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1 February 2010 (Monday) -
Plans...
This weekend is Talking of beer, it had been suggested that Feb 21st might
be wasted at Wittersham beer festival. I see that
the afternoon will be featuring Morris dancers. I will have to review my
plans for that day. I can’t stand Morris dancing. What is this association
between good beer and Morris Dancers? It’s hardly painting ale in a good
light. There’s been a minor change to the diary dates for the
year – Another thing which isn’t being funded any more is
the American
space program. Since money is tight, NASA’s budget has been
substantially reduced, and the plans would be that rather than having space
flight technology of their own, American astronauts will purchase tickets on
other people’s space-going vehicles. Let’s not be surprised when the Russians, Chinese and
private enterprise decide they want all their limited rocket spaces for
themselves. |
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2 February 2010 (Tuesday) - Other
People's Beleifs
Today’s radio carried the news that the Pope
has spoken against the British government. He doesn’t like our
equality legislation. Which is entirely his right, and I admire the strength
of his belief that he stands up and publicly says so. Don’t get me wrong – I don’t admire what he actually says
- personally I think he’s talking rubbish (again). I myself have no
problem with people of any shape, size, colour or sexual orientation. It
doesn’t bother me if someone wants to have gender altering surgery. Good for
them. But it bothers the Pope. What particularly bothers him is
that all this equality malarkey means that (in theory) his church may
no longer be allowed to discriminate against employing people who follow a
lifestyle that his religion says is wrong. So the old “gay vicar” controversy has raised its
head yet again. Surely this has been done to death? If you believe in
what the Pope trots out, then you believe being gay is a sin. So you don’t do
it. So there are no gay vicars. Q.E.D. End of discussion. But there are gay vicars. These people,
and everyone who claims to be Christian but feel there is a place for
homosexuals in the church amaze me. The Bible says it’s wrong. That’s the end
of it. Or can we pick and choose which piece of our sacred texts we are going
to believe, and which we are going to ignore? All of which has given an opposing bunch of crackpots a
free hand to stir trouble. The morning’s news told of those who are openly
gay and transsexual who are planning to apply for jobs within the church. And
are doing so purely to get turned down, so that they can then mount costly
legal battles. Why are they doing this? What do they really hope to achieve? Meanwhile President Obama has
cancelled the moon base, and no one cares. |
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3 February 2010 (Wednesday) - The
News
One often hears the old adage “An Englishman’s home is
his castle”. One rarely knows what it is supposed to mean. Mr Fidler of Perhaps their bile might be better vented at the tale of
the pregnant nine
year old child in China. Now I hardly claim to be an expert on
matters oriental or obstetric, but I am somewhat perturbed to hear the nurse
charged with looking after the child as saying “it was unclear how she had
become pregnant.” And in closing, a word of caution to the cat lovers among
my loyal readers. If your moggie is generally
anti-social, but is being uncharacteristically friendly, expect the
worst. Oscar,
the house cat in an American nursing home is a cantankerous old moggie. However he seems to be amazingly friendly with
those on their way out. Staff in said nursing home have
used the cat’s behaviour to successfully predict the deaths of fifty of their
patients. |
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4 February 2010 (Thursday) -
Commercial Acumen?
Up with the lark (as usual), and after a quick
episode of BattleStar Galactica (I’m now half
way through season three) I set off to Tesco. Among other things, I
needed a shoe polishing brush. I found the polish, but couldn’t see any
brushes, so I asked a employee who was fiddling with
a till. (Note I use the word “employee” and not “assistant”). I asked
if they had brushes. She didn’t even turn her head when she brushed me off
with a curt ”no!”. As she snarled her reply,
so I saw the brushes I was looking for. I shall go to Asda tomorrow. And so to work, where I was asked to show round some
visitors from a private healthcare establishment. Now this seemed odd to me.
