Following the successful warm-up outing with my new Rollator noticed at reference 1, my second was a visit to Wetherspoon's in the margins of a visit to the hospital.
A visit during which I learned that I had completely forgotten that I had visited St. George's for an MRI scan back in December. Also that the systems available to NHS staff fell well short of the whole person file for justice which we were aiming for in CJIT, then part of the Home Office, getting on for twenty years ago. Simply put, the idea was that any suitably accredited person would type in the name or number of a criminal person and get the whole story, a whole story drawn together from the various elements of the criminal justice system. I left before this came to fruition, if it ever did. At the time, it all seemed terribly difficult, this despite the large sums of money and large numbers of consultants thrown at it. I got the impression during this hospital visit, that the NHS had not made it either. Huge strides have been made in drawing data together, but not to the point of just typing in the name or number of a unhealthy person and so on and so forth.
On exit, plenty of trolleys about in town, but not really practical when I already had my own trolley. Perhaps when the museum seat intended to replace the trolley in due course turns up from Germany, something called a Stockholm II, possibly as offered at the British Museum.
Into Wetherspoon's to take refreshment, where I learned something of the skills needed to get a trolley and a drink down a short flight of steps at the same time. A first in that there was a chap at the bar putting an ice cube into his warm beer. When I noticed this, he turned out to be quite a talkative chap who claimed to know all about beer. He claimed to know, for example, of the Stag Brewery, late of Victoria, but he might just have been agreeing with me. And then there was a party which had probably been there for a few hours and which seemed to involve a lot of rather loose talk. The sort of people who would get very cross if they thought they were being short-changed by the NHS, but would not see anything very wrong in pinching stuff from Sainsbury's and then flogging it in some nearby pub. While I thought it might be amusing to compare the age distribution of clients with that of staff, and then perhaps to do the same thing with a care home. The place was pretty busy, but not with people who would, before the plague, wear shirt, tie and suit to work.
About to leave, when a chap I thought I might once have known turned up and joined a nearby table. Not sure about him at all. But as soon as he opened his mouth, I knew it was him. Something which happens on telly quite a bit: I see a face which looks vaguely familiar, but as soon as he or she speaks, I know that I know the owner, and quite often from where. I associate today to the ease with which we recognise people that we know on the telephone, perhaps just from one or two words. And then, in the hunt for Tooting (see below), I came across reference 2 - which suggests that my confidence in these recognitions may be misplaced. Even though I am quite sure that it was not in this case.
I also learned that the place was due to shut for a month or so for a refurbishment, as per the letter snapped above. Hard to see why, as it all looked OK to me. Perhaps there had been some kitchen hygiene, plumbing or electrical disaster which meant they had to have the builders in, so brought the refurb cycle forward a bit while they were at it?
Not for the first time, I noticed the decorative motif underneath the eaves of the Wetherspoon's building, the Assembly Rooms of Epsom's days as a spa town, common enough in buildings of yesteryear. I have a theory that the motif is derived from the roof beams of the temples of ancient Greece, crossed roof beams which held the elaborately coffered ceilings togethers. In which case, the spacing is all wrong. Furthermore, it looks more like little white wooden bricks stuck up under the eaves than beam ends. One day I shall get around to making inquiries about whether or not my theory is true.
Chickened out to the extent of summoning BH to collect me from outside T J Maxx. A chickening out that I can excuse on the grounds that she needs the practise in keeping an eye on her mobile phone.
Lentils
Home to the second of two outings for a lentil stew. 7oz lentils to 2.5 pints of water. For some reason, much foaming when the (unwashed) lentils first came to the boil. Celery and later carrots with the lentils. Butter, garlic, onion and sausage (probably Bastides) cooked separately and added to the lentils shortly before serving. On the first occasion, served with rice and chou pointu. On the second, fortified with what was left of the sausage, thinned with a little water and microwaved. More rice and chou pointu.
Postscripts
PS 1: my visit to St. George's took place just after Christmas and does not appear to have been noticed at the time. However, my telephone can still reveal that during the scan, I wondered about the etymology of the word 'hypochondriac'. Why not hyperchondriac? After the scan, Honest Burger was not open and I declined Tooting Wetherspoon's, Earlsfield Gail's and the Halfway House. Back at Epsom, TB was closed. So settled for warmed up gravy at home. Probably a relic of a festivity.
PS 2: I have now looked up hypochondriac in OED and it seems my naive parsing of it as 'below fear' was quite wrong. Certainly hypo was beneath or below, but chondria was not fear or any relation thereof, rather gristle, particularly the gristle associated with the breast bone, and the hypochondria were various organs below the breast bone, on either side of the trunk, thought to be the seat of various humors, including melancholy and depression. By extension, someone who was rather prone to same. From where it is but a short step to the modern usage.
PS 3: in the course of posting this, I came across the piece at reference 3. And I thought, what on earth is the point? As far as Thames Water is concerned, it is all part of the cost of doing business and will be factored into their computation of the price they charge for water and related services. No effect on dividends or executive pay or anything of that sort. Also all part of the great British Government - along with plenty of other governments - trying to pull off the trick of providing decent public services without levying the taxes needed to pay for them. And to think that we slagged off Johnson for cakeism. Late thought: it is really just a complicated way for the government to levy taxes. Every little helps, as they say at Tesco's.
References
Reference 1: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2024/07/out-and-about.html.
Reference 2: https://psmv5.blogspot.com/2023/12/spoofing-voices.html.
Reference 3: Thames Water fined £104mn over sewage discharges: Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water also sanctioned by regulator - Gill Plimmer, Financial Times - 2024.
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