Category
Transport
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01.23.03Great Bearded TitOn the way back from Scotland on Monday we had a funny experience in the airport. We were supposed to fly at 1805, but we ended up returning the hire car a bit early and checking in at 1635 - very early for the 1805 flight. The check-in woman asked if we'd mind being moved onto the earlier flight - the 1705 - which was running ten minutes late, so we'd still be able to get on it. Sure, no problem, we said.Once we checked in out bags, we rushed through to the gate, where we waited for the 1705 ...
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01.01.03On SolipsismIt's the people who step out of doorways without checking first whether they might walk into passers-by. It's the people who try to get on the train before others have a chance to get off. It's the people who stand and chat in the middle of the pavement, or dawdle in shop doorways, who seem unaware of the possibility that they might be causing an obstruction. It's the people who smoke while you're eating, or conduct loud mobile phone conversations beside you on the bus, because their convenience and compulsion overrules your comfort. It's the people who stop walking immediately after passing ...
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01.01.03On Prolonging PleasureI think I've got the wrong attitude about going to the gym. I mean, I enjoy it, and I make an effort to go regularly, and I do feel like it's worthwhile, but there's a fundamental problem with the way I think about it.See, most of my gym-going friends say things like:"Oh no, I shouldn't have a biscuit because I've done all that work at the gym"...meaning that it'll undo all their hard work. I, on the other hand, find myself saying things like:"I can have a biscuit because I've done all that hard work at the gym"They're goal-based - ...
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01.01.03How to Look GuiltyI must have that kind of face. No, wait, scrub that. I must have that kind of mind. I always seem to feel guilty when passing through customs, even when I've got nothing to declare - which is always.Well, I say always. I mean always as far as I know - because sometimes, you've got no way of knowing.At university in the second year, I lived with five blokes. I've mentioned them before - they were the ones who were responsible for the electricity bill nightmare and the sorry tale of the seating rule. Anyway. Five blokes, all a bit ...
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01.01.03CrazyIt was easy to sleep in this morning. Easy in the warm dark room and the comfy bed. Easy in the shadow of two days of training, and the prospect of a hard day back at the coalface. Easier still because I forgot to set the alarm.I woke up spontaneously at a few minutes before six, had a brief sleepy conversation with P (which he doesn't remember), opened the window to ease the stuffiness a little, briefly considered going to the gym and then conked back out again. For another three and a half hours.At nine twenty-four, I was asleep ...
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01.01.03Urban LegendI was witness to the birth of a bit of gossip today. That is to say, I was there when something happened, and then as both time and people moved on, I watched and heard it evolve into something quite different, culminating in my neighbour telling me the most extreme version of the story as I dropped off a letter which had come to me in error. This afternoon, I was on the number six bus, on the way back from Oxford Street (a word to the wise: anyone wishing to retain their sanity should really avoid both street and ...
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01.01.03Trufi TalesBy my second month in Bolivia, I was living in a chalett in Sopocachi Alto, a relatively good neighbourhood of La Paz close to the canyon wall. A chalett is not a Heidi-log cabin type affair. It's a prefab, freestanding house (in my case, free-standing only by about six inches on all sides. I swear, if Bolivia had anything like the trade descriptions act) with a big sink on the roof to do the washing, and a view out towards mount Illimani on the other side of the canyon. I would stand on the roof in the early morning beforte ...
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01.01.03Train SerenadeStanding on the train, there's a guy in a flak jacket and work boots without laces. He's standing because there's nowhere to sit, and suddenly, he starts singing, in a hearty croon:Lots of girls and lots of boys Lots of smells and lots of noise Playing football in the park Kicking pushbikes after dark Baggy trousers, dirty shirt Pulling hair and eating dirt Teacher comes to break it up Back of the 'ead with a plastic cup. Baggy trousers, baggy trousers, baggy trousers... People look around nervously. We're not sure about people who sing on trains - especially not those who ...
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01.01.03Summer In The CityI went to Tottenham Court Road today to source an extra case fan to help my poor computer handle the heat (and additional drive) better. It's wilting, and I know how it feels.At a gloriously air-conditioned shop halfway up the main drag, I could have happily browsed for hours, because it was so blissfully cool. I found an Iceburg cooler fan kit, which is not just a fan to circulate air around the case in general, but a little freezer compartment in which you sit your HD (in my case, the new beefy one) in a drive slot, with a ...
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01.01.03Strangely FamiliarEvery morning I get on the tube at the same stop, at about the same time. Every morning for the last year and a half, I've seen the same guy on the platform. He's fairly distinctive, not hard to miss. He's about my height (5'10"ish), olive skin...looks a bit like Ruud Guillet with mid length kinda skinny dreads, wears headphones, chunky combats, carries a record bag and probably works in noomeeeja (we all do, darlink). Anyway, for eighteen months, every day we both get on the tube at about the same carriage, sit or stand listening to MD player (him) ...
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