wilting (reprise)

[caddyman]

Is it the done thing to be world weary on a Tuesday morning, after a long weekend?

I rather hope it is, because that's the position I'm in at the moment. Summer has returned, and brought with it the disruption of regular sleep patterns thanks largely to the heat¹ it is liberally dumping on us. Happily, a lot of people seem still to be on holiday as the tube was very empty this morning, so it was only vile, not completely unbearable.

Six months after the move, I still haven't perfected the concept of reading on the tube ride each morning and evening. In the morning, I'm happier to sit and doze for a half hour before panicking that I've missed my change at Euston. In an evening, I am generally too busy attempting to keep my face out of other people's day-old armpits to concentrate, and by the time the train is empty enough to sit down, typically East Finchley, or Finchley Central, all motivation to engage with the written word has been subsumed by the need for fresh, deodorant and sweat free air.

Mmm. Nice.

If ever I win a decent sum on the National Lottery, or Lotto as they have re-christened it in an attempt to soak further money from our pockets,I shall hire a a couple of punka-wallahs to follow the sahib around and keep his vast imperial bulk cool in all temperatures over about 75^o. Of course if I win enough, I shall just move in to a turreted and ivy-clad mansion equipped with ice-cold air conditioning, and spend my days slicing golf balls through the conservatory window from the inside with a nine iron.


¹This is British heat and should in no way be confused with your fancy foreign heat. We get far more annoyance with far fewer degrees than do you. Think of it as an efficiency saving.

Comments

[jfs.livejournal.com]

Bryan is showing his age. (who'da'thunk'it?)

For a period during the 70's and (IIRC) early 80's, the glorious county of Shropshire was officially referred to as Salop, and the inhabitants as Salopians.

This is doubly distressing because:

a) As you point out, it's a rude word in French, and giving the French a reason to snigger at the best county in the world ever is just beyond the pale.

b) Salopian rightly refers to someone from the town of Shrewsbury, which is a place full of inbred ingrates who can't even agree on how the name of their town is pronounced, let alone cope with a third name to deal with.

(wikipedia disagrees with me. They're just plain wrong.)

[caddyman.livejournal.com]

Salop was always the local nickname for Shrewsbury, and by extension the rest of the county. That said, the county got reet pissed off when, for that short period, the name 'Shropshire' was lost. We've always called ourselves Salopians, which is odd, since the name derives from the Normans' inability to cope with the Old English Sciroppescire...

[jfs.livejournal.com]

derives from the Normans' inability to cope with the Old English

And again we see the oppression inherant in the system.

Shropshire vs California

[bluesman.livejournal.com]

I always thought Shropshire was named after a local pre- or post-Roman occupation chieftain named Shrob, and so was Shrewsbury, (explaining why some pronounce it "Shrowsbury"). Maybe I'm wrong. In fact, I thought you told me that, Caddyboy, somewhere back in the mists of time.

Here in sunny San Bernardino, CA, it is a sticky 105 degrees every bloody stinking-arsed sweltering day from July to Sept. It's the armpit of Southern California, thanks mostly to the criminal element among the already neanderthal population, and the weather does NOT help. Thank goodness I live in the mountains, in relative comfort about 10 to 15 degrees cooler.

[ysharros.livejournal.com]

I knew both those things, incidentally. American by marriage I may be, but it has failed to completely indoctrinate me yet. ;-D

Is that the sound of brain cells fleeing back to Europe I hear?

[pauln.livejournal.com]

If wikipaedia is wrong, change it. That's the joy of it.