Tag Archives: London

Encounters with chartered surveyors (Rousse)

Posted on March 31, 2018 by Dreamaticus

I had encounters with two chartered surveyors on the same day. The first – RA – spoke to me of his ‘elephantine’ features as contrasted with my ‘beauty’ as he walked me to a tube station in London. I did … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged award, beauty, chartered, chestnut, elephantine, encounter, English, feature, garden, London, sculpture, station, suburb, surveyor, tube, walk, wall, win | Leave a comment

Hugh Grant purchases train ticket in public (Rousse)

Posted on March 26, 2018 by Dreamaticus

There was Hugh Grant at the station ticket booth chatting with railway staff on the same day that I was trying to make arrangements for a trip to London with DTJ and KJ. I knew that Hugh Grant had met … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged act, buy, comedy, fan, hand, Hugh Grant, identity, London, movie, purchase, shake, star, ticket, train, trip | Leave a comment

A floppy disk photograph of Trump’s London parade (Rousse)

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Dreamaticus

President Donald Trump was in London to visit the Queen. I watched him parade up the Mall in a black armoured car, accompanied by mounted members of the Queen’s Guard. I was not there in person, but saw this all … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 3.5 inch, armour, black, box, car, copy, counter, disk, Donald, electrical, floppy, guard, London, mount, owner, parade, photograph, picture, post, president, Queen, shop, shot, television, Trump | Leave a comment

A tidy break-in (Rousse)

Posted on January 15, 2018 by Dreamaticus

While I wheeled the abandoned black bicycle along the path, SC expressed her concern that she would not find a hairdresser open in St Andrews on a Sunday. She was wrong. A couple of hours later her silver locks were … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bed, bedroom, belonings, bicycle, bike, boy, boys, break-in, hair, hairdresser, house, kind, locks, London, Scotland, silver, St Andrews, stranger, Sunday, sussex, tidy, toys, train, uninvited, weekend | Leave a comment

Apple interface problems (Rousse)

Posted on January 7, 2018 by Dreamaticus

My new iPhone infuriated me. I was trying to contact JM and BR in London to check the venue of the conference dinner that evening, but the device’s interface was so poor that I couldn’t operate its telephone function. It … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged advertising, apple, apps, call, device, find, folder, interface, iPad, iPhone, London, Online, problem, sister, telephone, web | Leave a comment

Lost in London and Paris (Rousse)

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Dreamaticus

I was lost in London, late for a 10:00 meeting at the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, without my mobile phone – indeed without even cash to use a public telephone. Then, to make matters worse, I realised … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Île de la Cité, cash. Public, Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals, CILIP, clue, London, lost, mobile, Notre Dame, Paris, phone, telephone | Leave a comment

Belle and Rousse to reunite (Rousse)

Posted on November 8, 2017 by Dreamaticus

Belle plotted to return to her old job and arrange for me to join her. I explained that I would need at least a year to prepare for my return to London. There was the small issue of my degree … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Belle, Birmingham, degree, drop-out, finals, French, job, London, Masters, neuroscience, return, reunite, tutor | Leave a comment

Violence on the buses (Rousse)

Posted on November 6, 2017 by Dreamaticus

ECM and I were travelling south along the east coast train line. I was heading to a conference in Kent, and she was accompanying me part of the way. It was only when ECM left the train that I realised … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged bank, beating, bus, cancel, card, cell, clone, clothes, conference, criminal, forget, gang, help, iPhone, journey, Kent, kidnap, kindness, London, overnight, parents, passenger, phone, pickpocket, prison, purse, regret, soap bag, suitcase, thief, train, violence | Leave a comment

A secret agent and a sacred text (Rousse)

Posted on October 22, 2017 by Dreamaticus

My duties as a secret agent charged with recovering a sacred text were part-familiar and part-terrifying. As I stood on the pavement on Edinburgh’s George Street, I knew that the passing motorcyclist would slap me when he drove past. Then … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged agent, attack, bank, book, Edinburgh, George Street, Halifax, London, river, sacred, secret, shelter, sunset, terror, text, Thames | Leave a comment

Border crossings and spy work (Belle)

Posted on September 20, 2017 by Dreamaticus

Although I had joined the stationery warehouse as an office junior, I was actually working with Dame Judi Dench for a spy network based in London in 1944. We had an enemy in our midst and I was tasked with … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged border crossing, bridge, Canada, Dame Judi Dench, dog, London, London Underground, spy, tea, tube train, USA, World War Two | Leave a comment