I thought I’d finally lost my basic cognitive functioning in the Maryhill Road Big Tesco, trying to match up the light bulb specs of my two new Made.com light fittings (hall and kitchen) with Tesco’s own classification. According to Tesco, E14 is SES (small Edison screw) and E27 is ES…
Toasted (Neighbours II)
I’ve hardly seen my neighbours since I moved to Solo HQ in October last year, apart from the dog walkers in the communal drying green. The dogwalkers all pick up the poo—the panopticon effect of being surrounded on four sides by walls of windows?—but I have to wonder about the…
Alone in Tallinn
When I jumped ships from English teaching to freelance copy-editing for the Moscow Times, I needed to procure my own visa. The usual solution for freewheeling foreigners was to pay a visa agency for an invitation, then fly to a third country to apply for a biznez visa. This is…
Too old for Berlin
In the last decade, Berlin has become trendy for young Australians. London, New York and Tokyo are passé. Since the 2010s, Berlin has been buzzing with 20- and 30-somethings running tech startups, pop-up galleries and street food ‘events’. Digital nomads share laptop space and bike parking in co-working hubs; international…