The Metropolitan line’s Uxbridge branch, on which Ickenham is located, opened in 1904. The District line started running services along there in 1910, and these were subsequently switched to the Piccadilly line in the 1930s. Central line services were extended to their current western terminus at West Ruislip in 1948.
The two stations are quite close together (about 10 mins walk apart at surface level) and the largest depot anywhere on the London Underground network also provides track connections between them, as it used by the Piccadilly, Metropolitan (Uxbridge) and Central (West Ruislip) lines. Also, unlike some other interchanges that go unacknowledged (e.g Belsize Park and Gospel Oak) it is not especially difficult to think of journeys where this interchange might be useful (Uxbridge to Hanger Lane is one example).
Note the suffix the that the station name of West Ruislip once had.
An account of setting up and running an auction, with references where appropriate to being on the autistic spectrum.
INTRODUCTION
This is an account of yesterday and today (set-up and then the auction itself). Most of the pics are from yesterday – the exceptions are a couple of pictures of items that fared especially well.
SETTING UP AND RUNNING AN AUCTION
Yesterday was the day on which everything for the auction was transferred by van from James and Sons premises to the auction venue, on this occasion the Prince of Wales Suite at Fakenham Racecourse. Once there it had to be laid out to best advantage, and the person most responsible for sorting that out was me. Largely lots were laid out in number order, although there were breaks in the sequences for small stuff and stamp albums which were set up on a set of tables to which only staff were permitted access and also for the prizes (as deemed by yours truly) among the small items which were laid out in glass exhibition case. My ability to carry out this task comes from two attributes both of which are linked to me being on the autistic spectrum – the fact that I am exceedingly comfortable with numbers and the fact that I am very pattern conscious.
Fortunately the friendly and helpful folks who run the racecourse had already put out tables (although we did move a few) and provided us with chairs to set out as we deemed best.
I was able to get back to James and Sons for about an hour after we had finished setting up, and before leaving at the end of the day I disconnected the mouse from my work computer and took it with me because James and Sons do not have a spare mouse and for what I do on auction day, even though I use a laptop a proper mouse is much easier to use than the laptop’s scroll pad.
Here are some pictures from yesterday…
What the venue looked like when we arrived on Tuesday morning.The James and Sons banner.Set up for action tomorrow.The exhibition case.A close up of some of the things in the case.
Lot 160 (front cover item) and lot 94.
AUCTION DAY
I will not state exactly what time this morning my alarm clock was set for – suffice it to say that for some of you it would have been more like a ‘getting in’ time than a ‘getting up’ time. I departed King’s Lynn on the 6:50 bus, and of course at that time of day there was no traffic on the roads, so the bus arrived in Fakenham exactly as scheduled – just after 7:30. The walk from Fakenham town centre to the auction venue, which is quite scenic, occupied a further 20 minutes and as it happened I was the first of the James and Sons team to be at the venue. about 20 minutes later my colleague Andrew arrived and we able to connect all the wiring and get the computers set up for running the auction. In between locating lots for people who wished to see them in the flesh before bidding (a task to which I am well suited because of another of my autistic traits – a near photographic memory which means that I generally know precisely what I am looking for and have a jolly good idea of where it will be) I also carried out sound and video checks and made sure that the computers were working as they should.
The way these auctions work is that David runs the auctions, and has the auctioneers view screen open on his computer. I meanwhile use the live auction app from ATG Media (who run www.the-saleroom.com) and as well as recording bids, making sure that we are on the right lot and addressing any technical issues that may arise it is also my task to alert David to internet bids. I do find both the direct customer service work I do before the auction starts and then being up on the rostrum quite tough, but because it only happens once a month I can manage it.
Although this was one of our smaller auctions, there were a few highlights. Just a couple of examples: Lot 345 was a plastic box chock full of Panini Trade Cards, valued at £20-30 – and the hammer finally came down at £65. Even more remarkable to me, although there had been an inquiry about this item before the auction, lot 532 which was a “Pedigree of Hugh Fenne of Yorkshire” had been valued at £30-40 and sold for £80.
Lot 345Lot 532 in all it’s gloryA close up of the title portion of lot 532Another close up of part of lot 532.
Once the sale was over we then had to load up the van with everything that needed to go back to the shop, go back in to the centre of Fakenham, unload everything into the shop, and then make a trip back to the racecourse for the signs we had put up to advertise our presence, the stools on which David and I had sat at the rostrum and one or two other things.
Fortunately, this was all accomplished in time for me to catch the 15:38 bus back to King’s Lynn (there is a gap in the X8’s schedule meaning that the next bus back after that was not until 17:38 – and that bus can usually be relied on … to be late).
Tomorrow will be largely devoted to updating the database with details of everyone who took part in the auction – and what they bid on and what they won and so on,
A sequel to the most popular post in this blog’s history, “Autism”.
INTRODUCTION
Welcome to this post, which you may consider to be the official follow up to my most successful ever blog post, which was posted on Saturday under the title Autism.
WHEN BEING AUTISTIC GIVES ME AN ADVANTAGE
Yes – there are situations where having an autistic spectrum condition gives me a positive advantage (or so I see it anyway).
Having a very logical mind goes with the condition, and this works in my favour in several situations, including at the bridge table and in some situations at work. For example, when I am scanning lots of small items I place the packaging organised in the order in which the images will appear on the screen (and if you are scanning a dozen separate items in one go this is very useful). Also, this ultra-logical mindset comes in very useful when working on computers and indeed when (as I have done on a volunteer basis) helping others to learn how to work effectively on a computer.
My skill at mental arithmetic, which also relates directly to the condition. If I wish to ensure that, for example, a grocery shop does not exceed a certain limit that I have in mind I can tot up the bill as I pick out items and guarantee to be close.
Problem solving – precisely because a number of situations are problematic for me that would not be so for a neurotypical person my problem solving skills get more practice than the neurotypical persons.
Just one image in this post – one of my more recent cormorant pictures.
SOME AUTISM RELATED LINKS
A couple of links here that relate to my subject matter:
My other link, courtesy of scienceblogs, and therefore reflective of one of my biggest interests, about a victory in the war against quackery. Even if the treatment that has earned the person pushing it a jail sentence was not cruel, invasive and abusive (and in fact it is all three, in spades) it would still be bogus. Indeed, as those who read the original post to which this one is a sequel will be well aware I believe that it is based on an idea that is itself bogus – namely that autism should be regarded in the light of a disease and that therefore a cure should be sought.
AFTERWORD
I hope you have all enjoyed this, my second full-length essay in writing about autism from the viewpoint of an autistic person, and that some at least of you will share it.
This autistic person’s view of autism and autistic spectrum conditions, leavened with a few photos.
INTRODUCTION
This post is by way of a public response to two blog posts that I have recently encountered. I am writing this because in twitter speak I am #actuallyautistic.
TWO IMPORTANT BLOG POSTS
The post that first planted the germ of an idea for this piece in my mind was published by Autism Mom under the title “Sometimes I don’t know what to think”. In it she mentions being at an autism related event and hearing someone talk about “curing” their son’s autism.
Be wary of “cures” and “recovery.” One of the first books I read about autism was a “recovery narrative.” It was well-wrttien, but what it told me was that if I just worked hard enough, poured enough money into chasing a cure, and found the right combo of supplements and therapies, my son would get over his autism. It’s a destructive mindset to have, and it caused me and my child heaps of stress. Autism is a neurology, it’s a different way the brain is wired. You can’t recover from neurology, and a more productive focus for everyone is helping your child become his or her best self.
and
Don’t get bogged down in the debates in the autism community. There are a lot of camps in the autism community. Some people want cures, other blame vaccines, and others demonize autism. Autism self-advocates are changing perceptions of the disorder through their advocacy. People will tell you to cut gluten, try cod liver oil, and the fights can grow nasty. I align with certain views, and I try to live those. But I tell my friends to keep the focus on their child as they wade through all the extra noise in the autism community. I also always recommend that parents new to a diagnosis read what writers with autism are saying as a way to navigate some of this debate.
