Archbishop urges rich to share pain, doesn't lead by example

The Archbishop of Canterbury has used his Christmas sermon to question whether the richest people are bearing their share of the economic downturn.

via bbc.co.uk

He might lead by example, but it's difficult to tell; anyone who has the rent-free use of a luxury riverside palace (Lambeth Palace) and draws a salary of almost £70k should think twice before exhorting "the rich" to share the pain unless he's absolutely certain that his own house is in order.

It'll be interesting to see if charity really does begin at home or whether, when he talks of the rich he just means other people.

And just to be clear, I don't actually care how much he earns or where he lives (I assume he pays tax on his benefits, like Lambeth Palace - that would be fair, wouldn't it?). As the CEO of a major corporation with substantial assets he is almost certainly underpaid when compared with the leaders of other large companies but at least his peers don't lecture everyone about fellowship and loyalty. Is Dr Williams bearing his share of the economic downturn?

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A Christmas stroll, sobering up before lunch

Click here to download:

Peckham Rye Christmas.kmz (42 KB)

Triple Sec and Champagne are a great combination on Christmas morning. After a walk around the Peckham Rye we're back home to thaw with a pot of coffee and some mince pies before we start drinking again with dinner in a couple of hours. Bring on the wine. Then some more Champagne. Then, maybe, a little whisky - best part of Christmas.

Name:		Peckham Rye, Christmas
Date:		25 Dec 2010 12:07 pm
Map: (valid until Jun 23, 2011)		View on Map
Distance:		1.76 miles
Elapsed Time:		39:04.6
Avg Speed:		2.7 mph
Max Speed:		3.9 mph
Avg Pace:		22' 11" per mile
Min Altitude:		25 ft
Max Altitude:		103 ft
Start Time:		2010-12-25T12:07:04Z
Start Location:
	Latitude:	51.457443º N
	Longitude:	0.068107º W
End Location:
	Latitude:	51.457498º N
	Longitude:	0.067432º W

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Christmas Bucks Fizz

Christmas morning and we're on the Bucks Fizz. It's a non-standard recipe: 1/4 pint of Champagne, 1/2 pint of orange juice, 2 shots of Triple Sec and a couple of fairly large glasses. We'll be drunk by lunchtime.

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The Death of Boots

And they were my favourite boots, driven to an early grave by too many miles, insufficient polish and far too much damp weather. Rot in peace and long may you be remembered. 

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Seats on Buses

Until we moved to London I had never been a big user of buses. Out in the sticks they're just inconvenient pieces of slow-moving traffic working to a random timetable over an unknown set of routes with an impenetrable fee system and an unpleasant level of customer service. In London the customer service isn't much better but at least the fees are transparent (a flat rate of £1.20 applies, paid by Oyster Card) the buses are fairly regular (so timetables aren't all that important) and, with the help of the legendary London Travel Deluxe app, the routes are readily discoverable.

So about what am I complaining now? Well the buses still aren't all that pleasant (crowded, slow, smelly and with unpredictable movements) but at least they are manageable. The real difficulty is that the seats are clearly designed from someone about 25% slimmer than me and so if I sit straight in the seat I crowd anyone who sits next to me. To avoid this I can sit half in the walkway, half on the seat but that's not very comfortable and inconveniences anyone walking down the bus. There's no real solution, as far as I can tell, so this will continue to be a source of annoyance both to myself and to anyone who mentions buses within earshot; you have been warned.

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Very few posts but lots of frustration

Calm yourself, your long wait for my next post is over. Why the delay? Basically the fault is with BT who have so far failed to install as much as a telephone line, let alone the high-speed internet service we ordered. As a result my internet access is severely limited (I'm currently using a neighbour's BT FON hotspot, which is tragically slow) and everything is a lot more difficult than it should be. What do I mean? Some examples:

1. We have a Freeview HD box which won't do anything without a broadband connection,
2. Our Apple TV (2nd Gen), iPads and iPhone won't connect to our (internet-disabled) wifi and talk to each other because (it appears) the wifi isn't connected to the internet
3. We don't have a landline so the wife's mobile runs out of minutes she uses mine,
4. App updates, software downloads and the like are either impossible or slow (3G is ok but the construction of our flat means that we get a decent signal only while the antenna is in the bedroom window).

Things are definitely better now that we're able to access a BT FON hotspot (the neighbours have only recently had their broadband installed - Grrr) but I'm really looking forward to a proper connection, which we might have by 7th January (much depends on OpenReach who, despite their name, can't be reached for comment or update). Deep breaths...

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I get the strangest Blog spam

This message was sent to a post about my car. It looks like it might be a real comment (rather than an auto-generated spam comment) but I've no idea why anyone thought it would sit well in a post called "Small cars, fast cars, bad driving":

I am planning an eco-friendly baby shower for my sister, and, trying so hard to think of different things to do. Anyway...... I came up with a wishing well where each guest will be asked to bring one organic jar of baby food, but I don't know how to present it in invitations or at the shower? I searched and searched the internet and could NOT find anything to help, hoping you ladies can!!!!!!

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New Forest fog and snow

Most of the snow has gone from the New Forest but it's very cold and
the fog has been hanging around all afternoon giving the place a
quiet, peaceful feeling.

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Goose Green, East Dulwich

It was cold in Dulwich this week and walking to the station was not a
lot of fun.

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Still without broadband, still complaining

Broadband, I've discovered, is distracting. When you have at your fingertips the sum of the world's knowledge (well, almost; I concede that most of what the world knows seems to be pointless celebrity chatter) it is very easy to be distracted from your core task, sidetracked by all sorts of stuff that you just didn't need to know and that fails to enrich your life by even the smallest amount. God, I miss it.

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