The Gasman Cometh

A couple of weeks ago the Southern Gas Networks turned up in our road to replace the gas pipes. They started off by digging up the verges and gardens on the opposite side of the road and liberally spreading mud all over the place. This included the top of my car, so I took to parking it further down the road.

Last friday I came home from work to discover a large hole right outside our gate and a very large and heavy paving slab in the middle of my lawn. I managed to get the slab off my lawn as I didn't want my grass killed. Over the weekend two cars managed to crash into the plastic barriers outside in the road and the neighbours children seemed to fiddle with the barriers most of the weekend.

On my return from work on Tuesday I was greeted by a very large hole where my front path used to be. Fortunately, they had covered the hole with a board so I could reach the front door, but they had deposited a huge pile of earth, clay and sand directly onto my front lawn. I was not happy. If they had asked for our permission before hand I would have told them to put it on the drive where it wouldn't damage the grass.

The following day they disconnected the gas supply while replacing the pipes and refused to relight our boiler as it's quite old. They went even further and have issued us with an "At Risk" notice, which means we can't use it until it's been looked at. The problem for us is that it's very old and spares are now thin on the ground these days. This could end up costing us £1000's. At least I suppose it's good news that it's May and not December.

Today they have filled in the giant hole in front of our door and relaid the paving slabs. Time will tell whether they have been reseated properly or not. The bad news is that the lawn is wrecked and the whole garden, lawn and drive has turned into a mud bath. There's also mud on my motorbike, the front door and it's getting in the house too. Tomorrow I intend to jet wash the garden in an attempt to clean it up, but we still have the hole right outside our gate and this evening I can smell gas.

This whole episode reminds me of that famous song by Flanders & Swann. The Gasman cometh on Monday afternoon, for us at least.




Regards



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Orange Awakening

As I’ve mentioned before, my parents are classical music fans and have never really embraced popular music. As a consequence I wasn’t exposed to pop music in my youth and missed out on the music of the 1970’s almost completely. I only really discovered pop music in about 1982 when I started secondary school. I suppose that because of this my favourite genre of music has always 1980’s syntherzer pop, such as Howard Jones, Dépêche Mode and Yazoo. Later I discovered Jean Michael Jarre and later still, Iron Maiden. In fact I didn’t really discover Led Zeppelin until about 7 2008.

I was aware on a German group called Tangerine Dream, but never really paid them too much attention, until yesterday. I was at a lose end music wise and a colleague mentioned that he had been to see (and hear) Rick Wakeman in Birmingham on Tuesday. This lead to a conversion about whether he and another colleague should see Tangerine Dream later this year. I decided to have a quick browse through iTunes and came across a compilation album of their early 1970’s material, so I took the plunge. It’s called “The Virgin Years – 1974 to 1978”.

OMG!!!! It’s awesome and 24 hours later, I’m still hooked. I would describe it as a cross between early Jean Michael Jarre but with less structure and electronic Jazz. It just washes over you in smooth melodic wave after wave of soothing sound.

This is the kind of music that I should be writing. Perhaps I should fire up my home studio equipment once more and unleash my unbridled talents upon an unsuspecting world once more. You have been warned 8-)

 

Regards



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Potters Fields Bermondsey

Potters Fields is a small green space which borders Tooley Street, the River Thames, More London and Tower Bridge in London. 

Today it is a small park in the shadow of City Hall (or Boris’s Place as I call it) and there’s always something odd going on. One of the first activities I witnesses there was a Lycra clad women who was trying to uproot a tree with an oversized rubber band.

Next there was a metal pen that had been erected on the grass, which was holding back a large number of bright pink Space Hoppers. This was closely followed by a large tent which was displaying a new Electric Taxi. Yesterday evening, due to the sudden change in the weather, it was packed with tourists photographing the City skyline and sun bathing on the damp grass.

There are also the regular dogs walkers, commuters passing through and the guy with the Ghostbusters backpack blowing the leaves and puddles off the path.

One thing’s for sure, there is never a dull moment at Potters Fields.



Regards



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Has the Blog had its Day?

I’ve been blogging on and off for a little over 8 years now. I suspect that most of my rambling have largely gone unnoticed by the world in general. In fact, I probably get more attention to my insightful observations of the world from my Facebook followers than by direct interaction via this blog.

I do enjoy the medium of the blog, as it allows me to record my thoughts in a unique and direct way. I can say what I like (within reason). These words I can craft at length until I am happy with them and only then do I release them to an uninterested public. Once I have released them into the wild, there they sit forever. This allows my views to be completely ignored by billions of people worldwide. What more could the modern blogger ask for?

In between those flashes of writing inspiration I do enjoy reading the ramblings of other bloggers. Over the years a number of those I’ve followed have progressed to writing books based upon their blogs. However, most just seem to have vanished from the face of the planet without trace. Have these tortured souls given up, been diverted by other interests or been abducted by aliens. I will probably never know which it is.

In the meantime, I shall continue to comment on my very personnel and perhaps twisted view of the world about me. I hope you continue to enjoy not reading my ramblings. Until next time ……..

   
Regards



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Polishing Shoes

My Dad did his National Service in the East Surrey Regiment, joining the Army Band and signing up for an extra 5 years. He once told me that he would make extra money by polishing everyone else's boots too. 

This skill he passed on to me. There's something therapeutic about polishing shoes and it will always remind me of my Dad.

Love you Dad xxxx 

Regards

Chris

The Bearded Man of Tower Bridge

There is an old guy, I assume homeless, who always sits on the North West side of Tower Bridge. He sits and watches the world go by and offers everyone a toothy smile. He sports a rather impressive, if unkempt beard and never annoys or harasses.

I know not his name or his circumstance. I wish him well in his simple but hard life. Be safe, happy bearded man.

Regards

Chris

 

Good Bye Croydon Old Friend

I've spent most of the last 23 years working in Croydon. In that time I have worked in three different offices.

Southern House, Croydon - 7th December 2006 (1990-2002 & 2006-2009)

46 George Street, Croydon - (2002-2006)

No.1 Croydon - 11th May 2010 (2010-2014)

It's not the most exciting or beautiful of places, but to me it has become my second home. I even went to College there.

Croydon College

Today however is my last day of employment in Croydon for the foreseeable future. After exactly 4 years in my current position, I have decided to move on. My new role will take me to a modern office building in the heart of London. In fact, it is virtually in the shadow of that iconic London structure, Tower Bridge. The area where my new office is situated appeared on an 'Art of Noise' 12" single sleeve when I was still at school.

Although I shall miss Croydon with all her idiosyncrasies, ugly buildings and tram system, I shall still pass by her everyday on my way to the Big Smoke.

Croydon from the Office - 11th January 2007

Good bye old friend, I'm going to miss you!

Regards



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Big Brother is Watching

The Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton is a maze of corridors, tunnels and lifts, which link the various seemingly random buildings together. I've been there perhaps 80 times this year visiting my Dad in various departments and still I get lost.

There is one lift which has a sinister looking glazed slot in its back wall. It always makes me think that there could be some unseen person peering through the slot, watching our every move. Spying on us, Orwellian style.

Or perhaps it's just my twisted mind!

Regards 

Chris

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Spiritual Enlightenment - Part 2

This is a follow up to the blog I wrote yesterday, which I entitled “Spiritual Enlightenment”.

When I started that blog, I had a clear idea of what I wanted to say. Unfortunately it lost its way and I ended up finishing it before getting to the point I wanted to make. It wasn’t until later in the day that Mrs T-E pointed out that I had missed the point that I realised my error. My problem is that I am easily distracted ..... OO Look, something shiny!!!!

Therefore, back on track .....


I’ve always found bike riding a very immersive experience. It’s like Man and Machine against the World and no outside factors matter. I go into an almost dream like state where there is only room for focusing on the world directly around me. There are no distractions, no outside interference, no mobile phones, no chatter, not even any music. The sound of the engine and wind is my music.

It scratches that itch and cleanses the soul. This is my escape, my freedom, my Spiritual Enlightenment.

I’m sure if you are a biker, you will know about this joy too. Regards



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Spiritual Enlightenment

I’ve been away from biking for almost a year and even before that I hadn’t ridden regularly for a couple of years. The main reason for the lapse is that I took the decision to use the train to commute to work as biking it was getting too expensive. That and the fact that my working locations had varied from week to week. Sometimes I was working nights in London, other times I was in an office somewhere or other. At the end of 2009, I was made redundant and took a new office based job in January 2010. At this point I decided that I would continue to commute by train as it was just easier and safer than biking 50 miles a day. After this I just got out of the habit of regular riding.

Last weekend I decided that it was time I got back in the saddle. So with this in mind I bought 6 months road tax at the post office, bought new oil & filter at the local bike shop and returned home to fire up my bike. I uncovered her, unplugged the trickle charger, removed the chains that stop her from escaping when I’m not watching her and wheeled her onto the front path. As I turned to key, she sprang into life and all was well, right up to the moment I thumbed the starter button. There was a click from the starter and a strange ticking from the back of the bike and then ...... total silence. The battery was completely flat in a split second. Not the start to my re-energising experience that I had hoped for.

In the end I had to bump start her to warm the engine oil to help it drain out easily. I rode her round the block a few times to limber her up a little and everything, except the battery seemed to be in perfect order. Once I had changed the oil and recharged to battery I was once again unable to start her up. It was very clear that a replacement battery was needed, which meant another visit to the bike shop and an overnight charge.

The next morning I was off on the open road with wind in my face and flies in my teeth. Biking Heaven 8-)

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