The Lurker

Having followed the link to the Vicarage website I must say it reminds me of Sissinghurst.

Well I must say iD’s meal looks superb. not sure what I am doing up still but at least I can report I managed to mow the lawn earlier.

Greetings all from a cool and grey corner of the Boring Borough. Work extremely busy at present- a potential deal is on the table and this has led to literally 100’s of questions that need answering yesterday. I was dealing with #500 earlier. But they come out faster than we can answer the previous ones! as for nuts, all good for me but we avoid a lot of Eastern meals because Younger Lurker is allergic to peanuts. Shame for him because he likes a lot of spice.

That reminds me of the “Goodness Gracious Me” sketch where the Indians go for a European, are rude to the waiter and order the blandest item on the menu…. Very sharply observed.

(Some) Sidcup line Cannon Street trains still go via Lewisham so use the crossover. Some Sidcup line Charing Cross trains go that way too but use the Tanners Hill Flydown. There are also Victoria (or Blackfriars) trains from the Bexleyheath line that use the crossing in the other direction

When I was a student I caught German measles (not for the first time). Apparently it was such a typical case that they asked if they could take a photo so that student doctors could practice identifying it. Apologies to any former Leeds student doctor who has had that experience..... As the doctor told me, "that's a Theakston's Old Peculiar strain, not your regular Tetley's pishwater".

Happy Birthday to NHN. I saw the hygienist the other week and she thought I had a hole between two teeth so I needed to see the dentist and get x-rays. So that duly happened today. the good news is that the hole has not changed in size in the 4 years since I last had an x-ray so I don't need a filling. The bad news is that one of the first fillings I ever had (>30 years ago) has cracked and so possibly has the tooth - not urgent but needs sorting at some stage. And I was only saying to friends the night before the hygienist that I had been relatively fortunate with my teeth and not had much work done on them over the years....

not always - he cycled past me right by St Paul's one morning when he was in office. for political balance, i once sat opposite his predecessor on the tube (for which he seemed to be an advocate). I've not seen the current one on any form of transport but I did see him at the JP Morgan corporate challenge one year where he was going to be running the 3.5 miles.

Seeing your pictures of Bratislava’s trams reminds that I once read that prior to WW1 it was possible to catch a tram from the then Pressburg all the way to Vienna. It’s not all that far (30km IIRC) and back then it was all part of the Habsburg domains, so no borders.

Mornington Crescent

Thinking of military hardware, would you be able to fit a pillbox in? There are several at Cuckmere Haven still, and pillboxes were certainly sited along the SER mainline - there was in the woods we used to play in just by Paddock Wood station.

I am always taken aback in North America at trains that only run into town in the morning rush and out of town in the evening with nothing much or at all in the opposite direction and between the rushes. This is alien to us in the UK where our trains tend to run all day. Sidcup has 4 trains an hour in each direction outside the rush and 7 an hour during the rush. Services in Vancouver and Seattle don’t have anything like the frequency or bi-directional facility.

This is the recipe for it; https://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/beef_rendang_62793/amp

In a Rut - The Ruts

The last accountancy firm I worked for had a large Jewish population and the more orthodox were very much like this, needing to get at least within an eruv on time. The less religious at times seemed to use it as an excuse to get to the pub early. It also meant that Thursday was the going out after work night.

Yes it is. I think it is something to do with Ramadan EDIT - Ramadan starts next week, hence next weekend’s Saudi Arabia race is on Saturday- and the races have to be at least 7 days apart and so this weekend’s was on a Saturday too.

They did have song called “Ooh to be Ahh”. Now we know why.

If you have not been, this should be on your bucket listPasteis de Belem, Lisbon. They have steady queue of customers and the tarts are still warm. Wasted on me but Mrs Lurker was a fan. Apparently the leftover ones from the box of six were even better cold.

Sad news , especially as he was quite hopeful in a statement at the beginning of January. I too am a fan of their chicken paprika, made it many times.

if i were a candidate, my thought would be that i did not want to work for people like that. Sometimes it's not about any job, it's about the right job, and working atmosphere is important to me. Places that aim to give you a bit of real insight tend to be good. One job, my predecessor as allowed to spend an hour with me. Her comment before being interviewed by the deputy FD was "don't worry if you think he's a bit of a , we all do!". I was offered and accepted that job. And later employed my predecessor as a consultant in a different setting 10 years later!

There was an article a few years ago about "the small hours" suggesting that in the world before copious artificial light, it was quite usual to wake up in the small hours of the morning, do something relatively relaxing, and then go back to sleep, waking with the dawn - or when the night was at its coldest (it seems cold can be the waking trigger rather than light). This link refers to a study on the subject: https://www.headspace.com/articles/normal-wake-middle-night#:~:text=In fact%2C researchers have discovered,except Antarctica%2C of course).

Presumably boxing is not a sport per the GAISF definition, seeing as it is harmful to the two living creatures taking part. And with all the fuss about heading the football, I guess that is not either.

All of our contemporaries died of their allergies before they got to school.....? 😉 I am not sure where they all come from. It was a shock to have the paramedics round for Younger Lurker one Boxing Day. Tests showed the peanut in the fun size snickers he'd eaten, and/or chick peas/sesame in the small handful of bombay mix had caused a reaction. He'd eaten peanut before, but never since. The other things he was shown to be allergic to have been challenged under medical supervision and so he can, in fact, must, have them in his diet. The reaction to peanuts is too severe. We carry an epipen for him but. we have never had to use it. We don't know where the allergy came from, and we were generally gung ho about such things with him and his brother. Now not so much!

you could always make your own: https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/home_cured_corned_beef/ I am sure Triple D visited somewhere that made their own. Guy Fieri was well on his way to Flavourtown IIRC

There have also been porpoises - or dolphins; the local rags can't make up their mind - at Gravesend in the last few days. Maybe the convicts on the hulks off the North Kent marshes would have seen them....shades of David Copperfield