what's he building in there?

The well known cliche is occurring as someone nearby is embarking on a particularly ambitious amount of light engineering, from within their garage.

It’s got those whirring buzzing metallic sounds, plus an occasional hammering and a crackle like some sort of arc of electricity.

There’s something that sounds like bowling balls being dropped and rolled around from time to time and a low bass note that pulses.

There’s also been some spectacular broken glass sounds like bottles being stirred in an upright washing machine. Tom Waits had a similar experience.

I’ll probably try to get a peek at what's happening later, but I suppose in the tradition of such things I should wait until midnight and for a small crack of light from a paraffin stove or candle.

how now brown saddle

I have a slight sense of disquiet as I notice that google adverts are targeting me with 15-25% discounts on bicycle chainrings as I browse haphazardly around sites. Not just one cog, but a whole series of “offers”.

I should probably clean out my browser cache or reset the cookies to get back to more mainstream offers. I can only think the sensitivity is based upon my recent postings about cycling, but it’s uncannily close to the mark.

Either that or its just the subjective thing, like the way that an iPod Shuffle will sometimes play ten or twenty songs that are just right for the mood. But come to think of it, I remember a recent car journey where we seemed to be surviving on bangin’ club tunes however many times we hit the ‘next’ button.

Today I’ve been throwing stuff away again. It's a chain reaction. I was handed some discarded stuff to check before disposal and it created a yearning for some further rationalisation around the place. I can best measure it in wheely bins and let’s just say we’re full plus an eclectic selection of items for a charity shop or two.

There’s too much to take away on the bike, though, so maybe mentioning ‘car’ a few times will change the advertising.

Update: as a footnote, after this and the above post, I'm getting adverts for Laboratory Waste Disposal.

candy fix

I'll need to break away from my obsessive series of posts about the fixed wheel bicycle restoration project, but not until I've had a chance to Juice Lube the orange pedals and apply them symmetrically.

I realise it's a whimsical cartoon look, what with the green rims, white chain and an inexpensive but essential retro purple bit in the back wheel. I'm hunting around for a brown saddle, which is somewhere in the recesses of the garage and will add further weirdness.

I know that this candy coloured thing won't blend inconspicuously into the scenery like my faux-scungy chameleonesque MTB parked secretly in a useful place, but it's a different sort of project.

pedal power

Anyone who has seen the rashbre central garage will know it struggles to keep way too many items contained and its been a long time since a car was allowed inside.

This has meant the refurbishment of the black bike and the repairs to the silver one have taken longer than anticipated because I can't locate any of the toolsets or spare parts to make things good.

Luckily I keep a small gadget-driver in a separate backpack and the gadget can usefully undo and re-tighten most bits of a bike. Consequently both bikes have a serviceable array of parts even if some aren't the intended ones. Today's breakthrough was the location of the orange pedals I've been planning to put onto the black bike.

Next is to find a saddle that doesn't resemble a sponge.

in which i return the fixie home for fixin'

Back from some cycling this morning, before most of the area is properly awake.

I wasn't in much of a hurry and even returned once to swap bikes because I'm still breaking in an experimental single speeder which seems to need more fixin'-up work to be done to it than my usual multi speeder.

Frankly the fixie is a bit of an economically assembled amalgam of parts, so it's not that surprising that it is protesting a little. The chain is making unfortunate crunching sounds, its got some temporary pedals and the saddle is a kind of cloth which seems to suck in the slightest amount of rain.

I'd pinged on the Cyclemeter iPhone app before I started and of course it then worked out the route for the two bikes together and even sent me an unexpected email afterwards analysing my progress and showing my route on a little map.

holiday plans revised

Another week dashes past and could have led to the start of some holiday time, but the Fates have contrived other things because of some immediate work commitments. I'm sure we'll be rescheduling something else later but short term I'll continue to keep nose and grindstone aligned.

Today I'd considered a spot of cycling but I'll admit the incessant downpours tricked me into submission. I'll be out in the morning though, whatever the weather.

The email from the bike scheme today said that Londoners have cycled 100k journeys now in the first two weeks, which is in keeping with my average of 2 journeys as one of the 45,000 members. My journeys have also been in the sub 30 minute range but unlike others I've been lucky with finding bikes and docking stations probably because one of my journeys was on a Sunday and the other in the early afternoon.

I suspect its a good decision to start the scheme in mid Summer without allowing casual users, so that the teething problems of full docking stations, unpredictable usage patterns and erratic software can be ironed out ready for a more concerted use on 2011.

If the scheme introduces a new layer to the London transport infrastructure, alongside private bikes, then it will be a good addition.

Accentuate the positive. So I'll be thinking of my current additional working interlude in terms of the Graces, rather then the Fates. Joy, beauty and charm.

flashy mind's eye perseids?

There I was, at around three thirty am, staggering around the house in the dark. I'd woken and decided it was worth a look outside because I'd heard on the news about the Perseid metoer shower being at its best around now.

I wandered to the kitchen, which has a big glass door from where I looked upwards to the night sky, partly obscured by light cloud cover, but with a few of the big stars shining through. I could indeed make out the Plough (which I'm told isn't even a full constellation, but part of something else) and also the North star - for starters.

Then as I was looking around to get orientated, I noticed a little flash of a line in the sky. Quite faint, very fast and only lasting a mere blink of an eye - more like dim very straight lightning at an angle to the earth. I wasn't sure whether I'd imagined it.

I kept looking, wondering whether it was the meteor dust or simply my tired eyes. Then a couple of minutes later I saw another one - or maybe imagined another one. It was quite a short line in the sky and only lasted a tiny amount of time. A speck of dust burning at 1600 degrees Celsius or my tired eyes?

