found a jansport luggage

a jansport luggage i found. it is brown, but for some reason it comes out blue.

london

I was on my way to the library and then to my gym early this morning when i saw it at the recycling area. I walked away because at first glance it did not look very prepossessing. It was drizzling, and the rain was making spots appear on it. and brown is not exactly a cheery colour.

I walked away from it and then realised it would be nice to have it as my old one has broked. So i went back.

And tried its roller mechanism by taking it with me to the gym. it is very smooth action, and on examining it, i realise it is very well designed and very robust. There are very nice design details, big pockets on the outside front, but not bulging out and spoiling the streamlined shape. Inside straps with velcro to hold the clothes together. And a zipped bottom, which when opened revealed the rigid back rods carrying the wheels and providing back support. The zipped flap allows access to that space to be used.

net pockets with zips to keep the loose items. There are also attachments for a detachable bag to be hung on the inside cover, but that is missing.

The material used looks very good and feels very luxurious, very soft and flexible and the lining have a rich sheen on it.

I have googled the company but can only see backpacks featured. I wonder if this is a old style which is discontinued, and the company has now moved away from wheeled luggage to backpacks.

Its still in quite good condition. i guess the owner must have wanted to upgrade to a new bag. And the fact he puts it in the recycling area rather than in his rubbish dump suggests that he knows there is more life in that bag for others to use.

i have a feeling council collectors will throw this away rather than recycle it to charity shops. I like it, but i think it might appeal only to people like me who dont mind a luggage looking a bit used, and can appreciate the design details and how very practical it is and how robust too.

I have not heard of this brand, but if this is an example of what they sell, it is a good quality company.

I enjoy picking these things up fr the recycling area. have not seen much things there. Someone left two bikes there. One an old fashioned type bike with woven basket . The other just the frame. These two bikes have been in the parking slot in the estate for some time, And because the front wheel rests on the slots, someone had toppled the bike and the wheel has become buckled. There was a note on the saddle from the owner, with the flat address asking people not to vandalise the bike. I wonder why it was put in the recycling area.

maybe the estate janitor has contacted the owners at the flat and found out the owner is no more there.

Yesterday I was at a friend's private naked party just across the Thames from me. It was very nice and there i met a couple who lives in watford, who also throw naked parties and they invited me.

Watford is rather far away, but it seems i can get there by going to stanmore, the end of the jubilee line, and take a 20min bus ride. They have a secluded garden and it would be lovely to be naked out there on a sunny summers day.

I am going to use the £400 which i would normally spend on a european holiday to go to these private parties and such around london this summer.

pedestrians beware of box junctions

london
When cars stop even though it is green for them, because their way is blocked and they don't want to end up at a box junction, pedestrians thinks they can walk, and they do ... to find themselves being nearly knocked down by a car whizzing by on the next lane.

This happened to me just now. Usually i am aware of this, and take a look at the traffic lights to see if they have turned red, or heed the red man warning not to cross.

But this time, people began to walk across and i automatically followed. To find a truck bearing down on me and a school kid. I was looking in his direction, he was on my left, and i would have missed seeing the truck, but he stopped and i was alerted, and so i looked to the right at the truck. We both stopped in the middle of the road. In the end, the truck stopped for us to cross, even though it was still green for the driver.

So beware of this situation, or u will be killed.

this happened on my way to the library. On my way back a similar situation occurred, but this time only one chap walked across and got a sharp blast from the horn of the car bearing down on him. All of us were obediently waiting for the green man to come on. Even though he got a sharp horn warning, the man who crossed continued at his own pace and did not seem unduly worried. He did not even glance at the car. And i was thinking he owed his life to the alert car driver, who noticed him.

Ah well, your soul will decide if u get knocked down and killed or not. haha.

Its been raining quite a lot these few days. But i guess we in london are saved from the cold weather so that the water came down as rain instead of snow. Temperatures are mild, 10C highest, whilst it seems to be freezing up north.

Still i did not have to turn on my heating so far. All through jan till now i did not have it on. The last time i switch on the electric heater was when john , fr poole came to stay on his way to trondheim for christmas. And that was just the few days before christmas.

I was half thinking it costs a lot of money to go on holiday. John did not have to pay for accommodation as he was a guest of friends, but he told me he still have to pay about £330 for the return flight.

I was thinking if i go on holiday to capdeagde, it would be costly. The accommodation costs will form the bulk of the costs. it will be about £18 a day, and that is not even adding money for food , flights , transport. I think a holiday of about 7-10days will set u back about £450. the £ is weak, and even though the euro is having its troubles, the exchange rate will remain about 1.10euros to the £1 for quite some time I think. Add to this the agents commission, and the £ is close to parity.
Just think what u can do with that money if u holiday at home instead. haha.

makes me think staying at home is a great saver of cash. haha. Without all the stress from travelling, and being in a foreign place.

