Put that funnel out

As time progressed with giving up smoking I had a lot of "first time I went there and did not smoke" moments. Now I am having lots of "first time I have gone there and no one was allowed to smoke there at all" moments. Yesterday it was East Thurrock Football ground (an extremely open-air environment), waiting for the connection at Dartford, smoking on the platform is now banned, visiting two pubs in Gravesend where everyone was outside(well it was hot) and then the ferry over to Tilbury. Perhaps that accounted for the ferryman's grumpiness. "Can't even smoke arn me own cussed ferry" I can imagine him muttering. Standing on the deck of his ferry is going to kill no one passively or otherwise. It's only a short journey so passengers don't have to forgo much for long - but he's stuck on it for hours on end and has to forgo a fag even if he has no passengers.

Rose again

And here's another strange thing. I wrote a couple of posts back about the demise of Rose's Free House. Well I was drinking in it again last night. Apparently it was only closed for a couple of days. When I first went in it I thought Fullers had taken it over (this would have guaranteed its continuance in the mid-term).

It hasn't been taken over by Fullers thought - it is under new management and they have decided to go with that brewer as well as stocking a guest ale.

So if you want a decidedly un-Woolwich like chill out real ale joint to continue I think you had better get down there and experience and support it now. Otherwise the next closing down might be for real.

A little learning can be...

Commuting in the other day there were three girls discussing an acquaintance's welfare. They were a bit incredulous about the bruise on her cheek being caused by a kiss from her boyfriend. Apparently this had been a very unlucky young lady who had had a string of bad'uns as boyfriends. The three girls briefly speculated on why that should be. "I reckon its because she got good GCSE's" one of them stated authoritatively.

When it says here that half of people start smoking at school I assume they mean Infant School?

Thinking a bit more about Rose's - it was just fine minus it's traditional smokey atmosphere today (and on my more recent visits) though I can't help noticing one of my favorite pubs has closed within a short time of the ban. Perhaps it's just coincidence.

And something else I am noticing...people smoking in the street. I used to avoid it at some points and places in my life as it was an invitation to be harassed by a beggar. Now millions of people are snatching their fags between the non-smoking location they have just left and the non-smoking location they are about to arrive at.

And finally what are we to make of this tragic story?

A Rose by Another Name




Went to have a last drink at the Prince Albert aka Rose's this afternoon. R and I had encountered it a few years ago when we were visiting the area (a tip from the CAMRA supporting Kev and Mrs T I think) and have since enjoyed the great beer, Jackie's brilliant rolls and its well known 'time-warp' atmosphere whenever chance has allowed.

When contemplating the move out here it played a positive role - we could fantasise about soaking in its mellow atmoshere on some weekend evening.

Then we move here and R comes across it in an auction website and today its history. Not so much history - more a small collection of happy memories for me and R and a much larger collection for all the long-term locals who came to pay their last respects today.

It was extraordinary in this day and age for any type of retail outlet to go out of its way to look as if it was closed - Gordon's Wine Bar in Villiers Street could be another example. Whether it was deliberate or not I don't know but there was almost a Narnia feeling in walking through its front door. The contrast between the warm womb of the place and the harsher goings on outside couldn't be more extreme. I spent one summer afternoon sipping beer there listening to the biggest of barnies between a mad bus driver, an insane car driver and what seemed like a hundred hot and bothered kebab customers from the shop over the road. The door was wide open and there was nothing between us and it but the goings-on still seemed very far away - no more real than as if someone had started showing a Spike Lee's "Do the Right Thing" on the uncharacteristically 21st century plasma screen.

Even timelessness, it seems, must come to an end.

Technorati Tags woolwich camra SE18 london rose's pub sad old fashioned real ale beer

In the olden days when you moved to a new area you perhaps got hold of a local map and plan yourself a little walkabout to familiarise yourself with your new surroundings.

Now thanks to Google (Windows Live does something similar) you can peruse the rooftops of your neighbours often with quite a bit of detail.

It is a great bit of software and hardly a new one. I was moved to throw up this quick post because it seems to be performing much better nowadays in Ubuntu than my first experiences of it which were painfully slow despite working fine with XP. So hooray to someone - Google or Canonical I don't know which.

PS - Does it look familiar to anyone?

From the East to the West

It was time for the M and R's annual barby last Saturday so I prepared for a longer than usual journey. I was also up for a comparison of train services which is exciting isn't it? I had been discussing it with my friends on the Common (upstairs) and though they acknowledged SET had improved it was as nothing compared to services out of Waterloo proper. My outbound journey seemed to confirm that the pootling along in the old jallopy to London Bridge then a change then to Waterloo East then to Waterloo and then- bang!- I am on the Bullet train to Surbiton catching my breath in a top notch carriage with not a scratched window in sight. (getting a ticket at Waterloo was a bit of a mare though - almost as bad as Victoria). I get off the train and jump aboard, after a short wait, a reasonably unvandalised 281 which took me straight to the burning, if slightly damp, flesh.

(Argh ...Opera in Ubuntu didn't like this webpage (or vice versa) for some reason...rudely interrupted again. Switched to Firefox)

So South West wins round one. The next day with a bad head, probably induced by all that burger fat, I start the return leg. Again a 281 appears quickly and gives me an attractive ride up and down Surbiton Hill, parking straight outside the white facade of the station. Then it looked like the problems were about to start. Surbiton on a Sunday has always had millions of passengers and never enough staff. Add to that complicated enquiries by people whose first language is not English and other complicated season ticket procedures and you are going to die before you get to the end of that queue. There used to be two rubbish automated machines that also had long queues and the paper money slot would stop working just as it was your turn and you would find the fare was ten pence more than you had in change. Dreadful. However when I went there this Sunday though the endless queue was there were also a bank of intelligent machines that take plastic. So South West gets out of jail on this point - a marked improvement (though still a bit inadequate I would think for the commuter station par excellence).

But... I get to the platform and a not so handsome train is sitting there as dead as a doornail and the platform is packed with passengers. The train arrives and it is a struggle to grab a rather hard seat. Again there are more people than services out here. I get to Waterloo and walk straight through to catch a train to Plumstead. It pootles along as usual but it is not at all crowded - the opposite in fact, almost deserted.

Now of course millions of bored and cash rich Surrey-ites heading for a stroll down the South Bank is never going to matched by some mad Sunday exodus to SE18 but the point of all this is that a train service is more than the rolling stock, even the punctuality. The body/seat ratio is pretty important too. Since moving here I have never had to stand on either end of the journey and this is without me adjusting my normal hours. A train journey of fifteen minutes is a nice thing but 25 minutes when you can sit down and enjoy the views isn't too bad either. I doubt it will last sadly...all those new homes further east and all these disappearing transport schemes mean we might all feel a little more Surrey-like.

