Wednesday 19 March 2014

Hello Blogophiles,

This has to be a record delay - it's now Wednesday, and I haven't done the weekend's blog yet, so I thought while it's still in my head I'd get something down on virtual paper.

Looking at the work diary I'm obliged to keep for the New Enterprise Allowance, to show that I'm not spending my days watching Loose Women and eating hob nobs, I see that last week saw me twice on the streets: Monday taking Spanish students around Westminster on the overseas student version of 'Of Commonwealths and Kings', and Tuesday taking Italians round on what, for convenience, I'm calling 'Squares and Palaces': from Covent Garden through Leicester and Trafalgar Squares and then along Pall Mall to St James's Palace, then Buck House and back through St James's Park to the heart of Westminster. As usual, the squirrels in the park are the main attraction, but the students react sympathetically to the story of poor Giro, the German ambassador's dog who was electrocuted when he bit through a live wire.

Giro - ein treuer Begleiter

I'm trying to find out who's responsible for cleaning the window in front of his stone: the German embassy say it's not them, so I'm trying Westminster City Council. The window's filthy, so you need a picture to show what it looks like.

I'm putting together my next tour, which will be one about law and order in the City. I've been reading up about Kitty Byron and the Lombard Street Post Office stabbing. I'm also putting together material for the walk based on trade and the City which will be the second of the series Viv Schrager-Powell and I are creating about Business and the City. Thinking of a linking theme for the tours' titles, I thought body parts might be an idea - the financial heart of the City, the sinews of trade, the commercial backbone, etc. We shall see.

Sadly, my life at the moment tends to revolve around business - such is the lot of the self-employed sole trader. Consequently I don't have much personal stuff to report for last week. I need to focus more on housework. I have someone coming round in April to inspect things in preparation for the Decent Homes work, where we have new bathrooms and kitchens. The bathroom certainly is a priority: I couldn't get the ceiling done for ages because of water penetration from the flat upstairs, and it's in a terrible state.

One positive note about last week is that I got Series 8 of the Navy Lark on CD: the previous week I'd been playing loads of episodes from Series 1-7 to get myself into an appropriately salty frame of mind for the preview of my maritime trade tour.



Anyway, that'll do for now: I'm going to brew up and get back to my tour preparations.

Cast off for'ard, cast off aft!

Love,

Dave Charnowalks

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