I wonder that a lot of people still want to travel and bear the expense of flights, and hotel bills, and high cost of eating out.

I think the great paradox of travel is paying such a lot for the room, and staying so little time in it.

I find my soul dont want the hassle and expense of travelling. That is why i dont mind staying in london all last year, (with once a month trip to poole to stay with john during the summer) and from what i see, it will appear the same this year.(except maybe not to poole, as there are no bargain £1 megabus fares there anymore.)
Correction, There are £1 train fares by megabus, but u need to catch them just when they are published. i shall have to just wait till they come up for june, july, aug, if any, these fares dont start appearing until about 1 or 2months before. It seems the company is gauging the demand.

It will have to be a great bargain to entice me abroad this year.

what people argue about at home in uk

london

Families do argue about the trivialist things.

This article poll shows that the most argued about are

1. household chores,

2. what to watch on tv.

3.money

4.the temperature of the house.

It seems the kids want the parents to lower the thermostat because they have all those save- the- environment lessons in class.

In fact, I was just thinking why people dont switch off their central heating and just wear more warm clothing. I was reading this article in the same paper today about old people having to pay £100 more for heating this winter due to the cold weather and the gas companies not reducing their prices.

And the article was accompanied by a picture of an old lady in her nightie and bare feet in front of an electric heater. I was wondering why they chose that picture to illustrate it, because anyone with any sense can see that old lady is being silly or senile, not wearing that coat on the sofa next to her, and the bedroom slippers. Why be nearly naked and have the heater on full blast when u can be warm with some clothing on???

That is why i have no sympathies with these articles that scold the gas companies for not reducing their prices, whilst having the heater on full blast and wearing very little. I bet even if, by some miracle the gas companies all got socialistic and liberal, and kept their prices really low, it will only encourage people to waste a lot more energy heating their houses up to tropical heat.

I used to think maybe people keep the temperature high in their homes because they are afraid their kids will catch cold. but according to the poll, it is the kids who want it cooler, and the parents who feel the cold and want it warmer.

If enough people not automatically turn up the heat just because the temperature is -4C, they will use less gas, and the gas companies will find that if people use less gas they will get less profit. and they will then have to reduce their prices to encourage demand.

You might argue the common refrain, but it is cold... well, if i can do it, why cant others??? and dont say i m unusual... May be i am unusual, well if that is so well then, tough shit for everyone not to be like me. so there.!!!

a audio report by a canadian chinese woman about msia's race tension

london
A very good account.
\Malaysia may seem to be a country where all races mix easily, but even i could see that malays keep to themselves and so would the chinese or tamils. there is no mixing between the races. Unlike when i was a school boy, where all the races children study together in english medium schools. So that it was usual to have friends from all the races.
Now there are malay schools, or chinese medium schools.
Ethnic separation is so entrenched in malaysia.
The fact that malays like halal foods , in fact their religion insists on it, and so there has been a separation of food centres, malay food centres are totally segregated from the other races.
We dont eat together any more.
When i was growing up it was possible to get malay food, indian and chinese food all at the same area, and so it was really a culinary joy, being able to mix and match all the different food of the races.
That's all gone now.
here is the link to that audio report

virolution, frank ryan

london
I borrowed this book from the library yesterday and it posits a very interesting idea.
That viruses may be the big factor in man's evolution.

The accepted view is the darwinian view, where natural selection, and gene mutation are the engines of evolution.

this book suggests that viruses may play a bigger role and account for the sudden and rapid adoption of advantageous behavioral,and physical changes that natural selection and mutation may not be able to explain.
Man and viruses affect each other in a symbiotic relationship to evolve.

The arguements given are very persuasive and logically, I would think there is no reason why nature would exclude viruses from influencing man's evolution.

After all, we know bacteriophages were incorporated into the nuclear cells as mitochondria, and they enable us to produce energy.
They are to us as chlorophyll is to plants.

so why not viruses being incorporated into our genes to give us an evolutionary edge in our survival.

Now, we know viruses are the causes of some cancers. In fact, we may find that they are the causes of all cancers, that by being incorporated into the human gene pool they act as delayed switches that kills off old cells and are the cause of new cells being made. And causes cells to continue to replicate without stopping. This way it introduces mechanisms whereby old people die off.

There is a strong survival edge to being able to switch these functions on and off as and when necessary or in response to external forces.
We dont know much about viruses, yet they are as old, if not older than anything. /The book says viruses may have existed before bacteria, which are older than nucleated cells, the basic building blocks of multicelled organisms.

So we will have to change our way of thinking about viruses as causing diseases. They are good guys as well. Much like every thing in nature, there is no clear division between good and bad. in some circumstances, the good guys can become bad, and vice versa.




Viruses are perfect mechanisms for replicating themselves, and so it stands to reason they will be v useful to man.

