One in 10 workers ‘incompetent’
“More than one in every 10 workers in England are incompetent at their jobs, a survey of 72,100 employers suggests.” BBC

Yesterday was lovely. I went to the Art Car Boot Fair, checked out a graduate art show also on Brick Lane and caught up with friends for beers. And it was even sunny! Later Min and I saw Bic Runga, supported by Anna Coddington, in a lovely intimate gig at the Spitz. Anika Moa also sang back-up. I hadn’t seen her before so that was a bonus.
I didn’t make it to any of the birthdays I was meant to go to, but I think I needed a break more than I needed big nights out. Work has been too busy for too long. So now it’s heads down and back to Roman pottery codes, OAI XML stuff and clay objects.

This is the most surreal thing I’ve heard all week:
“Hackney Council has threatened to sue sportswear giant Nike for allegedly using their logo without permission.” (BBC)
From the Hackney Council website: “The logo, which appears on public buildings, council vans, staff uniforms and street signs across Hackney, has been used by Nike on t-shirts, vests, trainers and footballs designed to promote Nike’s grassroots football campaign for the World Cup.”
And you can see why I like Hackney: the Mayor said: “I also want assurances from Nike that all this kit has been ethically produced.”

For some reason, this really moved me:
“Take a look and remember”, he told her. “You will never, ever hear about this again.” (BBC)

One of the churches I pass on my walk to work has a banner advertising “Sunday brunch, stalls and coffee 12 to 2pm”. The English afternoon tea is truly dead, and I bet the stalls don’t have any scones either.

“The first official recognition that the Iraq war motivated the four London suicide bombers has been made by the government in a major report into the 7 July attacks.” (Observer)

I came across this at work today, I had no idea that 1 in 20 people in London are refugees: “According to Refugees and asylum seekers in London: A GLA perspective (2001): ‘Refugees and asylum seekers in London are estimated to number now between 350,000 and 420,000, or about one in 20 of the city

The weather report might say it’s going to be -2C tonight but spring has definitely arrived. The daffodils are well and truly up, and on my walk to work this morning I saw two (male) mallards mating in the canal.
It’s kinda nice noticing the tiny signs that show that spring is on the way in a way that I wouldn’t have in Australia, but I could have done without the cold. I thought it was because I’d gotten used to going somewhere warm in March but it turns out it’s the coldest March in years, and for the first time ever it’s been colder than December, January and February.

Cyclepaths and more cyclepaths.
It’s still cold enough that I’m putting off getting on the bike – it tried to snow tonight – but I guess I’ll be out there at some point.

This quote from an article about Britain’s plans to switch to metric road signs made me laugh: “The UKMA says conversion of road signs was originally intended as part of metrification when it started in 1965 and should have been completed by 1973.
But it was put on hold in 1970 and never restarted.” (BBC)