I took this in St. John's Wood last night as I went out to dinner with Dave and a couple of his co-workers after their students' holiday concert. Only now, looking at the picture, am I realizing that car travel on St. John's Wood High Street apparently now goes from north to south, rather than south to north as it used to. Which means cars could have run me down from behind as I was standing in the middle of the street taking the photo. Fortunately there's not much traffic!
The concert generally went well, though there were a few slip ups. One of the drummers dropped his drumstick during a furious solo, and a sax player's instrument crashed to the ground when the lanyard holding it around his neck apparently failed. He was not happy.
Even though the performances were none of my doing, I celebrated with everyone else when it was over. I ordered a martini at the restaurant, and once again, I am reminded that a restaurant martini can be a disappointing thing. A martini should be, at most, one part vermouth to four or five parts gin -- in other words, nearly straight gin. The one I got last night was the wettest, most vermouth-heavy martini I've had since last May. I don't know why bartenders tend to overdo the vermouth, except maybe they're stingy with the gin for cost reasons.
Anyway, I ordered an extra shot of gin and threw it into the glass and that improved (but did not correct) the ratio.
For dinner I had an Asian salad with watermelon (better not think about the carbon footprint of that), blackened sea bass and mini mince pies for a Christmasy dessert.
See that little thing? That's called a cable clip. I spent yesterday morning doing something I should have done literally years ago -- taming our sprawling internet cable. It's a long phone cord that runs from our phone jack near the front door through the entire flat to our router, which is in the living room (where we spend most of our time). This cord has been loosely coiled and running across our floor for ages, but it was unsightly and a trip hazard. So I bought those little clips at our local Homebase (which is closing and selling stuff at fire-sale prices) and tacked the cord to the baseboards.
Now it's out of the way and more or less out of sight, but man, that was a tedious process. I thought it would be easy, but can you see how tiny those clips are compared to my fingertips? Now imagine trying to hold that tiny tack next to the floor and pounding it in with a hammer, especially in a confined or awkward place like an inner corner or behind a door. Infuriating!
Anyway, now it's done and I don't have to worry about the dog walker or a repairman or a guest tripping over the internet cable and breaking their face and then suing us. As a product of litigious American society, I worry about these things.
30 comments:
The lights and dampness make the view shine.
How I remember school concerts...and being glad they were over! (From the performing side)
Taming the electronic spaghetti!!
A small picture hanging/tack hammer helps...but it is still not easy.
I can see hundreds of those little clips all round the skirtings from where I am sitting!!
I wonder do the English use the expression “break your face”? I haven't heard that in years! A very New York street threat: “I'll break your face!”
So glad you there were no cars behind you on the high street. But just imagine THAT photo!
I came across an excellent martini recipe. Put gin and ice into the cocktail shaker. Wave a bottle of dry Vermouth in the general direction of the shaker. Gently shake and add an olive to the glass once poured.
You often refer to martinis in this mind-bending blog but I must confess that I have never had one in my life. I am like Homer Simpson - I drink beer - with wine reserved for Sunday dinners only.
I thought that was some tiny faucet toy thing in your hand. Sheehs.
As for the martini, I have a friend who orders his Vermouth In and Out, meaning you add ice to a shaker, put in the vermouth, shake it around and then pour it out. THEN you add the gin.
Well, I think you should have a real sense of accomplishment on getting all that cord tacked up.
The top photo looks like a painting. Beautiful.
St John's Wood! Fictional apartments of high end kept ladies.. see various romantic novels.
I love their draped lights, though.
I used to use those and zip ties to organize cords but was forever having to undo them as electronics, and their cables, changed. When I build my wall to wall office desk, I made a false back on it so that the cables can fall anyway they want and not be seen on top or from looking at it from afar. A much better solution for one wall of cables but wouldn't work in your case where are a couple rooms away from where it is needed. Too late now but perhaps you should get a mesh router the next go around. They are the cat's pajamas when it comes to getting a good signal throughout a wide area and don't have any cords at all, other than the power cord.
interesting that your internet cable comes from your phone jack and also that you don't have a phone jack in the living room where one would assume one does most of the talking on a landline. I'd have probably had trouble nailing those little things in too.
and one would hope that one's companions would alert you to an oncoming car from your back.
I love that street picture! The Holidays are in the air!
I'm impressed about the job you described. There is no way I could have done that same job.
I love that street picture as well. I must say, when I caught a glimpse of your picture, for a heart stopping moment, I thought you were going to say that you found that in your dinner somewhere!
I've never had a martini and since I gave up alcohol in the nineties, I guess I never will. My drink of choice is seltzer or water with ice.
Your street photo is beautiful. Nice capture of light and shadows. We ate dinner out on Saturday and the drinks were fine but my friend felt the steak portions he ordered were smaller and the side of dipping sauce was eliminated. Today, costs and profits seem to drive everything. Nice job completing the cable fix. Tedious but an important job well done.
That photo sure does have a Christmas look to it. There are so many gadgets and things out there that I have no idea what they are used for. When I go into a hardware store, I don't know what half of the things are they sell. All of those little clips and things. I admire you for having the patience to deal with that tiny clip.
Lovely photo! We have a line of duct tape holding our cords down - it looks awful, but when we tried those rubber things they use in offices we kept tripping over it (we're pretty clumsy). Should say that the cord has to cross a walkway - it's not along the wall.
I have done that in a rental, used the cable guides to go up and over a door. It was a pain, however, no one tripped and fell down.
That St. John's Wood photo looks like a movie set, the light is lovely.
That photo is so Christmassy! I'm glad you didn't get run over :)
My knees are getting bad enough I don't think I'd be able to do that tacking job in one go. It would be a multi-day task. It must feel good to have it done and over with.
Let's face it, Steve, you worry about LOTS of things. But good job in taming the cable. You (and your guests) will be much happier.
I love the street scene. Your cable guide. Honest to goodness. I thought you were about to say you found that in your Asian salad.
You look after your hands
Kids band concerts can be very interesting. I'm always impressed with what the band teachers do with kids. Parents are in awe of their little darlings. I know because I was one of those parents.
Why bother with the vermouth. Neat gin sounds good to me!
I don't know which is the more painful mental image: you on your hands and knees putting all those little things along the baseboard or you getting hit from behind in the street! 😱
I checked out that Threadless website and I wonder how well made their t-shirts are? It's become a tradition that I give my adult children humorous tees each Christmas and there are a lot of options there.
I dislike gin intensely but then I hate all hard liquor unless it's hidden in a froufrou drink and sometimes not even then! LOL I've found most projects way harder and more time-consuming than I think; great job on corralling the cord!
I remember those tiny little clips, I usually get them installed just in time to be moving on and having to rip them all out again. In my previous home I had a row of them up on the cornice to hang Christmas ornaments from and I left them when I moved here.
My mother drank Gin and Martini in the late '30s, early '40s and it was called a Gin and It.
GZ: Oh yeah, being finished with concerts is always such a relief.
Frances: I'm glad I'm not the only one who's dealt with that particular kind of torture. :)
Mitchell: I don't even know why I used that expression. It's not something I say often!
Andrew: YES! That is my style of martini.
YP: Mind-bending! LOL! Martinis will do that to a person.
Bob: Yes! That's how Patrick was taught to make them in "Auntie Mame."
Ms Moon: The sky was a particularly nice color.
Boud: And Paul McCartney!
Ed: Our router is an older style but I don't see us replacing it until it dies. It seems like we ought to be completely wireless by now, doesn't it?!
Ellen: There are a lot of interesting things about our flat. We do have a phone jack in the living room (which the landlords used as a bedroom when they lived here, way back when) but it doesn't work.
Sharon: I thought it would be SO MUCH EASIER than it actually was.
Ellen D: They are a hard-hitting drink. I can only have two, max. And one if they're big.
Susan: Money rules the world! (And the dinner plate!)
Michael: I was just glad Homebase had them. Because the store is closing, a lot of their hardware shelves have been stripped bare.
Bug: Yeah, it's especially tricky when you have to cross a doorway. You could always run the cord up and over the door (if it's long enough). I ran them under the door threshold or a seam in the floorboards.
Allison: And it looks MUCH BETTER than it did.
37P: It was good light. It was about 4 p.m. so coming on evening.
Jenny-O: It does feel good. My knees get a workout in the library so I have pretty strong legs!
Catalyst: Ha! Do I? I don't feel like I'm a worrier but maybe I'm fooling myself.
Debby: Ha! That WOULD be a nightmare. Talk about microplastics!
John: I really don't! I cut my fingernails and that's about it. In fact I should have washed them before I took that picture!
Red: Well, that's the secret when you're a music teacher -- parents will be happy with virtually any performance. It's hard to have a bad concert from the audience's perspective.
Caro: I agree. My stepmother eventually quit vermouth altogether!
Kelly: I still have a Threadless shirt I bought in a thrift store in New York in the mid-aughts. It's one of my favorite t-shirts, in fact. Still going strong, but I can't guarantee their current shirts are the same quality!
Margaret: I don't enjoy any brown liquor at all -- whiskey, rum, etc. Ugh!
Rachel: Oh, I've heard the expression "Gin and It" and I never knew what it meant!
The cable clip is a great idea but I can see why it would be a pain. That's super tiny. Too bad about your martini. But it sounds like a fun evening apart from that!
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