The book suggests that by incorporating the virus into the gene pool, one set of animals can make themselves immune to its effects. And the virus will kill off any rival newcomers who will compete for food.
When i read this i thought of the viruses that killed the indigenous natives of mayan and aztec america, as well as all the people of the countries where the white man colonised, and here was where viruses were actually of great help to the white man's conquests.
What is to bet that one day an expert will put forth the theory that was how neanderthals were destroyed by virus infection picked up when they came in contact with modern man.



it's a fascinating idea.

bargain of the day

Added. 19.2.10.I removed the string this morning and am pleasantly surprised to see it is a whole joint. this is so unlike the similar pack from tesco which i bought some time ago where it was all bits and pieces. so i stand corrected. Sainsbury's is worthwhile. I continued my plan to cut it up, as it is a shorter cooking time than a whole roast and i wanted strips of meat really. but u can see it would be better if it is belly pork. as it is these make good pork steaks.

london
You are all familiar with the supermarket 'special of the day' when they give special offers on selected meats. Right?
Well, I go for the bargain of the day. This is not advertised. it is something i have thought up to describe my shopping.
Tonight i set out as is my usual habit, to forage for bargains.
The fun thing is that i have no idea what i will get if anything.
over the christmas and new year, bargains were scarce. But things are getting back to normal now... normal according to my terms, which means huge reductions in meats.
I arrive at the sainsburys rather later than my usual time, about 8.45pm, and saw a crowd round the man who was reducing the prices. I saw quite a number of shoppers with reduced meats in their trolleys so there has been a shopping frenzy before i arrived.

He must have saved the pork for last, because there were lots of it for about £3 something, reduced from the original £8-9.
When he slap a £1 tag on it i chose the one as high the price as i can find. haha. one guy got the pack which was originally £9 something. I got one £8.77, 1.97kg.

these have a lot of water in them, u can see it through the packaging, and are not the best cut of pork, but i like them,(but only if i can get them for £1 like now), because they have a bit more fat in them, and so make good roast pork.

Also, even though they wrap them up and tie them with string so they look like a big lump of meat, actually when u dismantle them they consist of odd cuts. Not really very good for roasting the british way, as a whole joint, but perfect for my purpose.

But what i do is to break them up, and lay them out as strips of meat, and season them, let them dry out, and then roast them in my small upper oven chinese style and they make excellent roast pork. This not only uses less time and so less electricity, dismantling like this enables the heat to get to cook the strips quicker than in a joint, and there is no danger of overcooking it so keeping the layers of fat and meat still moist and delicious.

the chinese usually use belly pork for this but belly pork is very expensive. I have no idea why it should be so, but it is in this country. But with this cheap cut that is masquerading as a leg of pork, it can substitute very well.


last time i got some bargains of lean pork, (99p for 0.8kg, i bought two )but there was not enough fat to make good crackling, and the meat was a bit dry. It was much more expensive cuts of pork, but not really that good for roasting... not enough fat.
The british dont realise that for good roast pork u need a bit of fat. But everyone seems so concerned about the fat haha, they trim it away pay a lot more for it and dont get a good roast.

As usual, i dont think much of the ordinary british shopper of meat. hahaha.
They are easily fooled with a bit of PR, and a bit of silly health advise.

If you are worried about the cholesterol just eat pork less often. So that when u are actually eating it, u can have enough fat and really enjoy the crackling and the skin and the fat to your hearts content. hahaheee.

added 19.2.10 9.10pm. I was browsing in tesco tonight, and saw they have reduced their leg of pork, same type of packaging with water in it as sainsburys, to about £3-4 less than the original price instead of £1 like sainsburys. and their original prices range from about £7 to £14. this reduction is really stingy.

I remember buying such pork long ago, before the crisis, for about £6 reduced from £18. It was about 3kg. I thought it was a bargain then, even though it was way above the limit i impose on myself. In those days , it was rare for such pork to be reduced.

Now i think my pork buy yesterday from sainsburys is even more of a bargain than i suspected. I have forgotten that i bought such pork for £6. Now i realise it was very high price ...Until i saw tesco's reductions all that had slipped my memory.

I remember the tesco buy was in bits and pieces all wrap up with string, it shrank a lot after cooking because a lot of it was fat; and need cooking for a longer time too, calculating from the formula 20mins for every kg, plus another 20mins. Now , i would cook it without adding that extra 20mins.

My method this time of slicing it, the one i bought yesterday from sainsburys, not only prevented shrinkage, but it cooked in less time. Most probably they are related, longer cooking will over cook the meat and cause a lot of shrinkage.

Tonight, there was also 2 chickens reduced in price from tesco's special offer chicken of £1.89per kg.It is not much reduced from their normal basic chicken at £1.99 per kg. with the added disadvantage of these being much bigger chickens, more than 2kg each and so cost about £4-5 each. i prefer to buy smaller chicken costing about £2-3.