A BRIEF PICTORIAL INTERLUDE
Here are a few of my recent photographs from in and around King’s Lynn
DISEASE OR DISORDER?: A FALSE DICHOTOMY
The common usage of the phrase Autistic Spectrum Disorder can lead to a suggestion that Autism can be treated like a disease and thence to talk of “cures”. Therefore save for the single sentence I have just written I used Autism or Autistic Spectrum Condition. In each case, although I have emphasised the words that I change in the phrase the key word of the whole phrase is “spectrum”, which implies, correctly, a broad range of attributes.
An Autistic Spectrum Condition is neither a disorder nor a disease – having one makes us different not lesser, or in some way incomplete. This is, if you like, my take home message to neurotypicals: learn to see beyond the condition we have and to appreciate the things we can do, rather than making the things the we cannot into impassable obstacles.
As I hope I have made crystal clear, I believe that any talk of a “cure” for autism is fundamentally misguided. I for one can say with no shadow of a doubt that even if some wonder drug was devised that had the power to make me neurotypical I WOULD REFUSE TO TAKE IT.
I end with a request to any and all of you who make it this far: please share this piece.
An account of my day at James and Sons, some important links and some splendid infographics.
INTRODUCTION
My title piece, complete with images, is about today at James and Sons, but I also have some important links and some quality inforgaphics to share…
IMAGES AND QUERIES
I started today by imaging the last handful of lots that were not already done for the August auction, one of which was needed to resolve a query. I also made a start on the imaging for the September auction (30th, Fakenham Racecourse) and did a lot of work on the database.
AUGUST IMAGES
There were as mentioned a very few of these, but they were items of interest…
This was the item that had a query on it – resolved to the customer’s satisfaction.
SEPTEMBER IMAGES
The September lots that were ready for imaging included some very fine items…
Lot 1 was a challenge to image, but between all the shots I took I think I have done it justice.
A close up of the support ring for the inkwell.
This will undoubtedly go for far more than I could afford – unfortunately.
A hallmark shot just to confirm, that these are the real deal.
LINKS
I have a cluster of important links to share starting with…
Another petition, which is just starting to gather serious momentum – almost 6,000 signatures at the time of writing. I covered this in detail in my last post, so I settle for this gentle reminder.
IDIOTIC DELUSIONAL SOCIOPATH
Two links in this little section aimed at the current boss of the DWP. This arises from the DWPs sanction success stories, of which there were two, and it has now been revealed that neither client (and the stories are told as if they were about real people) existed. The two pieces are:
Confirmation this morning that the petition at the heart of this campaign will be delivered in all its 152,000+ signature glory. Here is a link to this important petition.
This enclousre would OK (although oddly shaped) for a municipal swimming pool but… ORCAS NEED OCEANS!!This is a fabulous detailed accounting of all that is wrong with TTIP.
An announcement of some Anti TTIP action, some important links and some good pictures from in and around King’s Lynn.
INTRODUCTION
I have many things to cover in this post, including a number of very important links.
THE BONKERS TRADE DEAL
The bonkers trade deal is officially known as the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP for short), and I am mentioning it in this post for two reasons:
This Saturday at 11AM there is action taking place against it, starting outside Top Shop on King’s Lynn High Street.
And linked to the above, I got my action pack from 38 Degrees through the post today.
LINKS
To begin today’s links section, a nod to youth…
THE CASE OF THE DRACONIAN DRESS CODE: AN UPDATE
This refers to an American school whose dress code is both draconian and being applied in a very sexist way. This has given rise to a change.org petition, and today there has been coverage on yahoo:
To conclude this subsection a photo showing the “revealing clothes” for which a girl was called, which ignited the controversy:
When wearing this falls foul of a “dress code” I think the problem is fairly obvious.
JUSTICE FOR KAYLEB
Just a single link, but I make no apology for giving it a whole subsection to itself. This is a truly shocking case involving a 6th grader (English equivalent of this would be a year 7 student) facing the possibility of spending his life with a felony conviction on his record. Please sign and share this petition.
AUTISM AND CREATIVITY
Another single piece, this time courtesy of Huffington Post, about a study into autism and creativity. I start with a quote from the piece:
“Wong and Doherty said we should think of autism in terms of differences rather than deficits. And these differences, as the study suggests, can give rise to important and unique creative insights.” NB The italicisation is theirs not mine.