They'd both had quite a steep angle to the sky and were some way to the right of the Plough. The six mile diameter comet that created the dust isn't due around here again until abour 2126, and its near miss with the earth isn't until 3044. Its supposed to be about the same size as the meteor that wiped out the dinosaurs.

Its a bit like the brilliant Swift-Tuttle Dark Chocolate Espresso Berry Comet Truffle belly timber recipe designed to wipe out astronomical hunger.

But I'm still not sure whether I'm an observer, even after I glimpsed or imagined the third one.

London Cycle : Maps and Routes

I wondered whether there would be any iPhone applications to support the new London Cycle Hire scheme and it turns out there's already about half a dozen. I plumped for the first one I spotted, but actually it didn't work very well, so I then decided to read a couple of the reviews.

The one called London Cycle: Maps and Routes seems to work well and has quite a few features such as a live map of the docking stations and numbers of bikes available, a route planner and even estimated times for journeys. There's also a countdown timer to show how much time left in the 'free' period.


The application also looks useful for general surface route planning, whether using a hire cycle or not. I'm guessing that these applications will eventually overlap with the ones that provide information about pubs, coffee shops and train stations. Otherwise I'll need a whole page for all of the iPhone travel in London applications.

But I'm not complaining, and - guess what? - the application is free.

symbolic

Yesterday's presentation went okay, which also meant that the agreeable business supper at a posh country home was, well, agreeable.

There's still piles of work for me to do, although it seems slightly surreal at a time when many others are enjoying summer holidays.

So today's midday deadline has also been met and tomorrow I'm heading into one of the skyscraper blocks in central London for some more presentations. Rather madly, I'm thinking how I can work a use of the London bicycles into my travel plans, but I've decided, prudently, that if I do it should be on the way back from the meeting, in case of any mishaps.

Its bad enough arriving for a meeting with a spattering of coffee, so I'm sure I could do worse based upon one of those bicycles, at least until I've had a bit more practice.

I suspect the semiotic hot dog at Cromer on Sunday was providing a warning to take care.

accentuate the positive

I was at the Queen's place on Saturday, not Buck House, instead at the one in Norfolk nestling amongst all of the other large estates in the area.

In between our plans to have fun, I was also working and had to put aside a couple of hours during which I could concentrate on the presentation I needed for Monday.

It was one of those situations where the outcome would probably depend upon how I told the story. So to illustrate, here's a couple of my pictures whilst wandering around the Royal grounds. Neither picture is really the way it looked and in fact the two pictures are both from the self same camera shot, once with everything set to 'dismal' and the second time set to 'candy happy', so to speak.

It's something like my presentation where I had to choose an appropriate mood to convey the right impression. Not too much grey but also care not to overdo the sunshine.

If you know what I mean.

Riding around on the London Cycle Hire Scheme

I finally made it to try out the new London Cycle Scheme. Its already been running a week, but I just haven't had the opportunity.

Then, Sunday evening, a moment presented itself. I was at the Knightsbridge Pont Street rack and there were about five or six cycles available.

I found the little card and slotted it in, watching a little set of lights change from red to green. Yippee! I could get a bike. Except it wouldn't come out of the rack. I tried a couple more times but then noticed someone else struggling with the same problem.

I moved to another rack and tried again. Green light and this time the bike came free. Neither of us were sure what the problem had been, but I was ready to try the bike.

First impression, well built, but quite heavy. I realised I needed to adjust the seat and work out whether the big black elastic band was important (only for carrying things). I set off along the road and instantly noticed two things. One - the gearing was rather low and two, I was surprisingly wobbly.

I stopped and changed to gear 3, which was as high as it would go. This immediately felt better and I was able to start off in a more refined manner. I headed down the first side street to get used to the bike and by the time I'd traversed the square I was more comfortable.

The bike runs quietly and is surprisingly upright compared to my own bikes. The three speed hub gears are probably useful although I stayed in 3 for almost the whole time.

After a few minutes I realised how much I was grinning on this new addition to London's transport and simultaneously realising I didn't know where the other nearby docking stations were located.

I know the area I was cycling around quite well, but I was also interested in the sensation of having to remember the one way systems in this hybrid world between pedestrian and road user.

I was also struck by how many people were looking at me on the bike. Not my wobbling, which had stopped after the first couple of minutes, but I think they were showing the same novelty interest that I've also had as the scheme was introduced.

I re-docked the bike within the 30 minute 'free' period and although that was a few hours ago, I'm still grinning.

no claustrophobia on this submarine

There's that bit in a Tarantino film when Uma Thurman and John Travolta discuss what later becomes the plot of Kill Bill. And I think the same thing happens in Notting Hill Gate when Julia Roberts rehearses the lines of her next movie with Hugh Grant. Its something to do with being a commander on a submarine and having to talk in improbable sounding jargon, which the Julia Robert's character suitably mispronounces.

But the producers from the BBC were watching and thought "Hey, that's not half bad, don't y'know" and commissioned a whole series based upon the rooftop scene.

It's called 'The Deep' and about a spacious submarine underneath the North Pole. There's a great and suitably diverse gang of crew although Minnie Driver has managed to wangle the part originally destined for Julia Roberts. I initially wondered why there wasn't a spiky haired oriental looking person in the crew but was then relieved a couple of scenes later when one showed up in the UN tracking station.

I've heard others being scornful of this project, but I'm regarding it as an interesting piece of light entertainment. The submarine's interior is about the same size as a space ship from Alien and has plenty of Sci-fi pods and flashing lights all around. There's obviously a great conspiracy happening outside in the 700 degree centigrade thermal ducts which don't seem to melt the icebergs.

We also have a possibly murderous latecomer to the crew who knows Everything but won't say a word.

In effect, we have a great collection of space drama plot devices stacked up in this five parter mini-series. Or should that be Minnie series?

I will be watching. Open the pod bay doors.