Status-Q

I haven't posted for a while, partly because I'm on a small boat here in the Argolian Gulf, courtesy of my kind friend Philip Sargent. The photo above was taken just a couple of minutes ago.

It's my first trip to Greece, and I'm loving it. The temperatures well into the 30s are hard to take, but there's quite a bit of compensation in the fact that if you step off the boat into the turquoise water, as I do a couple of times per day, it cools you pleasantly to its 29C.

I can't really blame my radio silence on lack of connectivity, though, since absolutely everywhere I've been has had excellent 5G coverage, including at this tiny port where we spent last night.

Why can the Greeks manage this when, at home, just a couple of miles from the high-tech hub that is Cambridge, I can only get a poor 4G signal?

Yes, I know, some of it is to do with the fact that they have mountains here, and that a lot of the signals are travelling over water, and so on, but I can't help feeling that perhaps the gods on Olympus look more favourably on cellphone users than some other deities.

The Dutch, I gather, don't have a specific word for 'pothole' because, well, they don't need one. Having just returned from a two-week campervan tour there, I don't think I saw a single one. I knew I was back in Blighty yesterday evening, though, when I had to swerve to avoid them before I even left Harwich ferry port. The UK now reminds me of a saying from my childhood (the first few years of which were spent in Africa):

"Which side of the road do they drive on in Kenya?"
"The best side."

One thing that struck me immediately in the Netherlands, that I hadn't noticed on previous visits, was that in cities, towns and villages, much of the ground is paved, bricked or cobbled, rather than tarmacked. This extends not just to driveways, footpaths and pedestrian areas, as we might do here, but to pavements, cycle lanes and many of the roads.

I include a few random holiday snaps (click for larger versions) which just happen to feature them, but, in truth, they are everywhere. (I guess 'paved' is usually a better description than 'cobbled' for what I saw in most places, but doesn't make for such good blog post titles.)

I think they look much more attractive than our usual tarmac, water drains off promptly, and they are, of course, well-maintained, meaning they are generally pleasant to cycle on as well. (Though I can't deny that their tarmacked cycle lanes, not being maintained by British workmen, are an even nicer ride.)

I wonder about the economics of this. Paving is presumably rather more expensive, initially, but may reduce the need for drainage irrigation. An installation probably wouldn't last as long as tarmac, but when it does go wrong, it can be quickly and cheaply fixed. As I was looking for a parking spot in a residential area of The Hague, for example, one street was closed off as they were re-laying a large section of the nice herringbone bricks. When I returned after lunch, they were gone, and the street looked pristine.

My friend Pauline, who lives in Utrecht, commented wryly that the main effect was to prevent women from wearing high heels! I confess this wasn't a problem I had considered. But then there are many aspects of paving I had never considered, like the fact that there might be a Worshipful Company of Paviors.

I wonder what their take would be on the current state of British vs. Dutch roads...

This cafe in Zutphen, Netherlands, is of my way of thinking...

I was, unfortunately, beheaded today, while visiting Teylers Museum in Haarlem. This was a trifle inconvenient, but I still managed to smile about it.

This is straight out of the iPhone camera, with no image manipulation. I look a slightly funny colour not because of embarrassment at my recent decapitation, because I got rather too much sun on Wednesday.

It's quite an effective illusion, and if you look closely you may be able to work out how it's done -- answers in the comments, please...

What occurred to me, though, was that we in the sophisticated modern age would probably immediately look at this and think 'Photoshop!'... and be quite wrong. Whereas those in the past who had never heard of Photoshop might get closer to the mark...

This little sanderling was a very busy chap on Saturday, at Holkham Beach. He darted about, running up and down the waterline, and showing no interest in stopping to pose for a photo...

We're spending a week around Christmas in a cottage in the Lake District.

It's very wet, very windy, and as beautiful as ever.

Spotted in the skies above Derbyshire a couple of weeks ago. First thing in the morning, perhaps after a good strong coffee...

Later in the day, in those same skies...

Phew, Bob - that was a bit close!...

Status-Q, in its current form, is 22 years old today. I haven't posted for a week or so because I've been terribly energetic on some Swiss ski slopes.

Spotted on today's afternoon dog-walk.

I really should have taken a video clip, because others were arriving and it was great fun watching them come into land.

My brother Simon's comment was, "I hope they watch out for quacks in the ice."

The view from my study window this morning. I literally don't have to get up from my chair to see this. As you can imagine, working from home has been a real trial over the last few years.

I'm very lucky.