Polls and Indentures

In the UK, a person can legally change his or her name by deed poll. I knew this, but wasn't sure why it was called that until I found the UK Deed Poll Website.

A Deed is a written legal agreement that has been signed and delivered (shown to all concerned parties). Poll is an old English word used to describe a legal document that had its edges cut (polled) so they were straight. This was done to visually distinguish between a deed signed by one person (a polled deed - hence the term Deed Poll) and a deed signed by more than one person (an indenture), which had an edge indented or serrated. Interestingly, indentures were originally written twice (side by side) on one piece of parchment, which was then torn down the middle and each half given to each party. The impossibility of matching the tear was a guard against forgery.

This explains the term indentured servant. Acccording to Wikipedia:

The agreement between the master and servant was traditionally written in two copies, one for each party to the agreement, on a single sheet of paper. The paper would then be cut into two pieces, so that the copies were separated. In order to prevent forgeries and alterations of the contract after it was signed, the cut would be
made in a very irregular manner, leaving "teeth" along the cut edge. The idea was that only those two pieces could be fit exactly together, thus showing that these were the two copies of the same contract. The teeth of the cut gave rise to the term "indenture"; while the term was applied to many multiple-party documents, it became particularly associated with voluntary servitude, which could arise from an "indenture of apprenticeship".

More about indentures.

Finally!

For the last several months, my only internet access has been at work. And, since I spend my working time working (but of course!), I haven't had a lot of time to post anything here. (And, more often than not, blogger is flitered, making posting nearly impossible.)

Today, however, I got a mobile broadband modem. Basically, it's a modified mobile phone that plugs straight into my laptop and lets me get online virtually anywhere (supposedly). (Okay, it's technically NOT a mobile phone - I can't make or receive calls but the service is through the 3G mobile phone service.)

Anyway, for £15 a month, I get three gigabytes of web access. So far, so good!

3 Products and Services - Mobile Broadband via kwout

What is Travel?

Tonight I saw an article about travel writing. It's called "Travel Writing 101: What Exactly is Travel?" The actual article isn't super spectacular, but there was an interesting quote:

"Travel is a brutality. It forces you to trust strangers and to lose sight of
all that familiar comfort of home and friends."

--Cesare Pavese, an Italian writer of the early 1900s.

And isn't that really one of the reasons to travel?

Vegetarian Haggis

Finally, vegetarians can enjoy haggis! The Caledonian Kitchen, bless them, have finally managed to get the traditional taste of sheep liver, hearts and lungs in a non-sheep form!

And goodness...not only is it vegetarian, it's vegan.