But interestingly, i did not buy the chicken tonight even though two were reduced to £3. hmm, why didn't i buy, i wonder?? fairly good value from their original price of £4.50 or so for 2.2kg chicken. I saw their expiry date was tomorrow, so I was hoping it will be reduced even more tomorrow. haha.

I shall drop by after my gym and see if i can catch them reducing it further. It will go very quick once he reduces it. Or someone might even buy it at £3. it is a good buy. We shall see. I am thinking if families have been buying chicken all week because of the special offer, they might be fed up of chicken haha. (Added 21.2.10.Did not go to the supermarket the next day after all. i forgot. I think because it was not important.)

One thing about cooking for one, i dont have to buy lots of meat, and can afford to wait till it goes lower. I have more than enough meat allready. So i can wait for further reductions, and if i dont get it, it does not matter.

I can understand it will be very different for a parent who is cooking for a family, she wont have that luxury of waiting. Not for the first time i am blessing myself for being gay and not having so many mouths to feed.

Life is really wonderful, no worries and no children to be responsible for.

new gas meter installed today, my gas bill for oct09-jan10

the new metric gas meter. it is set to 9999999 and will trip to 0000000 if i use enough gas.

london

I was thinking that if he (the gas man, funny i assume it willbe a man. I have yet to meet a woman doing this job. he said he comes from ghana.) comes after 10.30am i shall go to the gym anyway, and he will have to come another day. Paul L told me to delay this replacement as long as possible, as it can lead to trouble.

But he came at 9.30am so I had the new meter installed. he showed me where the gas lever is located that switches of the gas supply to the flat. Very useful to know, it was hidden behind the pipes.

I will be replacing my gas water boiler in the bathroom in future with a induction electric heater, and the old gas boiler will have to be dismantled and removed and it would be important to know where the gas supply can be turned off.

the gas man said he has a bad back, and when i tried to lift his tool kit, it was very heavy so no wonder he got bad back. I suggested he put the tools in two bags or get wheels. A lot of people dont realise their work can ruin their back, and they will be saddled with bad back simply because they did not look after themselves while at work.

After installing, he tested it by switching on my hot air heater, and i did the same for my water boiler in the bathroom and i was really surprised that both worked very well. Both their pilot lights came on without any trouble. The pilot lights were the problems before in my getting them to work. So it looks like the problem is corrected. It still wont encourage me to turn on the heater.

Now i am so used to the temperature in the flat, even in the coldest days, that i dont notice if it is cold. Only when i touch a surface and find out it is cold, do i remember it is cold. I am warm inside my warm clothing so i could not care less if the furniture is cold.hahahheee.

I am glad i got blogger, because my laptop frozed and the whole post disappeared. But because blogger saved the draft, i was able to retrieve it without having to write all over again.

Added. I received my gas bill some time ago, am putting it here for my own record.

31.july09-31oct09

0 gas used. cost of gas £0.00

31oct09-3.feb10

2imperial units used over 96days.

63.02kwhx 6.86p= £4.32

total cost of gas used £4.32 plus vat at 5% .21p =£4.53

I was at the gym reading the newspapers, and someone left the metro there. it is a free newspaper distributed at the tube stations, and there i read a voucher for 2main meals for price of 1 at malaysian restaurants.

it is at www.metro.co.uk/malaysiankitchen.

it is worth it, i saw one of the restaurants listed was bonda cafe, which does very reasonable main dishes about £5 each, and this one means it will be even cheaper.

vouchers are printed in the metro till friday 19feb and valid to redeem till monday 8march.

Go for it u londoners.

You only have tomorrow's and fridays' metro to find the vouchers but there is nothing to stop u taking two or three newspapers. haha.

though there is only 2wks to redeem the vouchers.

cycling vs walking vs the bus

london
I was supposed to cycle to my fuck buddy's place but it was raining, even when i came out of the gym at 12pm today.

I thought of cycling to lidl's at clapham junction to buy vegetables before going to his flat. It would mean i have to start off at about 12.30pm, to enable me to do the shopping and ensure i arrive at the flat at about 2pm.

But it was such a raining day that when i got back to my flat after the gym, i just felt too lazy to get up again.
so i decided to go by bus instead. That way i need catch the bus only at about 1.10pm and even though there is a longish walk from clapham common, where the bus ends, i still managed to arrive on the dot at 2pm. The nice thing about the bus is that i m sheltered from the rain, and able to eat a picnic toasted jam sandwich. When it is raining a bus is the best.

(That is why i doubt many will use the bike rental that the mayor of london is introducing this summer when next winter comes along). Hope those bikes dont get stolen whilst left in the parking grounds in the dark of winter.

