pumpkinstrokemarrow

There was a fatality on the railway at Surbiton yesterday afternoon. This seemed to result in the whole Southwest Trains network being up the spout until late evening. One passer-by alleged that the excuse was that the scene of the incident would be crawled over for hours for clues and bits of body. Assuming that it was clear that there was nothing wrong with the train or the track, is this really a good use of all our time? That apart, the announcement system was completely overwhelmed. While stuck at Motspur Park, there was a continuous stream of near identical announcements telling one that this or that train had been cancelled or delayed. Later in the evening, at Earlsfield, they had managed to put the lid on that but there was still very little information about what was happening. One might have thought in this age of centralised computerised signalling and announcements, they would be able to find a human being who could tell each station the order and timing of the arrival of trains. One might have thought that near empty semi-fast trains could have been stopped at intermediate stations to pick up some long suffering passengers. The trains were clearly not going anywhere in a hurry. All in all not terribly impressed, although it must have been a good evening for the taxis.

But it did bring out the blitz spirit. Passengers were actually talking to each other.

Earlier in the day managed to find a use for a bit more of the small timber which has been cluttering up the garage against a rainy day for quite some years now, and I am now the possessor of a fine new old oak bench hook. Two of the three parts were taken from furniture from a house in Crouch End. The third part used to be the leg of an aspidistra stand which used to grace the hall of my parents' house in Cambridge. This stand was, I think, originally made by my father, then improved by myself. No idea where the screws came from, but I very much doubt if they were bought new. Maybe a mixed lot from some car boot sale.

The idea of the bench hook is that it will help me to cut things up while in the field, rather than balancing things on chairs with all the attendant risks of cuts and worse. I had such a thing as a child, when I seem to remember that it was a standard part of the bench carpenter's equipment, but have not seen or had one since. Will this fine new one ever get used? Even if not, the activity did displace painting for half a day, so not a complete waste.

Earlier in the week, my first ever visit to a dental hygienist, this despite my father (this second mention clearly making it a fathers' day) being in the forefront of the agitation for the creation of same so many years ago. Along the way I acquire two dental factlets. First, that there is pressure to make the two year full time dental hygienist course into a four year degree course. Will our passion for degrees never abate? Will it be hairdressers next? Second, that the water cannon used to clean one's teeth is fully capable of taking a crown off its perch. Presumably the water cannon is a lot better at getting into awkward corners than a scraper - or whatever they call the thin scraping tool used previously. And no doubt much more fun; livens up an otherwise rather dull activity. Certainly much more expensive, so the dental equipment people will certainly be rooting for it.