I’m sure that Sainsbury’s wouldn’t welcome a contingent from Waitrose and show them round. Let alone give them an
in-depth spiel on their business practice. But what do I know? I must admit
I’m feeling rather negative about work at the moment, and so I am likening
myself to the biblical centurion – I am merely a man subject to higher
authority. And then we had a tidy up. Apparently we are getting a VIP
visitor next week. That will be nice. I expect I will be giving my loyal
readers updates on this as time goes by. In the meantime, let’s just say that
I was surprised to find that this particular VIP is still alive. I thought
he’d croaked a few years ago. In between tidying and giving away commercially sensitive
information we posed for photos. One of our number
is speaking at a scientific symposium next week, and photos are always good
at these sorts of thing. Especially if you are considering a career with
International Rescue. And then home again to hear some very odd noises and
giggling. “My BoyTM ” had found his old yo-yo, and was up to his old
tricks with it. I can remember him being particularly talented with it in his
youth. A talent I never shared. I blogged a few weeks ago about
“Beer in the Evening” - what was once a wonderful website is now in
ruins. There are errors and inaccuracies on Beer in the Evening that have been there for years. There is one (the
duplication of St Leonards in This evening I had a look on the forum on Beer in the
Evening. For all that I’ve been a firm advocate of that website,
I’ve never really used the forum that much. Sadly it has been all but
destroyed by concerted trolling action. There is a protected “regulars”
section which isn’t open to the hoi-polloi, and finally the absentee owner of
the site has deigned to make an appearance. The owner appeared to tell his
critics to shut up. He is adamant that he doesn’t want any help, and was
rather rude in his dismissal of such offers. Oh well, it’s ultimately his loss. It seems an odd way to
run a business. If someone who has been contributing to your commercial
success for years offers to work on a more regular basis for free, wouldn’t
anyone with commercial acumen take them up on the offer? |
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5 February 2010 (Friday) - Dull
Normally I get a good night’s sleep before a late shift,
but I was rather restless last night. My back was playing up. Perhaps I need
to go on a diet again? Now that (finally) all the left over puddings
from last weekend have been eaten, a diet might be a good idea for a couple
of weeks. Perhaps a diet and some exercise too. It’s been some months since I
last took the pedal bike anywhere, and I’ve been feeling rather worn out and
listless for the last couple of weeks. I shall start the new regime tomorrow
with a brisk walk around some seaside towns. The plan for the morning was to do the ironing, but by the
time I’d had some brekky, I couldn’t be bothered.
I’ll do it later. Instead I went to YoVille, and tried to kiss Lisa’s mother
(again). But no joy – the thing wouldn’t load. Having booted up to a
blue screen of death and a message that Windows has had a serious error, I
was a tad perturbed. Bearing in mind the PC still finds an unknown device
every time it starts, I’m wondering if the thing’s days are numbered. And so to work. The car needed petrol, so I went to the
other Tesco. Ashford features two Tescos. Only one
is open when I’m on early starts, so I went to the other one. The staff there weren’t anywhere near so hostile. I bought
some shirts, and then to work. Which was dull. It
usually is. And then home to watch Shaun the Sheep on DVD. I like
Shaun… Today was dull… |
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6 February 2010 (Saturday) -
I couldn’t sleep – probably the excitement of
anticipation. Dover Beer Festival is one of the year’s highlights – last year
coming in at position #5 against some pretty stiff competition. So I was up
and ironing at 5.30am, and had watched three
episodes of BattleStar Galactica before I finally
kicked my beloved out of her pit. A quick bit of brekky whilst
checking the Internet. A quick visit to YoVille – I seem to be spending more
time there than in NeverWinter these days. Probably because I get kissed more
in YoVille. Two days ago I mentioned about the rather nasty messages
the webmaster of Beer in
the Evening had been posting in the private forum of their web
site. This morning I see that the chap has deleted the entire private forum.
