Week 221: wool again

First of all, are you OK?

• Tried some hop water – it’s bubbly water infused with hops, big in America apparently. It’s subtle, much closer to normal bubbly water than to beer. You know how there are water sommeliers who insist that different water tastes different? It’s like how I imagine posh interesting sparking water would taste, if the water sommeliers were correct.

  I could see myself trying hop water again, if I knew of any local shops stocking it, but I refuse to buy more online.

• Knocked over the Woolite® wool detergent bottle again. The lid’s broken, there’s a hole in it, so the liquid spilled out. I’d say “this is what I get for respecting wool” again, but really if I was a bigger respecter of wool I’d have finished the bottle already. I was short on time, so resolved to clean it up another day.

• Up unusually early, holding a little moka pot basket of coffee grounds, I went to silence an alarm and slipped in a puddle of wool detergent. No injuries.

• To an bus open data service comminity ignition event, under the auspices of KPMG. Obviously, holding an event about provincial buses up a tower in London does nothing to dispel the idea that something’s been “designed by well-meaning but clueless officials in London”, although it’s consultants not officials who are the real baddies. Yes it’s a shame about the state’s addiction to the services of consulting firms, but it was a fascinating peek behind the curtain: such resources, great catering, faultless AV equipment, a professional illustrator drawing on giant whiteboards. And nice to see everyone, and some dissenting voices from different perspectives were heard, and maybe now some things will get better in some small ways!

  • Everyone else seemed much more nonchalant than me about the view out of the big windows, in admittedly one of the smallest huge buildings in Canary Wharf. (I bet it’s not even a real wharf.)

  • I forgot to put forward any ideas about intercity coach services, damn.

  • I think a delegation from Tescos were in an adjoining innovation lounge, and if only I’d had the courage to infiltrate I could have effected real change, got them to stock hop water and higher-quality black pudding.

  • Caught the river bus (the Uber Boat by Thames Clippers for sponsorship purposes) – a touristy extravagance, but I’m keen to do it again. Coincidentally, at last bustimes.org now sort of shows live departures for that and the other non-bus TfL modes – it didn’t simply “just work” because of the difference between StopPoints and StopAreas and blah blah, and it’s still imperfect.

  • On the (packed) train back, sat opposite an old fellow who was eating M&S sliced cooked meats, from the plastic tray, with a fork (disposable, wooden) – I think he had some roast topside of beef, then moved onto wafer-thin ham. Dudes rock.

• The Arctic Monkeys were in town. All the vehicle movements and the forklift trucks have been less of a novelty than they were last year. Got a cheap seated ticket from Twickets at the last minute. Well, maybe not having to travel somewhere actually subtracts from the experience, and standing looked much more fun, but the North Pole simians (+ the Hives) put on a good show, well done them.

• The unique microclimate here means it’s been quite chilly. When I started writing this, the main sign of summer was still the increasingly unjuicy oranges in the shops. But now I am also sunburnt.