A friend has snapped this. I think some of this anti-smoking ban might just be a bit excessive - not only can you not smoke within the confines of a bus shelter you must be assisted in understanding that you cannot smoke with a Gigantic Banner. Dark references must be made to the law and oh yes there is the striking symbol in the colours black, white and red. And what are you supposed to do with that phone number? Is it a denunciation line or an information line? What kind of information? - "Hello I am phoning up to establish if I can in fact smoke in your bus shelter despite a sign of noticeable proportions suggesting otherwise?" "Please hold sir - I will just need to check that with my supervisor."

Some dreadful Finance Director mistook me for a "helpline" today. I sort of am one but he thought I was a vulnerable contact centre employee stuck in a warehouse in Gateshead pummeled into a near automaton. He was obviously in bullying mood. He started screaming at me when I told him his tone was aggressive "I AM NOT BEING AGGRESSIVE!!!!" If you put it in a comedy sketch it would be considered a lame cliché. I stepped out of the call and he apparently calmed down later (having got nowhere) but he has sent me into a black depressed rage all day. These people who are primed to say "put me through to someone who can help" before they have even started their inquiry are so patronising and disgusting it's not true. I have tried to buoy myself up with memories of the Month of Sundays event for Resonance FM that I went to last night. Pharaoh Overlord are a hoot - if you like your hoots on the weird side that is.

I can no longer get a clear signal for Resonance radio itself but the webcast sees me through.

Speaking of depressed, I am not sure if this lady and this one are overly excited by the smoke free joy of their bus shelter.

Thanks to AB for the photo

Avez-vous broadband? Avez-vous something to do?




Well that's my meagre effort - I would turn the sound down. I feel embarrassed by the "faster faster" exclamations I made.

These are better - firstly my favourite by parakletosuk then these two: number one and number two.

Bon voyage. Vive Le Plumstead.

technorati plumstead tour de france technorati london

French à Plum

And we all had a lovely time one and all.

It was curiously exciting walking up my road to the High Street to see it all closed off and policed-up in a relaxed way. There were sufficient vehicles making their way down the course (or whatever you call it) to hold my attention whilst I waited there in limbo with only the vaguest sense of when they would arrive. It was busier than these two photos make out - the Volunteer had even made an attempt to acknowledge what was taking place - it was festooned with red and white balloons. This was the only theming I saw down most of the length of the High Street.

R appeared at my shoulder unexpectedly and told me that Mr and Mrs R and the kids had decided against Greenwich and were in the High Street where they had bagged a good spot. The final moments before they arrrive are really stirring with a load of cars and bikes roaring ahead of the cyclists and finally a sudden splash of colour appeared at the bridge crossing the railway and they were here. And then they were gone. And we went home and started waiting for the next great event to come to Plum....whenever that might be.

Technorati Tag tour de france

The great day has come and gone - July the First. I have been mildly amused by the various sights offered up by the implementation of the ban.

This evening it was a guy standing outside a bookies having a fag and craning his neck so much to view a race that he was to all intents and purposes inside the place.

R thought it was only a ban in pubs and even I was a bit surprised by the sight.

I have been in a couple of pubs this week - my old grotty favorite the Hole in the Wall and the lovely Royal Oak in Tabard Street.

The former has miraculously developed a yard with three tables in it - the pub was the deadest I have ever seen it but it was an unusual time of day for me to be in it.

The Royal Oak is a gorgeous Harveys pub down a back street near Borough Tube which does great food. I met a friend for a meal there just before quitting and he found its smokey atmoshere a bit too much despite being an ex-smoker himself.

No smoke now in either of these two boozers. The smoke has been fully replaced with the smell of chip fat. The new excuse of those who can't admit to getting old is quickly being formed. "I don't go to pubs much myself -I can't stand the smell of old fat on my clothes the next morning."

smoking ban london pubs

Kids Bike Eddie
Originally uploaded by eddiemalone

It looks like there is finally a tenant in sight for R's flat after a brief spell of nervousness.

To celebrate the world bicycling community are gathering at the end of our road to do the old Tour de France.

Can Plumstead cope with the strain of something actually happening? We will find out on Sunday.

Plumstead links

I am going to stick a few on the sidebar thingy when I get time. Don't know why really...apart from the obvious. Now this one I think I may have referred to before its a kind of residents association/activist one with some wistful vision stuff thrown in. The vision usually takes the form of a jazz cafe which doesn't quite work for me - like I haven't the foggiest what one is. A kind of Milk Bar but replacing the Skiffle band with an ipod-type set-up oozing Charlie Parker or something. I have enjoyed visiting sibonetics site...it made me feel welcome in a funny kind of way. He has had a bit of a dispute with another blogger recently which reminds me of what our neighbour said when we moved in "you can hear a pin drop most of the time round here but it can suddenly get very noisy".

Then there's arthurpewty and his amazing maggot sandwich.
He's not exactly Plumstead but near enough and is forthright about some of the local ethnic groups - one in fact- the baseball hat wearing youth . He likes Linux too so might be interested to hear I am writing this using a Live CD because I can't boot Ubuntu yet again. Like sibonetic he likes Doctor Who too.

There's a forum thing going on that I've only just noticed - it styles itself as Plumstead Common for some reason. There's a bit of an upstairs downstairs thing going on in Plumstead.

And finally another photographer though I'm not sure how active he is at the moment. I think he's the only one of the blogs representing the Asian community here.

All worth a visit if you want to smell out the area. So to speak.

At various points in this blog I have pasted up some stats from the Quit-o-meter that ticks away (whenever I am in XP) adding up all the minutes of life and pennies of pounds saved as a result of My Big Give Up. Perhaps we need one that operates on a national scale that we could start running from 01 July - the Nation's Big Quit. It should have things like Lives Saved of course and number of pence not spent on fags but should also include perhaps Amount of Tax Increased in Other Areas to Cover Shortfall, Amount of Additional Health Expenditure as people's decripitude is extended further and Number of Humorless Morons Stomping Around in an Oppression Frenzy.

What the country needs is a ban on Revolting Sniffers of the Train. (Is it something to do with South East London or have I forgotten my commutes from the South and West?) I have been lumbered with 3 in the last two weeks. Yuk.

Another Plumstead evening
Originally uploaded by Boxley

Another Plumstead Evening

The big move has taken place. R is still a bit of a stranger to these parts spending more time back at the flat preparing to get a tenant in.

I am listening to a nature prog on Radio 4 in the new "Media Centre" room (the old pc and a portable radio). As I do our family of blackbirds chirp merrily outside.

I think there is a bit of wild life inside the house as well but that's another matter.

Tomorrow I will give this commuting thing a crack after a break of more than a year.

Smoking will be banned inside all stations on July One. Not that there is much 'inside' to your average overground station. It will apply throughout which I think is a bit unfair.

One of the great things about smoking was as an occupational therapy when the rubbish railway companies were proving they were rubbish. Now the smokers must move themselves beyond the boundary of the station. Stand on one side of the line and blow in towards the station and you're fine. Stand on the other and blow out away from the station and you risk being bundled into a van and gang-raped by the fag police.

These risks are no longer mine I am glad to say - but they are entirely man-made risks.

Why add to the stresses of life with all these petty laws?

(Thanks to Boxley at Flickr for the pic- very lovely it is too)

Big Issue Vender, Bold St Liverpool. 1
Originally uploaded by andy_sunley

Crossing Hungerford Bridge today a guy wanly repeating "B'shoo 'elp de 'omeless B'shoo 'elp de 'omeless". And me "sorry old bean must dash got to zip off a CHAPS payment for the new mansion".

I have spent more money in a single day than I have before or will ever do again.

So I think it will be a medium sized cappo from the Caffee Nero on my way in to work this afternoon.

The photo is by andy_sunley

Dream House

Dream House
Originally uploaded by Basile1

Oh yes. Home ownership. Now this isn't it exactly but given its location in the so-called Thames Gateway it could look a bit like it at short notice.

As I said there is a lot to worry about when you first become a property owner.

Now that I am about to become a home owner there are just so many things to worry about.

Now here is a pub that isn't going to be too worried by the forthcoming smoking ban. It is the Pembury Tavern in Hackney.

I had vaguely heard of it through the SPBW (Rose signed up and gets the Pint in Hand) and had confused it with a boozer I used to frequent when I lived nearby in Rowhill Road. I was wrong it turned out. Despite being located on a major junction that I walked passed several times a week I had no recollection of the building. It was quite possible it was in its burnt out stage then but I doubt it. there were loads of vast boozers around Hackney at that time, and probably still are, and I am sure I would have noticed it in a disapproving kind of way. My dole office was located not very far away but I can't remember heading for a post sign-on beer up there. I was too near the flat I guess.

To cut a long blog short - it has undergone a bit of a transformation. To be honest I am surprised to find such a pub in Hackney despite the passage of the years.

What made me drag myself across London to get there? In the end it was an accidental purchase of a Linux magazine, "Linux User and Developer", one that I don't really like because it's a bit waffly and short on practicalities. It was accidental because its colour scheme put me in mind of Linux Format a magazine that I do like. There was one good article in it however about this man, Steve Early, who had developed his own opensource EPOS system . His thinking was pragmatic about the issue - he didn't want to be beholden to EPOS companies who deliberately lock in their customers data to their systems and who are at the same time often small outfits vulnerable to going bust. Not only has the combination of Steve's programming talents and existing opensource software protected his data he can flex it around in various creative ways. He also has the potential of putting his ideas out to other businesses with similar needs and possible making some money from offering system support.

The article also listed some classic pieces of OSS that I feel suffer because of their familiarity. Open Office is certainly one of them. Just because its commonly bundled with distros doesn't mean we should take its capabilities for granted. Less well known outside of the Gnu/Linux world is Gnucash. I have started to look at it on my Ubuntu install. The article was reminder of what a powerful set of tools are available to people without the stranglehold of closed formats and code or , less importantly, licence fees.

Steve's other interest is beer and he is a founding director of Individual Pubs a mini-chain of pubs who's main speciality is real ale. The Milton Brewery plays a leading role in the beers usually available but guest ales aren't in short supply either. (like Samuel Smiths they also avoid your bog standard products like Fosters Guiness or Coca Cola). There was a nice looking cider on when I visited but at 7% it was beyond my reach.

The Pembury has been a non-smoking pub since its re-opening under the Individual Pubs banner and this can only be to its advantage. Not one of their devoted band of customers is going to be changing their drinking habits one bit. And others attracted by the beers and light spacious atmosphere but put off by the smoking restriction will suddenly be without an excuse to avoid the place. (Perhaps a pub garden or nice area to smoke outside is missing-the junction they are located on isn't the noisiest but neither is it the nicest).

They do a great menu. The bar staff are lovely and the management think out of the box. I hope they go on to bigger things. (I also hope they spare a thought for the neglected world of SE18 - me and R might soon be in need of an individual pub ourselves.)

hackney real ale pembury tavern

The Fist Project -- Unity is Within Everyone

The Fist Project -- Unity is Within Everyone
Originally uploaded by Still Vision.

I haven't got a clue what the Fist Project is...but I think they'll be none too happy on July The First.

More blogging weirdness.

All of a sudden I have to moderate comments. Google must have changed my settings.

Help - where's the off switch?

July the First


Not long to go before the UK ban.

Apparently the punishment side of things is aimed at two groups - the individual smokers themselves who can face £50 fines "if caught in banned areas" (presumably for smoking - not just being smokers).

Secondly it is the managers of the premises who get a larger set of fines. They can be fined £1000 for not displaying no-smoking signs irrespective of whether anyone has ever smoked on their premises.

A friend of mine has received his guidance pack from the Government. He employs himself as a computer contractor so therefore he gets a pack - a bit daft and a bit expensive. I suppose some of the money from all those lovely fines will contribute to to cost of this waste.


Apparently he can still smoke in his own house where his "office" is. But if someone was visiting on official business, a Smoking Ban Enforcement Officer for example, he would have to protect that workers entitlement to a smoke free environment. He would also have to get that 'no smoking' sign up pronto to remind the Officer of his legal duty to protect that smoke free environment.

At least this friend smokes - I guess the same would apply to non-smokers in the same situation. They would have to stick up signs to remind themselves not to do something they wouldn't dream of doing.


smoking+ban

When I say below "lovely biscuit" I mean stuff like this.

Twittering on and on

Twitter has a rival



But I don't have enough time to investigate it...I am wasting all my time on twitter.



That's a lie.  Had the last big away trip of the season yesterday down in Folkestone yesterday.



I guess the point of Twitter and other "personal presence" websites is that those who cared to find out that fact could have done it more easily than accessing a full-blown blog.



I maintain that  one of the main roles of blogs is a simple public notice saying "I am alive." 



