pumpkinstrokemarrow

On the other hand, I found that the road to Malden Rushett is in a reasonably bad way, despite some of the kerbside bike-busting potholes having been filled in since my last visit. Much worse than Horton Lane - so following the drift of yesterday's post, what has Horton Lane got which Rushett Lane and Longmead Road haven't?

Then, at the entirely straightforward 4-way roundabout providing access to Chessington North station, some chap in a hurry in a small cheap car thought to drift out over the white line just as I was passing in front on him on the way to the second exit, that is to say straight ahead. Must have missed my back wheel by a whisker before whizzing off to join the queue at a traffic lights fifty yards down the road. Not just the lycra loonies on the road.

On to Surbiton, swing round into Ewell Road and down to Tolworth Tower where I find Smak, a Polish/Russian delicatassen where I buy some sausages which look a bit like a large scale version of a kabanos. Maybe a foot long and three quarters of an inch thick. With quite a decent looking round loaf to go with it; pretty much the first loaf I have bought since the start of the bread fad (http://dl.dropbox.com/u/8152054/Bread-20110120.xls). This because baking does not fit into today's busy schedule. I shall report on them in due course.

Back home to ponder about the tale of two books. I had ordered a book called 'Clinical Linguistics' written by, let us say, A1, published by B1 and sold by C1, some bookseller from Ohio sailing under the Amazon flag. I might say, incidentally, that the reason for wanting the book has little to do with either clinics or linguistics; rather a family matter. Some weeks later, that is to say a couple of days ago, on the last day of the delivery range which was given to this order, a book turns up. Not clear how exactly it got to Epsom: it had been posted via USPS - presumably the parcels bit of US Post (the cycle team people) and delivery had some connection with some warehouse in Slough called 'La Poste UK Ltd'. Not PLC so probably a bit dodgy. Now if the thing had come by air one might have thought it would have taken days rather than weeks. While if it had come in some container by sea one might have thought it would have taken months rather than weeks. Had it been waiting at 'La Poste' to be inspected by sniffer dogs?

So now we get to open the book and find that it is indeed called 'Clinical Linguistics', but it is by A2 rather than A1 and published by B2 rather than B1, although I grant that B1 and B2 do start with the same letter of the alphabet. I tell the bookseller from Ohio that I am happy to keep the wrong book - sending it all that way back again does not seem very save the planet - but what about the right one? By return I get a very short email saying that they do not have the right one. Which brings me to the odd bit. How did the right one get onto their catalogue - and it was still there last time I looked - if they have not got it? You don't just invent books, you write their details into the computer from the copy sitting in front of you. Don't suppose I am ever going to sort any of this out as the Ohians seem to be a bit short on chit-chat. Perhaps, to misquote the immortal Ryan when asked about the location of the customer service desk for his passengers at Heathrow, which bit of BUDGET and SERVICE do you not understand? And I am not that bothered that I shall try to reverse engineer their warehouse system from this error.

So I guess I shall have to accept the invitation from EDS to "... head to www.blah.blah to experience your online journey with us today ". Imagine spending one's life dreaming this sort of guff up? For electricity suppliers?