Tag Archives: London

Home improvement – with sheep (Rousse)

Posted on October 6, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The house was a-buzz with DIY and related domestic projects. While my university friend SB hosed down the steps to our New Town basement, TPR dismantled the broken external door handle to take for repair by the locksmith. It was … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 1990s, 1998, antique, antiques, basement, bin, bins, burglar, burglars, burglary, burgle, busy nostalgia, calendar, calendars, Cambridge, coffee, decorator, decorators, DIY, door, friend, handle, home improvement, hose, hosepipe, hosing, kitchen, landlady, lock, locksmith, London, metal, New Town, plumber, reliable, rob, robber, robbers, rubbish, sheep, sitting room, slow, statue, statues, steal, step, steps, tactics, tax, thief, thieves, TPR, underfloor heating, university | Leave a comment

Jools Holland, Danny Baker and strange events in London (Belle)

Posted on October 2, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The car was so old it had a split windscreen and cracked leather seats. I had no idea where it had come from, but even so I attempted to drive it at break-neck speed while seated in the passenger seat. … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged boyfriend, car, cider, Conran, Danny Baker, driving, Grand Central Station, Islington, Jools Holland, London, parquet flooring, proposal, receptionist, revolving doors, statue, the City | Leave a comment

Cruising with the poets (Belle)

Posted on September 24, 2011 by Dreamaticus

So far, the cruise had visited New York (during shore leave a friend helped me filch a nerdy Open University sound effects LP from New York Public Library) and now we were in India. Rather disappointingly, the view was a … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged crocodile, cruise, India, London, LP, New York, New York Public Library, Open University, poet, python, Shoreditch, Simon Armitage, snake, sound effects | Leave a comment

Checking in at the Institute of Directors (Rousse)

Posted on September 5, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I was keen to win a FourSquare check-in at the Institute of Directors in London so during the seminar lunch break I wandered the building, hunting for a signal. There was nothing on the ground floor so I took the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged building, claustrophobia, conference, dark, Finland, Finnish, FourSquare, ground floor, Institute of Directors, Internet, judge, lawyers, lift, London, lunch, mud, muddy, Pall Mall, park, profile, seminar, signal, stairs, steps, vertigo | Leave a comment

Compensation for lost luggage (Rousse)

Posted on September 4, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The first bag to go missing was a carry-on sized hard-shelled suitcase (metallic grey with purple trim). I’d left it in the care of the bus driver after he had dropped me off just outside the new premises of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged academic library, articles, bag, baggage, Barbour, bus, campus, carry-on, clothing, coat, company, compensation, consulting, contact lenses, drive, driver, Edinburgh, exam, exam paper, family, father, film, firm, glasses, grandfather, grandmother, grandpa, granny, humour, jacket, journal, library, London, lost, luggage, National Library of Scotland, pub, public library, rescue, rucksack, shelves, sleeves, stranger, suitcase, sympathy, tall, video | Leave a comment

Debbie Harry impersonator stars at isolated Yorkshire guest house (Rousse)

Posted on September 1, 2011 by Dreamaticus

The isolated guest house on the North Yorkshire moors was well-known for its strict graduate-only entry policy. I travelled there by car with Belle and a stranger. We couldn’t compete with his credentials as a UCL-based Jane Austen expert with … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged baking, BBC, bicycle, bicyles, bike, bikes, Blondie, clerk, clerks, cycle, cycling, Debbie, Debbie Harry, Deborah, degree, disco, discos, explicit, Front Row, graduate, graduates, guest house, Harry, isolation, Jane Austen, London, lyrics, mobile, mobile phone, Moors, North Yorks, North Yorkshire, pastry, phone, radio, Radio 4, Scrabble, Stockton, Stockton-on-Tees, TPR, UCL, University College London, weather | Leave a comment

The crossed asparagus spears of London (Belle)

Posted on August 31, 2011 by Dreamaticus

My friend AD was showing me a magazine feature on personalised registration plates and the people to whom they belonged – plus how much they had paid for them. We spotted a few people we knew. By far the most … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged asparagus spears, City of London, London, magazine, registration plate | Leave a comment

The dangers of internet shopping (Belle)

Posted on August 29, 2011 by Dreamaticus

While showing off my internet auctions skills I accidentally bought a painting by Gustav Klimt for £1million. Shortly afterwards there was a London-wide blackout and I planned to excuse my time-wasting purchase as a ‘power surge’.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged auction, blackout, Gustav Klimt, London, painting, shopping | Leave a comment

George Orwell festival on the South Bank (Belle)

Posted on August 19, 2011 by Dreamaticus

There were endless courses to this George Orwell celebratory feast, each one more repulsive than the one it followed. Roast bullfrog, and a crown of sparrows roasted with herbs. How ludicrous that we were celebrating a great socialist with this … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bullfrog, feast, festival, George Orwell, London, Millennium Wheel, oke-cokey, South Bank, sparrow | Leave a comment

How to retain staff (Rousse)

Posted on August 12, 2011 by Dreamaticus

I visited IS in his plush new London office. Everything – including the walls – was branded with either his name or initials. I wondered why the company had gone to such extremes. IS explained: (1) he was the boss … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged boss, company, London, office, resign, resignation, retain, staff, staff retention | 1 Comment