The problem is just about everyone either loses your address or thinks you've stopped or moved your blog.  What they mean is they can't be bothered to visit your webpage.  They'd rather do something more interesting or useful.



 I also maintain RSS is an essential component of blog checking half bearable.  However for some reason people can't face up sorting out an RSS solution.  Even they way I have just described it would put people off.  It sounds simply too technical.



Much easier to sign up for a twitter account or myspace where the same concepts used without any jargon and with only a moderate expenditure of effort.



Why navigate to Verbal Diary to establish I'm alive via a long-winded post like this when my name flashing up announcing "Just had a lovely biscuit" can do the same trick?

Powered by ScribeFire.

Thank you!

Thank you!
Originally uploaded by Nakken18.

This amused me ..... guess you don't see this sign much in the Celtic countries.

Who needs all this waffle - the world of the one line blog has arrived.

I found myself signing up for this a few months back not entirely sure if it had any legs. I then I saw it mashed up with Google maps and a new addiction has been born. Check it out Twittervision

---
1y 2d 01:04 smoke-free, 9,176 cigs not smoked, £1,064.42 saved, 1m 1d 20:40 life saved


Yeah - One year and two days. Speeding towards the two year point. Go boy go boy.

(This post is for the purposes of self support only)

Hmmm....I must have misunderstood something because today it says

---
1y 13:32 smoke-free,
9,145 cigs not smoked,
£1,060.82 saved,
1m 1d 18:05 life saved

Which is correct...the one year bit at least is correct.

When I looked at it yesterday it looked like it was missing a few days. But calenders are weird things as Easter constantly (inconstantly) reminds us.

One Year Today

Well, well done to me. Today its my First Anniversary of packing in smoking. So yippee.

The quit-o-meter disagrees with me about this for some reason and I will post what it has to say about it in a few minutes when I boot back into Windows.

I can't read what I wrote in my last post about the effect of the forthcoming English smoking ban.

Of course I haven't the foggiest what will happen to the "pubs I like". They could very well prosper.

I do know the one thing that really nearly stopped me following up my decision to give up smoking on the 9 April 2006 was the sight of Patricia Hewitt leaning over the dispatch box licking her lips with glee as she announced the full-on ban (even though it was a reversal of the government's earlier policy of a partial ban).

I have never much liked the direct action route to advance your causes but perhaps a "letter-tray" campaign might stir things up - you send stubbed out cigarettes in envelopes to members of the ghoulish anti-smoker politburo and see them have kittens on Question Time and the like..

The downside is that some people think even fag ends emit death rays so you could still end up being lynched.

Thanks for the flickr picture to sluggo



smoking ban smoking terrorism

smoking ban in action

smoking ban in action
Originally uploaded by tigerweet.

"I don't smell and I'm not going to die horribly, but you know, it'd be nice if smokers at least took turns going outside for a ciggy rather than leaving me alone for most of the night." says in the text accompanying the photo - my mind flashes back guiltily to the days when the non-smokers would be dragged over to the smoking section.

Its also interesting that these memories of non-smoking sections in pubs are fairly numerous and go back a long way - combined with good air conditioning there was plenty of opportunity to get all the supposed benefits that the progandists say have snowed down on the Irish and Scottish since their bans were imposed.

I think the ban will kill off certain pubs - they happen to be the pubs I really like with or without a fag in my hand.

Just come back from a short stay with my folks in Portugal.

It looked like a possible escape route for smokers - there is a large Brit ex-pat thing going on there. I went to watch a game in the Bull Pub in Luz and it made we wonder about the forthcoming smoking ban. Would it tilt people into wintering in Portugal or even moving full-time?

Apparently the Portugese are bringing in there own ban - it applies to any bar or cafe less than 10m sq. This size encompasses the vast majority of venues...but what does it matter anyway? I was getting sunburnt yesterday whilst England had snow. A smoking ban inside cafes in Portugal is like a ban on nudity in South Antartic. People will continue sitting outside just like they do now. And none of the urban elite need be effected as they sit in their open-plan offices.

Meanwhile Scottish bars are reporting a downturn in business since the ban - you're not even allowed to sit outside there.

One thing that is leading to the downturn is that people are moving on a lot quicker ratrher than making an evening of it down the pub - presumably they going home to blow smoke on the kids who in turn will grow up to vote only for parties that are less vindictive in their policies.

If I had to choose between Scotland and Portugal for a holiday it would be a terrible wrench but I might just choose Portugal.

Another week another pound shed.

One thing I depend on quite a bit is sugar-free chewing gum so I am quite galad a gum war has broken out with Cadbury's introducing their Trident range of gums to the UK.

I love them but R is sticking to the old ways as usual.

One mystery has been solved - why did Wrigleys ditch the tradition foil wrapped stick of gum in favour of wallets. It was in preparation for the packets used by Cadbury's. The Cadbury's ones are better designed though- the gum doesn't fall out into your pocket like the Wrigleys packets do.

lsdf.GIF
Originally uploaded by Max # VinylUnity.com.

The Glamour of Smoking Wears Off Quicker

...than the paunch around my tummy. I am now 10st 12lbs which is another slight drop. Or a eight stone 2lb drop since the post before last - if you haven't realised it was a typo.

I did have a Cream Tea yesterday which isn't exactly Kosher but I really enjoyed it. Luckily it was near Hampstead Heath so you didn't get much for your money.

I have yet to work out an exercise routine. I have fantasies about doing power-walking three times a week. Had to make do with a slow dawdle over the Heath with R taking in the smudgy views, the peace and quiet and the kite flying.

Thanks to Max # VinylUnity.com for the real life Ozzie devotee

So I am now less than eleven stone. How ridiculous. For a long period of my life I weighed around eight - which is equally ludicrous.

So what is eleven minus eight? Three isn't it? How many babies is that?

Now that I am less heavily pregnant it might explain why my pipe cleaner legs seem to get less tired now.

Thin
Originally uploaded by Nad.

---
10m 2d 05:56 smoke-free, 7,709 cigs not smoked, £894.24 saved, 3w 5d 18:25 life saved

So the smoking thing looks pretty licked



weight 19 st 13lb

38.5 inch

So the weight loss thing looks pretty unlicked

But SOMETHING has come off. Hoorah.

diet takes extreme turn

celadon rice bowl
Originally uploaded by madcache.

...or it will do after I weighed myself yesterday. I clocked up eleven stone again. I refuse to even bother putting my waist measurements down here.

There's a nice curry in the fridge though so I had better postpone things till tomorrow.

Slowly the pounds fall off...or down

mr_bloggy
Originally uploaded by ecf1691.

Today's weigh in was 11 st 70kg 37.75ins which is slow but steady progress I guess. Surprised its not more with all the radical fruit chomping lunches replacing the spag bol and chips.

Meanwhile the smoking stats mount up. Am I just greeedy or does £850 and sixteen pence seem a bit measly considering the scale of the effort?

9m 2w 4d 02:50 smoke-free, 7,329 cigs not smoked, £850.16 saved, 3w 4d 10:45 life saved

On the plus side my breathing has improved immensely. A lot of voice work involves breathing in an out (money for old breath) and in my later years involved with that kind of thing my breathing was no longer smooth- there were sudden jerks and spasms within it that disrupted the flow. I begun to doubt my capacity to reach to the end of a long speech without the tone deteriorating towards the end.

Last night I seemed to be able to draw in and exhale vast breaths without any kind of disruption (I was a bit bored whilst R was at work....kept me amused anyway). I had noticed some improvement before but it was the first time I really gave my lungs a work out and the result was vastly better.

On the train the other day I couldn't help notice a lady with a very wrinkly face but otherwise quite youthful physicality probably 60 years plus. She was on the mobile:

"Hi I am on the mobile so better be quick.....yeah fine, I've given up smoking...yeah its going great I feel much better....a week...well not there, not there actually, so four days in all then...but I feel great it seems to be going well."

Poor thing - only Day Four. In 9months 2weeks 4days time her face might be completely unwrinkled. Lets hope she makes it

Excuse me, would you pass my spectacles please?
Originally uploaded by jonnyfez.

(Thanks to jonnfez for this image)




Another week another weigh-in.

TBH it was another disappointing morning. The afternoon was better but not for dietary reasons.

The result was 11st 2.5lb 71kg Waist Measurement 39inches.

If anyone is brilliant at metric-to-imperial conversions they may question the quality of these stats.

If anyone has taken a look at the quality of the scales I bought from John Lewis they also might express a degree of scepticism. I, too, have fallen into the trap of blaming my tools. I have difficulty seeing the result displayed on the scales. I was considering donating them to a charity shop and buying myself some digital ones but then it occurred to me that though it would give more refined results it would be equally difficult for me to see the results. The solution ofcourse is a Speak-Your-Weight Machine. A posh-sounding imperial one - not one that doesn't know what a "stone" is and has a Mid-Atlantic twang.

The measuring bit is also difficult. When R does it she seems to say I've lost loads of inches but I do it and the loss is minimal if at all. It all comes downto "when is a waist a waist". I should defer to R's judgment as she is a bit of an expert with knocking out clothes and things. But perhaps I feel the need to overcount the inchs in case I slackened my efforts.

The over-counting trick didn't work today as I went to Chelmsford City to watch AFC Wimbledon thrash the title contenders 3-nil. I got confused and bought a cheese sandwich then got even more confused and ate a jumbo hot dog with loads of ketchup.

I think the lack of calories has done something to my brain leading to sudden bursts of dietary confusion.

(When I was looking around for pics for today's blog I came across this little story on flickr that shares some of this blogs interests. Apart from the heart-stealing.)

Half a glass of water
Originally uploaded by Jeff Youngstrom.

I am floating in a lettuce leaf atop an ocean of low-fat yoghurt. The land of chocolate seems very very far away.

Honestly, the diet isn't getting to me, really.

Today there have been good pieces of news from here and there and I think I can have my weekly pint tonight. It's quite an enticing prospect.

It should be good. A problem with only being allowed a small amount to drink each week is you don't want to waste your units on any old muck. I definitely want a decent beer. I think the idea is to visit the immensely characterful Sussex Arms ( I was there on my birthday, sorry, I mean the Readers' Meeting, last September).

Thanks to Jeff Youngstrom for "Half a glass of Water" at flickr



Diet Yoghurt Beer

For the drop...and beginning to bounce

carrots
Originally uploaded by khalloran.

After the rigours of my present diet something had to give I suppose.

Hopefully not the springs on my weighing scales.

Todays weigh-in was 11st 2.5lb 71.25k 39.50ins

Everything behind the decimal points is a bit fictional but some progress has been made.


Anorexia looms in 2020 at this rate.

(When I came back to edit this I suddenly remembered I was dreaming of a rabbit or rabbits).

Now that I have radically twiggyfied will I feel at home amongst the beer bellys of AFC Wimbledon's away support as we attempt the impossible - overthrowing Gravesend and Northfleet in our quest for FA trophy glory.

There's a particularly well known fan called Salad - for reasons that aren't immediately obvious.

The Quit-o-meter today

---9m 4d 03:46 smoke-free, 6,980 cigs not smoked, £809.68 saved, 3w 3d 05:40 life saved

Thanks to khalloran and pixietart at flickr for the images.

Technorati Tags: Blubber Diet Anorexia Dreams Rabbit

The Scales That Knew Too Much
Originally uploaded by WooDrew.

Well well well.

After the considerable effort and sacrifice of the last seven days I am proud to announce that I HAVE PUT ON 3LBS.

Yes I have gained weight. Cut out sugar exist predominately on fruit. Cut out fat and fat bearing products. Engage in extended brisk walks. And yes...weight is gained. If I continue with this I will have gained two stone by the time I see the doctor in June.

Bugger.


Diet Fat Hungry Disillusionment

Blogger has changed as anyone who uses blogger knows only to well. It has introduced "post labels". Not quite sure what the point of them is. I just tried the ones I placed below and they don't seem to go anywhere. Also they all seem to be a single link...even though they don't seem to link to anything except this post.

100 Chicken Nuggets
Originally uploaded by danmanley.

I saw an interesting item via redditt this evening. What do portions look like?

After a couple of weeks "adjusting" to skimmed milk I was pleased to see that a whole new set of portions was being called for.

slimming weight loss diet

Roast vegetable goodness

Roast vegetable goodness
Originally uploaded by kightp.

A minor culinary masterpiece tonight. Roast vegetables served with bouillon and worcester gravy. The frazzled green beans were a delight - almost oriental. And the roast cabbage was to die for. The secret is to roast it in chunks - don't let the leaves separate - the outer ones dry up but the inner parts are wonderfully moist.

I then had some sliced kiwi fruit and a drop of low fat yoghurt with the slightest hint of pure maple syrup.

It was delicious. It was two hours ago. I am starving.

I just noticed that at the top of this page there is a button marked "next blog". I wanted to see if this linked to my other blogger blog. Well it doesn't it goes off to see whats happening next door. So I went for a gander.

If looking for something to occupy your hands you could do worse that look here.

Interested in a bit of Malasian politics? Look here.

Find Walmart demonic and Angelina heavenly? Here.

Not sure what to do on News Year's? This blogger observes "Now is the accepted time to make your regular annual good resolutions."

Another hobby when you bore of the knitting without having to buy large amounts of material then this blogger might have something to offer.

I could have gone on clicking on "next blog" quite merrily but this spoilsport had contrived to remove his button. As if that was going to make me stay at his site. There's always one who spoils things for the rest I say.

(They're not really neighbours - when I got stuck I went back to my page and started again and the next blog button went to a different site. I am not sure that's the right thing...it would have a stronger community feel if we were stuck together like real neighbours. Then we could all borrow virtual sugar off each other. Or given my present circumstances borrow artificial sweetener off each other.)

A mobile-phone version of this site would be useful for dealing with those inconsistent labels mentioned below. It comes grace of the US government and though pounds and onces aren't the imperial kind (I think) you're given lots of weight options, including metric of course, and lots and lots of food info about just about everything. It is search-based rather than list based and seems to do the trick nicely. I tried bananas, maple syrup and tuna canned in oil. (No - it's not some mad dish I'm conjuring up). It provided all the info I needed plus some. Definitely worth a visit.


Over here the new thing is Five Portions of Fruit and Veg a Day. Check it out here. This is the total opposite in style - it keeps things short and sweet and there is a useful list of of "portion" samples. It could do with a portion-calculator and a search function I think.

And failing that there is also the option of popping a few newly-arrived pills and getting them to do the job for you - for smoking and for weight control.

Stepping towards 2007

Christmas Cigarettes
Originally uploaded by Todd Ehlers.

Here's an eve of new year's eve summary as far as smoking is concerned:


---
8m 3w 12:50 smoke-free, 6,644 cigs not smoked, £770.70 saved, 3w 2d 01:40 life saved


And we have a newcomer to the stats - all part of the de-fattening process:

Weight 72kg ~ 11st 3lbs Waist 40 ins.

Could be worse.

All in all it's a bit too much for me - even R finds it a bit mind-bending watching me eat fruit and clap gleefully at the sight of a carrot.

And of course there's the no (minimal actually) alcohol regime.

So where am I?


I gave up smoking in April.

I was getting really itchy skin so I went to the doctor. He saw my palms and promptly fainted. "Your liver" he gasped.

I went through two extended dry periods prior to a blood test and then an ultrasound scan.



Neither was conclusive. Either its a type of fatty liver thats not too bad or its liver disease at an early stage.

I see a second doctor and he seems relaxed about it - I start enjoying a few drinks again

Then I see a consultant - he thinks a biopsy might be needed and he wants me to lose weight and go minimal with drink.

In the mean time I think I'm having a heart attack which is some other vaguely diagnosed ailment, another doctor gives me a drug and am told not to drink. Subsequently my face explodes with yukky skin disease around the mask of my face. So I see another doctor. For some reason she wants to input basic info onto the practice's database again. She is amused when I tell her I drink 1-2 units a week.

