Monthly Talks at London Canal Museum

    Our monthly talks start at 19:30 on the first Thursday of each month except August. Admission is at normal charges and you don't need to book. They end around 21:00.

November 7th

    The Canal Pioneers, by Chris Lewis. James Brindley is recognized as one of the leading early canal engineers. He was also a major player in training others in the art of canal planning and building. Chris Lewis will explain how Brindley made such a positive contribution to the education of that group of early “civil engineers”.

December 5th

    Ice for the Metropolis, by Malcolm Tucker. Well before the arrival of freezers, there was a demand for ice for food preservation and catering, Malcolm will explain the history of importing natural ice and the technology of building ice wells, and how London's ice trade

February 6th

    An Update on the Cotsword Canals, by Liz Payne. The Stroudwater Canal is moving towards reopening. The Thames and Severn Canal will take a little longer. We will have a report on the present state of play.

March 6th

    Eyots and Aits-Thames Islands, by Miranda Vickers. The Thames had many islands. Miranda has undertaken a review of all of them. She will tell us about those of greatest interest.

Online bookings:www.canalmuseum.org.uk/book

More into:www.canalmuseum.org.uk/whatson

London Canal Museum

12-13 New Wharf Road, London NI 9RT

www.canalmuseum.org.uk   www.canalmuseum.mobi

Tel:020 77130836

    Have you ever picked a job based on the fact that you were good at it but later found it made you feel very uncomfortable over time? When you select your career, there's whole lot more to it than assessing your skills and matching them with a particular position. If you ignore your personality, it will hurt you long-term regardless of your skills or the job's pay. There are several areas of your personality that you need to consider to help you find a good job. Here are a few of those main areas:

1) Do you prefer working alone or with other people?

    There are isolating(使孤立) jobs that will drive an outgoing person crazy and also interactive jobs that will make a shy person uneasy. Most people are not extremes in either direction but do have a tendency that they prefer. There are also positions that are sometimes a combination of the two, which may be best for someone in the middle who adapts easily to either situation.

2) How do you handle change?

    Most jobs these days have some elements of change to them, but some are more than others. If you need stability in your life, you may need a job where the changes don't happen so often. Other people would be bored of the same daily routine.

3) Do you enjoy working with computers?

    I do see this as a kind of personality characteristic. There are people who are happy to spend more than 40 hours a week on a computer, while there are others who need a lot of human interaction throughout the day. Again, these are extremes and you'll likely find a lot of positions somewhere in the middle as well.

4) What type of work environment do you enjoy?

    This can range from being in a large building with a lot of people you won't know immediately to a smaller setting where you'll get to know almost all the people there fairly quickly.

5) How do you like to get paid?

    Some people are motivated by the pay they get, while others feel too stressed to be like that. The variety of payment designs in the sales industry is a typical example for this.

    Anyway, these are a great starting point for you. I've seen it over and over again with people that they make more money over time when they do something they love. It may take you a little longer, but making a move to do what you have a passion for can change the course of your life for the better.

    It seems that no one can live a happy life without friendship. While a great number of people expect others to be their friends, they don't give friendship back. That is why some friendships don't last long. To have a friend, you must learn to be one. You must learn to treat your friend the way you want your friend to treat you. Learning to be a good friend means learning three rules: be honest; be generous; be understanding.

    Honesty is where a good friendship starts. Friends must be able to trust one another. If you do not tell the truth, people usually find out. If a friend finds out that you haven't been honest, you may lose your friend's trust. Good friends always depend on one another to speak and act honestly.

    Generosity means sharing and sharing makes a friendship grow. You do not have to give your lunch money or your clothes. Naturally you will want to share your ideas and feelings. These can be very valuable to a friend. They tell your friend what is important to you. By sharing them, you help your friend know better.

    Sooner or later everyone needs understanding and help with each other. Something may go wrong at school. Talking about the problem can make it easier to solve. Turning to a friend can be a first step in solving the problem. So to be a friend you must listen and understand. You must try to put yourself in your friend's place so that you can understand the problem better.