What a way to run a website.... they are utterly dependent on the good will
of others to do endless unpaid work for them. And rather than thanking them,
they insult their unpaid workers. And talking of beer, to Dover Beer Festival. After a bit
of fiddling about with trains, eight of us joined the queue outside the Maison Dieu in The plan was to only have a couple of beers and swiftly
move on. As I have remarked before God laughs when we make plans. We started
off sensibly enough on Larkin’s Porter. But then the silly names kicked in,
and a half of “hung, drawn and portered” got
guzzeled, followed swiftly by some “Dark Galleon”
and some “Old Grumpy Porter”. A half of each was two pints, and I was
ready to move on, but everyone else was still on their second ale. So I got
some more tokens. “Grandma’s Rich Porter” slipped down very well,
followed swiftly by “Old Stoatwobbler” and “St
Mary’s Stout”. And then a “Belgian Double” which had both a saucy
name and an 8% ABV. And so, having had far too much to drink we left the
festival. A breakfast roll at the station, and so to Folkestone where we
suddenly realised how thirsty we were, and so popped into the Park Gate Hotel
for a crafty half. We soon downed that, and wasted a few minutes playing
silly beggars with the mobility scooter that was parked outside before
wandering off. We climbed walls, waved bottoms at passing cars and
generally scared the normal people all the way to “the Lifeboat” where
we set about more beer and some food. More beer and food is always good,
especially when the pub is giving out free leek soup. And we cheered
the Three pints later we staggered round to the East Cliff
Tavern where we played darts and piano, though not at the same time, and
after a few more beers we staggered off to get the 10pm train home. I suspect I shall have a headache in the morning… |
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7 February 2010 (Sunday) - Painting
Trellises
Yesterday I had four pints of assorted stouts and porters
all over 5% ABV atDover beer festival. A
crafty half (well, a pint) on the way to Folkestone harbour, and then
a crafty half (half a gallon) in the Lifeboat. And one or two more
beers after that. So in theory I should have been rather the worse for wear
this morning. I woke feeling remarkably chipper. The provisional plan for today involved travelling to Saltdean for a spell of kite-flying. But it looked to be
a cold day, and I decided that I didn’t really want to drive for over two
hours just to stand and shiver in a swamp. I suspect that in actual fact,
things were nowhere near as bad as I suspected, and I probably missed a good
day. Maybe next time. A bit of brekky, and I then
phoned my Internet provider. For all that I now have a connection three times
faster for a third of the price of what it once was, as always things are
never as wonderful as they might seem. My 5Mb connection is now down to only
2.7Mb. The nice man on the phone said that it fluctuates on a ten day cycle.
This sounds a bit odd to me, but I shall check the speed for the next two
weeks. I also asked about my router. A couple of days ago a new router
arrived in the post from the Internet company. It would seem that whenever anyone
changes anything on their broadband package, the nice people send out a new
router just in case. He said I could carry on using the old one. I was glad
about that – I didn’t want to fiddle about if I didn’t have to. And then to the garden. For all that it was rather cold,
next door’s clematis is already beginning to sprout, and if I don’t get the
trellis painted in the next week or so, it will soon be too overgrown to
actually get at. There are six runs of trellis that needed painting. I got
five done before I finally succumbed to the cold. From the warmth of an upstairs window I then surveyed the
rest of the fences. Normally every spring I have a concerted fence-painting
session. A good way to waste a month, if nothing else. But this year I might
be lazy. The shed needs a lick of paint, but the fence panels themselves are
(in the main) in a good state and don’t really need painting. There
are one or two bare spots on the posts and the tops do look as though they
need going over. I might just do those this year and leave the panels until
next time. Having said that, there is one panel which is is
a bit of a state. Next door has heaped soil up against the panel, and over
the last few years the thing has seriously rotted. I wonder if there is a way
of bodging a repair on my side rather than replacing the entire panel. I then fell asleep whilst playing NeverWinter, before
checking my emails. It’s been suggested that In a couple of weeks time we
could go as a group to London to go on a guided tour of Whitechapel and visit
some of the places where Jack the Ripper did his thing. Now when I say “guided
tour”, it didn’t take too much effort to find several route
recommendations on line. So we shan’t be joining an organised party, rather
we’ll be doing our own thing. The (very) provisional plan is to do
this on Thursday Feb 25, leaving Ashford at 10.15am to be at Whitechapel for
about mid day (ish), walk the route with a
beer or two on the way, and end up with a pizza somewhere. If any of my loyal readers would like to come along,
please let me know. |
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8 February 2010 (Monday) - Asda, Photos, Stuff
Yesterday I didn’t quite get as much painted as I
intended. But being on a late start today, I planned to do it before work.
But I couldn’t – it was snowing. I have painted the house in the dark before,
but painting in the snow – I don’t think so. So I suppose we again brace ourselves for the pundits who
foretell the end of the world, even though the forecast has the snow all over
and done with by tomorrow. And so to work (via the blizzard). Last week I
mentioned that I’d had enough of Tesco. Today I went to Asda.
