Uh-Oh

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That’s just a few minutes’ walk from one of the office I work out of. Bad wallet news.

A New Traffic Light Feature?

Interesting new road safety feature at the crossing near Holborn station:

It counts down the number fo seconds until the traffic starts flowing again.

I must admit, my first reaction to these, as I headed in search of a sandwich, was disbelief - do we actually need these countdowns? And then, I remembered the number of rather horrible accidents I've seen from the EG office, including watching the police setting up a tent over, presumably, a mangled body, while I was in a meeting in the publisher's office.

Maybe we do need them.

Soho Sticker Escapee

Walnut cut
I associate prostitute adverts with Soho phone boxes, not the post box outside the flat.

This is not a change to the neighbourhood that delights me.

Holborn's Burning (Briefly)

OK, I admit it. the title's a bit of an exaggeration. But we had the excitement of a small fire here at EG towers this afternoon. As best I can tell, a pile of bags of shredded paper somehow caught fire just outside our Holborn office, leading to smoke, fire extinguishing and the arrival of the fire brigade:

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The building security guard actually tried to stop me taking the last photo. Apparently photos of burnt paper in the foyer are a security risk…  

The Named Famous Face

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Well, after my ruminations on the last Scarlett Johansson bus advert not being immediately recognisable as her, the winter campaign has her name in big old letters on the bus.

Just as well, as she's even less recognisable in this one...

It appears to be a colour toned version of this pic:

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A Comparison

I am annoyed.

On Saturday night, some lackwit managed to clip my (parked) car, scraping and cracking my front wing. The damage isn't significant, and experience has taught me that even if it was, reporting it to the police is utterly pointless. So the culprit will get away scot free.
On Sunday evening, I made a mistake driving through an unfamiliar area, and ended up in a bus lane by accident. There's a bus lane camera right there, so I'll probably end up £60 poorer for an honest mistake. 
And the contrast between the two is exactly why so many people in the UK are feeling a rather significant lack of justice right now. Damage to someone's property: no punishment. Mistake with no impact on anyone else: £60. Britain in 2009.

 

London, I'm So Proud

Trashed train
For a capital city, we don't show much pride in ourselves.

Holborn Freebies

One of the nice things about working in Holborn again is fun urban moments like this: