Sunday 8 September 2019

Uber versus The Knowledge


I wish I had done more walking while I still could. For the last few years my feet have hurt so much and for even longer my neck has hurt so much that I feel I have to sit down every few hundred yards.

I have been using CBD oil for a couple of months now, and it really seems to help. I began to get excruciating pains in my hand and foot (both left) even when I was sitting down in a chair, but they seem to have stopped. Just as well, as I couldn't put up with that without the opiates that everyone else seems to be getting addicted to. Ironically I loved those sort of drugs up until I began to actually need them, but went right off them overnight.

The whisky called Johnnie Walker was named after a gentleman of leisure who made it his business to walk every street of London before he died - or before he could no longer walk. The label shows a strapping  man in top hat and britches, silver-topped cane in hand, striding along a Regency street with a determined smile on his face.

As a child this image would deeply impress me every Christmas when the contents of the drinks cabinet were put out on a tray, but when I grew up and began drinking I understood that there were far fewer streets in 1820s London when Johnnie Walker did The Knowledge.

This being the 21st century, there is now a Jane Walker flying along the pavement with the caption, 'Keep Walking America'. I notice she isn't smiling.

Women are so much more athletic these days, and they drink whisky.  I blame Gentleman Jack.


28 comments:

  1. I have a lot of pain in my left foot (mainly from arthritis and old stress fractures) and have found that giving my foot a deep tissue massage really helps.
    Also I changed all my shoes so that I have good arch support ( Alegria and Vionic, I think I shall buy Hotter shoes as well).

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  2. I'm on Jan's path, no pun intended, with respect to taking care of foot issues. I've graduated to fancy, supportive shoe ware. It isn't sexy, but it's helpful. CBD with a dash of THC thrown in for good measure seems to help as well.

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    1. I always have some THC in stock, but seldom use it.

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  3. I don't know anything about CBD but if it helps then that is good. I am not a walker nor a whiskey drinker. I often wear flight socks just to keep awake.

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  4. At the risk of jinxing myself, I’m pretty good at walking ...... 10 miles is not much of a problem. Going up steep hills is sometimes a bit hard going. CBD seems to help many a problem. My grandmother loved a drop of whiskey and she lived way into her nineties! I’m not keen on whiskey .... I drank a bit too much of it once and was a bit ill !!!!!! XXXX

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  5. On a limited budget I'm using Hemp oil on food..not as good as CBD but still effective against physical creaks. Keep on moving, even if slower than you'd wish.

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    1. I am obliged to move slower than I wish. It isn't a matter of choice.

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  6. Pls see my explanation of the mystery blade in your earlier post.

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  7. We've just started on Gentleman Jack this weekend! She has quite the determined stride. And nice to see a lady marching over hill & dale without the need for athleisure wear and water bottle!

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    1. Good point! They don't make lesbians like that any more.

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  8. As we don't own a car walking is still a big part of my life.
    Merle..........

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  9. No one has touched on The Knowledge. Such a shame. My sister has The Knowledge, though not of London.If she drives a route once, it's fixed. I call her Maphead. I call her because an old, familiar route is under re-consruction. "Oh, yes," she says. Turn on so and so street, blablabla.
    I wondered if The Knowledge had a deeper, mystical meaning to London familiars, but, then, why would you reference Uber?

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  10. Ah, I often wondered who the American woman giving me directions out of my satnav was. Obviously your sister.

    What Uber is doing to London taxi drivers is a real shame. A bunch of techies in Silicon Valley are paying unskilled drivers peanuts to drive their own cars around London and causing real problems for our beloved cabbies. Sometimes I hate globalisation, but right now many people cannot afford not to use Uber. I always try to use black cabs in London and pay the price. I wonder how long I will be able to afford it.

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    1. If anyone does not know about The Knowledge, it is the knowledge of all London Streets which is learned by heart by trainee cabbies who spend a year and a half riding around the city with maps strapped to their scooters in all weathers and for no pay.

      They then take a strict exam to test their knowledge and if they pass they are allowed to buy a government controlled licence for about £30,000 and begin taking fares. It is a job for life.

      An Uber driver (poor sods) relies on satnav and the company who designed the app for their meagre living.

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    2. ... and... black cabs cost about £150,000 each to buy outright.

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  11. Have your seen a podiatrist about your feet? I did, was prescribed some shoe inserts. It made a world of difference for mi.

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    1. I am ashamed to say that I do not see medical professionals about anything. Whatever arrives first and stays will carry me away.

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  12. See a Podiatrist Tom - I urge you. I find walking very difficult because of arthritis - but you sound to me as though you really need help.

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    1. I tried that but when it eventually came time for my appointment I found myself surrounded by children. I had booked in to a paediatric clinic by mistake. I'm not going through that again. So embarrassing. I have size 12 feet. There were children there smaller than my feet.

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    2. HahašŸ¤£ ....... that made me laugh ! XXXX

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    3. So, did the doctor see you, then?

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