Information
If the station is large it needs a lot of information and there’s probably the space to put it.
Helpful Staff
Should we have a fully-staffed kiosk at superhub stations, as there are at some main line stations?
Good Bus Connections
Bus connections at a superhub station must be comprehensive and probably connect to other superhubs.
There Should Be A Selection Of Shops For Travellers
I do my daily food and other shopping, as I travel around London. I’ll often use a station like Paddington with a good selection of shops.
Toilets
There are not enough public toilets in London.
Cash Machines
I know we’re using less cash, but a large station is a secure place to put a cash-machine.
Works Of Art
I also believe that railway stations are a secure place to put some of those large bronze sculptures and other works of art, that are currently locked away in the storerooms of galleries.
The Anonymous Widower 