To be fair the pre-packed salads (yuk!!) were slightly more expensive.
But they were a lot bigger. And I object to having to pay in their car park,
even if it is refundable. But the biggest difference was that Asda
is welcoming. There was a chap positioned to meet you as you come through the
door. He smiled, he said hello. I’m not daft – I know he is paid to do that.
But in Tescos there is no smile as you go in.
Instead there is a quick glare of suspicion from the surly chap openly
watching your every move on CCTV. One place welcomes you with a smile, one with distrust. Tescos have lost a customer. After a dull day at work I came home to find I have been
tagged on sixty photographs of various events in several different Facebook
albums. I am a great believer in photographs – and especially putting up
albums of special events on the Internet. You find you’ll forget so much of
your life if you don’t take the trouble to make a record of what happened. (Not
drinking by the gallon probably helps too!!) Take for example today’s photograph – a charming little
interlude of my life which would otherwise be forgotten. I am the one on the
top. You can tell that from my red headgear. I’m not sure who is underneath
me, but in my world that can be an occupational hazard. In the meantime, back to reality. I shall alternately be
visiting YoVille and NeverWinter, still at a connection speed of 2.7Mbps.
Whatever that is… |
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9 February 2010 (Tuesday) - Beer,
Fags, References
Beer is good for you – it’s official! But not just any
kind of beer. Science
has found that lager really is chemically conditioned rubbish,
whilst the nectar that is ale and stout actually helps defend the body
against brittle bones. Time for a crafty half, methinks… Mind you science
has also found that the nicotine from fags smoked years ago can
still be harmful. Apparently once it’s stained the paintwork it sets off a
low level generation of dangerous carcinogens. One lives and learns. To work where I had a phone call from a potential
employer. Not someone who might potentially employ me, but someone seriously
considering employing one Akshi Hanu.
(Who’s he? Or She?) It would seem that Akashi Hanu has given me as a reference, because I employed
him/her/it in my department in 2006. I have no recollection of this person,
but I make a point of making a few notes everyone who could possibly ask me
for a reference. My list made no mention of Akshi.
The person wanting a reference became quite irate; they are busy people –
could I not just give them the reference and stop wasting their time? The
implication was that maybe I might make something up and put my name to it.
They weren’t happy when I said no. And then home again. A somewhat strange evening – Tuesdays
are traditionally “the gathering”, but what with my beloved working
this evening and being on a late shift myself I just went home. And didn’t
get home till 8.45pm. The plan for the evening was to help out with college
work, but “Daddies Little Angel TM ” has still to collate her
figures (!), so homework was put on hold. Meanwhile my Internet connection is still running at 2.7
mega-newtons per cubic parsec. I wonder if I should
reboot my router…. |
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10 February 2010 (Wednesday) -
Snow-maggedon
Up early to watch last night’s episode of “Survivors”.
It featured Roger Lloyd Pack in a leading role. Fans of the genre will
remember that Mr Lloyd Pack also featured in the original 1970s “Survivors”
series, and so it was a nice touch to have him in the remake. And it’s good
to see him playing a villain. For so many years he was the likeable idiot
with Del Boy, but just lately he’s been the creator of the cybermen in Doctor Who, and now he’s… I won’t give the
game away. But again I was disappointed with the program. Why make
two character bosom buddies when in last week’s episode they loathed each
other? And I predict that the two remaining episodes will feature the team
going off to rescue those remaining characters whose turn it is to be
kidnapped for no adequately explored reason. And then the forecast snow came. Flurries were clearly
visible outside, some lasting for up to five minutes. The first inch of snow
melted once there was a break in the clouds, but after dark the snow came
back with a vengeance, and there is now a good inch of snow about, and so
once moreEngland grinds to a halt. Some of my
colleagues left work early, not expecting to return for some time. The radio
carried the news that the entire town of And I’ve lost my sledge. |
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11 February 2010 (Thursday) - More Snow
‘er
indoors TM has found my sledge. It was where I left it. I
considered using it to get to work today, as another millimetre of snow had
fallen overnight. Mind you, for all that I laugh about the way that Yesterday I mentioned that two inches of snow had
cut But I didn’t really mind – we had such a quiet day. So
dull in fact the highlight was when we managed to flood the place. I say “we”
- I’ll happily share the blame, but the culprit can do the mopping up. And
I’ll get my time back at some point. I came home to a treat. ‘er indoors TM had cooked
up some honey cake. A smashing bit of scran for
tea, then coffee and cake. As “My Boy TM ”would say, “Nag, Nag,
Nag!!!” I do feel a bit worn out, though. Having said that, I have
always claimed that I would rather have longer working days. If I could do
three days a week, each of twelve and a half hours, I could have four day
long weekends. Surely that would be better than my current random pattern of
early and late starts… |
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12 February 2010 (Friday) - VIPs, Sledges
Snow-mageddon would seem to have
abated somewhat, and as I set off for work, the snow was giving way to slush.
