Coffee and orange squash
Just a short one today. I just really wanted to post something on my blog today. Here’s something I discovered a few months back and feel I have to share with you all. Coffee and orange squash1. Not mixed together, of course, but side by side. Specifically, taking a sip of orange squash when the aftertaste of coffee is still in your mouth. You’d never believe it, but this produces a completely new flavour I can only describe as “smooth and powerful”. Give it a go and see what I mean! I have a feeling you’ll be surprised too. Disclaimer: I drink my coffee black. I cannot vouch for how this tastes with white coffee but I can only imagine it’s revolting, as is mixing milk with just about anything. American readers will not be...
Return tickets
I was thinking, as I purchased a return ticket from Leeds to Sheffield, that I don’t really grasp the concept of return tickets. A return ticket is, as you probably know, a ticket that brings you back to your origin from your destination for (sometimes significantly) less than the cost of two one-way tickets. In the case of National Rail, the cost of a return ticket is barely more than the cost of a one-way ticket. Or, if you look at it another way, you almost have to pay for your journey home even if you don’t intend to take it. Even more bizarrely, the concept of a “day return” means you are penalized for not returning on the day you left. The return ticket phenomenon means that people are strongly discouraged from making journeys that...
My beef with Google+
I’ve been a member of Google+ since day 1, but I’ve not really taken to it in a big way. Initially I thought this was because none of my friends were on there, but no… now lots of my friends and other people of interest are on Google+ and (reasonably) active. So I thought to myself what it is about the user experience on Google+ that’s holding me back. I love the idea of putting all my contacts into so-called circles. It’s great to be able to make the distinction between friends, acquaintances, famous people I’m following, etc. and being asked to choose each time I share a new item. Facebook and Twitter both have lists for incoming data but Google+ has made it easy to do this for outgoing data. Except it hasn’t. When I...
Verbal after-images
As a former denizen of Manchester, it gave me a warm memory, on returning to that metropolis the other day, to hear the familiar sound: Caution! Bollards in motion! It got me thinking, though. Ten months away from Manchester and that phrase — not just its words but its tempo, pitch and timbre — is still etched into my brain. In the era of recorded sound, specific repeated recorded phrases can become mnemonic cues, much like specific street scenes or smells.1 How many of these are cues for you? Stand clear of the closing doors. Unexpected item in bagging area! Would Inspector Sands please come to the communication room? Kids and grown-ups love it so; the happy world of Haribo. First TransPennine Express apologises for the late running of this service, and for the...
Leeds-based non-binary nerd and sewist. I won't break my streak on Duolingo for anyone. 
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