A piece of Dickens

"Some London houses have a melancholy little plot of ground behind them, usually fenced in by four high whitewashed walls, and frowned upon by stacks of chimneys, in which there withers on, from year to year, a crippled tree, that makes a show of putting forth a few leaves late in autumn, when other trees shed theirs, and, drooping in the effort, lingers on , all cracked and smoke-dried, till the following season, when it repeats the same process, and perhaps, if the weather be particularly genial, even tempts some rheumatic sparrows to chirrup in its branches. People sometimes call these dark yards "gardens"; it is not supposed that they were ever planted, but rather that they are pieces of unreclaimed land, with the withered vegetation of the original brickfield. No man thinks of walking in this desolate place, or of turning it to any account. A few hampers, half a dozen broken bottles, and such like rubbish, may be thrown there, when the tenant first moves in, but nothing more; and there they remain until he goes away again, the damp straw taking just as long to moulder as it thinks proper, and mingling with the scanty box, and stunted everbrowns, and broken flower pots, that are scattered mournfully about --a prey to "blacks" and dirt.

Copied by Walter

Charles Dickens - From Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby

A one-off thing

My husband called into his favorite pub for a drink on his way back from work a few weeks ago. When he got home he discovered that his mobile phone, a note book with all his telephone numbers, a medical card and about £150 in cash had been expertly lifted (as they say) from an inside pocket. He didn't think it was worth reporting so just put it down to bad luck.

A couple of weeks later at a very early hour there was a knock at the door. It was a policeman asking him to come to the police station as something had been handed in for him to collect. And lo and behold! When he arrived he was handed his mobile, his note book, the medical card, and of all things £50 in notes!

The police were astonished and said they had never known such a thing before.

Was it a person with a strong conscience!!

Beware they want to renage on our pensions

Dear Holbornites

It's your Ace reporter El Moano.

I would like to bring to the attention of the great British public that certain members of the House of Lords can meddle with the pensions of postmen who are in danger from foreign invasion of the Royal Mail.

It's alright for Lord Mandelson to tell us it's okay with his pensions (yes plural - he has more than one). It is a sad sign of the times that essential services are now in the hands of companies whose headquarters are on foreign soil - so they are more responsive to the country of their ownership - it looks very gloomy?

There is one bright hope our heroic hero in shining armour is Frank Dobson MP who has said in an email to El Moano that he is totally against any partial sell off.

I know Sir Frank will slay the privatisation dragon.

London today

Today is the 10th of June 2009. The underground workers are on strike for 48 hours. The effect on central London is alarming. The road system is clogged with traffic and even though people are walking and cycling to work it is clear that transport in London is at breaking point.

There is no lack of discussion. We are being told that oil and coal are non-renewables and that we must develop "sustainable systems" of energy. The discourse does not include people.

A city, any city, is extremely vulnerable to disruption. The electricity shuts down and nothing works, no lights, no heat, no escalators, no underground trains. People's behaviour must change and change in ways that favour survival...survival in a manner compatible with being human. Survival that means civilised as well.

After all, the dinosaurs became extinct. Did their underground train system cease to function?

Footsore

Hello all at Millman Street. Just popped in to say hello! I've been keeping up to date with all your posts. Very very interesting. Such a great variety of experiences, stories, information, tips and opinions being voiced! ... and the whole connected world being able to access and read your work! Great stuff. Keep it up.

You will of course forgive me if I make a point! It would be good if your individual posts always had an author who signed their work consistently with their name or a Nom Du Plume, so to speak! That way, for me at least, it would help link the ideas and opinions etc. of each author. At the moment lots of them are anonymous! ;-)

I myself have been living mostly in Ireland since Christmas. I needed to go there to support a family situation that arose. I am now coming back to London more frequently and am establishing myself here in the city once again. My time in Ireland, especially these last few weeks has been very pleasant. I have been gardening. I have sown Broad Beans and Peas. I have also sewn 7 varieties of Tomato in the Greenhouse to see which variety does best!

Back here in London I am involved in a variety of things mainly Art and Design and Computer work. I have been creating and maintaining some Blogs for other people and other centres and I have also been attempting to establish a Web Design and Graphic Design Business called Pumping Engine Films. If you click on the name you will see my site. I also continue to do a lot of private, one to one Computer lessons and tutorials and am always available for that.

Here are some links to a couple of the Blogs I have created and maintain.

Charlie Ratchford Centre's Wormery.

Brent's African Caribbean Community Network Service.

Hope you like what you see and if you know anyone who wants a website, blog or private lessons do get in touch.

I trust that all of you are doing well and I am so pleased that your Blog is developing and it will, I'm sure, become an important platform for all of you to express yourselves.

Kind regards always and keep up the good work!

Charles xx

Image sourced from HERE