http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php?disp=comments en-UK http://backend.userland.com/rss 60 Sat, 08 Apr 2006 01:36:25 +0000 c3149@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 Thank you so much for your blog. I have had an interest in London for a long time and it was a pleasure to read what it is like as an American to live there. I wish you both the best in your new adventures. ]]> http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/03/21/way_out#c3149 Thu, 23 Mar 2006 03:33:10 +0000 c2809@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 Dear Heather & Linda I am a Canadian who lived in London for 15 years. I am back home and the inadvertent "travel advisor" . Today a friend in Seattle emailed me to ask my advice about a one day London stop over for her brother. As I was googling images of Bristish coins, I came across this great blog of yours. It is so thorough and the pics are great. I think it is a great tool for folks visiting or contemplating residency in London. I hope that you decide to keep the site intact. Thanks & happy trails I am a Canadian who lived in London for 15 years. I am back home and the inadvertent "travel advisor" . Today a friend in Seattle emailed me to ask my advice about a one day London stop over for her brother. As I was googling images of Bristish coins, I came across this great blog of yours.
It is so thorough and the pics are great.
I think it is a great tool for folks visiting or contemplating residency in London. I hope that you decide to keep the site intact.
Thanks & happy trails]]> http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/03/21/way_out#c2809 Tue, 21 Mar 2006 17:43:49 +0000 c2803@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 And on to another experience. I have enjoyed reading all your blogs over the past two years and am sure you'll come up with an enjoyable replacement! Good Luck!
]]> http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/03/21/way_out#c2803 Mon, 13 Mar 2006 18:07:47 +0000 c2786@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 I did read this yesterday - wish I could have seen it http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/03/12/st_dunstan_in_the_east#c2786 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 18:55:35 +0000 c2767@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 I wrote a comment before - what happened to it? You'll miss some things but there's many more ahead... http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/03/05/our_time_here_is_drawing_to_a_close#c2767 Thu, 09 Mar 2006 18:53:39 +0000 c2766@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 Sounds GREAT! Now that you're leaving you make these discoveries - maybe working too much... http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/03/08/fish_aamp_chips_and_goodbye_to_warringto#c2766 Wed, 01 Mar 2006 00:14:25 +0000 c2458@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 Can I suggest another... A little further afield this time; Chester. This is the original shopping mall (to understand why, you really need to go there). Book far enough ahead on the train and you can get dirt cheap first class fares (Virgin Trains from Euston and find a direct service, not one where there is a change a Crewe). While the modern shops and their garish and uncompromisingly Modern signs seem incongruous with the architecture, I've decided that I like it this way. A town with a past that is not afraid of the present and the future - Too many historic towns in the UK, like York, seem too pickled in chocolate box type aspic for my taste. There's also a Roman amphitheatre and lots more to see there. The canals make parts of it uncannily like Amsterdam. http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/02/19/hickory_dickory_dock#c2458 Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:16:41 +0000 c2424@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 Wow, does this mean you have a new career coming your way Heather? HA! http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/02/17/flight_training#c2424 Wed, 22 Feb 2006 18:33:45 +0000 c2307@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 What a fun experience! http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/02/17/flight_training#c2307 Fri, 10 Feb 2006 23:05:25 +0000 c2107@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 From the Oxford University Dictionary (the bible of the lingo - all 500,000 words. That's words. It excludes terms like "pig in a poke" or "cul de sac", which mean something other or more than the literal interpretation of their component parts). Shambolic [f. SHAMBLE n.1 5b, perh. after SYMBOLIC a.] colloq Chaotic, disorderly, undisciplined. Reported to be ‘in common use’ in 1958. 1970 Times 18 June 9 His office in Printing House Square is so impeccably tidy that it is..a standing reproach to the standard image of shambolic newspaper offices. 1975 Times 14 June 8/5 The average listener is in the position of anybody who encounters an organization at work for the first time. It may appear shambolic but how much is that because he hasn't yet made sense of it. 1978 R. JANSSON News Caper xiii. 110 We may have a shambolic landing, Jean. I want you to go right through the aircraft reminding people about the emergency drill. 1980 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts July 509/1 It will continue in a much more shambolic manner than the urbanization that has occurred in the Western World. BTW, you do know we are missing two letters in the English alphabet; "ng" (which looks like a cross between a 3 and a Z accounting for the peculiar proper pronunciation of Menzies as Mengies) and "ss" (as in "missing", which looks like an italicised f, which you can see in texts pre c1700). No wonder people find English a hard language to master when you add things like where were and wear or there, there and they're.
Shambolic

[f. SHAMBLE n.1 5b, perh. after SYMBOLIC a.]

colloq

Chaotic, disorderly, undisciplined.
Reported to be ‘in common use’ in 1958.