She gives me another prescription. Then I am looking at the small print of the first drug and it warns me to consult a doctor if my face starts to blister so I guess I am going back to see another doctor about...er...what...oh yes...my face...or is it my liver?


~~~~~~~~~~

My first non-smoking Christmas. Any thing to say about it? I had to spend more quality time with my family - I used to be able to escape to the garden for a long cigarette or two. Did I say escape?

I missed my post Midnight Mass cigarette - much more than my usual Christmas Eve drink-up it must be said.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

John Lewis yesterday braving the sales-seeking crowds to get a weighing-scale. Got pounced on by an assistant "Can I help you sir" "Yes I am looking for some weighing scales" He must have thought I was a drug dealer or something as he sent me down to the kitchen department. I emerged ten minutes later and sought out bathroom accessories.

I had little idea how the market has changed - weighing scales tell you all sorts of things nowadays like how much of you is fat and how much is water at any given moment. After failing to find out what batteries were required I bottled out and bought conventional mechanical scales. They also happened to be the cheapest.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Football used to be a different experience altogether and it wasn't only because the Wimbledon FC team was professional. At least four pints of lager would be involved and it was almost statutory to visit one of the many chicken outlets in Thornton Heath - the greasier the better. When things went Non League I suddenly found I could drink just as easily and smoke much more easily. Fried chicken was on offer in Kingston Road but I never really got on with it. The chips and burgers inside Kingmeadow sufficed nicely.

Post-smoking and the experience is practically unrecognisable. Today I had two bovrils on the trot (don't tell me its fattening please!). In the second half I stuffed my face, rather furtively I have to admit, with some over-priced dried berries I had bought from Waterloo Station. The berries were washed down with tea.

(Bovril of course does belong to rituals of football - it was drizzly and windswept and the light was perfect as I sipped on my warming beaker. AFCW beat Walton and Hersham 3-1. I celebrated with a berry.)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Though R has been a great help with giving up smoking she isn't very expert at anything to do with slimming. In fact reading labels is not her strong point unless it's the bright yellow "Reduced" or "Two for the Price of One" type of label and then she's very observant indeed. Negotiating the microscopic grid at the back of foodsfuffs (Fat 0.3g of which 0.05g is mono-flatuent and so on) isn't easy for anyone. I have never ever in my life bothered looking at them till now. I have spent two weeks odd checking them and am already annoyed at the inconsistencies. I original thought the values were all on a per 100g basis but obviously not. Something I looked at today was only X amount of fat per 1/3 of a pot. Not very easy to make your calculations extrapolating from fractions of pot sizes.

Despite our relative inexperience we'll shortly be settling down to a Jacket potato and a lettuce leaf. R might have a beer to wash it down with ....ahhhhh.

A Happy New Year to You All.

Football Diets Smoking New Year

Not getting any younger.







OK. This is getting silly now. I went to see my "consultant" on Monday. He wants me to lose weight. And not use sugar. And avoid dairy products. And fatty foods. And bready foods....potatoey foods...foody foods. He very kindly will allow me the 1-2 units of alcohol I mentioned below.

And the daftest saved for last...he wants me to exercise. Twerp.

Crise de coeur

A person came to live in the close's dustbins the other week. Very Christmassy – doubt it was a pregnant virgin but we never got to see the occupant. A note was left for them telling them it wasn't safe to live there and they seem to have moved on. They had stuffed old newspaper paper into the slats of the door to keep out the cold.

Last Monday I decided I was in the middle of a heart attack and called out the ambulance. I felt a bit silly doing it but the ambulance people were very reassuring. To my surprise they actually took me to hospital and worse the doctor wanted me in over night and I had an IV thing plonked into the back of my hands. I didn't get out until 3pm the next day.

My fellow patients were a bit of a pain. I wondered if one of the disembodied voices I heard during the night was the person who had just moved on from our dustbins.

There was another who I was convinced was faking his moans and groans. R smuggled in a slice of pizza. Although he didn't see the source of the smell he was soon on his feet hassling the staff for supper. “I smell food” he said “I haven't eaten for two days” “Why haven't you?” the nurse asked. He didn't answer.

Another bloke turned up at 5am under police escort. Various doctors attempted to ascertain what he had taken – there were concerned mutters about opiates. The next morning the doctor did her rounds and had a jolly chat with him about the pills cocaine and litre and a half of Jack Daniels he had drunk. When she got to me she asked how much I was drinking. I had briefly discussed the indeterminate liver problem. “Around the limit” I said “21 units a week” - she hit the roof and gave me the third degree – “You should be drinking 1-2 units a week at the most” she screeched. Oh well. How much is a unit now?

Try banning this

WHACKIE TABACKIE ?
Originally uploaded by Philip Campbell.

Apparently the German coalition have agreed on strengthening their relatively relaxed smoking laws. Smoking in pubs restaurants bars and "discos" will still be permitted. I'm sure this guy is well pleased with that - especially the disco bit.

My my... how I have changed

Papua New Guinea
Originally uploaded by Eric Lafforgue.

Apart from the general podginess there are a few "giving-up" positives I have noticed.

I am just at the end of another period of being on the verge of a cold. On the verge of one. Not laid low off sick with one. This has happened twice since I have given up smoking. Has my resistance/immunity strengthened?

That said I did get hit by a bad one shortly after giving up. At least life is a bit more comfortable now if you get burdened with a sore throat. There was nothing more depressing than steeling yourself to smoke despite a red raw throat.


Sometimes with a fever you would have to go without - you had no choice because you were unconscious. But as soon as a bit of clear-headedness arrived it would be out on the balcony for a puff.

There was an error or rather an oversight in my earlier post about the Waterloo Cafe makeover. The Waterloo Cafe is now to be known as the Cafe Waterloo - in fact thats what all the engraved glass is about. Very chic that. Cafe Waterloo. Very French.

Guess it's not one of the more common cafe names over there though.

Thanks to Eric Lafforgue for the image "Papua New Guinea"

Oh the chill and wonderful world of Windows. Sitting hear listening to Ennio Morricone at this website - it could equally be chill with a Mac I presume but with Linux....who knows? Perhaps it would work perhaps not.

Though the pros and cons of Macs running OS X Tiger and PCs running XP Home and Pro are rigorously detailed at XvXP its taken for granted that the Mac machine is ahead on pure design and the logo blares out of the back of every MacBook.

And it's not only Steve Jobs who is at it. After a bit of a gap I decided to visit the Waterloo Cafe for egg chips sausage and beans today. This is a cafe that I mentioned had annoyed me in the past - it had a billboard advertising spag bol but everytime I went there the old guy would say "We don't do it on a tuesdays" ...or if it was a Weds "we don't do it on Weds".

They finally took the sign down after me going in there a thousand times and turning on my heels whenever the excuse was trotted out.

I went in today and ordered my food in a half trance finally looking in the direction of the manager. He was wearing a black tee-shirt with The Waterloo Cafe printed on it in a clean modern font.

I should have ordered mutton dressed as lamb.

Let's all just chill

Originally uploaded by questionyourtruth.

Aaaaargh...its so annoying. R and I look like we are going to hit a brick wall with our dream home. The vendor says he can't shift the tenant and that he's going to sue them etc...Months of fiddle-arsing is coming to nothing. Fivers have been wantonly cast upon the open flames and it wasn't even a rock stunt.

Oh well. Just have to chew it over with some new-style Orbit chewing gum in weird cigarette type packets. Perhaps Orbit are gearing up for the new boost in sales that should accompany the smoking ban next year.

Instead of changing the packets they should really be thinking about the flavours. Spearmint doesn't really go with stout or bitter though its probably ok with Vodka and Tonic and the more flavourless lagers. Some possibles:

Biltong

Cheese and Onion

Salt cod

Tobacco.

The last one is a bit problematic - does tobacco without nicotine taste of anything? The sickly burn is the whole point.

A friend reckons it will be smoke free tobacco products that will hit boom time rather than the sweety industry.

I know only one tobacconist, in Otley, that sells chewing tobacco. Will it become a standard behind every bar counter? And snuff of course.