We hadn't seen each other for some time, partly because i told him i wanted to go to him in the daylight, rather than after his work at about 6pm. Now that the nights come on so early, it gets too dark, and i dont fancy walking there in the dark.
In the past i would walk to his flat and return by bus. I would go via lidls so i can get the veg on the way there.

We had a nice time, and the absence seem to make it much more intense.

Anyway, when i left i thought i shall walk to the lidls instead and see if i can get the veg, at the same time walk back instead of taking the bus.

It was raining all day, and when i walked back the rain was really very heavy. I thought it wont be much fun to cycle in this rain. Glad i was walking instead because i can use the umbrella. It is dangerous to use the umbrella while cycling.
there were cyclists passing me on my walk back and they were not wearing any rain coats. I wonder why? Does it impede the cycling?

I noticed the weight of the vegetables is more noticeable on the walk back. I only bought a cabbage and red onions but together they weigh 1.6kg.

Before,since i bought it on the way to his flat, i only have to carry it the shorter distance to his flat, and then coming back it is on the bus , so the weight is not felt.

I saw a knapsack with wheels being sold in the geographic shop in regents street, and thought that would be ideal for this.
You can carry the knapsack on your back when near empty and so very light, and when it is heavy u can use the wheels.

There are pros and cons to riding a bike, as oppose to walking, and taking the bus. I have a feeling most people will just take the bus. If my experience today is any judge, people wont want to walk nor cycle. especially in the rain.
This does not bode well for the mayor of london's plan to get people cycling.

How do i feel about it now?
I think if i did not intend to buy veg in lidl's, i would have taken the bus both ways.

And though it is cheaper in lidls the cost savings is not that much for the extra journey.
So i think if the weather is poorly, i shall go by bus both ways, and only if the weather is sunny shall i cycle and then i shall go via lidls for some veg shopping.

you create your own luck

london
I am a strong believer of that. And I seem to be borne out by this study of luck reported in the telegraph.
He found out that lucky people are skilled at creating and noticing chance opportunities, make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition, create self fulflilling prophesies via positive expectations, and adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

He began to train unlucky people and lucky people for a month, carrying out exercises that helped them spot chance opportunities, listen to their intuition, expect to be lucky and be more resilient to bad luck.
it worked.

I have noticed this too. Those who are not successful in their lives, goes through it not seeing any opportunities.
They limit themselves right from the start, by saying it is not for me. They have a fixed idea of what they are. They wont change it or even consider the possibility of it. These are people who say they are unhappy with their finances. Yet they are not willing to catch opportunities because it takes them outside their comfort zones.

He did an experiment where he asked people to go through a newspaper to find out how many photographs are in it. The unlucky people took 2mins , whilst the lucky people took 2secs. Why? because on the 2nd page he had a big statement giving the answer but the unlucky people missed seeing it. They were too busy counting.
Similarly they missed seeing another statement placed further inside the paper saying if u spot this say so and claim your prize.

He also noticed that if people are anxious, they dont do well. He offered a prize in an experiment where they have to concentrate on a moving spot. Without the prize all of them noticed flashes of large dots occurring occassionally, but with the prize, the unlucky people missed those flashes. The lucky people were more relaxed about it and noticed.

tracing the river fleet to it's source.

interior of st pancras church . those chairs u see are very small, children's size.
added 26.4.2011
did not realise this church is the oldest christian church in uk.
this link told me.it seems bach , sir john soane , and the mary wollstonecraft, mother of mary shelley, she wrote frankenstein, were buried there. but we never knew /not told about them and so did not look for their graves.





what the church looks like in olden days, swimming in the fleet river!!

camden full of people

vintage loo at south green the hampstead end of the bus 24

parliament hill with views to the gherkin.

men's pond, much more basic and primitive than the women's pond facillities. but behind that hut is the men's nudist area

ladies pond, with water being aerated.

source of the fleet. not much to look at but typical of river sources.

nice detail in the men's cottage loo

ornamental lake in kenwood grounds

mock tudor toilets in kenwood grounds.

vintage mercedes benz

rows of houses in vale of health, the final destination of the walk

london

I joined the GOC, on this walk. It started off at mansion house tube, because blackfriars bridge, near which the fleet comes out into the thames is closed.

We followed the Farringdon road, roughly the path of the river. it was 100metres wide at one stage of its history, but gradually narrowed and became a filthy drain and was covered over.

Its course took in holborn, and it seems holborn lies in a deep valley, which has now all been infilled and we dont notice it anymore. in fact a lot of london has hills , but now that it has all been built up , it is not easy to see. now and then we come across names that hint at it, like saffron hill, or we see roads coming down the hill towards our route.

It meandered all over the place, and now its course is difficult to figure out, but at one time it was navigable up to camden.

