Notes from the Uk, part the third

[magid]

• The gap is very necessary to be minded; I don't they'd be allowed to have such uneven and wide gaps in the States (fear of litigation).
  
• coots, swans, a clutch of cute fuzzy off-white cygnets (one that kept on being reprimanded by its father)
  
• the glories of Foyle's though not theire prices (only kid books; I couldn't seem to focus on cookbooks or sf)
  
• Orange Kit Kats are quite lovely.
  
• I remembered to pronounce "aluminium" properly at the supermarket :-).
  
• King Harold's purported grave, which used to be inside
  
• one foot on either side of the meridian, marked by a mosaic at Waltham Abbey
  
• a knitted doll set of the last supper
  
• the oddities of year dating right after the switch to the Julian calendar (using fractions)
  
• The pew had flat leather pads hanging, presumably for kneeling during service, but all I could think of was yoga pillows.
  
• successful kosher cooking in a non-kosher kitchen: roasted potatoes'n'carrots'n'parsnips, and roasted salmon over spinach, topped with mango chutney. Hooray for lots of aluminium foil. (Plus, well, it's satisfying to cook for others.)
  
• free pubs! ('cause they don't like being enslaved :-)
  
• Lavender growing everywhere.
  
• weather even more variable than in MA

And probably more, once I can focus...

Comments

[powerfrau.livejournal.com]

Hey, Our weather hasn't been variable. It has pretty muched rained for several weeks and guess what? More rain coming!!! Ain't noreasters fun? What does that word actually mean?

[magid.livejournal.com]

I've been reading about it; I admit I'm not too sad to have missed a lot of rainstorms (er, as long as my plants haven't been knocked over on the porch). Noreaster is either the wind coming out of or going to the northeast, I don't remember which, but I think the former.

minding the gap

[jaq.livejournal.com]

Most of the stations with 'mind the gap' have a gap because they have curved platforms; it being difficult for a straight (in sections) train to fit snugly against a curved platform. I don't think that excuses all of them though.

Re: minding the gap

[magid.livejournal.com]

*nod*
I noticed the curved stations, and it does make sense that it's harder to fit to a curve. But some of the big gaps are along train lines, where the platform is definitely straight. In the States, I really think there would be a flood of lawsuits about it (rather than accepting that one should be careful, which I think reasonable).

Re: minding the gap

[hatter.livejournal.com]

Ah, sounds more like the step down (not across) that's the problem - trains from different eras had different ideas of what level they were at, and with 200 year old stations and 50 year old rolling stock still in some places, it's lowest common denominators.

And if you think you found that list of quirks and odditites a bit strange, you've got the tiniest glimpse of what theora has in her daily life now.


the hatter

the hatter