I got to work early today because (as I mentioned last week) our VIP
guest was coming, and I needed to clean up the mess I made up the wall last
night. Due to some lax pouring, I’d got blue stain everywhere. After an hour’s serious scrubbing, we eventually got the
sad news – our VIP wasn’t coming. I can only imagine he had found better
things to do with his time. I was really disappointed. I’d bought a new shirt
especially for the occasion, and I’d been practicing my curtsy all week. Mind you, after all was said and done, the VIP guest was
only Michael Howard (who?). He’s MP for Folkestone, and is retiring in
a few months time. I’m not sure why he was coming round anyway. If I was
retiring in a couple of months, I’d be taking it easy. But in my world, a
retiring MP is probably as about as exciting as it gets. We’d spent ages tidying up for his visit, and he didn’t
show. I shan’t be voting for him again. Not that I ever have. And then, having found my sledge, at lunch time we went
sledging again. I say “we” – there was a general invitation to
everyone at work which was met with polite amazement. The four of us who went
had a great time. my sledge did quite well, but the Haemo-sledge (patent pending) snapped under the
strain of it’s maiden voyage. Oh how we laughed. We nearly flattened the
smokers who were having a crafty fag. And under the melting snow we found a
frozen puddle that wasn’t quite as frozen as it might have been. And some of
us even got snow in our cracks (not me, I hasten to add). And then
when we returned to work, everyone seemed rather miffed that they’d missed
out. They will be even more miffed when they see the video.
As I told them, there’s always next time. I spent the afternoon aching. It has been said that I am a
big kid. It has also been said (only this morning) that I am too old
to go sledging. Unfortunately both statements are (probably) true. I
might ache (I do!), but I shall keep sledging for a little while
longer. |
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13 February 2010 (Saturday) - Pinball, Wii,
Eating Too Much
What with all the extra hours I put in at work last week,
I didn’t have time to do what I’ve had in mind for some time. This morning I
did it – a website
of cycle routes. It’s very much a “work in progress”, but the
idea is that eventually we’ll have a comprehensive list of cycle rides from
central Ashford to various destinations of note all about an hour or so away.
So far I’ve put down all the “primary destinations” of last year’s
cycle outings. By that I mean the pubs we aimed for. On several (all)
of the cycle trips we came home via other pubs, but at this stage I don’t
want to overly complicate the thing. As the snow (hopefully) melts away we’ll
be getting the bikes out again, so if any of my loyal readers have any ideas
where we might cycle off to over the next few weeks, please let me know. And then to YoVille where I’m trying to save up to buy a
house. I blew some money at the casino. Normally I lose, but today I won
twenty five quid before sneaking off for a crafty snog
with Lisa’s mum. As virtual worlds go, it’s not bad. I can’t find any pubs in
YoVille, but I shall keep looking. To town for a quick bit of McDinner,
and to take my ring to the jeweller’s. Last week I scratched it quite badly,
and there’s a great big lump of metal sticking out where I actually tore the
thing. It will be ready for fixing next weekend. We then got some supplies
from Home, and then round to Brian’s for
dinner. Brian and Rachel had spent all day preparing dinner, and it was oh so
good. We ate far too much, and I feel positively stuffed now… |
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14 February 2010 (Sunday) - Hello
World!!!