    No two friendships are exactly alike. But all true friendships have three things in common. If you plan to keep your friends, you must practice honesty, generosity and understanding.

    It was one of those terribly hot days in Baltimore. Needless to say, it was too hot to do anything outside. But it was also scorching in our apartment. This was 1962, and I would not live in a place with an air conditioner for another ten years. So my brother and I decided to leave the apartment to find someplace indoors. He suggested we could see a movie. It was a brilliant plan.

    Movie theaters were one of the few places you could sit all day and—most important —sit in air conditioning. In those days, you could buy one ticket and sit through two movies. Then, the theater would show the same two movies again. If you wanted to, you could sit through them twice. Most people did not do that, but the manager at our theater. Mr. Bellow did not mind if you did.

    That particular day, my brother and I sat through both movies twice, trying to escape the heat. We bought three bags of popcorn and three sodas each. Then, we sat and watched The Music Man followed by The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. We'd already seen the second movie once before. It had been at the theater since January, because Mr. Bellow loved anything with John Wayne in it.

    We left the theater around 8, just before the evening shows began. But we returned the next day and saw the same two movies again, twice more. And we did it the next day too. Finally, on the fourth day, the heat wave broke.

    Still, to this day I can sing half the songs in The Music Man and recite half of John Wayne and Jimmy Stewart's dialogue from The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance! Those memories are some of the few I have of the heat wave of 1962. They're really memories of the screen, not memories of my life.

    Natural selection is the process by which one type of animal within a species thrives because of certain characteristics that make it more likely to live than others in its group. The history of the peppered moth（灰蛾）is an example of the natural selection process.

    In 19th century England, certain types of peppered moths were able to better blend（融合）into their surroundings. During that time period, great changes were happening in Great Britain. The Industrial Revolution was part of this change, and with it came air pollution. Natural selection often takes hundred or even thousands of years to occur. For the peppered moth, this process occurred comparatively quickly.

    At the beginning of the Industrial Age, most peppered moths in England were light-colored and covered with black markings, although a few moths had dark-colored wings. Because the light-colored moths blended into the light-colored bark on the trees, they could not be easily seen by birds that would eat them. As the air grew more polluted, however, tree trunks became covered with soot（烟煤）and became darker. The light-colored moths became easy for birds to see against the dark tree trunks. Since the dark-colored moths now had the advantage, their numbers grew. Within 50 years, the peppered moth went from being mostly light-colored to being mostly dark-colored.

    In the 20th century, the air cleared up, and the peppered moth population changed again. As tree trunks lighted due to less soot in the air, light-colored moths once again had an advantage. Their numbers increased as soot levels declined. Depending on their environment, the coloration of the moths helped them to be “naturally selected” to survive.

    Elizabeth and I are 18 now, and about to graduate. I think about our elementary school friendship, but some memories have blurred(模糊). What happened that day in the fifth grade when Beth suddenly stopped speaking to me? Does she know that I've been thinking about her for seven years? If only we could go back, and discover what ended our relationship.

    I have to speak with Beth. I see her sometimes, and find out school is "fine". It's not the same. It never will be. Someone says that she's Liz now, what happened to Beth?

    I can't call her. Should I write? What if she doesn't answer me? How will I know what she's thinking?

    Yes, I'll write her a letter. These things are easier to express in writing. "Dear Be-," no, "Dear Li-" no, "Dear Elizabeth," I begin. The words flow freely, as seven-year-old memories are reborn. I ask her all the questions that have been left unanswered in my mind, and pray she will answer. I seal my thoughts in the perfect white envelope, and imagine Beth looking into the mailbox. Will she know why I'm writing? Maybe she once thought of writing the same letter.

    As the mailman takes my envelope from me forever, I wonder if I've made the right decision. Do I have the right to force myself into Beth's life again? Am I simply part of the past? I have taken the first stop. Beth has control of the situation now.

    One day has passed. Are my words lying on the bottom of the post office floor.

    Two days are gone. I'm lost in thought and don't even hear the phone ring.

    "Hello? It's Elizabeth"