I think I'll google around to check out the Irish experiments.

EDIT: And sure enough here's the first hit so to speak.

thanks to questionyourtruth at flickr for the image

We didn't get mullered in any sense of the word. AFC Wimbledon played well but not well enough to earn replay or a win. The turnout was huge for such a fixture.

R and I were able to do some catching up with respective friends who live in or near Exeter and the whole thing went a treat. 

feeling a wee bit nervy

!
Originally uploaded by viva la paola.

There's nothing like a good chain smoke to calm your nerves through the night before a big day.

Aye

AFC Wimbledon take on Conference Giants Exeter tomorrow at St James's Park.

R and I have to get a ridiculously early train so are preparing for bed at a ridiculously early hour.

Oh yes the chain smoking...no I'm not. I am having to make do with decaf instant. Great thing is its a long train journey tomorrow and I won't have to deal with any cravings.

R has just opined that "we are going to get mullered aren't we?". I think she meant to use another word but if we win tomorrow we will probably get mullered and all.

Half a year

No Pipe Smoking in Croatia
Originally uploaded by Venichka.

SIX MONTHS without smoking.

Had my first heavy smoking dream in ages as if to mark the occasion last night.

Half a year without cigs- little old me.

A world without smokes seems possible.

Had to happen in the 21st century though - wouldn't really look right in any other era.

How would James Dean have looked cool? Hung a shoelace out of his mouth?

And what would Sherlock Holmes have done if the anti-smoking craze had kicked off even earlier?

"I am most beholden to my horse chesnuts dear Watson - it is a liberation of the mind to enjoy them by the hearth but even so I fear this problem is a nine nutter. Leave me now"

Off into the sunset

The Butt Family..., originally uploaded by emerton.

R needed some extra folder space today so she asked me to purge the smoking folder that she had built up for me and used to leave on the smoking ledge.

I was a bit hesitant - isn't this memorabilia worthy of preservation?

Most of it is mass produced literature so I didn't think it would have any wider value - there would be no future Museum of Smoking without the Smokers issuing requests for old anti-smoking leaflets.

Inevitably I gave them a quick glance- I was not a devoted reader of the file (started three or four years ago) in it's early days as I had no intention then of giving up - there was a picture of some local sporting hero kicking some small person in a cigarette suit. This unfortunate character was called Buttman.

There were my quit cards mentioned on this blog - these are to be left around the house or office to give gentle reminders. A lack of fridge magnets meant that whole idea never took off.

Even channel 5 turn up in one leaflet giving financial advice. It says things can be cheaper overall for non-smokers but makes the interesting point that some insurance companies pay out larger annuities to smokers that non-smokers as their life expectancy is lower.

Well the R's marvellous efforts at building up a propanganda pack over the years is now in the bin.

Bye bye Buttman.

Slim pickings

Big Portions, originally uploaded by m1keydee.

R has been applying the Chinese Burn in a move to encourage a healthier diet.

I said I had decided not to do anything else healthy until the quit-o-meter was over the one year mark.

The pressure has had some kind of effect of effect though. I had a dream about a doctor giving me a scary diagnosis so today I entered the symbolic realm of giving up sugar in my coffee. It was fine.

This small concession might protect some of my other snacking habits in the short term (see illustration).

The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step it is true. But it is also true that a journey of a thousand involves around a million steps after the first one and that's a bit off if you ask me.

Felt some positive emotions about not smoking. A long train was a lot more comfortable - a bloke in front of me starting rolling up when he was one station away from his destination just like I used to. And when going without my sugar today I was aware that it was nothing compared to the early stages of giving up. I felt a tinge of satisfaction at having done something that was good for me.

(Thanks to konaboy pigalina and kevin and kathy for linked images from flickr.)

I popped into the Caffe Nero yesterday morning a bit ahead of my usual time and bumped into Kevin Spacey who was half way through purchasing a breakfast bowl of fruit.

He's a big lad our Kevin. Massive. He was wearing a flat cap on the wrong way round. It was as if Norman Wisdom had got the lead in King Kong.

He kind of shrieked and whooped when he recognised me- "Heh Rikky my boy- long time no see"

"Oh, oh - here he is,” I said rather unenthusiastically "where are the rest of the usual suspects?"

He crumpled up in hysterics.

"Stop it Rik! Stop it - you're killing me"

When he regained his composure he ordered a mango juice to go "...and better chuck me a banana too. Make that two. As in T-W-O the number. Two bananas. And a pear"

"Yeah Rikko how's tricks?" he continued chucking a couple of grapes in his vast mouth "Keep meaning to catch up with your blog. Still off the smokes I take it?"

I faked humility "Just because I sent you an email Kevvo doesn't mean its compulsory to read it. The Clinton thing went well I hear. Has Misbegotten opened yet? Sorry I'm a bit out of touch with you too- I've had a few projects of my own on the go."

"You're kidding me...great news Rik, great news. You mean we're going be seeing you pull the old tights on again? I'll never forget that thing you did at that Church place in Kensington. Noel Coward right? Or was it Brecht? Anyway you were the old
guy. Excellent doddering"

"Sorry to disappoint, and no offence Kev, but acting's a mug's
game and I'm not going back. There are more important things than lighting up the world
with my talent. Much more importantly I'm completely off the
snout."

"Great part for you - Snout"

"No no Kevin. Tobacco. I'm still off the
fags...er...cigarettes"

"Good good but tell me Rikksy- Are you 'compensating'? Know what I
mean Rik my boy? are you com-pen-sat-ing? Because I am since I
quit. With me its fruit. I'm compensating with fruit"

"Really?"

"Yeah that's what the the Great Mr K ordered and thats what I'm
sticking to. And boy do I feel great. Fruit man, fruit's the way
to go." - he shoved a watermelon into my hands - "And the thing
about fruit is...” he took one ginormous stride to the door..."it
ain't made of chocolate" . He glanced meaningfully at my stomach
turned on his heels and in a flash he and his fruit were gone.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Kevin Spacey is currently appearing at the Old Vic in Eugene
O'Neill’s ‘Moon for the Misbegotten.’


Erik Fuller is currently not smoking in and around London SE1.

Kevin Spacey Misbegotten Fruit

---5m 1w 1d 03:28 smoke-free, 4,030 cigs not smoked, £467.48 saved, 1w 6d 23:50 life saved

I have been getting a bit lax with my anniversaries. (I know anniversaries comes from the word year but who cares).

So it was five months and a week yesterday.

I decided against football at the last minute yesterday- I don't know whether it was the French Farmers market in Lower Marsh (picture) or R having passes to London Open House (she volunteered at her workplace) that stopped me going but I missed AFCW's win in the crazy-early stages of the FA Cup against Horsham.

We're off to Open House this morning after I've finished my special homemade coffee- Douwe Egberts with milk frothed up with an Aerolatte with vanilla syrup (both gifts from a reader) and sprinkled with the amaretto powder that R got me.

We have some interest in a particular house at the moment and I'll fill you in when things develop.

Well turnout far exceeeded expectations at the reader's meeting. We all managed to cram
into the Caffe Nero and engaged in a few ice-breakers. Then it was time for me to start
the tour.

People were sorely disappointed that Mr K's Chemists weren't open. A false hope had arisen
that I would be able to arrange a meeting with the great man and possibly people would be
allowed to have photos taken in the anusol chair with him. I do hate to disappoint and I
don't blame my readers for their frustration but it did get a bit out of hand.

I continued the tour along the river pointing out to the crowds the spot where I filmed this (video
link) one off episode of Fag Free TV way back in April.

My voice began to get hoarse shouting to the crowds and they began to lose interest so it was decided to go to the Pub.
Here are some unused ashtrays and here is one of my readers meeting up with a couple more
of my readers. And here are some more readers relaxing.

Then we went to the Tate Modern- no idea why- and then off to have something to eat. We
managed to shrug off the unmanageable numbers of followers and managed to squeeze into Marie's Cafe The Best Cafe In SE1.

And then a bit of a sing song at the Sussex Arms Karaoke until it was time for the readers
to disperse. There were planes to catch and so forth. One of them a certain Miss B who
had come all the way from County Wicklow just couldn't tear herself away until she got a
bit bored and then she managed to break away no problem.

Great meeting you guys and gals even if I
didn't have time to talk to you all one by one. And thanks for the presents you
coincidently heaped on me on a day that was so coincidentally close to my birthday...