On Tour

After Linda tipped me off, I went looking for a few paintings in the National Gallery's Grand Tour.

They've hung (reproductions of) a bunch of major works around the streets of Soho, which, conveniently, is right by my office.

Of course, one can and should just go see the real paintings in the National Gallery, but I think art on the street is a good thing.

Also, I don't know that it's intended as such, but I think it's a fun answer to Banksy -- he hangs his work in major museums, so they put their paintings on the street.

Delivery

Last week I received a package which I probably should have gotten the previous week, except that no one had been home to sign for it. The package was returned to one of the Royal Mail's parcel depots and a notice was despatched to me, informing me of what happened and what I needed to do to get my package.

The notice said I could call or use the postal service website to arrange delivery. Opting for the latter, but not realizing that the website they gave me was not quite the one I needed, I ended up just emailing them and explaining what I wanted. In reply, I got an automated email which included the link I needed to set up the delivery. I did this and was able to collect my package from my local post office for a nominal fee in just a few days.

I had no complaint with this process, but the day after I picked up my package, I found the following email in my inbox:

Dear Becci,

Thank you for using our website.

Please accept my apologies for the delay in responding to your email, and also for any inconvenience that may have been caused on this occasion.

I have checked our tracking information, and it states that your parcel was delivered too Borough Post Office,

The parcel was delivered on 24/07/07 at 13.41 and was signed for by Mrs Su.

If you require any further assistance please do not hesitate to contact us again using one of the methods below:

E-mail us at: parcelforce@parcelforce.co.uk
If sent to any other email address a reply will not be received.

Telephone: 08708 50 11 50
Text phone: 08000 85 58 54 (for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing)
Fax: 01924 294 205

Kind Regards

Debbie Sproston
Internet Advisor.

I couldn't believe it.

Last night, I received another package. I guess this one didn't require a signature, so when no one was home at our flat, they left it with one of our neighbors and a note at our place saying that we should go pick it up there. Again, I was dumbfounded.

Apricot Cookies

Last night I made Kara's Grandma's Apricot Cookies, one of my favourite recipes:

1 c. butter
8 oz pkg neufchatel
2 3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. sugar
apricot preserves
powdered sugar

Mix butter and neufchatel. Add flour and sugar, mix. Form into 8 balls, flatten slightly. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour. Roll into circles (roll in powdered sugar). Cut in 1/8ths. Place small amount of apricot on each piece. Roll up like a croissant. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Chengyu (成语)

My friend Chunyan (春燕, which, if I remember correctly, means "Spring Swallow") has recently started a Chinese class. Séverine and I are both taking it, along with Chunyan's supervisor (she's in Computer Science) and a few other people she knows through her department.

I attended for the first time on Thursday evening, having missed the first session the previous week because I was in Paris. Chunyan's supervisor is a total beginner, but everyone else in the class probably knows even more Mandarin than Séverine and I do.

Chunyan is trying to do some different things from the usual basic dialogues so that the rest of us can learn something without leaving her supervisor in the dust. One of the things she's doing is Chengyu (成语), or Chinese proverbs. Each is typically four characters long. Our first one is 拔苗助长, pronounced "bá miáo zhù zhǎng". Translated literally, it means "pull up baby plant help grow up", as in attempting to get your plants to grow faster by pulling them up a tiny bit out of the ground so they look bigger. The moral we were given in English is "too much zeal spoils all".