I am the Vindo Viper

Did you ever play the telephone game when you were a kid, calling up someone unknown and saying (in your deepest bass voice): “I am the Vindo Viper. I come for you today.” Of course, the recipient is terrified and immediately hangs up. You call them again, and repeat your message, but then they hang up before you finish. Finally, you call again, saying “I come to vipe your vindos. I come today.”  Ha, ha, laughs all around.

No? Maybe it was just an American thing because we all had telephones in those days.* It certainly wouldn't be politically correct today.

But this scene on the CityPoint entrance, near Moorgate tube station, brought back those telephone memories. How many window wipers can you see? I count four. Just think what great transferrable skills these guys got mountain climbing, since they all seem to be on belay. The eight Singaporean house cleaners who recently died could have used some of these skills. They were forced to wash the outside of windows in skyscraper flats; I wouldn't like to fall off a building, would you? Apparently the Singapore government is reviewing the situation... 

CityPoint skyscraper entrance near Moorgate tube station, London

CityPoint, formerly the Britannic House, has enough accolades for listing in Skyscraper News. I guess this is a website for building spotters, kinda like train spotters except the spotters themselves have to move around to see fixed sites rather than stand still watching moving trains.


* Unlike in Britain, where only 35% of households had telephones even in 1970 (according to the only stats I could find) [http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-12058944]