1970 Times 18 June 9 His office in Printing House Square is so impeccably tidy that it is..a standing reproach to the standard image of shambolic newspaper offices. 1975 Times 14 June 8/5 The average listener is in the position of anybody who encounters an organization at work for the first time. It may appear shambolic but how much is that because he hasn't yet made sense of it. 1978 R. JANSSON News Caper xiii. 110 We may have a shambolic landing, Jean. I want you to go right through the aircraft reminding people about the emergency drill. 1980 Jrnl. R. Soc. Arts July 509/1 It will continue in a much more shambolic manner than the urbanization that has occurred in the Western World.

BTW, you do know we are missing two letters in the English alphabet; "ng" (which looks like a cross between a 3 and a Z accounting for the peculiar proper pronunciation of Menzies as Mengies) and "ss" (as in "missing", which looks like an italicised f, which you can see in texts pre c1700). No wonder people find English a hard language to master when you add things like where were and wear or there, there and they're.]]> http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/02/07/words_we_ve_heard_shambolic#c2107 Sun, 15 Jan 2006 17:57:18 +0000 c1753@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 Sounds strange but glad you liked it - however notice you're not rushing back... http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/01/14/finally_the_fat_duck#c1753 Sun, 15 Jan 2006 11:27:35 +0000 c1752@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 It seems that you really liked Visby. ;) I totally understand that! :D Have a nice day! Have a nice day!]]> http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2005/08/12/visby#c1752 Sat, 14 Jan 2006 18:01:16 +0000 c1751@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 I only got enough for one day at a time so could carry it all. The reason for that was the small size of my refrigerator! Think it's time to come home??? bg
bg]]> http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/01/13/trolley_with_a_dash_board#c1751 Mon, 09 Jan 2006 21:33:49 +0000 c1685@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 Sounds like a badly installed system to me. One with a leak somewhere too. You shouldn't need to top up the system - needing to is a sign that airlocks are developing. The only way they develop is if water is leaking out somewhere - that's probably why you hear gurgling. Likewise, the thermostat. A central one should be fine so long as the radiators are correctly sized and the stat is located in the right place. Pity me. I'm on a district heating scheme and there is no thermostat. While the limitless 24 Hr hot water is welcome, but the only control I have, winter or summer, is to turn radiators on or off Currently, only 2 are on in the whole house! If I ever turned them all on, I'd be cooked alive in my own home! http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/01/03/boiler_basics#c1685 Wed, 04 Jan 2006 18:41:04 +0000 c1679@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 You're supposed to be grateful for your heated towels. Ever thought of using them while you watch TV in the evenings??? http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2006/01/03/boiler_basics#c1679 Tue, 03 Jan 2006 20:45:06 +0000 c1678@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 Desmond - THANKS for the tip. We are planning our trip to Rye and Dungeness for one of the upcoming January weekends. Exactly the kinds of places we have wanted to visit around the U.K. so thank you. Linda http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2005/12/27/white_day_in_dover#c1678 Mon, 02 Jan 2006 12:58:03 +0000 c1676@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 I kept the alcohol in the garden :-), along with a lot of veg. Anything else would have been an invitation to the local foxes to come robbing me. One problem; it's been so cold, the beer froze. :-( http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2005/12/24/winter_refrigeration#c1676 Mon, 02 Jan 2006 12:41:05 +0000 c1675@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 You got snow in Hampstead? I suppose that was because you are uphill. All it did in Borough was rain. :-( Can I suggest a seriously good day trip to the south coast; Firstly, Rye. A beautiful, medieval cinque port (now land locked). Breathtakingly pretty... Oh, and some of the restaurants there are brilliant. Secondly, now this may seem a really odd one, but nearby is a place called Dungeness. It's best known for Dungeness A and B - A vast nuclear power station. The landscape there has a surreal, big sky and stony emptiness to it. Oddly, it is best experienced on a dull, cold and cloudy day. It is made all the more surreal by the looming presence of the power station. It's a place of choice for film makers, who want a peculiarly weird sort of windswept, coastal landscape where man has intruded on nature in a really sinister way.
Can I suggest a seriously good day trip to the south coast; Firstly, Rye. A beautiful, medieval cinque port (now land locked). Breathtakingly pretty... Oh, and some of the restaurants there are brilliant. Secondly, now this may seem a really odd one, but nearby is a place called Dungeness. It's best known for Dungeness A and B - A vast nuclear power station. The landscape there has a surreal, big sky and stony emptiness to it. Oddly, it is best experienced on a dull, cold and cloudy day. It is made all the more surreal by the looming presence of the power station. It's a place of choice for film makers, who want a peculiarly weird sort of windswept, coastal landscape where man has intruded on nature in a really sinister way. ]]> http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2005/12/27/white_day_in_dover#c1675 Thu, 29 Dec 2005 00:08:44 +0000 c1674@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 Your street looks SO pretty! Hmmm, the White Cliffs of Dover-- those things I've just heard about are real... Hmmm, the White Cliffs of Dover-- those things I've just heard about are real...]]> http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2005/12/27/white_day_in_dover#c1674 Thu, 29 Dec 2005 00:05:21 +0000 c1673@http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2 Interesting!!! Guess you hve to eat what you can't store... http://hhollick.com/v-web/b2/index.php/2005/12/24/winter_refrigeration#c1673