Over the last year or so I have met so many people who,
despite never having met me before, feel they know me quite well because they
have seen their friends reading my blog, and they have started reading it
themselves. I have quite a few friends who I meet far too infrequently
who, when we meet, comment on what I’ve been up to. How on earth do they know
what I’ve been doing? I write it here, and they read it. As do several friends
and relatives across the world who keep up to date with what I get up to via
my ramblings. This blog has developed quite a life of its own, and
during the last week, in a moment of curiosity I’ve tried out some tracking
software. Whilst the blog’s hit counter gave me an
idea of where in the world my loyal readers live, the scale of the map isn’t
all it might be. So, bearing in mind that this software was free, I thought
I’d plug it in and see if I could get a better resolution on my loyal
readership. I expect (like so much else on the Internet) I shall lose
interest in this toy fairly soon, but this morning whilst eating my breakfast
I didn’t try to kiss people in YoVille. Instead I booted up the new software
and clicked the stats button. I thought it made interesting reading and
today, loyal readers, I’ll give a little insight
into who else reads this nonsense with you. Excluding RSS feeds, the blog is visited about a thousand
times each month. Which is just over thirty times every
day. Over the last week eighty percent of people visiting used
Windows as their operating system, fifteen percent were on Macs, some used
their iPhone and there are two people who used
Linux. (I think I know who one of you are!) Did you know that of the last hundred people to visit my
blog (up to 9am this morning), only sixty of
my loyal readers were from people in the Of these last hundred people who’ve read the blog, I know
that someone inMilwaukee has regularly tuned
in using a Firefox 3.5 browser running on Windows
Vista. As has someone in Stony Plain in And so: on with my life... Last Sunday I mentioned that
I’d started the annual painting the fence ritual. I had intended to carry on
with it during the week, but the snow put paid to that idea. It was probably
too cold for fence painting today, but I carried on with it anyway. I’ve got
all the trellises painted green now, and about half of the tops of the fence
panels are done too. I painted for an hour, but it was a bit chilly, so I’ll
carry on another time. I’ve a few tops of panels to finish, and then I think
that will do for this year. The fences were first painted in 2007, and I’ve
done them again every year since then. They’ll do till next year. I then returned to Tesco. Three weeks ago I bought a
memory card to go with a digital photo frame for my Dad’s birthday. The card
didn’t work. Nor did it’s replacement, or that one’s
replacement. So today I went to get a refund. I’ve moaned about the staff in
Tesco recently. Today they fully met my expectations – the staff
were (as usual) utterly disinterested. Whilst we were out we also went to WyeVale in Sundays are such dull days… |
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15 February 2010 (Monday) - Lieu
Time
I did smile as I listened to the radio on the way to work
this morning. The education minister was discussing a suggestion to make head
teachers more accountable to their staff. The idea was that if a committee of
teachers in a school felt that the head was not doing a good job, they could
vote said headmaster out. The interviewer suggested that such a plan might be
implemented across the entire public sector. The minister said it would be
particularly impractical in hospitals because there are so many managers who
would be summarily dismissed. And then he realised what he’d said and
backtracked somewhat. Last Wednesday I worked a lot longer than I should
normally have, and last Thursday (what with the snow) I put in even
more extra time. By the end of the week I’d accrued an extra six and one
quarter hours. Today I took that time back. I went into work at 8am, and came
home at 9.15am. It has been said that it was silly going in for the hour and
a quarter, and it’s a rather sad fact that a few years ago I would have
agreed. But under today’s management style, had I taken the whole day (as
was suggested) I would have been reminded that I didn’t actually accrue a
whole day’s lieu time. So, being home at 9.30am I set the poor washing machine to
full power and washed and ironed like a thing possessed whilst watching BattleStar Galactica DVDs. The household’s laundry was up
to date at mid day, but I doubt if that state of affairs will last. I then
spent the afternoon watching more BattleStar
Galactica. I eventually turned the telly off after ten episodes. Half way
through the afternoon the telly gave me an “Automatic Power Down”
warning. Apparently the thing switches itself off after four hours if no
buttons have been pressed. Or so it says on the Internet. The manual said
nothing about it. I see that two (more) of my loyal readers
have joined YoVille. For a
very silly game, it’s rather addictive. Today I discovered the bathroom in my
Yo-apartment, and realised I hadn’t installed a
toilet. Bearing in mind I’ll soon have enough cash to move to a bigger house
I’ve decided not to invest in a W.C. Instead I’ve taken to going round the
neighbours and using their facilities. I then went Yo-fishing and