I managed to find out where the 24 ended up and a easy route to the men's nudist area at the men's swimming pond. So come summer, i shall be going there more often. Before i would take the 88 to camden, change to another bus, which takes me near the ponds, and then still have to walk to it. This route by the bus 24 is much better, and involves only one bus. So cheaper and quicker.

Today, it is cloudy and cold so not the best time to go. If it had been sunny today, i would abandon my fellow walkers and go there. None of the other guys mentioned it, so i guess they are not nudists.

About 15 guys joined the walk. Took us from about 11am to 4pm to finish.

Added .15.2.10

i was googling highgate ponds, and saw that buses C2, C11 and 214 are better buses for the ponds.

and using this london transport link I found out the route , and to my delight saw that the C2 is a better bus for me to take. it leaves from victoria, and its destination at the other end is nearer to the ponds than the bus 24. it is a short walk up highgate west hill, and millfield lane.

i shall bring a pack lunch and drinks, because there are no catering facillities near there.

I just have a thought. if the nudist area is too full, or too hot, what is there to prevent us from going nude in the grass space outside? it is not illegal to be naked in uk, so by rights, anyone can go naked there. but that space is usually crowded with lots of gay guys sporting the most gorgeous bodies in swim trunks,I(in summer only of course and weekends mainly) so it will take a brave nudist to bare all there and compete with these guys. haha. Maybe that is why no one goes starkers outside the enclosure.

Best to go during the weekdays then hopefully the nudist space wont be crowded.

Added. this blogger does a good job showing what to find following the fleet river.
Added. 16.9.11 an article about the fleet river as it looks now. the brickwork is excellent and well preserved considering so much water has flowed through it.

0C outside but it is not cold inside,even without heating on

london
headlines today about it being minus 8C last night.

I was chatting to my friend thierry last night. He called me which is unusual, as he had never called me on the phone before just to chat.

he said he does not like to be alone, but does not want to makehimself too demanding.

he mentioned one lady who lives near who he finds demanding.She keeps asking him to visit her, and when he does visit, he stays one and half hours when he only wants to stay half hour. And when he leaves she wants him to commit to the next visit. he said he does not like that, and yet he is constantly asking to visit another lady who lives in central london, and she constantly fobs him off by saying she is not well.

I mentioned it is rather funny that he knows she wants company, and he knows he likes company, yet both of them dont visit more often to fulfill each others needs. Instead he wants to visit another lady who does not seem so keen.
He says she, the first woman friend, is too demanding.

But that is human beings for u. haha.

Like bankers who wont lend money to those who needs it most, we dont seem to visit people who want it, but insists on visiting those who don't.

funny ol humans.

#Anyway, while we were chatting, he said it is snowing heavily outside. That was what made me take a look outside my window, to find the ground is clear, and only sleet falling. This was last night.

he lives in north london and only a few miles separate us, but it seems we are getting a whole different weather .

Ah well, this post is to let others know that it is not all cold , wet, in uk.
This morning i am looking out on a brilliant blue sunny sky. #

I read in comments that people make out that it is cold, they have the heating on, and there is even one guy from adelaide who wants to swap places for a english winter, because he cannot stand the australian summers ... too hot he says. And someone answers, no refund if he finds the english weather too cold and grey.

But where did the grey come from? I find there are more sunny blue skies in london than blue skies in malaysia. And I still dont have to switch on my heater.

I think those who say it is grey are people who live in the north of uk... and frankly if u want to live up north u deserve all the cold, wet, dark , grey skies u get. What do u expect if u live so far north????

'Added. 6.20pm, When i left the flat to go to the gym, after i wrote the above, i saw a robin flutter down and onto the flower pot. Such a tiny thing, and it survived the cold spell. Makes me think that to us it might be cold, but really to wild life it is nothing.

Then, just now i read this blog post by this lady who used to commute by bike in london and moved up to north scotland, and she is usually very optimistic but this post she writes she is fed up of the cold. Maybe all those long nights and really cold weather is taking its toll of the inhabitants. Whilst here in london it is all very jolly. At least for me anyway. haha.

Though i was half listening to the radio, and the news came on that Alexander mcqueen died in his flat. The police did not suspect foul play. I remember thinking hmm, sounds like he committed suicide, because that is what they say when it is suicide.

Sure enough, i saw the evening standard has updated its post, i have a link to it on my weblog, and it says he had hanged himself. When i read how he died, i thought is it really that easy to hang yourself? I thought it would be difficult.
The thought did occur to me if it might be an asphyxiation erotic thrill that went wrong...

Makes you wonder why did he kill himself?

