It was there all along
13 September 2025 06:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
igenlodeI went back to the market this morning and was accosted by one of the stallholders I had questioned fruitlessly about my missing luggage strap; he had a very grimy bungee cord in his hand. Apparently it had been there all along, exactly where I assumed I must have lost it -- they found it underneath their van, presumably when they came to pack up and drive off. (And very kindly hung onto it for me in the hopes of seeing me again.)
I can only assume it must have pinged off with considerable force, because I did *look* under the stall (behind which the van was parked) and it wasn't there. So it must have travelled a dozen feet or so at ground level and ended up out of sight under the low floor of the van....
Of course I had already perforce bought a replacement set of cords, currently looking very clean in comparison! However at least I now have a pair of spares -- or would if I knew where I had put the 'survivor' from last time :-)
I managed to get mixed up in an English Pride demonstration while cycling up in Town -- my own fault since I hadn't grasped why the road was closed and just saw a large crowd of people on the pavement (they filled the carriageway further along). Fortunately for once I was not in a tearing hurry, having set off early in the expectation of having to stop and put on rain-gear at some point, and they were very nice about it and allowed me to cycle very cautiously through despite the fact that I was going completely against the flow of the 'traffic'. I suspect it helped that I was very respectably and conservatively dressed, and manifestly "English", especially the moment I opened my mouth to say thank you -- if I had been a young Asian in Lycra with a foreign accent things might have gone a little differently, but as it was they were friendly and good-humoured about it. I don't actually know an alternative route for that section and was worried that the police would stop me and tell me I wasn't allowed to be on the road at that point (though if they had, they would probably have advised me politely as to where I ought to go instead, given that I am still manifestly respectable, upper-middle-class, and harmless).
I also suspect the fact that I couldn't help being struck by the irony of the situation -- and kept moreover wondering if, like d'Artagnan amidst the Fronde, I should be asked to shout appropriate slogans to demonstrate my loyalties before being allowed to pass (what is the equivalent of À bas Mazarin? "Muslims out"?) -- and therefore found myself frequently grinning at the situation may have had something to do with it :-p Thinking about Boyarsky playing d'Artagnan does have a tendency to produce random grins, but it's probably just as well they didn't know the very un-English thoughts behind *why* I was smiling so much...
I can only assume it must have pinged off with considerable force, because I did *look* under the stall (behind which the van was parked) and it wasn't there. So it must have travelled a dozen feet or so at ground level and ended up out of sight under the low floor of the van....
Of course I had already perforce bought a replacement set of cords, currently looking very clean in comparison! However at least I now have a pair of spares -- or would if I knew where I had put the 'survivor' from last time :-)
I managed to get mixed up in an English Pride demonstration while cycling up in Town -- my own fault since I hadn't grasped why the road was closed and just saw a large crowd of people on the pavement (they filled the carriageway further along). Fortunately for once I was not in a tearing hurry, having set off early in the expectation of having to stop and put on rain-gear at some point, and they were very nice about it and allowed me to cycle very cautiously through despite the fact that I was going completely against the flow of the 'traffic'. I suspect it helped that I was very respectably and conservatively dressed, and manifestly "English", especially the moment I opened my mouth to say thank you -- if I had been a young Asian in Lycra with a foreign accent things might have gone a little differently, but as it was they were friendly and good-humoured about it. I don't actually know an alternative route for that section and was worried that the police would stop me and tell me I wasn't allowed to be on the road at that point (though if they had, they would probably have advised me politely as to where I ought to go instead, given that I am still manifestly respectable, upper-middle-class, and harmless).
I also suspect the fact that I couldn't help being struck by the irony of the situation -- and kept moreover wondering if, like d'Artagnan amidst the Fronde, I should be asked to shout appropriate slogans to demonstrate my loyalties before being allowed to pass (what is the equivalent of À bas Mazarin? "Muslims out"?) -- and therefore found myself frequently grinning at the situation may have had something to do with it :-p Thinking about Boyarsky playing d'Artagnan does have a tendency to produce random grins, but it's probably just as well they didn't know the very un-English thoughts behind *why* I was smiling so much...
no subject
Date: 2025-09-13 11:54 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-09-14 12:22 am (UTC)It was apparently "Unite the Kingdom": https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cwydezxl0xlo
But it is of course possible to be proud of other things than homosexuality :-p
(And, to be fair, the people I saw were entirely peaceful, with women, children and people being pushed in wheelchairs, including one blind woman with a white stick, in addition to the expected contingent of shaven-headed men. Two girls walking hand in hand lifted their arms and made a laughing arch for me to cycle through between them; they were neither violent nor threatening. The main difference I noticed from other demonstrations was that this one left behind an extraordinary tideline of empty beer cans afterwards :-P)
no subject
Date: 2025-09-15 06:39 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-09-15 09:13 am (UTC)