Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Googled
Tried to find a house I knew slightly using Google Earth, knowing the town but without knowing the address. Surprisingly difficult to interpret aerial photographs, despite the area in question having good resolution. As it turned out, I did home right in on the right general area, but was completely unable to pick out the house I was looking for, despite it being in what I thought was a fairly distinctive cul-de-sac. And even when I did get the address, the place on the picture where I think the house must be does not look much like what I remember. Will be comparing house with picture shortly so maybe that will reveal all.
And a brownie point for Google as their street map was the only one of the three I tried which named the street in question. Not a new street, although quite a small one. Plus the Google maps were much soberer and freer of advertising that the other two, especially Multimap which comes so heavily festooned with advertisments that my connection kept thinking it had broken down. Took a fair amount of flaphfing about to get a map out of Multimap at all.
During a trip to Marylebone found a well stocked hardware store and bought a new folding rule for £10, the repaired hinge on my old one having more or less had it. Penalty of standing on the thing in the distant past. But the new one, while serviceable, it rather badly finished compared with the old. The hinges are stiff and do not shut very true, the rule is not made of box wood (as such things should be) and the engraving of the scale is very crude - not even bothering with sixteenths. But it does do both metric and imperial which is a plus. I wonder if a decently made one is to be had and how much it would cost? Must investigate the branch of Buck and Ryan in Guildford (the former Messengers) when we are next there.
On the same expedition had an interesting lunch in a Lebanese cafe. Bread, olives, humus, brown fried things which the menu said contained beans but which were green and fluffy inside and a green salad. All very filling and cheap.
Entertained by the sight of two Arab ladies who had been driven on the pavement part of their Edware Road cafe to have a puff on their hookah. And a fair amount of smoke they were making too. Never seen ladies smoke such a thing before.
Followed up by a new millenium Plowman's Lunch at the Angel in Teddington. Served on a board it consisted of bread (Italian style, stale and warmed up), fetta cheese, small amount of olives, small amount of humus, some brown liquid stuff and some wrappy things containing tomato and spinach. Again, all very filling and cheap.
And a brownie point for Google as their street map was the only one of the three I tried which named the street in question. Not a new street, although quite a small one. Plus the Google maps were much soberer and freer of advertising that the other two, especially Multimap which comes so heavily festooned with advertisments that my connection kept thinking it had broken down. Took a fair amount of flaphfing about to get a map out of Multimap at all.
During a trip to Marylebone found a well stocked hardware store and bought a new folding rule for £10, the repaired hinge on my old one having more or less had it. Penalty of standing on the thing in the distant past. But the new one, while serviceable, it rather badly finished compared with the old. The hinges are stiff and do not shut very true, the rule is not made of box wood (as such things should be) and the engraving of the scale is very crude - not even bothering with sixteenths. But it does do both metric and imperial which is a plus. I wonder if a decently made one is to be had and how much it would cost? Must investigate the branch of Buck and Ryan in Guildford (the former Messengers) when we are next there.
On the same expedition had an interesting lunch in a Lebanese cafe. Bread, olives, humus, brown fried things which the menu said contained beans but which were green and fluffy inside and a green salad. All very filling and cheap.
Entertained by the sight of two Arab ladies who had been driven on the pavement part of their Edware Road cafe to have a puff on their hookah. And a fair amount of smoke they were making too. Never seen ladies smoke such a thing before.
Followed up by a new millenium Plowman's Lunch at the Angel in Teddington. Served on a board it consisted of bread (Italian style, stale and warmed up), fetta cheese, small amount of olives, small amount of humus, some brown liquid stuff and some wrappy things containing tomato and spinach. Again, all very filling and cheap.
# posted by Jim @ 12:45 AM 
