1st May 2025

⛪ Keeping up appearances

Whilst clearing out the attic I came across this receipt for my wedding suit.

✏️ Getting it down

I’m trying out the Cornell method of organising notes. Devised by Walter Pauk at Cornell University, the method is a ‘two-column’ notes style. The paper is divided into two columns: the note-taking column on the right is twice the size of the questions/keyword column, which is on the left. Four lines are left at the bottom of the page for the summary and one at the top for the page number and heading.

💬 Cabbie lingo

My post, Driving my droschky over The River, for reasons known only to Substack’s algorithms, has had over a thousand views and since posting, generated a couple of dozen new subscribers to my site – Unblogged London, and more likes than you could shake a stick at. Why some missives take off while others languish in cyberspace awaiting discovery I’ve yet to discover.

📖 What I’m Reading

Shakespeare. The Man who Pays the Rent – Judi Dench’s memoir. This delightful book has anecdotes galore, more remarkable is Judi’s ability to recount so much of her acting life.

❓ How popular?

I’ve recently received an email from FeedSpot informing me: ‘I would like to personally congratulate you as your blog Cabbie Blog has been selected by our panelist as one of the Top 100 London Blogs on the web.’ All very nice including the badge now displayed on my sidebar. So I checked out the site above me at number 24 in FeedSpot’s popularity rating. The site, London Is Cool, is now defunct. So how is it more popular than many other London blogs? Stop press: Number 24 has been replaced by the excellent A London Inheritance.

🦊 Eating habits

Why do Havering’s foxes insist on consuming inedible piping? My neighbour’s fountain in their water feature was regularly sabotaged with foxes eating through the electricity feed. Now recently I’ve discovered a nibble in my hosepipe. There was a time when discarded McDonald’s take-aways were sufficient.