The full article deserves to be read and shared. Naturally as both an autistic person and the creator of this blog I wholeheartedly concur with the notion that autistic people can be especially creative!
SCIENCE AND NATURE
My final two links, the second being in the nature of a segue:
An account of attending a music workshop organised by NAS West Norfolk, with plenty of photos, also some important links.
INTRODUCTION
This afternoon I attended a music workshop organised by NAS West Norfolk. The title of piece of this post, acompanied by many photographs, is about this workshop.
OUTWARD BOUND
Having established to my own satisfaction the location of Scout Hut 12, Beulah Street I walked out of town along Bawsey Drain as far as Lynn Sport before heading across the open grassland to the scout hut (my direction finding was up to its usual standard, so no hiccups). Although I was under some time constraint I got a few photos on the way…
St Nicholas Chapel looking splendid.
AT THE SCOUT HUT
First up, “hut” is something of a misnomer – it is quite a substantial building. There were many things worthy of photographing there…
After a brief meet and greet upstairs it was downstairs again to the room where the action was taking place. Fortunately, the music making was being done largely by computer – I would not have inflicted myself playing an actual instrument on anyone (there were some real instruments there but I was careful not to be assigned any of them). In the first session which was group playing I had first stringed instruments and then a couple of keyboard instruments (in computer program form)…
The computer I used to make music.
The second session involved recording ourselves making percussion type sounds from non-instruments – the results were not nearly as appalling as you might expect.
These were the twelve things I used to extract percussion type sounds.
I have a few more pics from the building to display…
HOMEWARD BOUND
For the walk home I headed down to King Edward the Seventh Academy, along to Tennyson Road and through to Seven Sisters, finishing up by heading along the riverbank. Here are the pics from that section of the day…
LINKS
Not so many links as as I sometimes have, but still enough to split into sections.
I am including in this section a petition calling on the government for a full assessment of the impact of welfare cuts on disabled people. My other two links are to an online publication called The ASD Times. They have been kind enough to include some of my stuff, so here a couple of links the other way:
An account of yesterday, with some good pictures. Also some high quality links and infographics.
INTRODUCTION
Although some of the links I have were located this morning, this blog post is really, as the title suggests, about yesterday.
A MORNING WALK
My walk started with the parkland. There is always plenty to see there, and although it was to elusive to capture on camera, I even got a glimpse of a water vole before it darted under cover. Still I did get some good photos…
I left the parkland via the Seven Sisters gate and headed past the South Gate and thence to the river via Hardings Pits, which at this time of year means one thing to a photographer…
BUTTERFLIES
There were many of these creatures in evidence, and I was able to get several good photos…
The river although not at particularly high tide was looking splendid…
Of course no walk along the Great Ouse would be complete without…
CORMORANT PLATFORM
This structure, which I have named for the birds that are its most distinctive users was once again proving popular…
Back in the heart of the town, there were many boats in evidence. One was a small family owned boat using the jetty, and there were various research vessels, at least one of which was owned by company called Gardline…
EAST RUDHAM
A Sunday lunch in East Rudham and afternoon spent sat out in the sun were both very enjoyable, and the latter yielded some good pictures…
I had noted a while previously that this £2 coin had a special picture on its reverse (the obverse was the usual prrofile of a ludicrously over privileged woman) and so I picked a suitable moment at which to photograph it.Wild marjoram, freshly harvested for use in cooking.Wild marjoram serving its principle function as a bee magnet.
BACK TO KING’S LYNN
Arriviing back in King’s Lynn I bagged a few photos on the way home. A quick check on the computer revealed the Australia had emerged from their tour match at Northampton with a draw – cause for celebration on their part given recent events!
LINKS
I have a variety of links to share with you, starting with several about…
I take the opportunity of having this section to once again remind people of the project to create a museum that really is about the women of East London. My next two links belong together:
A piece by fargaregardsanna which features a humorous use of one of Maurits Escher’s most famous pictures – I realize that some may quibble of me classing this as science, but I believe that since the explanation of how such optical illusions work is scientific that this is justified – and also it makes this section of my post neater!
A heretical suggestion for the Australian Mens team selection for the fifth ashes test, some photographs, a section on the Labour Party leadership contest and a section on Carl Sagan.