caught a marlin and a coelacanth. These long winter evenings are just flying
by… |
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16 February 2010 (Tuesday) -
Tele-Sales
Up early to watch more DVDs. In less than twenty four
hours I’ve watched the entire Season Four of BattleStar
Galactica. Not bad going, really. To Asda for
lunch, and then to work. Dull, dull, dull. Last year
I was offered a job at An early start meant an early finish (for once),
and just as I was about to check my emails, the phone rang. “Desmond”
from Home Security phoned to tell me about a wonderful bargain. I could be
entitled to a wonderful home security package for just one pound!! Wasn’t I
impressed? And he would arrange for a representative to contact me without
delay. He was rather foxed when I didn’t hang up, didn’t take up his offer,
but just said “please don’t”. His script obviously didn’t cover that
eventuality. I asked him to be honest. I told him it wouldn’t cost a quid,
would it? It would be hundreds, if not thousands of pounds, wouldn’t it? He
was rather taken aback by this, but the clincher was when I asked if he’d
taken advantage of this offer. He mumbled that he hadn’t. I then asked him
how he could possibly expect me to buy that which even the salesman wouldn’t
have. He had no answer for that. Bless him. And on closing, this Saturday I’m going to see an E.L.O. tribute
band. Due to various mishaps and misfortunes there’s one or two (four)
spare tickets. If any of my loyal readers are free on Saturday night, please
get in touch… |
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17 February 2010 (Wednesday) - A
Day in the Life
Whenever the postman comes I have a habit of sticking any
boring-looking letters for myself into my letter rack. This rack gets very
full – I don’t just put boring-looking letters into it. I put in all sorts of
things I intend to get back to when I get a minute. Today I finally went
through the thing. I found:
It’s amazing what rubbish I’ve found. And I’m not the one
who hoards stuff. I should have cleared out this rubbish yesterday – after
all, the bin men came first thing this morning. Mind you, I’m (once again) wondering what I should
do about the snake club money. There’s over a hundred pounds in the account.
I actually resigned as Treasurer of the snake club over ten years ago, and
the new committee did nothing about changing the banking details. And then
the club folded within a few weeks of my resignation anyway. I’ve done some research into this in the past, and whilst
I can arrange to donate it to charity, should any ex-club members appear they
may well have a claim to some of the funds. I suppose it’s not my money, I’m
just looking after it. I’ll leave it where it is for another few months. And then to work, where I was the subject of some
disrespect. Today’s news told the tale of baby Xavier who, despite only being
six months old, can walk. My colleagues felt there was an uncanny
resemblance. Bottoms will be spanked (!) I then received a text from “Daddies Little Angel TM ”
who’d uncovered a painting I once did. I’d forgotten about that one. I’re put it ac today’s piccy. I’m rather proud of it. And in closing, can I remind my loyal readers that this
Saturday there’s still (possibly) one or two spare tickets for
the E.L.O.
tribute band. If anyone fancies a night out this Saturday night,
please get in touch… |
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18 February 2010 (Thursday) - Some
Ranting
In my more lucid moments I am a chartered scientist. In
layman’s terms, the area of my expertise is the science of how the human body
works. And despite all manner of qualifications and nearly thirty years
experience in the field, human metabolism is still in many ways a mystery to
me. Why is it that some days I will drink ale by the gallon and be fine the
next morning, and then today I feel like death warmed up after only two
glasses of wine last night? Whilst on the subject of drinking to excess, I see this
year’s CAMRA pub
of the year 2010 has been chosen. I wonder what the place is like? The title of local pub of the year for my area has
been awarded to the Red Lion in Snargate. I must
admit that is a choice with which I’d agree, had I been asked. But I’m not a
member of CAMRA, so I wouldn’t expect to be asked. However I was a member of
CAMRA for ten years and no one ever asked me my opinion during that time
either. The only communication I ever received from the local
CAMRA bunch was a letter once a year reminding me about the beer festival
they ran. And in retrospect that was probably to ensure attendance so that
they didn’t run the thing at a loss. I’ve since found out they ran all sorts
of events that they never publicised before the event. How can you credibly
declare a certain pub is the local Pub of the Year when only a small minority
of those eligible to vote know the selection is taking place? The local CAMRA
committee took the trouble to write to me once a year, so why didn’t they
include the year’s program of events… (I’ve done this rant before… so many
times…) Talking of pubs, it is rumoured that “The Crisps Shop”
(The Six Bells in Woodchurch) has closed. If this is true, then this
will be the end of an era. The Six Bells is somewhere we’ve cycled to many
times. We went there for dinner to celebrate Brian’s return from the I shall have to investigate further. Possibly this
weekend. And then to Facebook. Last night I added another friend.
