Friday, March 13, 2009
Senior time
Been a bad week for senior moments. Lots of minor moments, but today, on the way back from Cheam, I sail through a pedestrian crossing on red. No pedestrians actually on the crossing, so they probably just mistook me for one of those cyclists who does not bother with the highway code. And then, safely back in the kitchen, I attempt to make tea without putting any tea in the pot. Which is taking keeping my caffeine intake under control a bit far - although I did know a chap once who drank hot water at meetings rather than coffee. He said you got used to it after a bit but when I tried it I found the experience very sensitve to the water quality. And I found the quality of most hot water bad. Been sitting in some water heater for too long.
On the subject of tea, being in Chinatown earlier in the week, decided to stock up with some Oolong tea. Pleased to find a grocer in Gerrard Street where I could buy Oolong tea of the same brand and package (Sea Dyke) as I had bought when I was first initiated into Oolong tea some 40 years ago. Pleased in the same way to find the the furniture in the 'Coach and Horses' was still the same as it has been in the 30 years or so I have been an occasional user. Norman's departure has not been the catastrophe I feared. Piano and Pitcher have not moved in yet.
Shareholders in the suppliers of road markings and road furniture will be pleased to hear of the coup on Hook Road. Someone thought that having a bright yellow line down one side of the road was not very clear and has had the line supplemented by a line of eight feet poles at 10 yard intervals, each pole carrying a little sign explaining the detail of the applicable parking regulations. Right eye sore. So far irritated residents have only chopped down one of them - the one in question lying, in flagrante, in the front garden nearest its former erect position. (Factlet aside, flagrante, according to Mr. G., is all about burning and only incidently to do with immorality or crime. News to me).
Some time ago, we bought a rather fancy tribal rug in Libertys; at least rather fancy by our standards. And the pattern and colours are truly impressive, an effect sometimes enhanced by substances such as alcohol. But it is fairly thin. The pile does not stand up in the way of a regular Wilton or Axminster. So being directly on floorboards, it felt a bit harsh. So decided to buy some underlay. Which turned out to be something of a performance. None of the three carpet shops in Epsom, one of them Allied Carpets and one of them a rug specialist, sold much underlay at all and certainly nothing suitable. But Cheam scores again, the flooring shop there having two or three sorts, including something entirely suitable from a gang call Treadmill at £10 or so a square metre. Plus they had the stuff in stock and would cut it to size.
Back home to collect measurements for rug, which I had not thought to take to Cheam and certainly could not remember. Rather odd measurements, 10 feet by 7 feet 3 inches - and no tidier in metric. Perhaps the tribals in question deliberately corrupt Imperial Measurement to cock a snook at their former masters.
Back home to collect the car, the underlay being a bit much for the bicycle. Now installed, at the price of a certain amount of study disturbance. Very impressed with how much better the rug feels underfoot. Why did Libertys not attempt to sell us a made to measure underlay at the time we bought the rug in the first place? That touching on the only down note in the entire business: the underlay did not cut all that neatly, at least not with the tools available in Cheam. But no doubt, as with the snags on the shed roof, all will be forgotten in the redly bouncing glow of our renewed rug.
For those into rugs, I would say that the choice in Libertys was far superior to anything else we saw, although to be fair, while we went to Peter Jones, we did not go to Selfridges or Harrods. And prices in our sort of range. Unlike the spiffing carpet shops in and around Piccadilly (the road not the circus) which are well out of range.
On the subject of tea, being in Chinatown earlier in the week, decided to stock up with some Oolong tea. Pleased to find a grocer in Gerrard Street where I could buy Oolong tea of the same brand and package (Sea Dyke) as I had bought when I was first initiated into Oolong tea some 40 years ago. Pleased in the same way to find the the furniture in the 'Coach and Horses' was still the same as it has been in the 30 years or so I have been an occasional user. Norman's departure has not been the catastrophe I feared. Piano and Pitcher have not moved in yet.
Shareholders in the suppliers of road markings and road furniture will be pleased to hear of the coup on Hook Road. Someone thought that having a bright yellow line down one side of the road was not very clear and has had the line supplemented by a line of eight feet poles at 10 yard intervals, each pole carrying a little sign explaining the detail of the applicable parking regulations. Right eye sore. So far irritated residents have only chopped down one of them - the one in question lying, in flagrante, in the front garden nearest its former erect position. (Factlet aside, flagrante, according to Mr. G., is all about burning and only incidently to do with immorality or crime. News to me).
Some time ago, we bought a rather fancy tribal rug in Libertys; at least rather fancy by our standards. And the pattern and colours are truly impressive, an effect sometimes enhanced by substances such as alcohol. But it is fairly thin. The pile does not stand up in the way of a regular Wilton or Axminster. So being directly on floorboards, it felt a bit harsh. So decided to buy some underlay. Which turned out to be something of a performance. None of the three carpet shops in Epsom, one of them Allied Carpets and one of them a rug specialist, sold much underlay at all and certainly nothing suitable. But Cheam scores again, the flooring shop there having two or three sorts, including something entirely suitable from a gang call Treadmill at £10 or so a square metre. Plus they had the stuff in stock and would cut it to size.
Back home to collect measurements for rug, which I had not thought to take to Cheam and certainly could not remember. Rather odd measurements, 10 feet by 7 feet 3 inches - and no tidier in metric. Perhaps the tribals in question deliberately corrupt Imperial Measurement to cock a snook at their former masters.
Back home to collect the car, the underlay being a bit much for the bicycle. Now installed, at the price of a certain amount of study disturbance. Very impressed with how much better the rug feels underfoot. Why did Libertys not attempt to sell us a made to measure underlay at the time we bought the rug in the first place? That touching on the only down note in the entire business: the underlay did not cut all that neatly, at least not with the tools available in Cheam. But no doubt, as with the snags on the shed roof, all will be forgotten in the redly bouncing glow of our renewed rug.
For those into rugs, I would say that the choice in Libertys was far superior to anything else we saw, although to be fair, while we went to Peter Jones, we did not go to Selfridges or Harrods. And prices in our sort of range. Unlike the spiffing carpet shops in and around Piccadilly (the road not the circus) which are well out of range.
# posted by Jim @ 7:47 AM 