Life is really lovely, to me, but then i have no artistic talents and no ambitions, and no one had given me lots of awards and money to design fabulous clothes, with the pressure to come up with something new every year. It sounds like a really horrible life to me. Must be really difficult for someone like alexander mcqueen to keep up with this pressure to perform and to surpass himself every year. Usually these people are their own worst critic. And for all i know, he may have been a hysterical drama queen himself. it is expected if he is. dramatic seeing he is in the fashion business and that is a place of high drama and histrionics if nothing else.
(I saw a little bit of the film on tv, 'the devil wears prada' some nights ago, and boy, there is enough histrionics there to make even camp queens raise their wigs in admiration. I have seen that film in the cinema long ago. I could not see it through again. Felt this time round, it was all ado about nothing).

I met this brazilian in the gym, who would shed tears whenever he talks of people suffering. I thought it was rather overdoing it, but then he himself said he feels things acutely and is v emotional. He said most brazilians are emotional anyway. It is what makes them brazilians.
I think it is their way of showing they care. They have to make it visually clear to their friends, and spectators that they care.
It was very tiring being with him, so much drama, so that i was quite glad to curtail it and say i have to exercise.
He told me at one time in the past he contemplated suicide.

But get this, he is a really good looking guy, with a nice body. yet he thought of suicide.

funny but i should not be laughing at it.

london
You know how you cannot help laughing at something which is quite serious... nothing can be more serious than people getting killed while singing 'my way' in karaoke bars in phillipines. they sang it so badly, that it riled some of the listeners to shoot them dead.

But when i read the article i just could not help laughing. I know, it is bad to laugh but...

It sounds like a joke doesnt it? sounds like a spoof news item! it's in the telegraph website, and you would assume they , the telegraph people , would make sure it is true, so it must be true, right? but ... I cant help laughing at it.

The next item i am going to talk about is something i laughed at too. but maybe u wont find it funny. It's a MAC cartoon in the daily mail referring to the news that the govt may force kids to look after their elderly parents.
its the way he drew the parents' expressions.

just want to muse on things.

london
As I came from the library, which is in westminster city hall, i was hailed by my downstairs neighbour. she was sitting in one of the chairs in the downstairs section, waiting for a friend to pay her council rental for their flat which is downstairs from mine.

She and husband are elderly pensioners, and she says they get their pension weekly that is why they pay the rent weekly.

She mentioned the tree that is newly planted in the courtyard. And also said the reason why the road is lined with trees in our area is because the area is very marshy, and the trees are planted to soak up the water.

She said long ago, before the trees were planted the whole area was waterlogged, with the flats always damp, and water seeping up the walls.

about 10yrs ago, the whole block was treated for rising damp. At the time i thought it was just old bricks due to these block of flats being built in 1889.
I used to wonder how the trees can keep alive, even though all the area is concreted over and no water can run off into the soil. There must be lots of water underground.

Anyway, the trees make the whole area very nice, but every two years council have to trim the branches.
and of course every autumn, have to sweep away and remove the fallen leaves.
I was thinking out loud and mentioned i wonder if council will bill us for that. But she said she had a friend who is in a council committee who said it is not billed to us. We are only paying for the tree in the courtyard not for the maintainance in the street.
Added.9.2.10 i re read that and realise she is a council tenant. She might not have to pay but i m a leaseholder, and it might be it comes out of my maintainance charge. Ah well, spread amongst everyone, it will be quite low. Or we all pay in our council tax which is about £70 a month for my flat which is in tax band D, the average band.

Well, that is good to know. haha. Not!haha.

i have been making contacts with guys in this truenudist.com website. So far it is quite promising, but of course i would only know if we do meet up during the summer.
Added 9.2.10 was told of another nudist website, more gay...
it is much better.
I shall do more nudist things this summer and hope to do it with other nudists. more fun to do it with others.

I doubt i shall be going to capedagde, even though there is a £60 rtn fare via ryanair to beziers, the nearest airport. But i am rather fed up of ryanair with its extras, so even though there was a guy asking for people to share a 6person chalet which he has booked in the campsite in capdagde in late june-early july this year, i thought i could not be bothered really.

I am really lazy to get going. Dont seem to like to take too much trouble going overseas , even though it is to a nudist place that i like v much.

but i know everywhere is good, it is what u make of it and who u meet, not the place itself.

I am glad i got the gym to go to, it makes a change from staying in the flat, much as i like doing that. But going to the gym gets me out of the flat and access exercise, sauna, coffee, newspapers, and even chatting with people there.
Today, i chatted with a guy who was waiting to be interviewed for a personal trainer job in the gym. The gym dont pay him, he gets paid when he picks up customers and train them. Gosh, what if he does not get anyone?
he said he is just starting on this career . just finished a course in personal training. i mentioned to him he might like to offer sports massage too.
the reason why i say that is because yesterday, i was doing the foodchain run, and my driver says he goes to a sports masseur who does stretching on him, it costs £40 for oneand half hour session.
sounds like good money to be made, and i know it is something very difficult to do on your own. u need someone to provide the force to get the full stretch.

it is very enjoyable and rather erotic too. i had a taste of it once, after a free introductory session in my previous gym, and the stretch afterwards is really lovely. i say a bit erotic, because the person have to use his whole body to apply the force.
it is something well worth learning, haha.