INTRODUCTION
My title piece is about the current woes of the Australian Mens side, and I also have links (though not on this occasion a dedicated links section), infographics and photographs to share.
DESPERATE TIMES CALL FOR DESPERATE MEASURES
With the destiny of 2015 Mens Ashes safely settled I am going venture a very radical selection suggestion for them. At the Oval, on what is usually a flat pitch both sides would be well advised to ensure that they have five genuine bowling options available. Australia’s batting having failed in four straight innings they also need some depth there. Watson (although he is playing in a tour match at Northampton today) is out of favour, neither Marsh brother has been convincing and that is all Australia have in terms of batting variation available to them in their official squad. However, there is an Australian all-rounder in England at the moment who is in the form of their life: Ellyse Perry, fresh from playing a starring role in the Aussie Womens team victory in the test match.
I admit that this is a stretch, especially given that Perry’s stock in trade as a bowler is pace, and in the men’s game she would not be especially quick, but in the state that Aussie men are in at the moment the move could hardly make things worse – and maybe even if she proves unable to do much herself against the men the presence of someone with current winning experience will be a boost in and of itself.
Do I really believe that a woman could mix it with the men? Yes – there are plenty of aspects of cricket that are not all about brute strength and although, in spite of the premise of this piece, I would not particularly expect a female to be able to bowl at 150KPH I could see a specialist batter, a spinner or a wicketkeeper being able to mix it with the men.
A PHOTOGRAPHIC INTERLUDE
A few photos from in and around King’s Lynn…
Earnest cleric to JBS Haldane “what have your studies told you about the creator?” Haldane’s response “That he is inordinately fond of beetles.”
Butterfly with closed wings.
The first of two ponds separated by the width of a Road.The other pond, with a particularly luxurious carpeting of lilies.
BEES
A very important and well presented infographic from 38Degrees that I picked up by way of Mike Coulson on twitter:
THE LABOUR PARTY LEADERSHIP CONTEST
I have a purely watching brief on this, since I am principled enough not to have taken advantage of the “register as a supprter for £3” trick. This infographic is revealing about the voting patterns of the three long serving MPs in the contest (Kendall has only been around long enough to have voted on two of the issues covered, and utterly unsurprisingly to anyone who knows anything about she is 0 for 2):
My second offering in this section is a headline about an open declaration of intent to sabotage. If this is telling the truth those two MPs (no surprise that they are Blue Labourites Umunna and Hunt – and I’ll bet that the dishonourable Danczuk is in cahoots with them) should be expelled from the party – this is TREACHERY:
I end this section with link to a piece by Molly Scott Cato MEP (as an aside born in the same town – Stroud, Gloucestershire – as me although a little earlier) which talks about one potential consequence of a Corbyn victory – a red/green coalition.
CARL SAGAN
The late legendary Carl Sagan was a superb writer and populariser of science. I was motivated to produce this section when I stumbled on a thread on twitter that had developed from a Turin Shroud picture overlaid with a great summing up of the religious approach, and then a Sagan quote – which led to me to extract some Sagan books from my shelves and photograph them…
The infographic that started it all.The Sagan quoteA montage of my Sagan books – I have given Pale Blue Dot extra prominence because although any book by Sagan is guaranteed to be an excellent read this one is particularly special.
An account of a day at James and Sons, with lots of lovely images, and a selection of quality links to round things off.
INTRODUCTION
The body of this post features today at James and Sons, but also I have plenty of other stuff for you…
BACK TO WORK WITH A BANG
Today was devoted to catching up on imaging for our August sale (two weeks tomorrow, Fakenham Racecourse). The day started with some coin lots done with the aid of the scanner…
After the coind there were some general lots done with the camera…
My final items of the day were militaria, and involved both scanner and camera…
The next six pics relate to lot 22, which I scanned first and than also did with the camera to see if I could improvee the images.
Lot 160, done exclusively with the camera.
Lot 187 was a scan job.
Lot 199, back to the camera.
LINKS
I start this final short-ish section with two pieces that refer to…
Back in the heart of the town, there were many boats in evidence. One was a small family owned boat using the jetty, and there were various research vessels, at least one of which was owned by company called 
aspiblog 