My cousin Karen has found me. We were quite matey
in the early 80s, often zooming roundHastings on
our motorbikes. But over the years we’ve rather gone our separate ways, which
was a shame. I’m glad she’s found me. I’ve since added another cousin as a
friend on Facebook too. I don’t really “do” family as much as perhaps I
should. Over the years I’ve really lost touch with pretty much all but my
immediate family. The in-laws are very big on family reunions. Perhaps I
should take a leaf out of their book? |
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19 February 2010 (Friday) -
Robbers and Porkers
This morning the blog’s hit
counter passed the ten thousand hits mark. I suppose I should commemorate the
occasion in some way, by posting something original, witty, erudite and yet somehow poignant. But I can’t think of
anything so I’ll stick with my tried and tested formula of rambling out any
old drivel which comes into my head. After all, that’s been mymodus operandi (latin!)
since October 2006. Since I relocated my blog away from Yahoo last year, I’ve
been very impressed with the various features of Blogspot. Particularly the “Dates
for the Diary” section. However following the launch of a rather original website, I’m left
wondering if advertising when I’m not going to be home is a good idea. This website, Please Rob Me dot com, claim that they are
trying to point out the foolishness of advertising on Twitter that your house
is empty. I suppose they have a point. But then, when I go to all the events
I’ve listed on this blog, my house isn’t empty. If anyone wants to break in,
they will find the fruits of my loin still very firmly ensconced. But on a more general level, who follows this blog, or
follows peoples’ twitterings? Are people really
going to stake out their friends movements just to nick their telly? I can’t
see it, somehow. In all honesty there’s probably more valuable stuff more easily
nicked in my garden than there is in the house. And anyone can see when I’m
not home by watching me drive off to work in the morning anyway. Surely
watching me walk out of the house and turn round and lock the door is a
better indication that the place is empty? And having locked the front door this morning, I set off
to work, where we (fortunately) didn’t get the patient who turned up
at an undisclosed hospital today. The world’s
fattest man has allegedly had a heart attack. This porker, who despite being only two years older than me is over
double my weight. His personal healthcare sets the NHS back one hundred
thousand pounds every year. The reinforced ambulance to drive him to hospital
cost twenty grand. It is easy to ridicule those of the more generous
physique. I myself am one of nature’s porkers. It’s no secret I could do with
losing some weight. But I’m not utterly unfit. I walk and cycle about. And I
am very conscious that I have many friends who aren’t in such rude health as
I am, and I for one am glad and proud that we as a nation have a health care
system that looks after them. But whilst this chap is in incredibly poor health, it is of his own making.Apparently he harboured an ambition to become the world’s fattest man, and so deliberately ate himself to the size he now is. He can only get his epic portions of food by sending his state funded carers to the shops for him. |
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20 February
2010 (Saturday) - High on a Hill, in Eldorado
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21 February
2010 (Sunday) - Happy Birthday To Me
All things
considered, it was a good afternoon out – shame the rain didn’t let up at
all. |
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22 February
2010 (Monday) - On The Beer
I do like
my February pub crawls – same time next year….? |
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23 February 2010 (Tuesday) - My
Seventeenth Tattoo
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24 February
2010 (Wednesday) - Another Day's
It was
rather a shame to come home to find “My Boy TM ” wasn’t interested. I must
admit, I haven’t enjoyed a meeting of the arky-ologee
club so much for ages…. |
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25 February
2010 (Thursday) - Jack the Ripper
But having
done the trip, I’d certainly do it again. |
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26 February
2010 (Friday) - Stuff
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27 February
2010 (Saturday) - A Bad Back
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28 February
2010 (Sunday) - Backache, Saturn...
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