Ideally of course, we should try to find fellow members who like this kind of massage and partner each other. But the gym doesnot encourage it, they dont have a members board where we can advertise for gym partners or massage partners. We shall have to find each other by asking.
sometimes i wish we got it printed out on our foreheads .haha. so much easier than, rather than to ask everyone and get rebuffed.

Actually, i would not mind learning how to do these massages. where to go for it i wonder.

gas meter to be changed

london
Can't be a coincidence, can it? For years, British gas never suggested i change my old fashioned dial gas meter. Now, after a few quarters when my gas meter reading has stayed the same, they write me to say it has to be done, and gave me a date 17.feb.

Well, as they say, let them come to you, begging to do it. The meter change is free and jolly well so it should be. haha. i shall refuse the change if they want me to pay. Though i bet u the new meter will record every single bit of gas used.

This old one has a smaller dial which records sub units, which are not read, so i might still be using gas but it does not trip the main meter reading. It would not surprise me if the new digital meter they will install will trip a counter every single eek of gas used. (it might even send it by wi-fi to the company)

But i shall still get the last laugh because their increasing tariffs has kicked me into questioning why i should have the pilot light on in my gas boiler and using so much gas and to switch the whole thing off.

Now i have been without it for so long, i find i dont miss it at all. I think BG has shot themselves in the foot. Now instead of having me as a user of gas, i have disappeared from their data base as a user.

They must have thought no one can live without gas heating. how wrong they were!!!!

Ha, getting even is sweet, and best served cold. hahaheheee.

I just have a thought. maybe i should have ignored it and delay the switch for as long as i can. at the moment the sub dial is at zero out of 10. so if i had ignored this, they wont be able to change it till i have more use of that gas whilst not paying for it when it gets changed just before it kicks the main meter reading. Ah well, i dont have a devious mind that wrings every advantage out of people. hhahaa.
I am determined that even with the new meter, i shall resolve not to switch the gas on at all. So there!!!
Though with the new meter i wont be able to get away with not paying anything for some quarters. in the past, it takes about 9months for a unit to change, so for that amount of quarterly periods i dont get billed as no gas is used. once this digital meter is put in, it will record even the most minute changes and so they can give me a bill for it every quarter.

The only way is not to use any gas at all. Period.

gas man

london
The gas man came just now to read the meter. I was wondering when he will be coming, because i am due my 3monthly bill. This guy is quite young, and black, but he can read the meter accurately which is something not easy to do. Mine is the old style dial rather than digital.

And today I read online that british gas is reducing its tariff by 7% effective today. And another article saying UK is running out of power in 5yrs time and costs will go up.

But i am glad all this is of academic interest to me. I have not been using gas for a long time now. I switch it on to heat the water boiler only when i have guests in november, and that has only added 1unit to my gas usage for this quarter. (it's not that my guest use so much hot water, it was because the needle was allready quite close to the changeover, the last time the needle moved to a new unit must be about 9months ago). This latest reduction wont tempt me to switch on the gas either. haha.

And this january was supposed to be one of the 10 coldest. The lowest temp -4C was reached on 7jan. I went back to my post of that day and found that i did not feel cold enough to switch on the heater.

I will be glad of more global warming actually. Can't come soon enough for me.

why half of americans vote against a national health service

london
I have read this article sometime ago, and have been struck at that fact. The very people who will benefit from a national health service vote against it.
This article says the reason why they vote against it is because they resent politicians telling them it is for their own good.
It is a report on a bbc 4 progam on radio going on now. tomorrow at 8.45pm gmt, on radio bbc4, it will be talking of why inheritance tax in uk is so unpopular amongst people who have least to lose from it.

But I have my own theory and i think i m more correct.
I think americans always have this strong belief that they can make it rich. They can climb out of their poverty hole and reach the pinnacle of their dreams. And because they feel they can do it, anyone can and so they resent bringing in legislation that will help the losers who are down there and who are not successful because they are too lazy. They dont see why they, who are convinced they will become rich in future from the sweat of their brows (they are so confident they will be rich) why they should pass legislation which will make the rich pay to help those lazy buggers who cannot be arsed to get rich like they will be.

It is only when they grow old and realise they will never be rich, and not for lack of trying, that their views changes and they want others to help them. too late then, because when a politician like obama bring in legislation for a public health service to be voted on , they are outvoted by all those up and coming people who are convinced, just like them, that they will be the ones who are different and will be rich. They have been hoisted on their own petard by that American , 'everyone can be president' attitude.

They are met with the same attitudes they had when they were young and which was the reason why they did not support public health measures themselves. And the most galling thing about it is that they know they are mistaken, but can never convince those who are young.

That is why america will not have a public health service.